Sweep Yuan

Chapter 146 In a War-Torn World, Struggle to Advance or Die

In the Battle of Chishui, the Yuan army commander-in-chief, Chelibuhua, fled in panic, which drained the already low morale of the Yuan army.

When the despair of the struggle to cross the river consumed the last shred of reason in the Yuan soldiers, and former comrades turned against each other, the defeat was like a flood that had burst its banks, and could no longer be reversed.

The iron cavalry led by Li Wu and Guo Xing were like two red-hot daggers piercing into icy water, instantly causing boiling chaos. Wherever the iron cavalry's hooves went, blood and mud splattered.

For the Yuan army on the west bank, however, the deeper despair came from the east bank!
Fearing that the Red Flag cavalry would catch up with them after crossing the river, the comrades who had already crossed the river were about to abandon them.

"Fire arrows! Shoot them dead! Quickly cut down the bridge!"

In his terror, the Yuan army's deputy general let out a howl like a mad beast.

The cold arrows, carrying the fear of their comrades, pierced the bodies that were still struggling and pushing on the bridge!
The screams and curses abruptly ceased, and the man struck by the arrow plunged into the icy river like a rotten log, splashing up crimson water.

At the same time, heavy axes slammed into the iron chains securing the pontoon bridge, the ear-piercing sound of metal breaking like a death knell!
"Do not--!"

On the bridge, the Yuan soldiers, who were not yet completely dead, let out heart-wrenching, desperate cries.

It was this continuous rain of arrows and slashes that completely shattered the last vestiges of hope in the hearts of the remaining soldiers on the west bank.

With no way out and the will to fight extinguished, there was no point in continuing.

"It's surrendered! I've surrendered!"

Some men dropped their mud- and blood-stained knives with a clang and knelt down in the cold river mud. This act spread like a plague, and groups of remnant soldiers gave up their futile escape and resistance, collapsing to their knees like empty shells with their bones removed.

Li Wu and Guo Xing's cavalry charged back and forth twice, beheading no more than a hundred, before the Yuan army completely collapsed.

In the end, the number of Yuan soldiers who died under the swords of the Red Flag Battalion was far less than the number who trampled and killed each other in the frenzied struggle to cross the river, as well as the number who were shot by their comrades on the east bank!
The icy pool water became the abyss that swallowed the most lives of the Yuan soldiers.

In this battle, the Red Flag Battalion suffered only about twenty casualties but achieved the following results:
They killed the Yuan general Aruhui in battle and captured 537 Yuan cavalrymen (including nearly 200 wounded), 1,662 infantrymen, and 4,782 militiamen.

The captured grain and fodder amounted to over 14,000 shi, 612 warhorses (in good condition), nearly 800 pack animals such as mules, horses, and donkeys, 96 large carts, and piles of armor, bows, crossbows, swords, spears, and other military supplies, which will be slowly inventoried after the battle.

In this battle, the elite troops of Yangzhou Road were wiped out and their strength was severely damaged. The gateway to Chuzhou has been opened wide to the Red Flag Camp!

Shi Shan stood before the map, his fingertips sweeping over Haozhou, Dingyuan, Huaiyuan, Wuhe, and Hongxian, which he already controlled. Chuzhou (which included Qingliu, Tai'an, and Quanjiao) was within reach. If he could take it, the Red Flag Camp would become the leading force in Huaixi, and its sphere of influence would even surpass that of Xuzhou Zhima Li.

After controlling Chuzhou, the Red Flag Battalion not only cut off the Huai River, but also indirectly threatened the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal. Thus, the three most important shipping routes of the Yuan Empire would be shrouded in the shadow of the Red Flag!

This move will inevitably attract the attention of the Yuan Dynasty court and bring unpredictable risks.

However, if you do not take what Heaven offers, you will suffer the consequences!
Shi Shan was unaware whether Guo Zixing had captured Haozhou during this historical period.

All that is known is that until the Red Turban Army in Xuzhou was destroyed, Zhang Shicheng raised an army again, attracting most of the Yuan court's forces. Guo Zixing and others remained in Haozhou. Even when they captured Dingyuan and Huaiyuan, they quickly retreated and did not establish a stable regime.

As for Shi Shan himself, from establishing his army in Chulan to conquering Lingbi and Hongxian, occupying Wuhe, Haozhou, Dingyuan, and Huaiyuan, and then defeating Dong Tuanxiao and Chelibuhua one after another... the storm stirred up by this little butterfly of a transmigrator has already shaken up the world of the Great Yuan.

