Chapter 884: Canister Shot

The Outer Vassal Mongol troops advanced slowly, surging forward like a tide, their horses' heads filling the entire field of vision.

When they reached three li, they began to pick up speed, the thunder of hooves rumbling, the ground shaking violently as if it were a great drum.

Watching them roll in like surging floodwaters, their sheer momentum could not help but make one's face change color; without specialized infantry-against-cavalry training or formidable psychological fortitude, many infantry formations would in truth find it very difficult to withstand a cavalry charge.

Far too many battle formations have been scared into utter collapse before the cavalry even reached them.

Facing a cavalry charge, the sensation is like a train or a truck bearing down on you; ordinary people, never mind fighting, would find it hard just to stand firm on the spot.

This is also why, historically, when Ming armies took the field, in open country they fundamentally required the cover of heavy war-cart battalions, relying on the protection of the war carts to give them some small measure of security.

However, the Xuanwu Army's position remained composed, and the soldiers' hands gripping their weapons were steady and sure.

Han Chao watched through his telescope; sure enough, this first wave of charging Outer Vassal Mongol troops numbered around five thousand riders. Ahead of their main body, some scattered horse teams were racing forward, in groups ranging from several dozen to over a hundred riders each — clearly decoy troops.

They would race up close and perform all sorts of maneuvers to draw fire; if this side could not restrain itself and opened fire, once the cannons and firelocks had finished firing, their main formation behind would charge right up and break through the lines in one stroke. In the Battle of Song-Jin back then, the slave cavalry had used precisely this tactic to break Bai Guangen's cart formation.

Behind these decoy troops came great masses of horses, driven forward by Mongol riders whipping them on, and further behind them was their main cavalry force.

Han Chao passed down the order: when the time came, the rockets and cannons were to pay attention to bombarding their horse herds, as well as the main cavalry force charging up from behind. As for the decoy troops in front, the formation's arquebusiers were not to open fire; the cannon battalion guards and the skirmishers placed beside them would shoot them down.

The first wave of Outer Vassal Mongol cavalry entered two li. Abruptly they spurred their horses, the mounts beneath them reaching a galloping speed of ten meters per second, their iron hooves making the earth boom and rumble.

And this was not even their highest galloping speed; warhorses on the charge could reach twelve or thirteen meters per second, with a maximum sprinting speed of fifteen or sixteen meters per second. Yet even at this speed, they would need only two minutes to charge right up to the main formation.

The warhorses galloped, the trembling of the earth growing ever more violent; the Mongol cavalry surged forward like a tide, countless Mongols on horseback letting out strange howls.

And just at that moment, with an ear-splitting roar of cannon fire, the one hundred and fifty Hongyi great cannons at the front of the formation fired simultaneously, like lightning and thunder. Long plumes of white smoke spewed forth, quickly blanketing this stretch of the battle line.

The heavy recoil made every gun carriage recoil as one. At the same time, amid the long jets of flame, solid iron cannonballs screamed through the air, smashing down relentlessly upon the charging Mongol riders.

The heaven-shaking cannon fire made hearts pound with terror. Han Chao slightly reined in his horse's restlessness; one hundred and fifty Hongyi great cannons firing at once was no trivial matter. Even his horse, seasoned as it was, could not help but feel fright and fear.

Wang Pu let out a heavy breath. Hearing the neighing of horses all around him rising and falling, he too struggled to suppress his wildly pounding, uneasy heart. One hundred and fifty Hongyi great cannons firing at once — it was too terrifying. Such a grand spectacle was something only the Jingbian Army could put on display.

He looked toward the opposite side. Rolling clouds of gunpowder smoke billowed, making the situation over there somewhat unclear. Still, one could see that after the cannon bombardment, a vast swath of horses over there was neighing in chaos. Some solid iron balls even crashed into the horse herd, great plumes of blood mist bursting up, some wounded warhorses rolling and crashing about, drenched in blood.

Some horses and riders were directly struck by cannonballs, huge bloody holes torn through them, and then they tumbled to the ground, causing severe chaos for the horses charging up behind them, which were tripped up one after another. Some riders were thrown off by frenzied horses and then trampled into meat paste by the warhorses charging from behind.

Cannonballs screamed, the booming of the cannons unceasing. One cannon after another spat out fierce flames; amid the thunderous cannon fire, great billows of dense smoke gushed forth endlessly.

