Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

The Russian army was also making intense preparations on their positions. Although the soldiers could not understand why the launcher was in the shape of the letter H, the artillery officers were still somewhat curious.

For example, Major Tushin's artillery position was right on the flank. In front of him was a group of engineers digging pits, and on the side were the new artillerymen. Their weapons were pulled from the rear by horse-drawn carriages.

"What is this? Are you also artillerymen?"

"Yes, Major, we are siege artillerymen from Petersburg."

"Siege artillery? There should be big ones. Are these weapons fired on iron pipes?"

"You are an old artilleryman at first glance. You must know something about our stuff."

"I am a little curious. I don't know how good your artillery is. Can this thing be accurate?"

"Speaking of which, don't laugh at us. This is made according to the structure of fireworks."

"When you say this, I understand. When the gunpowder explodes, it is through the explosion that the rocket flies up to the enemy's position."

After all, Tushin is one of the few honest officers who are fully proficient in artillery business. He understood it after a few words, but he was more excited with a pipe in his hand.

"I'm just worried about one thing. Your thing looks good, but it's not accurate, and the range is unclear. If it flies up and falls into the sea, it will be useless."

"This."

The artillery officer in charge of this rocket saw the honest little artillery major in front of him saying this, and he knew that he should change the subject.

However, Major Tushin knew the commander-in-chief of this battle after all, so if he had any doubts, he would have a channel.

What's more, Solovyov rode his horse from the headquarters to Tushin's artillery position. After all, rocket launchers were also arranged at the front here.

"Sir, I am Major Samsonov, the commander of the 1st Special Artillery Battalion. I have been ordered to bring new weapons to the front to carry out military operations."

"Very good, this thing is finally here, but I don't know if my wife has any objection to naming it after her."

"You mean the Countess?"

"Yes, Katya's nickname is 'Katyusha'. Although this word is not used much for girls now, it should be used more in the future."

Speaking of which, the empress also has this name, and the unmarried young lady is called this name. Because of the two empresses, many nobles will choose the name Catherine when naming their daughters.

It can be said that it was popularized in an instant.

As for the "Katyusha" rocket launcher, it is really restoring history, but Solovyov has no confidence in this iron tube "Kasan rocket". It's just that I heard that the arsenals in Lugansk and Tula improved the processing technology when manufacturing this thing.

Since the project was completed in 1807, it is the first time that a large number of rockets have been produced. In terms of rockets, the Russian army can compete with the British Congreve rocket.

In fact, although the rockets used by the Russian army have impressive accuracy, their performance, whether in terms of ballistic stability or explosive power, is better than that of the British.

In this era, the Congreve rocket is just for fun and to cause damage, and the British army first used it in the navy, while the Russian army gave priority to the army.

If the British rockets were really useful, they would not have appeared only in a few battles. Wellington even believed that this thing was less threatening to the enemy than to his own people.

As for the Russian version, the launcher is a later style. If necessary, you can also find a few horses to pull a trailer and make a mule-horse version of the BM-13 rocket launcher, but the ammunition performance is definitely not as good as that of 130 years later.

What is more distinctive is that after Solovyov talked about his wife, there was an additional letter K, which was used as a weapon mark.

Just mentioning this new weapon might cause some young girls and wives to have some misunderstandings, but Katya didn't feel anything.

Now, Tushin still had some problems, and he finally came over on his own initiative.

"Ah, Tushin, it's you again. How is the artillery position arranged? Do you have the confidence to give them a shot this time?"

"Sir, for the first shot, I can guarantee that this half-pood unicorn will send the shells into the gap."

Tushin pointed to a stone fortress in front with his pipe. Indeed, due to the past war, there was a gap on it, and it was difficult for ordinary artillery to hit it with a single shot.

"You can try it. It's a good sign if you hit it."

"Fire first without fighting?"

Tushin still strictly abided by the combat regulations, so he always had some concerns.

Solovyov didn't care whether Tushin was bragging, but his performance was always outstanding, and he could show off his artillery skills to everyone at this time.

With the accuracy of the Unicorn gun, considering the location of the No. 1 gun position, Solovyov noticed that Tushin had reinforced the gun position, which should be able to achieve relatively high stability when firing the first shot.

"Just shoot when I tell you to, Tushin, and it will also boost the morale of the brothers."

"Okay then!"

Then Tushin put down his pipe and organized the artillery of the No. 1 Unicorn to come over.

"Major, why are you here at this time? Hey, General, why are you here?"

Soloviev has always had a good relationship with these soldiers. Among these old artillerymen, Dyrenstein followed Tushin, so he naturally knew Solovyov.

He even knew his experience, from being the adjutant of Emperor Paul and Marshal Suvorov to today's aide-de-camp and commander of the Finnish Division. In short, he fought all the way up by relying on hard work, there is nothing to say about it.

"Be serious!"

"It's not a big deal, Tushin. You have a few old guys under you, and they have known me for several years."

"Yes, sir, we have watched you become a general from an officer, and you may even be promoted in the future!"

"Okay, let's not talk about this. I have already given an order to your battalion commander, Major Tushin, to use the unicorn cannon at your No. 1 gun position to hit the gap. If you get in, I will give you a reward. If you have the life to spend it, you can buy wine and make some good food."

"Sir, don't worry about this. Mr. Major has always been very accurate in firing cannons. We have been practicing for so long, so we can't be stupid."

"Okay then!"

