King's Landing in France

Chapter 138 The First Cry of the Famous Generals
After An Ning retreated to the rear, Davu rode his horse and ran back and forth in the area where his troops were stationed, encouraging everyone.

"We have strong fortifications, which we built overnight! We will definitely cause huge damage to the enemy, and let them always remember the flag of our first brigade!"

Someone joked: "There is nothing special about our brigade's military flag!"

"That's right, except for the word Roman, there are almost a few patterns left!"

Davout: "If you finish this battle, a beech tree will be added to the military flag to record your feats this time!"

"That's nothing to be happy about! It's just a beech!" A sergeant teased, "If you want me to say, just get a beer mug, it means that everyone will have beer in the future!"

The soldiers burst out laughing.

Davout: "Anything is fine, as long as you withstand the attack and win this battle, vote to decide what is on the flag, and then I will personally tell the general!"

As soon as the words fell, the enemy's artillery fired back. The first shell roared and landed in front of the low stone wall firmly held by the first brigade. The shell jumped up and passed over the top of the hill.

Davout: "They raised the muzzle too high. Obviously, the enemy's artillery officers are inexperienced and did not take their own terrain into consideration."

As soon as the words fell, a solid shell hit the windmill on the top of the mountain. The projectile directly passed through the main body of the windmill's wooden structure and came out from the other side, and a large amount of sawdust fell down.

Davout: "Hold on! It's just a little sawdust! If you're really scared, just lower your head and bury it in the soil!"

Enemy artillery continued to fire, and countless shells fell around Davout's troops.

The infantry guns assigned to Davout also roared from the battery to answer the enemy.

Compared with the first brigade, which had a low stone wall as a barrier and lowered its body, the enemy's advancing troops suffered significantly more damage.

On Davout's flank, Napoleon was directing the cavalry guns to fire ferociously.

"Fire the cannon! Shoot as many shells as possible, and we will withdraw later!" Napoleon also rode on the horse, running along the deployment line of the artillery team, shouting loudly as he ran.

Napoleon's troops did not have a battery built in advance, and a salvo of enemy artillery fired, and a shell flew just against the wheel of a gun, breaking the beam of the gun.

The cannon immediately fell apart, and the horse pulling the cannon was frightened, screaming and galloping backwards, and the stirrup caught a man's trousers.

The man ran out, being dragged by the horse, screaming until his head hit a rock.

Napoleon: "Hold on! It's just bad luck! The enemy's artillery commander is a layman! It's a waste of firepower to let the cannons hit us, which are much smaller targets! Keep shooting!"

At this time, the projectile fired by a gun passed through the enemy's line in the form of a low-altitude water scoop, directly piercing through several rows of lines.

The battalion that was penetrated immediately flinched, and its steps were obviously chaotic, and many people were hesitating.

Napoleon was overjoyed: "Very good! Concentrate on that battalion! Target it!"

At this time, an artillery sergeant came to Napoleon: "Captain, is the enemy too close to us? Withdraw!"

Napoleon: "Don't retreat! The advantage of forming an array on the top of the hill is that we only need to retreat a little bit, and we will be blocked by the ridgeline, so we don't have to retreat so quickly, fire and keep firing!
"Adjust the barrel to a flat angle! Keep firing!
"Each cannon fires two more rounds before reloading the shotgun. At that time the enemy is close enough. Give the enemy a little bit of power!"

**
Davout observed the enemy's attacking formation with a telescope, when his deputy reported: "Captain Bonaparte's artillery has not withdrawn yet. If this continues, they will come within the range of the enemy's rifles!"

Davout immediately turned the binoculars to observe the mounted artillery troops on the ridge.

The mounted cannon was still firing at the approaching enemy, the barrel was already firing almost flat, and the cannon flew hundreds of meters before hitting the ground, bouncing on the ground like a pinball, passing through the enemy's line was bloody wind.

Davout: "This Bonaparte is quite brave! But artillery is a precious technical arm, and it should not be consumed in the confrontation with the enemy's main soldiers."

Adjutant: "Send an orderly to tell him to retreat?"

"No, we don't have the authority to command Bonaparte, so let's just do our job well. When the battle is over, I will give my opinion to Your Excellency the General."

At this moment, Bonaparte's artillery began a new round of shooting, this time shooting shotgun shells, and the stormy shrapnel directly smashed into the enemy's face.

From Davout's perspective, you can see the enemy's first two rows of soldiers falling to the ground without a telescope.

The battalion that was bombarded by the concentrated shells collapsed directly, but the remaining battalions that were relatively well preserved approached Bonaparte's artillery!
Then Davout watched as Bonaparte directed the artillery to flee.

The artillerymen dragged their cannons and ran back, hanging with the carriages that had been parked behind the ridgeline for a long time, jumped into the carriages and drove off.

Davu laughed loudly: "Okay! So that's the case, he is using the cover of the ridgeline! Even if the enemy stops shooting right now, they won't be able to hit anything!"

Dawu was laughing when he suddenly heard the enemy's command from directly in front of him: "Stand still! Raise your guns!"

Davout turned his head to look at the enemy in front of him.

A sergeant nearby shouted: "Brigadier! Get off your horse and hide with us in..."

The voice of the password floated from the enemy side: "Fire!"

There was crackling gunfire, and the enemy's line was suddenly covered by white smoke.

Davout faced a torrential rain of lead bullets.

"Artilleryman, reload the shot! Quick!" he ordered without fear, exuding the confidence that all buckshot would go around him.

After the enemy's volley of guns passed, the white smoke covered the field of vision, and the enemy could not be seen at all.

But it can be judged from the drumbeat of the military band that the enemy is reloading on the spot.

Davout: "It's our turn! All, salvo!"

The non-commissioned officers repeated Davout's order: "Shoot!"

"shooting!"

White smoke engulfed the low wall next to the mill in an instant.

Davout continued to order: "Free fire! Hit as many pieces as you can! Shoot!"

In this era of troops, firing volleys is not to increase the hit rate, but to cause enough effective hits in an instant.

To put it bluntly, in order to hit the morale of the enemy, killing a bunch of people all at once is different from falling one by one.

But Davout is now on the defensive side, and he is unlikely to cause the morale of the enemy's offensive troops to collapse by killing a large number of people in an instant.

Therefore, he needs to project firepower as fast as he can, so he adopts the strategy of free shooting, so that everyone can fire immediately after loading, which can form a continuous and dense firepower.

The infantry guns assigned to Davout fired cannonballs at the white smoke, and the screams of the enemy could be heard in the thick smoke.

Amidst the screams, Davout heard that the enemy's military music changed into a charging drum.

Then the shouts of killing sounded unevenly.

Davout drew out his sword: "The enemy is charging! It's time to test us!"

(End of this chapter)