After each artilleryman fired, they immediately loaded new powder bags and fuse tubes, their movements swift and agile. The Jingbian Army's widespread use of silk powder bags and goose-feather fuse tubes allowed their rate of fire to reach an astonishing level — five or six shots per minute.

Compared to ordinary Hongyi great cannons, which could not fire more than three times consecutively, they could reach ten times, then cool down for a quarter of an hour. Moreover, only after firing fifty rounds did they need an hour to cool down.

However, because the slave cavalry attacked in multiple waves, they also had to control their firing rhythm; generally, the Hongyi cannons would stop after five consecutive shots.

At the same time, a rumbling cannonade sounded from the ridge at Zhuxinzhuang. Heavy cannonballs, each weighing over ten jin, flew directly over the heads of the army formation, smashing viciously down upon the charging Mongol riders.

And there were rockets too.

Wang Pu raised his head to look overhead. One hundred brilliant rockets flew across the sky, emitting fierce shrieks, trailing long tail flames and dense smoke, like a rain of meteors, and then crashed heavily into the horse herd the Tartar cavalry were driving forward.

Then, violent explosions erupted one after another — flames leaping high, smoke, shrapnel, iron pellets, shattered human bodies, shattered armor and weapons, tumbling horse limbs, panicked and chaotic horses fleeing in all directions.

With just some cannonballs and a hundred rockets, their control over the horse herd completely failed; over a thousand horses scattered everywhere.

Some horses even neighed and, drenched in blood, ran back the way they came, stirring up chaos all around.

Wang Pu watched that direction and murmured, "The effect is not bad. It's just too costly."

Beside him, Staff Officer Tian, smelling the acrid scent of gunpowder smoke wafting from afar, also sighed with emotion: "War truly is an industry of steel and gunpowder."

The Jingbian Army's various Hongyi cannons fired five volleys. Over eight hundred light and heavy solid iron balls rampaged through, and with the hundred rockets fired simultaneously, they inflicted heavy casualties on the charging Outer Vassal Mongol troops.

By the time they had charged to within one li, they no longer had any formation to speak of, and had lost at least one-fifth of their men. Due to the chaos of the horse herd, their speed had unknowingly slowed considerably, and that horse herd was even more thoroughly scattered.

However, because they were riding on high-speed galloping horses, the Outer Vassal Mongol riders were in a state of high excitement, adrenaline pumping rapidly, and seemed to feel no fear. At such speed, it was also hard to see the gruesome fates of those beside them, because they quickly galloped past.

Their ranks were also very dispersed, so many still had not been hit by cannon or rocket. They continued to gallop, letting out deafening, strange howls as they did.

Very quickly, they charged within one li. The fifty Grand General Frankish cannons opened fire with a thunderous roar. In a short time, each cannon blasted four or five shots. Flesh and severed limbs flew, horses collapsed in swathes, yet the dense, dark torrent of cavalry still rolled forward.

Some spurred their horses to charge at a speed of twelve or thirteen meters per second. The ground shook like an earthquake, and their ears were filled with the dense, drumbeat-like sound of horse hooves.

……

"These Mongols have taken drugs."

Wang Dou watched from the ridge and thought silently.

On the ridge, Chen Xinjia, Ji Shiwei, and others who were observing the battle also unconsciously turned their gazes toward this side.

Every one of them wore worried expressions. Such a ferocious assault by the northern caitiffs was quite rare. Watching what seemed like a charge of thousands upon thousands of men and horses, the entire wilderness filled with their troops, while their own battle line was only a thin layer — could it withstand their charge?

The Crown Prince Zhu Cilang was also watching. Seeing the Tartar bandits surge forward, that torrent seemingly about to break through everything, he was so nervous he nearly cried out. As their tide of horses drew closer and closer, beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, and his fists unconsciously clenched tight.

……

Wang Pu's heart pounded violently. He opened his mouth to say something, but then glanced at Han Chao's expression beside him and consciously shut his mouth again.

He wanted to do something, but did not know what to do. Fortunately, he heard the shouted orders of the various battalion artillery officers from the front of the formation: "Canister shot, prepare! Three-wave bombardment."

Then came the answering calls, rising and falling: "Canister shot, prepare! Three-wave bombardment."

One cannon after another adjusted its firing angle to direct fire, and then one canister round after another was rammed into the barrel. The dark, gaping muzzles were aimed squarely at those Outer Vassal Mongol troops still rolling in.

Finally, their main force charged close. The ones charging at the very front were those decoy troops, in groups of dozens or hundreds, seemingly in a posture to charge the formation directly. Yet after charging to within a hundred paces, they suddenly and skillfully wheeled their horses, sweeping toward the two flanks of the army formation.

