18th century total war

Chapter 312 Fear of Death Needs Time to Brew

"French Defense Forces, Forward!!!"

The lieutenant-level officer holding a command knife walked in front of the company, with the command knife slanted down, stepping forward, leading the rhythm of the team behind him.

Of course, the most important thing is the drumbeat of those military bands, which greatly guarantees the same pace of the guard infantry.

Within a distance of tens of meters in front of the guard infantry, sharpshooters lined up in a long and loose line slowly moved forward. When they entered a distance of 200 meters, they raised the front-loading rifle in their hands, half-kneeled on the ground, and faced The dense battle line in the distance pulls the trigger.

Bang, bang, bang...

Scattered gunshots sounded, and Ettore saw a soldier in the front row of the company in front of him suddenly fall backwards and fell to the ground.

Ettore's heart tightened, the light infantry on the opposite side was so terribly accurate!
This is a distance of 200 meters!

At this distance, the light infantry of the Legion of Honor of the grass team couldn't fire at all, otherwise it would be a waste of ammunition.

The light infantry of the Legion of Honor, who was half squatting in front of their own battle line, could not help but look at each other when they heard the continuous sound of gunfire and the continuous fall of people on their own line of battle behind them.

Should they fire at this point?
Aim at each other's skirmishers?
This can't hit anyone at all!

They only have a few guns, so they can't fight the same probability as the line infantry.

Although the fight like this can't kill all the soldiers of the Legion of Honor, it will have a great blow to morale, so you can't just stand and be beaten.

Obviously, the images that Ettore could think of could also be imagined by the officers above.

Soon, Ettore received an order sent by a messenger, and the exciting drumbeat sounded suddenly.

As the company captain, Ettore followed behind his company, the second lieutenants and lieutenants usually walked in front, and the captain and company leader followed behind to supervise the battle.

The line infantry of the Legion of Honor finally stepped forward to attack. The difference in marksmanship of the light infantry forced the commander of the Legion of Honor to give up his good idea of ​​sticking to the slope.

There were not many artillery pieces on both sides, and the solid iron bullets shuttled back and forth. The tragedy caused was terrifying, but the number of casualties was really minimal.

The Legion of Honor, brainwashed by nationalist ideology, has long been accustomed to this kind of baptism of solid iron bullets. They carried muskets with expressionless or serious expressions, and walked forward.

Aristotle was training soldiers while fighting. Although the entire battle line was not so smooth, at least the soldiers of the Legion of Honor would not step on the heels of those in front.

As the distance drew closer, the light infantry of the Legion of Honor finally launched a counterattack, but their killing efficiency was not as good as that of sharpshooters, and they did not cause many casualties to the infantry guards.

Every time a guard infantry falls, someone from the back row will immediately replace it.

This is the queuing shooting tactic!
Some people may think it's stupid, why do you have to line up in a dense line and walk forward with bullets?
Isn't it good to charge directly?
Charging is of course no problem, the Russians just play like this, and after each battle, the number of casualties is higher than the average level in Europe!
Initiating a bayonet charge without breaking the opponent's battle line requires crossing three thresholds.

A volley of shotguns from the enemy's artillery, a volley of mortars, a volley of muskets!
After crossing these three thresholds, you have to face the dense jungle of bayonets!

The defending side can take advantage of it and form the densest bayonet array, waiting for the opponent to rush in front of its bayonet, and then stab it out fiercely!
Even a cavalry charge can't withstand this kind of bayonet formation, let alone an infantry charge?

Of course, if you fill it with human life, you can still fill in a bloody passage, unless the enemies on the opposite side are all brainwashed soldiers who are not afraid of death!

The significance of queuing up and shooting tactics is that before the bayonet charge breaks down the opponent's battle line, at least it must disturb the opponent's battle line, so that the opponent cannot form a tight bayonet formation against one's own bayonet charge.

Obviously, if you shoot a platoon with a gun, it depends on who can't hold on first. If the battle line collapses or a gap appears, it will provide the other side with the opportunity to charge with a bayonet.

It is not difficult to understand that the British's three-row salvo and bayonet charge at close range were so rarely used that the Minie rifle became popular.

The Legion of Honor, who learned from British tactics, naturally also highly respects close-range three-column salvo.

