Chapter 326 The Terrible French Artillery
Chapter 327 Terrible French Artillery
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Just when Hilde was confidently thinking about how to kill those hateful French artillery, he was shocked to find that the cannons began to move!
He subconsciously looked back and saw that he had only run 400 steps, which should have taken less than 2 minutes.
In other words, the French artillery only took such a short time to complete the harness and start maneuvering!
How is this possible? !
He saw the French artillery retreating, his eyes almost bulged with bloodshot, and he immediately gritted his teeth and shouted: "Speed up! We must stop those cannons!"
Just now, the French cavalry artillery fired at least 9 rounds, causing hundreds of casualties to the Dutch army. If they were allowed to escape, their morale would be severely hit.
In an instant, the cavalry of the six squadrons began to gallop at full speed. Although it was not as fast as a charge, it was the limit of what the horses could bear at this distance.
However, the French cannons were running very fast. Hilde estimated that they were almost as fast as the cavalry trotting.
Especially the long-shaped pointed-roofed carriages, which were almost running into the French infantry lines.
When his cavalry finally arrived at the firing position of the French cavalry artillery, the cannons had already disappeared.
Hilde's deputy panted and said, "These guys are running faster than foxes..."
Hilde listened to the heavy breathing of the war horses and cavalry beside him, and his brows were twisted into a ball. There was definitely something wrong with the speed of the French roping horses just now. No, they almost didn't even have the process of roping horses, and the cannons began to retreat.
He naturally didn't know that this was the new cavalry artillery equipment and combat mode that Joseph brought to the Guards Corps.
Those cannons had never been untied. When they found that the Prussian cavalry was attacking, the gunners immediately drove their horses away. The soldiers on the cannons used a capstan to close the distance between the cannons and the horses, and finally used a buckle that could be hung with a push to fix the rear of the gun carriage behind the driver's seat.
As for the ammunition cart, it was even faster. Push the gunpowder box and the ammunition rack into the carriage and turn around and leave. The ammunition cart is located behind the cannon, very close to the horses, and there is almost no problem with the cart.
The speed of a well-designed ammunition cart is almost the same as that of a public carriage in the city.
This is also the reason why the cavalry artillery of the Guards dared to bombard the enemy in the face. In the Napoleonic era, this tactic also had a name, called artillery group close shooting, commonly known as cannons with bayonets.
However, the Guards did not fully implement the close shooting tactics just now, otherwise they would have used shotgun shells to bombard the Prussian cavalry head-on. After all, this battle did not require them to fight so hard.
In fact, if Joseph had not ordered to take the Dutch infantry line seriously, Berthier would not have let the cavalry artillery come out to show such a hand.
Just when Hilde was full of annoyance, the guard beside him suddenly looked into the distance: "Sir, it seems to be French cavalry."
Hilde hurriedly listened carefully and found the faint sound of horse hooves coming from the east.
He was immediately nervous. He had almost exhausted his horsepower just now in order to chase those fast-moving French artillerymen. If he was attacked by the French cavalry at this time, his people would definitely be no different from fixed targets.
He hurriedly ordered two squadrons to be left behind, and the others immediately withdrew to their own positions.
However, his warhorse just walked slowly with its nostrils wide open, and the sound of horse hooves behind him was getting closer and closer.
Finally, Hilde left the cavalry behind to fight with the Guards.
To be honest, the quality of the cavalry of the Guards was really not as good as that of the Prussian Junker nobles. Half of them learned riding skills after entering the Paris Police Academy, and the cavalry absorbed from the French Guards at that time had some experience.
But at this time, they were facing some "fixed targets" that could not run. After a flank charge, the Prussian cavalry lost their will to resist and dismounted to surrender.
Hilde looked back and saw this scene, cursing the French artillery even more viciously. Then he saw that those damned cavalry artillery actually circled behind the French infantry and rushed from the west to the front of the Dutch infantry line less than 200 steps, and began to set up artillery...
At the same time, the infantry line of the Guards Corps was also approaching rapidly.
No matter how fanatical the Southern Dutch soldiers were, no matter how the priests in the team could stabilize the morale of the army, facing the cannons that kept spitting grapeshot in their faces and could not effectively fight back, no one could keep their morale from collapsing.
After nearly a thousand soldiers were killed by the French cavalry artillery, the first infantry line of the Dutch began to become chaotic. In fact, it was a very remarkable achievement that they could withstand nearly 20 rounds of grapeshot before they began to become chaotic.
General Witte saw the situation of his own infantry line through the telescope and hurriedly ordered the second line to push forward. At this time, the rhythmic drumbeats of the French infantry were heard from the front battlefield.
Berthier grasped the rhythm very accurately, just when the two Dutch infantry lines were rotating, he ordered the Guards Corps to attack in a column.
The roar of Prussian cannons was immediately heard on the hillsides on both sides. Although only solid bullets could be used due to the long distance, it still posed a considerable threat to the Guards Corps.
But soon, the Guards Corps cavalry artillery had moved to the side of the Prussian artillery position on the east side and began to suppress the attack.
The Prussian artillery had no choice but to turn its muzzle to fight back. The pressure on the infantry of the Guards Corps suddenly relaxed.
More than a dozen infantry columns quickly attacked 30 steps in front of the Dutch defense line - the opponent was retreating in panic, and there was no danger at all at this distance - and then very skillfully spread out into a line formation, launching a round of close range attacks on the Dutch army. Volley from a distance.
Before General Witte's second infantry line could press forward, he heard intensive gunfire from the front, and then his own broken troops ran over.
The training time of the Dutch was very short. At this time, those who retreated did not know how to walk from both sides, and those who advanced did not know how to open a gap to let the defeated troops pass. The two sides immediately crowded together.
The infantry line of the Guards Corps has appeared more than a hundred steps away.
…
Blücher was still discussing with his staff how to perfectly double-team the French army when he saw a communications soldier quickly walk into the tent and hand him a roll of battle reports.
Blücher couldn't help but smile when he saw Major Crystal's seal on the paint. It seemed that the town of Dikirch had been captured. In this way, when he defeated the French army, Luxembourg may have fallen into the hands of Crystal.
He calmly opened the scroll, but his face froze - it said that there were a large number of French troops garrisoned in the town of Dikish, and there was no way to start. Crystal applied to return to join the main force.
"The French actually still have troops left in Dikich?" Blücher frowned and handed the note to the staff officer aside.
Before he finished speaking, the tent was opened again, this time by a communications soldier whose face was covered in gunpowder smoke and blood.
While the latter handed the battle report to Blücher, he already said in a hoarse voice: "General, General Witte's defense line has been defeated..."
"What?!" Blücher was shocked when he heard this. He opened the battle report several times and saw the news of the defeat of the Dutch Army. Below it was Hilde's signature.
