1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 694 Field Battle

"Damn it! The Yankee artillery is so accurate!"

Ames was amazed by the excellent performance of the Western Army artillery, which was the best artillery he had ever encountered.

The Northern Army cavalry was scattered and moving very quickly, so it was not easy to use artillery to directly hit the cavalry, even if the enemy used explosive shells with a larger killing range.

If only one Union cavalryman was hit by the Western artillery's fire, it could still be attributed to the Western artillery's good luck. However, two high-speed moving cavalrymen were hit in a short period of time, which could not be explained by good luck.

"Colonel Grant, let's show the Yankees our artillery."

Brannan put down his Zeiss binoculars and said to Grant beside him.

After receiving Brannan's order, Grant quickly organized their artillery regiment to launch a bombardment against the Western Army, paving the way for the subsequent infantry attack.

The artillery regiment under the First Mercenary Regiment adopted a similar organization to the Northern Federal Army, with ten companies in one regiment and each company equipped with six guns.

The difference is that the artillery currently equipped by the Northern Federal Army is still mainly large and small Napoleon cannons, and only a small number of elite artillery units have been equipped with the more advanced Parrot cannons.

The artillery of the First Mercenary Regiment was established by Brannan at great expense. The artillery it was equipped with were all Armstrong cannons purchased from the United Kingdom. The performance of the Armstrong cannons was comparable to that of the Sacramento cannons equipped by the Western Army.

The Armstrong cannon was a new cannon that had been in production for less than a year and was very expensive. A standard 6-pound cannon cost 280 pounds per gun (including the matching ammunition carriage and gun mount), and a 12-pound heavy gun cost an astonishing 470 pounds per gun.

What does this price mean? Taking the price of a 12-pound Armstrong gun as an example, 470 pounds can buy about 2.5 12-pound Napoleon guns.

Of course, this is Brannan's purchase price, and the purchase price within the British Army may be cheaper.

On the Union Army's position, artillerymen quickly loaded 6-pound and 12-pound cannons and waited for the order to fire.

"Check the muzzle, target the enemy artillery position! Each gun crew confirm the target!"

"Target confirmed!"

"Prepare!"

"Fire!"

Following the order from the Union Army's artillery lieutenant colonel, the artillerymen pulled the fuse back together to fire the cannons. Accompanied by deafening noises, the shells flew out and hit the Western Army's positions.

Before the Union artillery officer had time to observe where the shells landed, another burst of artillery fire suddenly rang out, this time coming from the Western Army's position.

The artillery fire of both sides officially brought the curtain down.

The Western Army's artillery was very accurate. Grant saw with his own eyes that a shell landed near his own artillery carriage, shrapnel scattered, and two unlucky Union soldiers were hit, blood splattered. His companions nearby quickly fell to the ground, trying to avoid the shell.

An artillery battalion of the Western Army was composed of four artillery companies, each of which was equipped with six gun crews equipped with 4-pound Sacramento guns. Such an organization could be considered luxurious among the artillery in the entire North American region.

However, this time the Western Army Artillery Battalion was facing an enemy that was equipped with an artillery regiment with a similar level of equipment and equipped with 12-pound heavy artillery. The firepower gap between the two sides was huge.

In the first few rounds of firing, the Western Army artillery battalion was able to rely on its superb artillery skills, which were fed by US dollars, to fight against an enemy artillery regiment on equal terms and not be at a disadvantage.

However, as the various artillery groups of the Union Army artillery regiments completed their calibrations and improved their accuracy, the disadvantages of the Western Army artillery battalions in numbers and firepower soon became apparent, and casualties began to rise sharply, and they were gradually suppressed by the Union Army artillery.

"Damn it! Are all these son-of-a-bitch Yankee artillerymen equipped with Parrott guns?"

Seeing that his own artillery was suppressed by the Yankees' artillery and at least five artillery crews were destroyed, Zhang Zhaoyu's heart was bleeding.

In previous artillery battles, our artillery relied on the range and rate of fire of the Sacramento guns to suppress the Yankee artillery. These artillerymen were all darlings fed with real money! The artillery battle had just begun and 5 artillery groups were destroyed!

This was the first time that our artillery was suppressed by the Yankee artillery.

In the Battle of the Kearny Fortress Group, the Western Army captured the Parrott gun, a new equipment of the Northern artillery. The performance of the Parrott gun was slightly inferior to that of the Sacramento gun, but apart from the huge difference in lifespan, there was no other qualitative difference between the two.

Zhang Zhaoyu suspected that the Yankee artillery on the opposite side was using Parrott cannons, and he didn't know that the cannons they were using were Armstrong cannons, which were comparable to the Sacramento cannons in performance.

In terms of casualties, the Union artillery also suffered heavy casualties, with six gun crews destroyed, one of which was equipped with 6-pound guns.

It's just that the Union Army's artillery has a whole regiment, and its ability to withstand losses is higher than that of the Western Army's artillery. And as the artillery continued, the firepower advantage became apparent, and the casualties of the Union Army's artillery became smaller and smaller.

After the firecrackers ended, the smoke on the battlefield was still thick, blocking the vision of both sides.

Under the cover of smoke, the Northern Army infantry formed neat rows and launched an attack on the Western Army's positions.

The Western Army infantry formations, which had been baptized by artillery fire, appeared scattered and chaotic. Many soldiers had not yet recovered from the explosion. Some soldiers even looked confused. Some soldiers blamed the explosion for making them dizzy and curled up on the ground, covering their heads.

Only the officers with more combat experience remained calm. They quickly organized their formations and prepared to meet the attack of the Northern Army.

"Hold on! Don't panic!"

"Check the rifle!"

"Make sure the bullet is loaded!"

"aim!"

After estimating that the enemy was only 500 meters away from their position, the Western Army officers gave the order to open fire.

"Free Fire!"

The Western Army equipped with Liang's rifles either took cover of the stone wall, or squatted or lay on the grass and began to fire at the Northern Army's columns that were vaguely visible behind the smoke.

"What a bunch of cowards! Opening fire from such a long distance!"

"Americans really don't know how to fight!"

"They're wasting bullets!"

"These American rats, I think they will collapse on their own before we even enter their position!"

The mercenary infantrymen who heard the gunshots did not panic at all, but instead laughed at the Western Army.

Most of the mercenary group's infantrymen come from Europe. They are veterans who have participated in high-intensity wars and have rich practical experience.

During this period, the main exchange of fire distances on the European battlefield was usually between 200 and 300 meters. This distance could both ensure the lethality of the rifle and minimize accidental injuries.

In the eyes of these mercenaries from Europe, only the mob in the colonies would not be able to help but open fire at a distance of 500 meters.

But soon, they could no longer laugh, because Union soldiers began to be shot and fell one after another, losing their combat effectiveness.

A fallen Scottish sergeant looked down at the bloody hole on his chest with an incredible expression on his face. Just before he fell, he was still laughing at the cowardly Americans.

(End of this chapter)