Chapter 3533
Chapter 3533
Chapter 3533
Perhaps because they were both influenced by Hai Han, the ideas of building their armies were very similar between the two warring parties. They both concentrated their resources on weapons. As for armor, due to the lack of steel, even officers could only wear bamboo or wooden armor, not to mention ordinary soldiers.
Last year, when Shi Diwen visited the various vassal states in Kyushu, he sent several sets of well-made steel armor, which were regarded as treasures by the daimyo. However, Shi Diwen's plan to take this opportunity to promote a wave of armor did not achieve very good results.
It's not that the daimyo looked down on the Haihan armor, but their budgets were limited. To buy a good set of armor, they had to buy fewer muskets. In contrast, the daimyo were more willing to spend money on purchasing weapons to increase the lethality of their troops as much as possible.
Although the shogunate had more financial resources, it was also unwilling to invest too much in individual protective equipment. The values of the shogunate leaders were very clear, that is, the lives of these soldiers were far from worth a set of good steel armor, and there was no need to spend this "waste of money".
Buy as much as you can and give it as rewards to meritorious generals in the future.
The shogunate troops that had landed in Kyushu were already relatively well-equipped, but the bamboo and wooden armor on the soldiers obviously could not provide much protection when being shot by rifle bullets. In the first round of intensive shooting when the two armies met, the shogunate troops fell down in a row like rice harvested by a sickle.
The Kyushu coalition forces, who were hiding behind the breastwork and firing, suffered almost no casualties. After all, they only had a scalp exposed outside the bunker, and a smoothbore musket could only rely on luck to hit such a small target at a distance of fifty feet.
In addition to musket fire, grapeshot from cannons also claimed the lives of the shogunate's troops.
Grapeshot fired at close range may seem only a few times larger than a musket bullet, but its lethality is much greater and can easily penetrate a human body. Just a few small-caliber cannons firing grapeshot are enough to block the shogunate army's route of advance.
Along with the rumbling of cannons, the guests watching the game also received an introduction to this small-caliber field gun. The main features of this gun are lightness, durability, simple operation, and a lower price than large-caliber artillery.
This type of artillery is actually not unfamiliar to many countries. Hai Han had already exported it in large quantities before, and at least thousands of them have been sold so far. It can be regarded as one of the essential weapons for various countries to train new firearms armies.
Even Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, countries hostile to Hai Han, obtained some through certain special channels, and they are still in service in their armies today.
Shi Diwen claimed that the latest model of this artillery is now on sale, with improvements in range, accuracy and barrel life. If you place an order to purchase the artillery in the near future, each gun will come with five rounds of the same grapeshot as the Kyushu Allied Forces.
Yes, that's right. The small-caliber cannons currently used on the Kyushu Allied Forces' defense line are exactly the latest models promoted by Shi Diwen.
For potential customers of this type of artillery, there is no need for Hai Han to brag about things like test firing at shooting ranges, live targets of pigs and cows, and combat effectiveness. Obviously, none of them are as real and reliable as the actual combat in front of them.
King Zheng Zao of Annan immediately expressed his intention to purchase this new type of small-caliber cannon.
Although he preferred the breech-loading cannons used by the Hai Han Army, when the time came for someone to step out and show support, he naturally took the lead.
Annan had been dealing with Hai Han for so many years and had done countless arms trades. Zheng Zao had long understood Hai Han's style of doing things. Each time, only after spending a certain amount of money on arms purchases, would they be eligible to apply for the purchase of more advanced weapons and equipment. After this battle, it would probably take some time to collect statistics on how many of these relatively cheap muskets and artillery could be sold. However, judging from the enthusiasm of the guests in the inspection team, the resulting sales should not be low.
After suffering from the fire attack, the shogunate army realized that it would be a waste of time if they pushed forward, so they quickly adjusted their formation, ordered the musketeers to withdraw and wait, and pushed out several cannons that had been delivered to the shore last night.
Not surprisingly, the field artillery used by the shogunate army was almost identical to the weapons on the Kyushu coalition positions.
After all, this kind of light artillery, which weighs only a few hundred pounds including wheels, has very few competitors in the market, and similar products in Western countries cannot even achieve completely consistent caliber accuracy, let alone be able to provide it in large quantities like Hai Han.
After an inspection, the Shogunate army finally had no choice but to purchase from Hai Han.
After the conflicting parties entered the artillery battle stage, the only difference was that the Kyushu coalition forces had arranged defensive fortifications in advance. Although they were just breastwork bunkers made of earth and stones, they were able to effectively block most of the artillery fire from the shogunate army.
The shogunate army, eager to break through, had no time to build shelters in front of the formation, and the artillery positions were directly exposed. The consequences can be imagined.
After several cannons were destroyed by the Allied Forces, the Shogunate Army once again fell into the same dilemma it faced yesterday - although it had the advantage in manpower, it was blocked in a narrow area by the enemy's long-range firepower and could not break out.
After only about an hour of fighting, the shogunate troops east of the hills had already stopped attacking and no longer made futile attempts.
According to news from another battlefield west of the hill, the shogunate army also suffered a setback and failed to successfully break through the defense line of the Kyushu coalition forces.
A makeshift battlefield diagram had been hung next to the spectator seats, depicting the approximate terrain of the battle zone, and marking the current location of the battle and the defense line deployed by the Kyushu coalition forces.
From the map, the landing point controlled by the shogunate army is directly in front of the hill fort, and the coasts on both sides of the hill are the current battle sites. No matter which direction they choose to break through, it is difficult for the shogunate army to deploy its formation and they are completely unable to play the advantage of their manpower.
Perhaps the shogunate had realized that choosing this main attack direction was not wise, but things had come to this point, and it would not be easy to withdraw the thousands of people who had already crossed the sea.
It is not impossible to leave them here as a diversion while looking for another landing site. After all, there are tens of thousands of shogunate troops on the other side of the strait. As long as there are enough ships, it will not be difficult to launch another round of offensive, but the diversionary effect will definitely be limited.
After taking control of the situation, the Kyushu coalition forces no longer needed to deploy a large number of troops here. They only needed to use a small number of troops to block the key traffic passes around the hills.
After the shogunate army took the initiative to cease fire, the two armies unexpectedly entered into a stalemate in a very tacit understanding, and neither side took the initiative to launch an offensive.
But this kind of calm was boring to the inspection team watching the battle, and Shi Diwen had to send his second son Shi Chengxin to the coalition headquarters to inquire about the next combat arrangements.