Wild North America 1846

Chapter 570 Desperately retreated

Colonel François-Conrobert, the commander of the French army, was completely shocked and trembling with rage. The veins in his big hand holding the command knife bulged, and he couldn't believe what he saw.

According to intelligence;
There are only two companies of German soldiers stationed in the port of Saint-Malo. Where did so many machine guns come from?
He is the commander of the current French government army who has repeatedly fought against the German army (note; after the failure of the Paris Commune, it is no longer called the "Versailles Army" and changed to a normal French government army), and he clearly knows that two companies of the German army cannot Equipped with expensive weapons like heavy machine guns.

Not even one, let alone six heavy machine guns.

Colonel François Canrobert is no stranger to this 6-barreled rotary Colt heavy machine gun. It has been in existence for more than 20 years. It was first equipped in the army of the Tang Empire. It once gave the US cavalry a major kill.

In the United States of America, France and the Kingdom of Prussia (note; now the German Empire) also have a small number of imitations, but the regular army is not generally equipped, because the consumption of bullets is too powerful and expensive.

The price of a heavy machine gun can almost buy an expensive 6-pound Colt breech-loading field gun. As for the old-fashioned 6-pound front-loading Napoleon cannon, you can buy 2.5 artillery pieces.

Is it...

Colonel François-Conrobert thought of a possibility, and couldn't help taking a breath, "Hey..."

The intelligence shows that there are more than 630 Chinese guards in the Marlow port, which is equivalent to the size of a dissatisfied infantry regiment. Could it be the weapons equipped by these North American upstarts?
No matter, after the artillery bombarded wildly, all those ghosts and monsters hiding in the houses would be bombed out, and it would be clear at that time.

The French soldiers are setting up artillery positions at a distance of more than 700 meters from the small stone bridge. From here, they are shelling the stone houses on the other side of the small stone bridge. The distance is about 850 meters to more than [-] meters, which is just within the best range of the artillery. .

The artillery positions are divided into left and right sides, with 6 artillery pieces on each side.

This unit was armed with old Napoleon 6-pounder field guns, muzzle-loading, steel hoop guns produced in the 19s, with extended range between 40 and 1600 yards.

As for why the French army is equipped with such old-fashioned artillery, the reason is not complicated.

Because the number of such front-loading artillery equipped by the French army is relatively large, with a total of tens of thousands, it is not enough to deal with the latest artillery of the German Empire in terms of performance, but it is still an advanced weapon in the colonial wars all over the world, invincible.

You can't throw them all away, that's not realistic.

Colonel François-Conrobert was ordered to attack the port of Saint-Malo this time, in order to severely crack down on the rampant behavior from North America and recover heavy losses for France.

If you can take the opportunity to earn a lot of money, then of course it will be beautiful!

The goods smuggled by the Tang Empire were large in quantity, high in value, varied in variety, and lasted for a long time. It was more harmful than the sum of Britain and Germany and multiplied by 2. It caused a serious loss of revenue to the French customs and was listed as the primary target of attack.

As the world's top veteran colonizer, when did France suffer such a big loss?

If you don't react at all when you are being bullied, then you will be really aggrieved.

honestly
The proud French really didn't think much of the Tang Empire. Perhaps this stemmed from the traditional arrogance and aloofness of the white people.

Perhaps it is the smooth sailing of the colonization of the world, which makes French, British or Europeans forget what they are doing, and breeds arrogant pride.

This is not Colonel François-Conrobert's opinion alone, but the whole of Europe has this kind of blind self-confidence and arrogance. They think they are superior, and they don't think highly of North American regional powers like Datang.

The strength of its army is often underestimated.

For the Tang Empire, it is quite fair to be able to evaluate the world's second-rate powers. The world's first-rate powers are only Britain, France, Germany, and Russia, and the others are insignificant.This also includes the Austrian Empire, Italy, the Ottoman Empire, which has become a second-rate power, plus the Tang Empire.

Some people will say that the Tang Empire once participated in the British and French coalition forces and won the Crimean War, which is enough to prove its strength.

The French will never agree that the Crimean War was a war for the rise of France, a war for Napoleon III to ascend to the altar, and a symbolic victory for France’s re-emergence in Europe. May be taken away by Datang?
Some people would say that the Tang Empire won the United States of America, and there were as many as two dozen battles involving 10 people, and there were also astonishingly large-scale battles of a million people. Doesn't this prove its strength?
Regarding this argument, both the French and the British can only hehe.

Does the United States of America have a regular army?

Before the war, there were only a few divisions of troops. After the war, the rapidly expanding American militia became the main force. Britain, France, etc., the veteran colonists had seen too many in the world colonial wars, conquering the Indian subcontinent and two wars against the Qing Dynasty. , Isn't it also tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of troops?
So what?

Not being completely wiped out by the very small number of British and French troops, the Earl of Baliqiao in France had a very good say. He defeated the 5 to 6 troops invested by the Qing army almost without damage, including more than 3 cavalry, and he only lost 12 soldiers. people.