In the battle between the Legion of Honor and the Romanian Legion, why were there so many casualties even though they were victorious?

It's because the Legion of Honor used three salvos at close range to break through the Romanian Army's defense line throughout the whole process!
But now on the battlefield, the battle lines of the two sides are heading towards each other, as if they are competing for who is more brave.

"Keep the formation, step on the drums, and don't stop!"

Ettore yelled as he walked, adjusting his own formation. Under the rigid queuing and shooting tactics, the entire company was like a whole. If any soldier made a mistake, it would easily disrupt the rhythm of the entire company.

This is under the rain of enemy bullets, every second of delay is fatal!
After the battle lines of both sides reached a distance of [-] meters, both the sharpshooters and the light infantry of the Legion of Honor retreated from the gap between their own battle lines.

Now, the two sides really entered the moment of line infantry confrontation.

However, Ettore was surprised to find that the French Defense Forces on the opposite side did not stop and fire, and kept advancing like their own side!

80 meters, 70 meters, 60 meters...

The distance has been shortened to within 50 meters, but the French Defense Forces still have not stopped. The bloodshot eyes of Ettore are getting thicker and thicker. Even though his company is in the second order, he still feels a little nervous.

This is the first time that the Legion of Honor has encountered an enemy that has not fired within 50 meters since its founding.

If you continue to move forward, the Legion of Honor will have to stop and shoot!

Fortunately, when the distance was shortened to 30 meters, the drums of the battle line of the French Defense Forces stopped, the whole army stood at attention, and completed the transformation of the three-column salvo formation in just a few seconds.

And the Legion of Honor continues to march forward!

"Get ready~ fire!"

bang bang bang...

The soldiers in the first two rows of the advancing Legion of Honor suddenly collapsed, and the second lieutenant officers walking in the front were all beaten into sieves without exception!
The Legion of Honor troops walking in the first ranks are all veterans with the most tenacious willpower, and their officers looked at their fallen corpses and shouted hoarsely: "Stop advancing!
Raise your gun!

aim!

fire! "

The French Defense Forces, which had just finished a round of three salvoes, had already replaced grenades one after another according to the previous tactical steps. The battle at this moment was a race against time. It will be difficult to see the behavior of the enemy on the opposite side.

However, according to their past experience, the enemy should be in chaos at this time, at least the front row is already in chaos, and they should not face violent shooting.

At this time, the guard infantry ignites the grenade, rushes out quickly for a certain distance, and can throw the grenade into the enemy's battle line.

At that time, no matter how elite troops were, they couldn't withstand such a dense grenade bombardment, even if the explosive power of the grenade filled with black powder was not good!

However, this time, the infantry guards heard a sudden hoarse roar from the opposite side.

"for freedom!!!"

"for freedom!!!"

…………

It is not one person or several people who are shouting, but a group of people who are shouting.

The Guards infantry, who were about to charge forward with lit grenades in their hands, suddenly heard a long row of gunfire from the opposite side.

The infantrymen in the sprint fell to the ground immediately, and the grenades in the hands of many infantrymen rolled aside, blowing up friendly soldiers into the sky.

However, the fearless infantry guards did not flinch in the face of this situation. After all, some infantrymen rushed out of the area covered by white smoke. They immediately saw the red eyes and the appearance of madness. A soldier of the Legion of Honor, with a bayonet pointed, faced him.

Immediately afterwards, the surviving infantrymen smashed grenades in their faces!

Boom boom boom...

Ettore, who was in the second line of battle, opened his eyes wide. The first line of thousands of people was completely covered by grenades. He even saw a broken arm flying towards the soldiers in the front row of his own line of battle. feet!

"Legion of Honor, attack!"

Ettore gave the order to attack without hesitation.

Because he knew that the first battle line was finished in this series of close-range bombing...

There were not a few low-level officers of the Legion of Honor who had the same idea as Ettore, and the remaining ones who hadn't reacted followed the flow and gave orders to attack. A large number of fresh troops rushed into the white smoke generated by the explosion.

Ettore was following his own company, and suddenly saw a few French Wehrmacht soldiers rushing forward with white smoke behind them, jumping straight into the crowd, and the corpses hanging on the bayonets exploded!

