our family is gone

Chapter 772: Attack the enemy thousands of miles away and defeat the enemy a hundred steps away

As the elite troops of the nobles, the longbowmen have better equipment than spearmen. The armor they are issued with, plus the equipment they purchase themselves, makes them very powerful.

He can shoot arrows with a bow from a distance, and his close combat abilities are not weak at all. He can put down the longbow and pick up a long sword or iron halberd to fight.

But all this is meaningless in the face of artillery.

Without the protection of the brick wall, how fragile the human body is? When the shells hit the crowd, the armor was torn apart like thin paper, and the tough longbow as thick as a baby's arm was broken.

There was simply no one who could stop it. Wherever it passed, tendons and bones were broken and flesh and blood rotted.

Blood, flesh, and wailing weave a fantasy dream that is like the coming of hell.

"Ahhh! My legs!"

"Help me...I don't want to die..."

"Witchcraft! This must be witchcraft, let's run away..."

Such a scene gave a little shock to ordinary people who had not experienced the cruelty of war. Those guys who were originally full of greed and ambition became sober and even frightened in an instant.

The knights couldn't just stand there and watch, they quickly stepped forward to control the situation and tried their best to rescue the longbowmen.

Only after this inventory did we realize that out of the more than one hundred longbowmen, only less than half were left.

It is just that it is difficult to load the artillery, otherwise there would be no time for them to run away.

But the battlefield will not stagnate because of their failure. On the contrary, they will continue to attack because they have revealed their flaws!
They got the map to break the trap, pushed the shield cart closer to lure out the longbowmen, and the two artillery positions on the left and right tore through the farm's defense formation in just one round. More importantly, they beat the longbowmen so hard that they dared not show their heads.

The speed of the shield carts and the mortars behind them increased suddenly, and even the harassment from the archers was of no avail.

Bonaparte hid in the middle, with an obvious scar on his face, which was caused by a heavy arrow piercing through the wooden board. If he had not tilted his head, the arrow would have pierced his head directly.

Many people had dents on their breastplates and helmets, and some were even penetrated and caused damage. One can imagine how dangerous it was under that wave of arrows.

However, except for some who had lost their ability to move, the others just pushed the shield carts and mortars forward under the cover of artillery fire.

Finally, they got within a hundred yards and saw a shield cart standing in front, loaded with shells and gunpowder.

It’s just that the first pre-loaded round has already been fired, and everyone is filled with anger.

"Boom!"

Twenty mortars fired, hurling bombs indiscriminately. There was not much time to aim, and the first wave of fire was both suppression and calibration.

When the bomb fell into the farm, there was a loud noise. Wailing and screaming could be vaguely heard, but there was none of the exaggerated effect as before.

Because the previous round of shelling frightened them so much that they huddled back on their positions, unless the shrapnel happened to hit the positions, it would be blocked by brick walls and buildings and would be difficult to cause casualties.

This is the reason why we have to push the mortar up. Even though the wall has just been knocked down, we still have to see how many positions are behind it, not to mention that they are still under the cover of buildings, so it is not so easy to break through.

But the mortar is different. It is smaller in size, more convenient to move, can enter the farm, and is specifically used to attack the opponent's defensive position.

There is a wall in front, can't I just go around it and fall down from it?

The building is topped off? Then put the bomb in through the windows, doors, or gaps.

But that's the level of accuracy required, so loading a mortar is easy but aiming is difficult.

Bonaparte glanced at the position ahead through the gaps in the shield car and raised his hand to give a thumbs up.

"Ten o'clock on the left front, angle 65, two doses of medicine, four sections of fuse."

After a string of data was reported, those people took the ammunition off the shield car. The so-called direction and angle were easy to understand. As for the number of gunpowder, the gunpowder was divided into bags according to the specifications, and the amount of gunpowder needed was calculated based on the distance of the shot.

Similarly, the fuses on those bombs are also divided into five sections, each section representing a certain amount of time. To calculate the approximate landing time, just cut off the excess.

It is impossible for ordinary people to complete so many calculations in an instant, so there are integrated shooting manuals. They only need to study and memorize them to make a rough judgment.

After Bonaparte finished shouting, a round of artillery fire landed on the position.

