The French army at Wissembourg was defeated miserably, but the actual casualties were not high. Although the night gave the attackers a huge advantage, it also gave the defeated troops the best camouflage.
Of the more than 10,000 soldiers of the First Division, only three to four thousand were killed and captured. The remaining more than 6,000 veterans dispersed and attacked, and then merged with each other during the escape process and reorganized the organization. Finally, in the second Tian came to join Walter and the coach.
From this point, we can see the excellence of this group of vanguard troops. Once the veterans are defeated, they will not sneak home secretly, but quickly restore their organization and find the main force to integrate and fight again.
In this way, McMahon has more than 6,000 fresh troops in his hands. With a little repair, these veterans can still fight on the battlefield.
At this moment, the number of French infantry near Walter has reached 36,000, and the cavalry is 10,000, a total of 46,000 troops, and they are all the elite of the empire, veterans of the Northern and Southern Wars.
Not only that, the ammunition supply for these 46,000 people is still abundant. After all, no one in the vanguard dares to shortchange them!
If such a large army really fights Prince Carl, it is not certain who will win the battle!
On Prince Karl's side, Prussia equipped him with a total of 78,000 troops! It seems to be twice the size of the French army, but at this moment, Prince Carl's army can only fight with just over 40,000 people.
The remaining troops had just gathered from the rear, some were distributing ammunition, and some were heading to the battlefield on foot.
Those who can really be put into combat are the more than 40,000 Chinese troops. It seems that McMahon still has an advantage!
However, the gap in military strength cannot make up for the huge gap in the national destiny. When the national destiny of a nation begins to decline, many strange accidents will happen.
The God of Destiny will always reach out to cover the eyes of those who are unlucky, and there will always be some inexplicable little accidents that change the outcome of the entire battle.
The rout brought false intelligence, which led to McMahon making a wrong judgment. He should have used his advantage to engage in a decisive battle with the enemy, but his order was to fight cautiously and move closer to the Chinese army when necessary.
This conservative tactics directly caused the morale of the army to waver!
Another fatal mistake was that he should not have allowed these defeated troops to come into direct contact with Walter's army. The morale shaken caused by the defeated troops was real. Seeing the misery of friendly troops being tortured, what would the other soldiers think?
Coupled with McMahon's extremely cowardly strategy, it further proves the random thoughts in the hearts of the soldiers!
The army spent a sleepless night under the influence of an unexplainable emotion. As a result, early the next morning, the Third Division of the Eastern Front officially came into contact with the Prussian vanguard.
It was a misty morning. The soldiers of the Third Division began to go to the creek in groups to fetch water for breakfast. However, on their way to fetch water, they suddenly heard bursts of rustling coming from the mist. sound.
When they took a closer look, they were all so frightened that they broke out in cold sweat. They saw dozens of vigilant Prussian soldiers suddenly rushing out of the mist.
The two sides looked at each other and were stunned, and then they all burst into a shrill roar, "There is an enemy! The enemy has been found!"
Bang bang bang... The Prussian soldiers opened fire first, and the French troops who were fetching water were swept down in a large area!
Less than a quarter of the soldiers escaped alive. As they ran, they screamed, "The Prussians are coming! The Prussians are attacking us..."
The whole camp was in chaos. The soldiers wrapped in blankets jumped up from the ground, grabbed their rifles and started loading ammunition!
Officers at all levels immediately gathered their men, and the voices of the messengers came one after another!
To the east of the Third Division, the footsteps in the mist became more and more intensive, and everyone knew that the enemy was coming!
Suddenly, the dense fog dissipated strangely, as if it had been slapped by an invisible hand, and a regiment of ten thousand people began to reveal their ferocious appearance!
The commanders of the 3rd Division shouted in horror, "It's the Bavarian Division! The Bavarian flag is flying!"
That's right, the first shot of the Battle of Walter was the legion from Bavaria. Prince Karl directly commanded Prince Liutpod. There were a total of 40,000 soldiers of the Bavarian legion for Prince Karl to drive!
The encounter finally broke out. In order to atone for his son's sins and to reverse his unfavorable situation in Prussia, Prince Liutpod personally followed the vanguard army towards Walter regardless of his age.
The emperor paid off, and the eager-to-do prince finally fired the first shot of the Battle of Walter!
"The king's warriors! Soldiers of Bavaria! Across the way are the French invaders, who are standing on our land, burning, killing and looting!"
"For the King! For Germany! Attack!"
"Long live! Long live! Long live!" There was a dense sound of marching drums in the army. Each square formation had a little drummer in his teenage years. This was a combat tradition in the era of queuing to be shot.
The sound of drums can adjust the pace of soldiers, and the sound of drums can also boost the morale of soldiers!
In this era, although all skirmishers charge, the traditional Bavarian regiment of marching drums has not been lost!
Amidst the sound of drums, dozens of phalanxes began to move forward to outflank them, gradually forming a concave semicircle in the wildness, and pushed directly towards the French army.
The entire French camp also became tense. The soldiers gathered together and faced the enemy in square formations. The rifles in their hands were pointed at the enemy in the distance vigilantly.
Eight hundred meters, seven hundred meters, five hundred meters... Everyone was waiting for the most effective range of the rifle. When the distance between the two sides entered the range of 400 meters, the French army took the lead in opening fire.
"Fire...fire...shoot..."
Boom boom boom... the artillery in the rear began to roar, and the shells pierced the sky and exploded in the camp of the Bavarian Army.
Bang bang bang... The secret rain of bullets came overwhelmingly, and the soldiers at the front were swept away.
However, these casualties were completely unable to stop the attacking Bavarian soldiers. At this moment, the drum beat suddenly became as dense as rain. Officers at all levels drew their sabers and shouted, "Skirmish line charge...shoot!"
"Kill..." The Phalanx suddenly dispersed and ran forward in a skirmish line. Each square formation began to cover and fire alternately, and the French army on the opposite side also began to suffer casualties.
Prince Liutpod looked at the charging crowd coldly. In his eyes, the soldiers who died in battle seemed not to be alive. He just waited quietly, with incomparable patience.
"Fire! I don't believe you only have so few artillery pieces... You must have something to hide!"
"Fire the guns...you guys fire the guns..."
It turned out that the prince wanted the first wave of charging soldiers to be used as bait to force all the French artillery positions to expose their targets!
The French army was indeed fooled. When these crazy Bavarian soldiers rushed within a hundred meters, the two hidden artillery positions finally opened fire.
Boom boom boom...the shells exploded in the charging crowd, quickly reducing the density of the charge.
"Hahaha... I've been waiting for now! The artillery fire... blow the French cannons into silence for me!"
The newly installed Krupp steel cannon finally burst out with its first cry on the battlefield! The breech-loaded steel cannon responded to the French attack with the fastest rate of fire.
