18th century total war

Chapter 27 Three Volleys
The crackling gunfire continued, but it was very loose, and as the number of shots gradually increased, the white smoke in front of the defenders in Vannes gradually formed a thick fog barrier!

In the first few shots, they could roughly see the enemy's figure, but as more and more white smoke filled the air, they could no longer see the enemy's shadow on the opposite side at all, so they could only avoid the muzzle of their guns and shoot forward at will. .

As a result, it became a luxury for the flintlock gun, which had an unreliable hit rate, to kill people.

Even if the enemy is a dense phalanx, it doesn't mean that you can hit the enemy by firing forward casually. After all, firing forward can still shoot the sky or let the lead bullets wash the ground. A thousand miles away!

This is why the flintlock is obviously a smoothbore gun, without rifling, and the ballistic trajectory is unstable, but the flintlock soldiers still aim at the shoulders close to the eyes when shooting.

Unsteady ballistics are better than hitting blindly!

As a result, as the distance approached, the casualties of the line infantry on Li Wei's side did not increase but decreased!
The gunfire on the opposite side continued, crackling like setting off firecrackers, but fewer and fewer people could actually hit the target.

The advancing line infantry continued to fall, or their limbs were hit and crippled, and they fell to the ground and wailed.

But the pace of progress is getting faster and faster!
Until the distance of less than 30 steps was reached, the line infantry that had formed a flat horizontal formation suddenly stopped under the command of their respective officers.

With a shout, one after another, the phalanxes took the posture of three salvos and pulled the trigger suddenly!
There is actually a slight interval between the salvos of each phalanx. After all, the soldiers in each phalanx obey the orders of their officers, but the interval is very short. In the eyes of outsiders, it is almost the same as everyone firing at the same time.

A roar passed by, and the officers and soldiers of the Vannes city defenders who stood in the thick white smoke and shot blindly fell down!
The old-fashioned mortars on the two wings of the Vannes garrison phalanx also roared at this time, and from time to time, a shell just fell into the crowd of line infantry, and some unlucky ones flew out!
However, none of this can stop the determination of the line infantry to advance.

The formation speed of the basic line infantry is actually very rubbish. Li Wei naturally knows this. The "basic" marked on the training template in the total war system he opened is actually the level of the line infantry.

It is equivalent to the recruits who have just walked out of the training camp in this era, or the kind who have only received elementary training!
The real combat power of this level of line infantry is actually not much stronger than that of the militia, but after adding the morale of not fearing death, it becomes very terrifying.

For example, let these line infantry who are not good at quick formation changes directly use the close-range three-column salvo + bayonet charge tactics that only the elite can adapt to!

This tactic is very simple, the only thing needed is the courage to get close enough, shoot a round of guns and then charge forward with the bayonet!
If you don't consider the issue of courage, you can do this by simply pulling a group of militiamen.

Today's line infantry is doing very well. After the thin horizontal formation fired three salvos, the leading officer swung down his command saber, and led the infantry under his command to rush towards the enemy phalanx that had just been baptized by lead bullets.

Among them is the Bolcha branch.

Not all of the Black Dragon Legion fired three salvos and launched bayonet charges, only about half of them, and there was a thin battle line behind that did not participate in the three salvos, so naturally they would not launch bayonet charges.

They are actually used by Li Wei as a fault-tolerant team. In case the line of infantry who launched the attack in front is wiped out, he can fight another wave!
If the line infantry charging ahead wins, these teams that have not charged can be used as backup forces to expand the results of the battle and establish the victory.

Therefore, the black dragon army on the battlefield has been divided into two parts at this time. The first part has a slightly larger number of people, and all of them charged into the enemy group with bayonets and howling, while the second part stood in place, forming a thin horizontal formation, ready to attack at any time. Ready to join the fray or fire a salvo.

puff~
Bolcha slashed at the shoulder of an enemy, almost taking off most of the opponent's shoulder. He took a closer look and found that the opponent was still a boy!
Bohr looked at the other party's immature face, which was spitting out blood bubbles, and couldn't help but appear in a trance.

If my child was still alive, he would probably be this old now...

Afterwards, the sharpness in Bolza's eyes flashed away, and the brainwashing attribute attached to the total war system suddenly broke out, and Bolza's gaze suddenly became firm.

For the glory of Lord Li Wei, kill! ! !

The defenders of Vannes, whose morale was mixed, were hit by three salvos at close range. Before they could recover, they were rammed in by a group of crazy enemies with bayonets.

In just a few minutes, the first line of battle in Vannes collapsed!

The gunners operating the old-fashioned mortars in the front row immediately abandoned the artillery and ran wildly when they saw the enemy rushing towards them who had crushed their own battle line in the middle.

The bayonet charge of the line infantry in the first part was unexpectedly smooth, and the line infantry in the second part naturally did not charge again. They maintained the horizontal formation of shooting in line, and the drums of the military band sounded again, stepping on the enemy and their own people. The dead body stepped forward.

At this time, Li Wei in the rear had completely lost command of the frontline troops, because everyone had already joined the battle. Unless Li Wei asked them to retreat at this time, any orders he gave would be a burden on the frontline troops.

Naturally, the stunned Gibbon and his party on the other side were also shocked. They watched in disbelief that the first battle line with the largest number of troops was easily broken through, and Li Wei's infantry chased and killed the defeated soldiers regardless of casualties. , Looking around, the line infantry of the Black Dragon Legion under Li Wei's pursuit has already lost more than half of the battle!
From beginning to end, the direct-firing field artillery behind the defenders in Vannes did not stop bombarding!
The defenders of Vannes, who had lost their helmets and armor, fled frantically. The enemy is really terrible, and they have been beaten to the point of losing their courage!

Fortunately, the officers in the garrison of Vannes are not all idiots. They also prepared a large number of reserves to form the second battle line.

At this time, the second line of battle had already crossed the artillery position, and everyone held their flintlock guns with bayonets inserted, forming a dense horizontal formation, and stepped forward.

When those rout soldiers saw their own phalanx advancing like a wall, they hurriedly ran through the gaps between the phalanxes to escape.

After seeing the dense phalanx, Bohr, who was chasing after him, glanced at the friendly troops around him who didn't stop at all, and smiled miserably.

Thanks to Invincible Shuttle Heaven for rewarding 300 starting coins.

Thank you book friend 20200424232756121 for rewarding 100 starting coins.

(End of this chapter)