I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 799: The Battle of Brussels II

The lieutenants of the Royal Artillery Battalion studied university mathematics courses in military academy. Without the ability to calculate the trajectory in half a minute, they could forget about getting their diploma.

The artillery conducted live-fire training at all costs, with one month's practice equivalent to that of the British Army in one year.

What you get in return for the extra spending is superhuman shooting skills.

Previously, the French army's battle in the Southern Netherlands was too smooth, and the artillery had almost no room to play, so they won the battle.

Now, I finally have the opportunity to show my strength.

Generally speaking, even a 12-pound cannon would not start firing until the target was within 800 steps, or more than 400 meters, to ensure the killing effect.

But this time it was a defensive battle, and the Royal Artillery Battalion could calmly select their positions and measure the shooting parameters in advance, which was even simpler than the military academy examinations.

This led to them being able to maintain a very high hit rate even when firing at the maximum range of 1.3 kilometers - the artillery positions were all located on high ground, so this range was not exaggerated. Howitzers could even fire at a distance of 1.8 kilometers, but at such a long distance, and with indirect fire, it had almost no practical significance.

After being bombarded, the British officers even thought they were ambushed, and hurriedly ordered the infantry line to stop advancing and sent out skirmishers to search the vicinity. After confirming that the shells were fired from the French positions, they continued their attack.

Because of their delay, the Prussians who were flanking the enemy were left out.

The French artillery immediately turned their guns around, allowing the Prussian army to enjoy a precise and intensive bombardment.

The Prussian army was suddenly in some chaos and the commander had to order a retreat.

In this way, the first day of the Allied Forces' attack ended abruptly - they didn't even see the French soldiers, and nearly 400 people were taken away by cannons.

The next day, the Duke of York adjusted his tactics and ordered his artillery to go up first and use the numerical advantage to suppress the French army - he had confirmed yesterday that the French army had only 37 guns, less than half of his own.

However, the level of the British artillery was already far inferior, and since they were firing from an upward angle, the shells could not even reach the edge of the French artillery positions.

They had to take the risk of approaching, and it was not until they were about 900 steps away from the French army that a shell finally landed near the opposing cannon.

But as they advanced, they had already become the main target of French artillery.

After several rounds of accurate volleys, the British artillery had suffered heavy casualties and was forced to retreat in embarrassment, leaving four guns behind.

However, they were not without gain. The "tactic" of attracting firepower objectively provided cover for the infantry.

The British infantry line reached the bottom of the slope before the French artillery turned on them again.

The Duke of York decided to seize this opportunity and sent his trusted General Harris to the front line to supervise the battle in person, ordering him to capture the high ground occupied by the French before dark.

More than 1 British infantrymen, with the cooperation of 2 Austrian skirmishers, approached the French defense line at the top of the slope step by step under the continuous flying artillery shells.

The Prussian infantry brigade on the right wing also rushed forward quickly.

They were 1.2 kilometers away from the British troops in the center, which was definitely beyond the coverage of the French defense line.

As long as the British could delay the French for 20 minutes, they would be able to complete the flanking move.

Soon, gunshots began to be heard in the center of the battlefield, indicating that the British and French infantry had begun exchanging fire.

To be honest, the Duke of York's Red Shirts were well disciplined. Despite being bombarded by artillery fire, they managed to stay put and advance more than 800 steps, successfully entering the distance of infantry combat. The French line array on the opposite side did not seem dense, which gave Harris great confidence. He kept urging the troops in the back row to press forward, while looking westward.

But soon, the French Royal Infantry Division used percussion cap rifles to teach the British what the generation gap in weapons was.

The loading speed and bullet power were much higher than those of the British flintlock rifles. In addition, the shooting was from a high position, so British soldiers kept falling down one after another, and corpses were rolling down the slope at any time.

On the French side, once a soldier was injured, he would retreat to the back of the slope, and someone from there would immediately take over.

The British soldiers felt that there seemed to be countless enemies hiding behind the invisible slope.

Finally, the heavy casualties were too much for the resilient Red Shirts. Harris had used up all his reserve troops, and the entire infantry line kept retreating under his scolding, and was about to collapse.

At this moment, the sound of trombones came from the west. Harris was immediately excited. The Prussians had arrived at the designated position. That was the sound of their attack!

He immediately waved his sword and shouted: "Hold on a little longer! General Karlcroit will soon defeat the French left wing!"

1.2 kilometers away, Count Karl Kreutz's vanguard was approaching the top of the slope.

Major Georg, who was commanding the vanguard, pointed excitedly to the top of the slope and shouted: "Occupy it! Then turn to the east immediately. We have exceeded the French defense line..."

Before he finished speaking, he heard the sound of orderly military drums coming from the slope, and then a flag with a dolphin and a golden iris painted on it appeared in his sight.

Georg felt dazed for a moment.

How can this be?

己方在中路展开了1万6千多人，加上自己这边的6千士兵，一共2万2千人，才勉强拉出了1.2公里长的战线。

Even with so many people, the gap between the center and the right wing was already dangerously large, forcing him to be on guard at all times against the French cavalry cutting in from the junction and dividing him and Harris's troops into two.

You know, both sides have deployed a large number of defensive forces on the left wing. Excluding cavalry, artillery and reserve troops, the French can not deploy more than 1 troops on the front.

But they were able to maintain a battle line as long as 1.2 kilometers!
How can this be?

However, the intensive gunfire coming from the top of the slope told him that all this was true.

Georg pulled the reins hard and shouted orders to assemble on the spot, preparing to fight the enemy in a line formation.

But the Prussian army had to run quickly to the top of the hill before. At this time, some people stopped according to the order, but more than one-third of the soldiers were still walking up, and the whole queue suddenly became chaotic.

Opposite them, the French infantry lines began to fire volleys in an orderly manner.

Dense bullets flew into the crowd of Prussian soldiers. Amid the blood and screams, the already chaotic formation became even more chaotic.

Count Karl Kreutz, who was far away, was shocked and was about to order the reserve troops to move forward, but he saw that Georg's regiment in front of him had already fled like a flock of frightened sheep.

He looked up the slope with a telescope in confusion, and saw that there were only two sparse rows of infantry on the French defense line, and the distance between the soldiers was very large.

He immediately realized that the French used this sparse battle line to cover the 1.2-kilometer-wide battlefield.

(End of this chapter)