In colonial wars such as the conquest of Egypt, Burma, and Vietnam, situations similar to one-sided victories are not uncommon.

It is precisely because of various past experiences that Europeans generally look down on wars outside Europe, thinking that they are low-level rookies pecking at each other, which does not represent any real combat effectiveness.

"Launch, release..."

"Boom boom boom..."

The French artillery positions roared, and twelve six-pound field guns unleashed their firepower one after another. Several residential houses behind the small stone bridge were hit by shells, and there was a violent collision and cracking sound.

Of the 12 shells, 1 hits in the first round of firing, showing the superb shelling skills of the French artillery.

After the first round of firing, the artillerymen quickly cleaned the gunpowder residue in the barrel, reloaded the black powder pack and oval shells, and reset the artillery to prepare for the next launch.

The sound of rumbling guns resounded all over the world, and the sound of guns could be clearly heard more than 10 kilometers away.

The shelling lasted 15 minutes
The French army unleashed more than 100 shells frantically, and did not stop until they blasted several stone houses into a pile of ruins. All the tall houses collapsed and turned into ruins.

At this time, the passionate marching song was played, and the French army organized an infantry attack again.

Due to the limited width of the small stone bridge, the attacking French army adopted a formation of skirmishers with 7 to 8 people. About a hundred soldiers were thrown into the attack at one time, followed by a second wave of more than a hundred infantrymen, probably Infantry company size.

Halfway through the small stone bridge, the first attacking French army was suddenly attacked by defensive soldiers standing out from behind the ruins. After a burst of rifle fire, the attacking French army lost more than 20 people retreat.

"No retreat, continue to attack..." Colonel François-Conrobert, the commander of the French army, gave the order with a livid face.

The attacking French army was in an unfavorable position. There was an open space at both ends of the small stone bridge, unobstructed, and the attacking French soldiers were forced to bear random gunfire from the defenders from the ruins of the building.

In the chaotic battle where bullets are fired at each other, it is obviously more disadvantaged, and the casualties are also greater.

But this is the case with brutal battles. The attacking party cannot choose a favorable terrain and can only rely on artillery fire and soldiers to attack in turn.

After more than an hour of fighting

The French army had left seventy or eighty corpses near the small stone bridge, but they still hadn't been able to cross the thunder pool.

just then

A large number of armed militiamen came from St. Malo town, all of them were young and middle-aged white men. The number was about 600. Led by Lu Shoushan and others, they came to support them.

Inspired by the port committee's heavy recruitment and the slogan "Defend the Homeland", the local French in Saint-Malo enthusiastically joined the armed militia, preparing to give these aggressive enemies a strong taste.

see this scene
Looking at the high-spirited French militiamen on the other side of the small stone bridge, waving guns and shouting provocations, the commander of the French army, Colonel François-Conrobert, was ashen-faced and trembling with anger.

Nearly 500 soldiers have been taken in before and after, and the enemy's guarding force is getting stronger and stronger, but the attacking French army is fluctuating, and disturbing signs have already appeared.

He will not forget that the defenders still have 6 heavy machine guns that are used to harvest infantry.

"Continue the bombardment."

In desperation, the French army chose to continue the violent shelling in an attempt to deter and weaken the enemy's will to resist.

The intermittent fighting lasted until the evening. The French army almost emptied all the shells they brought, and took over 140 more people. They still failed to break through the small stone bridge position, which was firmly defended by the defenders, and had to retreat helplessly.

The plane is lost, and German reinforcements will arrive the next day.

while in the evening
It was the Marlow Port Committee that mobilized more than 300 local French people to come up to support. Across the small stone bridge, the number of attackers and defenders was almost the same, and the opponent also had six heavy machine guns that could severely damage French soldiers.

Seeing that nothing could be done, Colonel François Canrobert could only lead his army to retreat and leave amidst the deafening cheers of the enemy.

The gorgeous sunset glow all over the sky reflects the desolate figures of the retreating French soldiers, gradually disappearing at the end of the road.

This is the end of the major crisis facing Saint-Malo.

Post-war inventory
The French army lost 622 people in this battle, failed to take advantage of any advantages, and finally had to retreat in despair.

The defending port guard lost 47 people, the local French militia lost 6 people, and the German soldiers lost 128 people.Fortunately, they finally defended the port of Saint-Malo and won the battle.

It is a blessing in misfortune that no further serious losses have been caused.

Although the Britannia region is a German war zone, the Germans only occupied a few core cities. The vast towns and fields are still the territory of the French, and thousands of people can be recruited casually.

The reason why they did not fight against the German invaders bravely is because the emperor Napoleon III who once held the altar and the current French government surrendered. The Paris Commune, which advocated resolutely resisting the Germans, was bloody cleaned, and France is now in disarray.

At this time, France became unprecedentedly weak and powerless.

(End of this chapter)