Those people originally thought they were safe hiding behind the fortifications, but then they heard a noise above their heads, and just as they raised their heads, an explosion swept over them. Although the whistling shrapnel hitting the human body was not as powerful as an artillery shell, it could easily tear through clothes and penetrate into the flesh. It was a nightmare for those without armor.

"what!"

"my hand!"

"mom……"

Those people rushed out of the position like a frying pan, but they fell down after taking a few steps, their bodies covered in blood.

After falling to the ground, blood continued to flow out, and the breathing became weaker and weaker. There was no crazy ambition in the unwilling eyes, only fear...

When had those ordinary people ever fought such a battle? Even the veterans who had fought against other noble armies were stunned. Their experience became worthless in the face of firearms.

Another round of artillery fire sounded. Even if it wasn't aimed at them, it would be impossible to get these frightened people to hold their positions.

The collapse of morale is the inevitable reaction to the setbacks suffered by the army composed of these serfs, and it is a must-try!
Many people simply abandoned the defense line and wanted to leave. The knights and their bodyguards wanted to stop them, so they swung their swords and killed them, causing chaos in the farm.

This is the generation gap in equipment. Maybe Patton had a similar feeling when he encountered those extraordinary monsters.

After running so far, they collapsed after a few rounds of bombardment from a hundred steps away. It can be said that—

Attack the enemy from a thousand miles away and defeat the enemy from a hundred steps away!
But Hamlet's army never stopped. After the mortar entered the designated position and fired the first shot, the artillery outside stopped because the infantry had already moved forward to avoid accidental injuries.

After losing the archers' blocking power, they ran over and intervened in the battlefield when the distance was only a few hundred yards.

"Surrender without killing!"

"Drop your weapons and get down!"

Amid the continuous shouting, most of them surrendered voluntarily, but there were still some who were not scared. They gathered around the priests, looking extremely excited and fanatical.

Church believers can even be said to be fanatics.

Their faith was so strong that they did not flee or surrender in this chaotic scene, but instead fought for the Holy Light.

"The power of Holy Light flows through me!"

"The Light is watching me!"

"Ah! That evil is worth fighting!"

Those guys bumped into Hamlet's infantry and rushed over shouting weird words.

"Bang, bang, bang!" A series of gunshots rang out, blood splattered, and those guys fell directly to the ground.

Some of the soldiers didn't understand these things. Even a rabbit would know how to avoid a gun.

And even if they want to attack, they should be dispersed, and at the same time assisted by long-range cover, such as archers.

How can you just charge straight ahead like that? It's inexplicable...

The farm was not big to begin with, and the influx of thousands of infantrymen basically crushed them. Even if they wanted to fight back with the help of fortifications, they would be defeated after just two shots from the mortars.

Facing the attack from the believers, they simply pulled the trigger. As soon as the gunshots rang out, other teams came to support. After a few rounds of shooting, those believers fell down like grass being mowed.

The pain pricked their nerves, making their fanatical eyes clear.

Only wailing was left. Those people from the church wanted to use magic to save people, but Hamlet's soldiers didn't care about their identities at all and took them into the bullets.

The fully armored Crusader Knight who was guarding at the end was unable to withstand the dense barrage of bullets and fell during the charge.

As for the priests, they were torn apart by the merciless projectiles, and even turned around to attack them again.

Because those guys finally used harmful magic to injure several people. They were used to shooting the extraordinary people again, and they had to shoot them in the head.

The battle was one-sided, and even the people from the church could not stop it at all. On the contrary, the knights did not show up.

Of course, run away!

When they felt that things were getting out of control, they simply rode on fast horses and took their trusted followers with them to escape at the last moment. It was not because they were kind, but they needed the help of others to delay the pursuers behind them.

The range of a musket is only a hundred yards, and you will be safe if you escape this distance with the help of a horse.

However, they had just rushed out of the farm from another direction and had not run far when they discovered that the enemy was not chasing them from behind, but from the front.

Moreover, there were hundreds of cavalrymen, whose number was half more than their own, and they seemed to be waiting.

"Surrender, you can't escape." Leonard rode forward and shouted.

As soon as the battle started, he led the cavalry to blockade the farm, ensuring that none of the messengers could escape and cutting off the news from this side.

We are also waiting for the last combat-capable team of these enemies.