Under these circumstances, regardless of whether Shishan continued to attack Chuzhou or whether he declared himself king, he was already a de facto warlord and had been placed on the Yuan court's list of rebels whom they were determined to eliminate. He could no longer hide behind Xuzhou and develop his power in a cowardly manner.

Only by forging ahead with determination can we live up to the excellent situation created by this battle! Shrinking back will not only fail to gain the Yuan court's attention to the Red Flag Battalion, but will also chill the hearts of the soldiers and civilians under our rule, and we will miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

Chuzhou, we must take Chuzhou!
Because the floating bridge over the pond was destroyed, the elite cavalry battalion is looking for a shallow beach to cross the river and assist the supply battalion in repairing the floating bridge.

Shi Shan, meanwhile, was stationed at the Yuan army camp, busy identifying prisoners and counting the mountains of spoils of war, preparing for the next major battle.

"Godfather! Look what treasure your child has found!"

Tong Si'er's voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement as he led a group of people to push over a heavy supply wagon covered with an oilcloth.

Lifting the oilcloth, a bright yellow object came into view:
A copper pipe about a foot long, with a simple and heavy design. Next to it are a gun rack, several sealed wooden boxes (labeled with gunpowder and bullets), and several long-handled brushes and wooden pestles.

"artillery?"

Shi Shan's eyes lit up, and he reached out and picked up the copper pipe.

It felt quite heavy, probably weighing eleven or twelve pounds, slightly heavier than a modern automatic rifle, but much shorter.

"No, this caliber and size... it's more appropriate to call it a musket."

Shi Shan stroked the distinct bowl-shaped flare of the gun muzzle and said:

"Hmm... a bowl-shaped gun?"

Tong Si'er chuckled and pulled over a prisoner:
“Godfather, I recognize this man! He says the Tartars call this ‘Bronze General’!”

The prisoner was quite clever; he immediately knelt down and began showering the captive with flattery:

"Marshal, you are wise! The Tartar's title of 'Bronze General' sounds intimidating, but it is far less fitting and vivid than the name 'Bowl-Mouth Gun' bestowed upon us by the Marshal!"

"General Copper?"

Shishan automatically filtered out the prisoners' flattering words, his mind entirely focused on the object.

The legendary "Bronze General" was renowned for its "shooting through a hundred arrows and its sound resounding through the heavens." I always thought it was a cannon, but I never expected it to look like this. Although the muzzle was wide, the inner diameter was only a little over three inches, and the barrel was also short, so the amount of powder it could hold was limited. It would be more accurate to call it a firearm.

The gun body consists of a muzzle (bowl-shaped), a short and straight barrel, a combustion chamber (with a clearly defined ignition hole), and a breech socket with a square hole. The inscription on the gun body reads: "Auspicious day of the second month of the seventh year of Zhizheng, Jiqing Anti-Rebel Army, number ninety-seven, Ma Hua."

"Let's fix it to the shelf and see."

The prisoners followed orders and fitted the wooden frame with a pin to the square hole in the breech socket of the bowl-shaped gun, making it secure and easy to operate. However, the gun had no sight, and it was inconvenient to adjust the firing angle after it was fixed. The design concept was still very primitive.

But Ishiyama was more concerned with its practicality and asked the prisoner:

How far can this gun shoot?

"Reporting to...Reporting to the Marshal, forty...forty paces!" Seeing Shi Shan's slightly furrowed brow, the prisoner suspected Marshal Shi was displeased and hurriedly added:
"But...but to break through the armor, we need to be within twenty paces to be safe!"

Forty steps?
Shi Shan was puzzled; given the length of the barrel and the amount of propellant, it shouldn't be this ineffective.

He leaned close to the ignition hole in the combustion chamber and sniffed the lingering gunpowder smell. He then probed the rough inner wall of the gun barrel with his finger and realized that there might be a problem with the gunpowder mix, and the airtightness was even worse!
What kind of bullets were used?

"Iron pellets!"

Seeing that Shi Shan seemed to understand, the prisoner added:
"If we don't have enough iron pellets, gravel will do... it'll do."

"Bring me the bullets."

Tong Si'er had already prepared it and handed over a heavy iron pellet. It was about an inch in diameter and its surface was barely round, but upon closer inspection, it was covered with sand holes and air holes, making it uneven.

Ishiyama casually tossed the bullet into the slightly upturned muzzle of the gun.

"Clang—crash!"

