18th century total war

Chapter 139 See Night Attack Again (Subscription plus third update)
While the interception team led by Bolcha was successful, the First Army and Second Army of the Southern Army led by Arnaud finally came into contact with the main force of the First Division led by Major General Karl.

And the artillery battle has been launched for a full day!

Both sides were fighting the traditional tactics of the era of queuing and shooting. Before the infantry came into contact, the artillery was set up to bombard the opponent's front.

Of course, it is impossible for the artillery of this era to bombard the opponent's artillery positions.

For one thing, the long-distance shells fired by the artillery of this era are all solid iron balls. It is not that there are no blooming shells, but they can't shoot far, so it is impossible to use them in artillery battles.

Secondly, the artillery hit rate in this era is very touching...

Using solid iron balls as cannonballs with a poor hit rate to suppress the artillery on the opposite side is pure nonsense!
Therefore, the main target of the artillery battles of both sides is the infantry battle line of the opponent. If any stupid commander exposes the cavalry within the effective range of the enemy artillery, it will be even more unlucky.

Compared with bombarding infantry, it is obviously easier to bombard taller and more majestic cavalry.

Therefore, on the forward battle lines of both sides, only rows of infantry battle lines can be seen, and only a few light cavalry responsible for passing orders shuttle between the various troops.

When the cavalry is not attacking, it is seldom directly exposed to the muzzle of the gun.

The purpose of the artillery confrontation between the two sides is very simple, to lower the morale of the enemy, disrupt the formation of the enemy, find a breakthrough, and then send the infantry brigade forward.

However, during the bombardment on the first day, both Arnault and Karl were shocked.

Arno was shocked that the Black Dragon Legion was indeed an invincible army according to the rumors. In the face of a full day of bombardment, the infantry battle line did not move at all, let alone a gap that could be attacked, and there was not even a trace of chaos in the formation!
In the eyes of Arno, the soldiers in Li Wei's rebel army are like wooden stakes...

Compared with Arnold, Karl was obviously more shocked. After all, Karl knew that his Black Dragon Legion was different from other armies in this world. Karl couldn't tell exactly what was different. In short, it was more advanced than other armies in this world. !

This is also why Karl tends to use artillery to bombard the opponent's battle line first, find out the weak area of ​​the opponent's battle line, or simply blast a gap in a certain area (not a real gap, but the line infantry in that area The shape is chaotic), and then dispatch the infantry guards to attack and win with the smallest cost.

This is a very common tactic in the era of queuing and shooting.

For example, in the Second Opium War, the British and French allied forces bombarded the formation of the Qing army in this way. After the formation of the Qing army was bombarded into chaos, they launched an attack and secured the victory in one fell swoop.

Although the strength of the Qing army at that time was much higher than that of the invading British and French allied forces, the performance of its artillery was not as good after all.

Then there was the Baliqiao fiasco!

Five British and French troops were killed and tens of thousands of Qing troops were defeated...

Movies dare not make such an exaggerated battle loss ratio!

You know, the Qing army in the Battle of Baliqiao at that time was known as the elite of the Qing Empire, and even took out the Mongolian Eight Banners (the full Eight Banners have been abolished) among the Eight Banners at that time...

At that time, compared to the Man Ba ​​Banners who only knew how to go shopping and play women fighting birds, the Meng Ba Banners who lived on the Mongolian grasslands still had good combat effectiveness. He calls himself a Manchu slave!
With poor pay and living in the Mongolian grasslands, the combat effectiveness was naturally preserved. Later, Seng Gelinqin was sent to wipe out the Nian Army, and the combat effectiveness of the Mongolian Eight Banners was also proved.

It's not that the Mongolian Eight Banners are too weak, but that the Anglo-French coalition forces are too strong...

The irony is that the Anglo-French allied forces sent to the Qing Dynasty during the Second Opium War could only be regarded as ordinary regular troops in Europe, far from being elite!
If you haven't experienced the 19th century, you can never imagine how brilliant the European army of that era was with what later generations looked like a silly lineup and shot.

At least, in the battle of queuing up and shooting, the line infantry stood in a dense line of square formations, with the spirit of being bombarded, placed in the armies of other mainland countries at the same time, could it be done?

The artillery from both sides was bombarding the infantry formation on the opposite side. It was fine for the Black Dragon Legion to be as motionless as a mountain, but the Marseille Legion in the forward position was not as motionless as a mountain, and they even sang Marseillaise while being bombarded!
After a day of artillery battle, many Marseille Legion soldiers in the forward positions became hoarse from singing Marseillaise...

That's really putting your heart and soul into singing!

How could Karl not be shocked by this scene?
The other party has achieved the same level as the Black Dragon Legion just by singing the Marseillaise. This is so untheological!

It was only later that Major General Carl learned that the armed citizens of Paris who relied on artillery to win the Battle of Valmy stood in a group and stood up to the bombardment while singing the Marseillaise. There is no gap in the front line that can be attacked, and in the end, the army can only retreat when the shells are exhausted...

Being able to stand up to the battle line without any chaos in the shelling, naturally you can also stand up to the enemy's platoon guns to shoot salvos!
After a day of artillery battle, Karl, who didn't find any signs of chaos on the enemy's front, waited until it got dark and began to send out the black dragon army's ace tactic - night attack.

This tactic is a tried-and-true winning tactic since the rise of the Black Dragon Legion.

As a matter of course, facing the strictly guarded Marseille army camp (that is, a temporary camp with only a circle of low walls and wooden fences), they soon discovered the Li Wei rebels who planned to "attack" at night.

Arnaud did not fall asleep. By studying the past records of the Li Wei rebels, he was naturally also guarding against the night attacks by the Li Wei rebels.

At this time, in the barracks of the Marseille Army, the officers kept shouting loudly: "Citizens, take up arms, and let's defeat the enemy together!"

In the First French Republic, in order to demonstrate the equal social status of everyone, it is stipulated that everyone must call each other citizens, even in the army, citizens must be called citizens in addition to their military ranks.

In the eyes of the revolutionary masses, citizen is a very sacred title, which means freedom and equality!
Although the officers and soldiers in the Marseille Army camp were assembled in an orderly manner, the outer camp defense line was broken through by the onslaught infantry at the first time.

If there is no way, a platoon of guns and a round of thunderstorms are thrown down, even hard-working people can't hold it!

The infantry guards who had just rushed into the brightly lit camp of the Marseilles immediately stopped and began to form a team.

On the opposite side of them is a dense line of battles striding forward!

(End of this chapter)