The knights didn't take Reynard's words into consideration at all. Instead, they accelerated their charge and coordinated with each other to form a formation. The charge of dozens of fully armored knights was still very scary.

Leonard couldn't help but shook his head when he saw their expressions. He asked them to surrender for the sake of the war horses. Who would care about a few prisoners?

If the fighting starts now, I wonder how many war horses will survive. What a pity...

Although he thought so, he turned his horse around and went back.

But Reynald did not expect that for those knights, surrender would mean nothing. Asking them to abandon their aristocratic lives and become commoners would be more painful than killing them. They had to fight no matter what.

On the farm they ran away because the fortifications restricted the enemy and also restricted their ability as knights, which was to charge.

But how could they just give up in the open outside? How dare some cavalrymen with only partial armor stop them?
Watch me charge...

Then they ran over and saw the cavalrymen pulling rifles from their horses.

"Bang bang bang!"

After one round of shooting, some of the knights who had walked within a hundred yards were knocked off their horses by the whistling bullets. Even if they were not fatal, they were knocked to the ground.

"Hurry! They only have one shot, we can't give them time to reload!"

But they were still a minority after all. The formation was interrupted but not dispersed. The rest rushed forward directly. A distance of a hundred yards was just a matter of breath for a warhorse running at full speed.

"For Hamlet!" Reynald shouted and rushed forward with sword in hand.

The previous move directly frightened the knights. They watched people falling down one after another, fearing that the opponent would take out something.

Fortunately, the cavalrymen used cold weapons. Those weapons were not sabers for dealing with unarmored targets, but long-handled bone clubs that were clearly meant to knock them off their horses.

Reynald led the way, his legendary strength was no match for those knights, not to mention that the sword in his hand could not stop the armor from being cut off.

Knights fell one by one wherever they passed, and the others were not much better off. Many of them fell in the last two rounds, leaving the remaining one to deal with the siege of three or four cavalrymen.

What's even more terrifying is that these cavalrymen can shoot from behind. When they get close to you, they won't fight you head-on, but will avoid the lances. When they pass by you, they will pull out their pistols and suddenly attack you, making it impossible to defend against them.

Use close range shooting on them!

After the chaotic gunfire, basically each person was shot two or three times, and even if the armor was strong, it would be affected as if they were hit by a heavy punch.

Those who did not fall down after firing their pistols would be attacked by the cavalry like they were hunted by the hunters, and they would be hit by hammers. Many knights were already injured by the gunfire, and now they could not control themselves and fell off their horses.

Compared to the tragic situation they encountered before when facing the Knights of Bastia, only a few people were slightly injured now. One can imagine the difference in strength of the team after the training.

Of course, there is also the reason of weapons, the "three-axe" tactics unique to Hamlet's cavalry.

Rush into a distance of a hundred yards and shoot first to weaken one wave, then use a flexible formation to get closer and shoot with a pistol, and use two pistols to finish.

When the number of people on both sides is similar, the enemy will basically have little ability to resist after three shots. In the end, it depends on the enemy's situation. If they have no armor, use a knife; if they are wearing armor, use a hammer.

Like now...

"Quick, bring back those horses."

As soon as the battle was over, Leonard was still shouting. The first thing he did was not to rescue the knights, but to save the horses, and also to capture some of the panicked ones.

Some knights who were still conscious fell to the ground and fainted from anger after hearing this. How could I, a noble, be worse than a horse?

But no one cares about them. Noble status is of no use to Hamlet, and he doesn't buy it.

The infantry had already taken care of the farm and then chased it out, which meant that when the knights fell, the battle ended with Hamlet victorious.

An unsurprising answer. Logically, what followed would be the unremarkable finishing work, but in fact, Patton began to take further action almost immediately after taking over the farm.

The army only left less than a hundred people, including the injured, plus the logistics personnel to handle the affairs.

He ordered some members of the artillery team to put down their artillery and pick up rifles to become infantry, and join the main force and march quickly towards the core town of the barony.

The reason why Reynard and his men blocked the news just now was to take advantage of the loss of their main force and break through the town.

After abandoning the logistics and artillery, the team moved much faster, almost racing against time to head towards the town...

Thanks to [Memory is a Poem] 100 for tipping