Soloviev's idea was to really fire a TND.

Then these old artillerymen were thinking about the reward money, which they could use to buy wine and pay for a meal at night.

Tushin was still thinking about how to fire the cannon accurately.

As for the shells, after they were loaded, it was time to fire.

Tushin was the one who operated the gun himself. The muzzle of his half-Pute Unicorn was raised a little. After the calculation was correct, he fired it out.

As for the effect of the shells, because the Unicorn fired grenades, the effect was still very conspicuous. At least after the shells exploded inside, sparks really burst out.

"Well done!"

Soloviev couldn't help but admire it. As for the rocket artillery soldiers next to him, they were also stunned.

"What an accurate gun!"

As for the British army, they were nervous for a while. They didn't expect that there were still people firing guns on the Russian side. They even thought that the Russian army was going to launch an attack.

However, in fact, there was no such thing. As for what the Russians were going to do.

After all, abstract things are more common in Russia and France, especially in Russia.

The Russian army fired a shot, and the camps of both sides became quiet again.

Tushin was still quite curious, so he started to ask about rockets.

"Sir, I'm not saying that this kind of rocket may not be accurate and is not safe."

"You are right, Tushin, you are a professional artilleryman, it is very unsafe. This is the design idea I got from Austria, and it really happened at that time."

He was talking about Archduke Alexander Leopold, the only one among the Habsburg Grand Dukes who loved to invent and then blew himself up with rockets. He died because of the power of fireworks. However, if the entire design is adjusted, it can still be an unreliable rocket powered by black powder.

This thing is mainly inaccurate, and the safety factor has been greatly improved.

Now, we are just waiting for the siege to begin, and we have to concentrate our firepower on the British.

As for Sir Moore, he is indeed quite nervous.

He has considered a lot and decided to personally inspect the situation in the northern defense zone. The Russian army's sudden firing of artillery and correction of trajectory made the British very nervous.

Fortunately, neither side fired a cold gun, otherwise it would be even more uneasy.

At this time, Sir Moore arrived at the front line for inspection. With the British bureaucracy, there would always be some movement.

So much so that Samsonov and Tushin had some ideas after the commander left.

"Tushin, I think the British are making some moves. Do you want to fire a few shots?"

"Firing a few shots is useless. The range of my gun is only a little more than 1 verst, and the power is not enough if it is far away."

"It doesn't matter. I still have these rockets! Although they are not accurate, the quantity is large."

"How can you fire at will without orders?"

"It doesn't matter. We have too many rockets, and we are more casual when firing. We can fire more. Then we can talk about it."

Samsonov is quite clever. After all, when Solovyov left, he left him and Tushin an order, so they can act according to the situation.

As for firing dozens of rockets, there is no problem. After all, special artillery can carry out a special military operation.

Moore didn't feel the danger, after all, this position was still far from the range of the artillery, but it was already within the range of the rocket.

And Samsonov prepared a lot of it. He asked the artillery in his camp to get at least 50 rockets and prepare to launch them.

Such an unethical thing, Ferguson, the famous inventor of the breech-loading rifle, would probably cry after hearing it. He was really rich and powerful, and he was so shameless to launch "stealing".

As for the Sir himself, he was still on the street, chatting with some officers. Due to the obstruction of his vision, he did not notice that a large number of rockets were flying in the air on the Russian position.

When these "fireworks" with a speed that was not too fast began to fall, the officers who noticed it also pushed Sir Moore into the house next door.

The explosions were one after another. The British army used Congreve rockets, so they knew that the Royal Navy had this equipment. They had bombed Copenhagen before, but the effect was another matter.

But this time it was the army that was bombed, so it can be said that it was a personal experience.

The effect of these dozens of rockets was not obvious, which only caused more than 20 British soldiers to be killed and injured. Sir Moore himself was hit by shrapnel from the explosion.

"Damn it, it seems that Arthur is right, I have a kind of bad luck."

And he thought about himself, because of his tall stature, the target was too obvious.

"Sir, are you okay?"

"Kenneth, I'm not going to die now. But the Russians always like to try new tricks. Their commander must be Solovyov. Among the Russian generals I know, only this young man likes to do this."

"I heard that he is also a friend of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. It was his idea to establish the Football Association."

"What a pity. If it were peacetime, or if we were not hostile to each other, this man might become our friend."

"Sir, what should we do now?"

"We just need to be careful. This thing should not be very accurate. It's just that the wood chips and shrapnel hurt us. If the Russians get a few dozen more rounds to shoot at us, it may not be good."

Samsonov naturally didn't know that his volley almost sent Sir John Moore to a place with abundant water and grass, but he was still very satisfied with the effect of the bombardment.

"If you can shoot more accurately, it will be better!"

"Your rockets can't replace artillery. If this thing hits the fortress, it will just tickle."

After seeing the power of these rockets, Tushin also had a clear understanding. They were probably used by the division commander to deal with enemy infantry and cavalry, or to shoot farther to threaten the British artillery exposed outside.

If it is really used in the attack, the effect may not be very good.

As for the report to Solovyov, he didn't care. After all, he had seen a lot of cold guns and cold cannons. When the day comes, the sergeants of the Guards will use long-barreled rifles with higher accuracy to snipe British officers, he will not be surprised.

After all, the British also have similar habits, such as those green jackets. Fortunately, they were not deployed to Sweden.

The siege of Karlskrona is about to officially begin. (End of this chapter)