#865 - The team is disbanded

The actions of the Austrian soldiers would undoubtedly be considered foolish by people of the 21st century, but in the era of firing lines, they seemed quite normal.

With the hit rate of a flintlock rifle, it would take hundreds of shots to possibly hit them through the gaps in the battlements.

So the soldiers had become accustomed to standing boldly in the face of the enemy.

A soldier reacted and warned loudly, "Maybe they're sharpshooters!"

The soldiers of Zimmerman's company were about to crouch down to take cover when someone retorted, "Definitely not, I didn't see their hammers just now."

The sharpshooter rifles of this era, meaning rifled muskets, were extremely difficult to load, requiring a hammer to forcefully ram the bullet into the barrel.

The sergeant next to him also shook his head and said, "Sharpshooters couldn't possibly have such a fast rate of fire."

He was too late, and another 5 soldiers were hit by bullets fired from below the fortress.

In just three or four minutes, Zimmerman's company had lost 36 men.

The lieutenant shouted loudly, "Didn't your officers tell you about the latest regulations? Stay away from the battlements, don't stand in the open, try to crouch down!"

The soldiers looked towards Zimmerman, their company commander, lying in a pool of blood.

Someone shouted, "The company commander didn't mention it… but why do we need to do this?"

"The French are equipped with a new type of gun that can accurately hit us from a hundred paces away!"

"Is, is that true?"

"Fools! Of course, it's true," the lieutenant shouted. "Otherwise, why is the artillery's casualty rate so high?!"

From the second day of the French siege of Cologne, the artillery on the fortress, especially the artillery on the outermost defense line, suffered more than 200 casualties every day.

Keep in mind, unless they encountered a cavalry raid, they wouldn't lose so many artillerymen even after a major battle.

And now the French sharpshooters would rush to the vicinity of the fortress, using the blind spots of the cannons to snipe the gunners with the latest August 1790 rifled muskets.

Due to the use of percussion caps, the new gun also had a longer range than ordinary sharpshooter rifles, making it difficult for the Austrian army to form an effective counterattack.

In the first few days, the Austrian army was so frustrated that they sent large groups of infantry out of the fortress to drive away the French sharpshooters.

But the French cannons were already waiting behind the sharpshooters.

As soon as the Austrian infantry showed their heads, the cannons would greet them with grapeshot.

After doing this a few times, the Austrian infantry suffered heavy casualties and had to temporarily issue regulations requiring the artillery to crouch down as much as possible to avoid the enemy sharpshooters.

But in this way, the firing efficiency of the cannons was reduced to a dismal level.

The French cannons already outnumbered the Cologne garrison's cannons—Masséna had transferred the Royal Artillery Battalion, as well as the cannons captured in previous battles, all around Cologne, totaling more than 200—so it almost became a one-way artillery suppression.

The siege had only lasted 12 days, and the French had already broken through 1 of Cologne's 4 main fortresses, and the second was already crumbling.

Keep in mind that these fortress groups rely on each other. Once one is breached, a blind spot in firepower will appear, greatly reducing the difficulty of attacking the remaining fortresses.

The soldiers of Zimmerman's company were already pale, and when they thought about how they had just looked out from the battlements, it was simply courting death.

Then they suddenly understood why they, an infantry company, were being asked to operate the cannons.

I'm afraid the artillerymen had been almost completely shot dead by the French sharpshooters…

Thinking of this, they couldn't help but shrink their bodies even tighter.

Until it got dark, this 18-pounder cannon hadn't fired a single shot.

The next day at dawn.

An Austrian major came to the artillery position that Zimmerman's company was responsible for—only when the light was dim did these officers dare to appear on the fortress.

"You young men have performed excellently!" The major scanned the listless soldiers and encouraged them loudly, "We have already passed the most dangerous stage.

"The British reinforcements of 20,000 men have landed in Hamburg and will arrive here in half a month.

"And General Blücher's troops have also completed their rest and may arrive even sooner than the British.

"You must have all heard of him. Yes, the Prussian general who successfully broke through the enemy's defenses under the heavy siege of the French army and brought the legion back to the east bank of the Rhine!

"By then, our forces will reach more than 60,000, and the French will be forever stopped in front of the Cologne Fortress!"

Yes, now the Allied forces up and down regarded being able to stop the French offensive as a rare victory.

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Seeing the courage reappear in the soldiers' eyes, the Austrian major patted his hands with satisfaction and pointed to the cannons around him: "Let those Frenchies see how you…"

He was only halfway through speaking when he saw his adjutant running over in a panic, whispering a few quick words in his ear.

The major immediately widened his eyes and exclaimed, "What? Prussia has withdrawn from the anti-French alliance…"

Ignoring the panicked soldiers, he turned and ran towards the fortress's general headquarters.

In less than an hour, the news that Prussia and France had reached a truce spread, and the entire Cologne Fortress was filled with wails.

Although there wasn't a single Prussian soldier here, the garrison's resistance firepower suddenly weakened by several levels because of this news.

In the lower levels of the fortress, the major finally saw the report that had just been delivered.

It was printed with: Prussia officially announced its withdrawal from the anti-French alliance the day before yesterday and will withdraw all troops back to its homeland.

Prussia recognizes French rule over the Geldern region and will recall all administrative officials there within a month.

Prussia will no longer adopt any policies hostile to France…

And France promised to give up war reparations and release all Prussian prisoners, but not including important officers…

The point of not wanting war reparations was not that Joseph was generous, but completely because Prussia couldn't be squeezed for any oil, and forcibly demanding reparations would only engrave a deep hatred for France in the hearts of the Prussians.

"These treacherous Prussian bastards!"

The major slammed the document on the table angrily and roared, "Even without them, we can defend Cologne!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard the sound of gunfire on the fortress become dense.

An adjutant pushed open the door and rushed in, panting, "The, the French have occupied the central embankment!"

The central embankment was the second wall of the fortress and also the most solid.

Although there was another line of defense further inside, it was too narrow and couldn't last long under the bombardment of cannons.

The major rushed out the door. The fortress had secret passages that allowed him to transfer to the north side of the fortress and go to another fortress to continue fighting.