I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 677: Burning Eastern Europe
"what--"

Yannick widened his eyes, screamed in fear, and then subconsciously pulled the trigger.

"Bang——" the bullet flew obliquely into the sky.

Krzysztof had already started to reload his gun, but he heard Yannick mumbling something:

"Mother Mary! May your..."

He patted him on the back:
"Stop talking nonsense! Reload!"

"Load? Ah, yes, load!"

Yannick's hands trembled even more violently, and it took him a long time to take off the gunpowder bag, but he was still trembling and couldn't pour it into the muzzle of the gun.

He really wanted to go to the battlefield and kill the invaders, but at this moment he could not control his body no matter what. The more he told himself not to tremble, the more his limbs trembled. And not only his limbs, he even felt that his stomach was cramping violently, as if an invisible hand was stirring his internal organs, making him almost unable to breathe.

And in his mind, he couldn't help but repeatedly imagine the scene of himself being shot by the Russians, just like Bartrovich just now...

"aim--"

"shooting--"

When the company commander's voice came, Yannick took a deep breath, made the sign of the cross on his chest, then reluctantly poured the gunpowder into the gun, spilling most of it out.

Drasovitz reminded everyone to aim before shooting.

The Russians were getting closer and closer, and the incoming bullets were becoming more and more frequent.

From time to time, wailing sounds were heard from the infantry line where Yannick was, and then someone would fall down. Then the soldiers in the rear would come forward, drag the body away, and then fill the gap themselves.

Yannick pulled out the cleaning rod and tried several times before he was able to insert it accurately into the muzzle of the gun. Another round of volleys of gunfire rang out all around him.

"Bang! Bang bang—"

The gunshots from the opposite side suddenly woke him up. Looking up, he saw that the Russians had rushed to within 40 steps of the breastwork. He could even see the beard on the guy opposite.

He finally loaded the ammunition, raised the gun, aimed at the man, and pulled the trigger hard, but the gun did not fire.

He lowered his head to check and found that the flint clamp was not opened.

"Damn it! I'm such an ass!"

Yannick muttered something to himself, pulled the bolt with difficulty, raised the gun again, and saw that the bearded Russian was also aiming at him.

"Ah!" He shuddered and subconsciously bent down to avoid it.

"shooting--"

The Polish army fired another volley, but Yannik was whipped by the officer, "Stand up, coward!"

At this time, a dozen Russian soldiers had run to 20 steps away, shouting wildly and shooting with guns.

As if influenced by Yannik, more and more Polish soldiers retreated under the breastwork.

The Russians immediately took advantage of the situation and ran for a while. The bearded man even jumped onto the breastwork and stabbed Drasovitz with his bayonet.

The latter thrust his flintlock upwards, and the cold bayonet scraped past his scalp. The Russian immediately raised his foot and kicked him in the face.

Drasovitz groaned and bent down as well.

Krzysztof, the only recruit still firing, shouted anxiously:
"Stand up! Stand up and shoot!"

The soldiers around were still huddled there, no one reacted. Even the old soldier Drasovitz was squatting there with his face covered.

"Damn it! Have you all forgotten that girl from yesterday?" Krzysztof shouted. "If the Russians break through the line, all Poles will be like her!"

Yes, he still doesn't know the girl's name - after she died, the little boy named Kachi never said a word.

"Assholes! Keep shooting! We can't let this place become another Livonia! You..."

Krzysztof's voice suddenly stopped.

Yannick was startled and turned his head to see that a large piece of Krzysztof's neck was torn open by the bullet. Blood was spurting out from the gap, spraying all over the face of the Russian soldier in front of Drasovitz.

"Krzysztof!"

Yannick screamed, and suddenly remembered that he still had ammunition in his gun. His arms suddenly gained strength, and he raised his gun and shot at the Russian soldier. "Bang!"

The bearded Russian was still wiping the blood off his face when a hole was shot in his abdomen. He staggered twice and fell off the parapet.

Yannick shouted, swung his flintlock, and knocked down another Russian who had climbed up the breastwork, and the officer's orders rang in his ears again.

"Prepare--"

"Yes, shoot!" Yannick quickly stood up the flintlock and began to pour gunpowder into the muzzle.

What flashed before his eyes were the girl who was hit by the cannon yesterday, Bartrovich whose head was smashed, and Krzysztof who was bleeding.

For a moment, his hands seemed to forget the trembling.

Yannick quickly finished reloading, took a deep breath, then raised his gun and roared like a beast:

"Damn it! Russians are going to die too! I just killed one! I'm going to kill another one!"

Drasovitz also recovered. He shook his head and raised his gun with difficulty:

"I have to hold this place! My Marina and Feodor are in Warren. I have to get in front of them!"

Perhaps it was the effect of Krzysztof's words, or perhaps it was the inspiration from Yannik's heroic performance that made the recruits huddled nearby stand up one after another.

"shooting--"

Following the officer's order, the Polish position in the village of Zagazyk fired the most orderly volley since the battle began.

A dense barrage of bullets swept across, and the Russian soldiers in the front fell down instantly.

On a mound three kilometers away.

In front of the Russian temporary command post, General Morkov, the commander-in-chief of the Russian Polish Front, looked through the telescope at the sparse flames on the Polish defense line and the Russian scattered soldiers who were about to rush into the village of Zagazyk, and a disdainful smile appeared on his face. [Note 1]

"Your Majesty the Tsar should have declared war long ago, and there was no need to even gather these 12 troops."

He handed the telescope to the staff officer beside him and said: "The combat effectiveness of these Polish troops is almost as weak as that of the Ottomans."

Yes, he only sent out a group of exploratory soldiers, and they almost broke through the Polish defense line, which gave him a clearer understanding of the strength of the Polish army.

He signaled to the herald: "Let Vadisnov withdraw. Korolyev will launch the general attack in an hour.

"Today, I will push the battle line to the city of Mazyr."

"Yes, General!"

Morkov was not arrogant. As the main offensive force in this Polish war, he had 7 troops under his command, including 5 cannons, which was why the Polish positions were bombarded so badly.

Moreover, this army had participated in the Russo-Turkish War, and its combat quality was much higher than that of the Poles.

On the other hand, Poland had only 5 soldiers and probably no more than 30 cannons.

If he still couldn't achieve a quick victory, there was no need for him to return to St. Petersburg.

Soon, gongs sounded in the rear of the Russian army, and the attacking Russian skirmishers immediately began to retreat in an orderly manner.

It was not until the Russians had left the range of the flintlock rifles and the Polish officer shouted "Stop" that Yannik realized the situation and put away the flintlock rifles.

In the open space before him, there were at least sixty or seventy Russian bodies lying in a mess.

Yannick was stunned for a moment, and suddenly felt a warm current rushing from his back to the top of his head. He couldn't help waving his arms and shouted:
"We fought off the Russians! They're fleeing! They're fleeing!"

The recruits around him were also stunned for a moment, then they jumped and cheered:

"The Russians are retreating!"

"Haha, let them know how powerful we are!"

"Long live Poland!"

"Long live the motherland!"

【Note 1】The Russian army that invaded Poland was divided into two parts, the Lithuanian Front in the north and the Polish Front in the south. This does not mean that the army was composed of Polish soldiers.

(End of this chapter)