The bullet rolled smoothly all the way to the bottom, hitting the combustion chamber wall with a hollow echo!
This airtightness is so poor, it's practically a leaky, broken horn!
Shi Shan cursed inwardly, no wonder the range was so short. However, its design concept of separate casting (barrel and combustion chamber) and breech-loading ignition vaguely showed the prototype of later artillery. As for its power, he had to see it for himself.

"Let's go! Let's find a spot and fire a few shots to see what happens!"

The test firing site was chosen in an open area north of the camp. Under Guo Ying's cold gaze, the prisoner Deng Dagang nervously began to operate the equipment.

The man first inserted the wooden frame deep into the frozen ground, adjusted the musket, roughly pointing it at the thick wooden target erected in the distance, and then carefully scooped up the dark gunpowder with a wooden spoon and poured it into the muzzle.

For the first shot, he dared not load too much powder, only pouring two level spoonfuls before inserting a long wooden pestle into the barrel.

Boom!Boom!Boom!
The gunpowder was tamped down firmly and evenly, then a cast iron pellet was inserted, and the pellet was pushed into place again with a wooden pestle to block the combustion chamber. Then, the wick exposed in the ignition hole at the top of the combustion chamber was ignited with a red-hot iron rod.

"Chi chi chi——"

The fuse ignites rapidly!
"boom!"

A deafening explosion suddenly erupted!

A violent blast of air, carrying thick smoke and a pungent smell of sulfur, hit Shi Shan in the face. His eardrums were ringing, and his chest felt like it had been hit by a heavy hammer.

Looking up, one could see the bullet flying out crookedly, falling limply into the soil less than thirty paces away, kicking up a small cloud of dust, while the target in the distance remained unharmed.

Deng Dagang was covered in sweat. He used a thin stick wrapped in a damp cloth to cool down the scalding hot barrel, and hissed white steam rose up.

Ishiyama noticed that he added a little more gunpowder to the second shot and pounded it harder. When loading the bullet, the bullet seemed to be slightly larger, and it was quite difficult to push it with the wooden pestle.

"boom--!"

The second shot was even more deafening! The bullet struggled and flew fifty paces away, still far from the bullseye.

"Change to a target thirty paces away!"

As the distance closed, the accuracy remained erratic; the third and fourth shots either veered to the left or bounced to the right.

By the fifth shot, the target had been brought within twenty paces.

"Boom! Crack—!"

This time, the bullet, with a piercing whistling sound, grazed the upper left corner of the wooden target! The half-inch-thick hardwood shattered like a fragile eggshell, splintering wood and revealing a jagged gash!

"Ok!"

A hint of satisfaction finally appeared in Shi Shan's eyes.

"That's right! Your name is Deng Dagang?"

"Yes...yes! I am Deng Dagang!"

The prisoner was anxious and exhausted, sweating profusely, but upon hearing the question, his eyes blazed with wild joy.

"Good! Join the church and be put to use!"

Deng Dagang knelt down with a thud and kowtowed three times.

"Thank you so much, Marshal! Thank you so much, Marshal!"

This bowl-shaped cannon had a long range, slow rate of fire, and poor accuracy—a whole host of problems. But as long as its devastating destructive power within twenty paces was real, it possessed practical value on the battlefield! It also provided a new approach to cannon casting in Shishan.

However, the thought of those small earthen furnaces in Huaiyuan County that couldn't even produce molten iron gave Shishan a headache—expecting them to produce qualified pig iron bullets in a short time was as difficult as climbing to the sky, let alone casting fine cannons.

We're desperately short of skilled workers!

It is unknown whether Zhou Wendao found any skilled craftsmen after returning to Jiangnan.

However, the Red Flag Battalion is now besieged on two fronts, and even if Zhou Wendao finds the craftsman, it will be difficult to deliver him safely to Haozhou.

Shi Shan quickly put these negative emotions aside and asked Tong Si'er:
"How many muskets did we capture in total, and how many bullets did we have?"

Tong Si'er knew that Shi Shan was still very concerned about gunpowder, and had already inventoried the relevant items, so he replied:

"Twenty-six muskets with a diameter of about 1000 calibers, about 1,000 bullets, and about 600 jin of gunpowder."

"it is good!"

With these large muskets, the Red Flag Battalion's tactics for attacking cities and breaking through enemy lines have become more diverse. Unfortunately, a thousand bullets cannot withstand the depletion of several major battles. It is hoped that Zhou Wendao can complete the mission as soon as possible, and I must also resolve the uncertainties along the way.

Taking Chuzhou is of utmost urgency!
(End of this chapter)