1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 704 Your Majesty, this is not a cannon, it is a machine gun.

Seeing the strict military appearance of the Western Army, Forey, who thought that this military-born president had made great achievements in military affairs, saw the deployment of troops on the Western Army's eastern suburbs. Liang Yao's image in Forey's mind completely collapsed.

Originally, he still had some respect and expectation for this president who came from the military, but everything he saw made him feel deeply disappointed.

The open terrain of the Great Plains, not only put the artillery in the front row, but there was no infantry cover around the artillery, how could the troops be arranged in such a way! In Furey's view, this layout was simply a dead end.

Does Liang Yao think he is not defeated fast enough?

Or is he treating the federal army as if it were the army of an uncivilized country?

"Mr. President! For your safety! Please move!"

Forey's voice was rapid and trembling, his eyes still did not leave the missed position, his heart was full of anxiety.

Faure didn't want to stay in such a dangerous place for a moment. For his own safety and that of Napoleon III, Faure begged Napoleon III to move away.

Napoleon III stood on the watchtower, frowning slightly, and now he became a little hesitant.

Although he was not a soldier, he had read many military books and manuals. At this moment, he also began to feel puzzled about Liang Yao's military formation.

He had never seen such a deployment of troops. Could it be that Liang Yao was really so unreliable?

Napoleon III glanced at Liang Yao and happened to see him sitting calmly on the soft chair, seemingly unconcerned about everything around him. The officials of the American Republic beside him were also like him, all of them calm, as if they were not facing a large-scale battle that was about to break out, but just a routine matter.

Liang Yao had been to the battlefield and fought in wars. The Western Army generals Ru Kruger, Elvis and others beside him were also veterans who had served in the army for many years. Could it be that they were all crazy at the same time and were so blind that they couldn't see the problem with the Western Army's formation?

"Your Majesty, if you feel it is dangerous here, please do as you please." Liang Yaoyun said calmly, "But if Your Majesty leaves, I am afraid you will miss a good show. Not everyone will be lucky enough to witness the first actual combat of a groundbreaking new weapon."

"Even if hundreds of cutting-edge artillery pieces fire at the same time, it would be difficult to stop the charge of tens of thousands of people. After all, the firing rate of artillery is limited. President Liang's deployment of troops is indeed inappropriate. Artillery is to be used in conjunction with infantry. Pushing the artillery so far forward will cause the artillery positions and infantry formations to be disconnected and unable to support each other. This is too risky." Napoleon III said doubtfully.

"And you're letting one gun crew operate three cannons. Isn't that a waste?"

He also visited the Jura-class ironclad ships, the main ironclad ships of the Atlantic Fleet of the American Republic, in the port of Veracruz. He was impressed by the Sacramento naval guns carried on the Jura-class ironclad ships.

To be fair, the Sacramento cannon was indeed better than the French cannon. Napoleon III was very fond of it and was considering purchasing the patent to import it for imitation.

But that is artillery after all. Without the support and cover of infantry and cavalry, it would be difficult for artillery to survive on the battlefield.

"Your Majesty, this is not a cannon, this is a machine gun." Liang Yao explained, "This weapon, in the hands of a skilled machine gun crew, can fire 400 bullets per minute."

"Firing 400 bullets per minute? Are you saying that the firepower of your machine gun can be comparable to that of an infantry company?" Fu Lei sneered at Liang Yao's statement. "If such a weapon really exists in the world, I'm afraid the infantry will lose its meaning of existence! Since this machine gun is so good, why don't you equip the entire army with this weapon? So that you can keep so many infantrymen?"

A gun that can fire 400 bullets per minute.

Not only Forey, but even Tromeran, who had always trusted Liang Yao, felt that it was too far-fetched.

What Forey said makes sense. If we have such weapons, what do we need infantry for?

Liang Yao couldn't help but roll his eyes at Fu Lei. "Do you think I don't want to?" If machine guns weren't too expensive, the training cost of machine gun crews was too high, the reliability was unsatisfactory, and the logistical pressure was too great, he really wanted to form a machine gun brigade.

"Infantrymen have their uses, and machine gunners have their uses. Neither can replace the other." Kru said to Forey impatiently, "General Forey, if you feel it's unsafe here, you can leave and go to a safer place to wait for the good news of our victory."

"His Majesty."

Furay pleaded again, his tone not without anxiety. He no longer dared to stay on this empty plain. This battlefield without any cover made him feel as if he was standing on the edge of a knife, and he could face a fatal attack at any time.

But he didn't dare to leave until Napoleon III gave the order. At this moment, Fauré stood upstairs, feeling the hot summer wind of Kansas, like an ant on a hot pot.

"Send all my guards here and raise our flag."

After hearing what Liang Yao said, Napoleon III was somewhat excited and wanted to see the machine gun with his own eyes.

Faure opened his mouth and wanted to persuade him again, but seeing the determined look in Napoleon III's eyes, he had to swallow his words. He waved his hand, signaling the guards to move forward, and at the same time raised the flag of the French Empire high. The flag fluttered in the autumn wind, as if cheering for the upcoming battle.

Napoleon III estimated the distance between the Western Army's artillery positions and their watchtower, which was about 2.5 kilometers. At this distance, even if the Western Army's machine gun group was overwhelmed by the Federal Army's infantry, he would have enough time to evacuate.

He decided to wait and see.

If the machine gun is really as magical as Liang Yao said, he wouldn't mind adding it to the shopping list for this trip.

Coincidentally, when the Union generals in Omaha saw the Western Army's machine gun positions lined up in a very thin formation, they also mistook the Thunder machine guns for cannons.

"Is the Western Army tired of living? Do you really think that I dare not even charge his artillery positions?" McClellan sneered as he observed the Western Army's positions with a telescope in his hand.

"He is humiliating us!" General Joseph Hooker, who was following McClellan, also thought that the Western Army was looking down on and humiliating them, and he was very angry.

"Sir, our feint attack was ineffective and the Yankees were not fooled." Colonel Cook, commander of the cavalry regiment, reported to McClellan on the feint attack on the western suburbs position.

The Westerners seemed to realize that this was a feint attack and did not dispatch any troops to support their western suburbs positions.

"The main attack force should line up and leave the city! They want to block me in Omaha with just an artillery position. Those people in the Western Army are too arrogant and look down on me." McClellan was very angry at being looked down upon by the other side.

He didn't dare to leave the city and fight the Western Army in the field before, because his troops were all mobilized recruits and had not been reorganized. Did the Westerners really think he was a coward?

(End of this chapter)