These decoy maneuvers of theirs were practiced to the point of fluency, clearly something they had done often in the past.

In days past against Ming army formations, they had frequently succeeded with their decoys, drawing a fierce volley of firelocks and cannons.

Yet the Jingbian Army remained cold and unmoved. If these decoy troops charged too close, the skirmishers beside the artillerymen would simply shoot them down with their Lumi muskets.

The sound of hooves was even more like thunder. The dense, dark mass of Mongol cavalry charged up, every one of them giving their horses full speed, rushing straight within one hundred and fifty paces.

"Fire!"

The shrill sound of swan-neck horns rang out. A flag bearer raised his hand, and the cannon fire seemed to shake the very earth, completely drowning out the sound of the opposing horse hooves. One hundred and fifty Hongyi great cannons fired in unison. Rolling dense smoke billowed out in great clouds, accompanied by long flames spewing from the muzzles.

Each of these Hongyi cannons was loaded with canister shot containing five hundred pellets. One hundred and fifty cannons meant seventy-five thousand small iron pellets, fired at an initial velocity of four hundred meters per second, with a spread area of fifty to sixty meters and an effective range of two to three hundred meters.

With one hundred and fifty Hongyi cannons firing canister in volley, a sky full of hurtling pellets blanketed the entire front zone of the infantry formation. A rain of thumb-thick iron swept across; blood mist and dust flew. The front rows and several rows behind of the charging Outer Vassal Mongol cavalry were nearly swept clean.

On both men and horses, dense sprays of blood arrows burst forth. Screams and the neighing of horses merged into one continuous sound.

Some who had charged close, facing the cannon muzzles directly, were blown apart on the spot.

Those decoy riders who had fanned out toward both flanks of the army formation were also swept away in one stroke.

The Mongol riders in the rear all gaped wide-mouthed; the thunderous cannon roar ahead left a ringing buzz in their ears, and they saw the men and horses ahead tumbling like wheat waves, row after row, followed by countless piercing shrieks — the shock was truly beyond words.

Numb and dazed, they charged on, then heard the sharp sound of the swan-whistle again.

The fifty Grand General Frankish cannons fired another volley of canister shot; each was loaded with five hundred pellets, with a range of over a hundred paces and a spread of ten to twenty paces. Those Mongol riders saw only another flash of firelight through the smoke ahead, then the rolling smoke grew even denser, and another vast, roaring rain of shot came howling at them.

Another great swath of them tumbled down; the survivors’ minds went blank, every man utterly at a loss.

Again the sharp swan-whistle sounded, and the two hundred fifty medium and small Frankish cannons were pushed forward. Each was loaded with a hundred canister pellets, but two hundred fifty cannons still meant twenty-five thousand small iron balls. They fired another volley, pouring yet more smoke and violent flame across this stretch of ground.

The ground a hundred paces in front of the Xuanwu Army’s formation was already piled with the corpses of men and horses. Many wounded who still lived crawled and shrieked piteously on the ground, and the horses struck by shot, a mangled mess of blood and flesh, rolled on the ground or reared and neighed in frenzied agony.

The remaining Mongol riders who charged up were all crowded and milling about in this stretch of ground; the struggling men and horses in the pools of blood everywhere filled them with terror.

……

“The northern caitiffs have many horses — fortunately, we have many cannons.”

Chen Xinjia let out a long breath and said to Ji Shiwei beside him.

Ji Shiwei was still staring at that side in shock and said unconsciously, “Yes… yes indeed…”

“The power of technology — flesh and blood, after all, cannot withstand it.”

Wang Dou’s suspended heart also settled completely. By a conservative estimate, the Xuanwu Army position had just fired at least a hundred thousand canister pellets. With such an immense blanket of shot, how could mere Outer Vassal Mongol cavalry possibly charge through?

This was also why he had made a point of destroying the Shun Army’s cart-mounted cannons beforehand. If they had been allowed to fire even one volley of canister, would his own soldiers not have suffered grievous casualties?

He sat back down in his large tiger-skin chair, took out a pack of Yun cigarettes, and seeing that the Minister of War and his father-in-law had unconsciously come to stand beside him, casually handed one to each of them, then drew one out for himself and put it between his lips. Zhong Diaoyang hurriedly produced a fire striker and lit it for him.

Wang Dou blew out a puff of smoke and leaned back comfortably in his chair. Everything was fine. (~^~)