I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 327 The Terrible French Artillery
Just when Hilde was confidently planning how to kill those hateful French artillerymen, he was shocked to find that those cannons started to move!
He glanced back subconsciously. He had only run about 400 steps, and it should have taken him less than 2 minutes.

In other words, it only took the French artillery this short time to complete the set-up and start maneuvering!
How can this be? !
When he saw the French cannons retreating, his eyes were almost bloodshot, and he immediately gritted his teeth and shouted: "Speed ​​up! We must stop those cannons!"

The French cavalry artillery fired at least 9 rounds just now, causing hundreds of casualties to the Dutch army. If they were to escape, their morale would be severely damaged.

In an instant, the six squadrons of cavalry began to run wildly without hesitation. Although it was not as fast as a charge, it was already the limit of what the horses could bear at this distance.

However, the French artillery slipped very quickly. Hilde's visual inspection showed that he was almost at the speed of a cavalry trot.

Especially the carriage that looks like a long pointed house, has almost penetrated into the French infantry line.

When his cavalry team finally arrived at the firing position of the French cavalry artillery, those cannons had long disappeared.

Hilde's deputy gasped: "These guys can run faster than foxes..."

Hilde's brows knitted together as he listened to the heavy breathing of the horses and cavalry beside him. There was definitely something wrong with the speed of the French's horse roping just now. No, they barely had the process of roping the horse before the cannon began to retreat.

Naturally, he didn't know that this was the new cavalry artillery equipment and combat mode brought by Joseph to the Guards Corps.

Just when Hilde was filled with annoyance, the guard on the side suddenly looked into the distance: "Sir, they seem to be French cavalry."

However, the Guards Corps did not fully implement the close-range shooting tactics just now, otherwise they would use shotguns to bombard the Prussian cavalry head-on. After all, this battle does not require them to be so desperate.

He hurriedly ordered two squadrons to stay behind, and the others immediately retreated to their positions.

His heart suddenly tightened. He had almost exhausted his horsepower just now in pursuit of the fast-moving French artillery. If he was attacked by the French cavalry at this time, then he and his men would definitely be no different from fixed targets.

This is also the reason why the mounted artillery of the Guards Corps dares to blast in the enemy's face. In the Napoleonic era, this tactic also had a name, called artillery group shooting at close range, commonly known as bayonets on cannons.

Hilde hurriedly listened carefully, and sure enough she found the faint sound of horse hooves coming from the east side.

The cannons were never untied, and when they saw the Prussian cavalry attacking, the gunners immediately rode away. The soldiers on the cannon relied on the winch to close the distance between the cannon and the horses, and finally relied on a buckle that could be hung up with a push to fix the tail of the gun mount behind the driver's seat.

The speed of a properly designed ammunition truck is almost the same as that of a city bus.

However, his horse only moved forward slowly with its nostrils wide open, while the sound of hoofbeats behind him got closer and closer.

In fact, if Joseph had not ordered the Dutch infantry line to be taken seriously, Berthier would not have let the cavalry artillery show such a trick.

As for the ammunition truck, it is even faster. Push the powder box and ammunition rack into the carriage and leave. The ammunition cart was located behind the cannon and very close to the horses, so there was almost no problem with roping the cart.

Finally, the cavalry left behind by Hilde and the Guards Corps took over.

To be honest, the quality of the cavalry of the Guards Corps is really not as good as that of the Prussian Junkers. Half of them learned riding after entering the Paris Police Academy, and the cavalry recruited from the French Guards at that time still had some experience.

But at this time, they were faced with "fixed targets" that could not move. After a sideways charge, the Prussian cavalry lost their will to resist and dismounted and surrendered. Hilde looked back and saw this scene, and cursed the French artillery even more viciously. Then he saw that those damn cavalry artillery actually circled behind the French infantry and rushed towards the Dutch infantry from the west again. Less than 200 steps ahead of the line, artillery began to be set up...

At the same time, the infantry lines of the Guards Corps were also rapidly approaching.

No matter how fanatical the soldiers of the Southern Netherlands are, and no matter how hard the priests in the team can stabilize the morale of the troops, it is impossible for anyone to maintain their morale in the face of a cannon that keeps spitting grape bullets in their faces and cannot effectively fight back. collapse.

After nearly a thousand soldiers were killed by the French cavalry artillery, the first line of Dutch infantry began to become chaotic. In fact, they were able to withstand nearly 20 volleys of grape bombs before they started to become chaotic, which is already a very remarkable achievement.

General Witt saw the situation of his own infantry line in the telescope, and hurriedly ordered the second line to go up. At this time, the rhythmic drumbeat of the French infantry came from the front battlefield.

Berthier grasped the rhythm very accurately, and just when the two Dutch infantry lines were alternating, he ordered the Guards Corps to attack in column.

The roar of Prussian artillery immediately came from 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 towards them.

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, while he defeated the French army, Luxembourg may have fallen into the hands of Crystal.

He calmly opened the paper, 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.

(End of this chapter)