Ettore just looked at his relatively complete company, and was blown out of several gaps by such a simple and rude blow.

Immediately afterwards, before Ettore regrouped, a burst of bullets shot out from behind the smoke of the explosion, and Ettore's company fell down again.

Ettore's company, which suffered two rounds of tragic blows in a row, many soldiers fell into a state of confusion. Ettore saw this situation, but he didn't know that this was the prelude to collapse.

He suddenly snatched the military flag of the standard-bearer next to him, waved it and passed among his soldiers, and shouted loudly: "Think of your relatives who died tragically, and think of your descendants living in dire straits and oppression.

People who don't want themselves and their descendants to live like pigs and dogs, come with me! ! ! "

"Long live honor!
for freedom! ! ! "

Soon, soldiers around kept shouting crazily, and rushed up behind Ettore. Ettore watched all this with satisfaction, and suddenly a violent explosion sounded not far away, and Ettore was thrown up by the explosion. The gravel hit the back of the neck, and suddenly felt dizzy, and fainted...

"For His Majesty the Emperor!"

"for freedom!!!"

Two armies with different beliefs collided head-on with each other in the most primitive way, and bright blood sprayed like cheap sand and gravel.

The Legion of Honor invested wave after wave of fresh troops to replace the exhausted soldiers, while the French Defense Forces on the opposite side even carried their mortars behind the front line and bombarded the follow-up support troops of the Legion of Honor!
The Legion of Honor sent a partial division to attack the mortar troops approaching the front line, and was then disgraced by the self-destruct tactics of the French Defense Forces...

The bloody fight lasted for more than half a day before it ended in the retreat of the French Defense Forces.

Aristotle, who stayed behind, heard the gunfire from the front line stop, and rode his horse to the front line for inspection.

Later, Aristotle saw an officer wearing the uniform of a major, leading dozens of soldiers with gunpowder faces to report the battle damage in front of him.

"Report to the general, the second regiment of the first division of the Legion of Honor should have 2013 people, but there are actually 53 people.

Report to the general that the third regiment of the first division of the Legion of Honor should have 2063 people, but the actual number is 523.

…………

Report to the general, the first regiment of the first division of the Legion of Honor, there should be 3023 people, and there are actually three people! "

Aristotle listened to the reports one by one in disbelief. In just half a day, the first division of the Legion of Honor, which he created with his own hands, was gone...

The First Division, which had more than 1 people when it was full, now has less than a thousand people standing in front of Aristotle, and many of them are still injured, looking at Aristotle numbly.

"French Defense Force, is it really a devil?"

Aristotle is well aware of how tenacious the Legion of Honor's fighting will is at this time. The previous retreat was just to preserve its strength. Since the start of the war and regular ideological education, the Legion of Honor has been completely reborn, and it does not belong to this era at all. army!
The First Division is an elite group of veterans with the strongest thinking and the strongest combat effectiveness. This is the first time Aristotle faces the French Defense Forces, so he puts the elite First Division on the front line.

"General, we did not repel the French attack, they retreated themselves."

Aristotle nodded silently.

He quickly thought of the other party's purpose!
At the same time, the adjutant of Napoleon's command in the French army asked puzzledly, "General Napoleon, we will soon be able to kill the most elite first division of the Legion of Honor. Why are we retreating?"

Napoleon asked expressionlessly: "How many regiments did we defeat?"

The adjutant on the opposite side was silent for a while before replying: "None of the first and second regiments survived, and when the third regiment withdrew, less than half remained.

But we still have the cavalry to no avail, and the reserves of two regiments! "

"Hehe, my French National Defense Forces fought north and south, and I also encountered this fighting will in the revolutionary army in Robespierre's time.

At that time, it was the time when the Legion of Honor's will to fight was at its strongest, and their first division was ready to die in battle!
We can certainly win if we continue to fight, but the Legion of Honor still has a few divisions. Can we break through it all at once?
Human emotions are all temporarily stimulated. Now all we need to do is to wait for the tragic situation of the First Division of the Legion of Honor to spread among the Legion of Honor!

I don't believe it, everyone in the Legion of Honor is not afraid of death! "

(End of this chapter)