Boom boom boom... The steel cannons fired fast, hard and densely, with far better range and accuracy than the French army! There were only sixty artillery pieces, but in the eyes of the French army, it was as if there were two hundred artillery pieces firing at the same time.
The French artillery position opposite was suddenly blown into a pot of porridge. The artillery was blown to the ground, soldiers were thrown into the sky, and the ammunition was detonated and caused a chain reaction... The entire position was in a mess.
"Oh God! How come the enemy has so many artillery pieces? The number is twice as many as ours, at least two hundred..."
"And it seems that the range is far beyond ours, they are all large-caliber...ah..." As he shouted, the shells exploded among the soldiers, and the bodies were thrown more than ten meters away.
Sixty Krupp field guns produced the effect of two hundred. This is the power of the new breech-loading rifled cannon, which is simply not comparable to the old front-loading artillery of the French army.
In that era, the number of artillery pieces in a unit could determine the size and importance of the unit. The more artillery-intensive a unit was, it was naturally the most powerful unit. This has been written in In the textbooks of the French military academy.
Upon seeing the Prussian artillery firing so densely, the French commander subconsciously thought that the opponent's artillery was far more numerous than his own, and he immediately panicked.
"Damn it, it's true that the Prussians put their main force in the direction of Walter. The marshal's judgment was correct. Their strength is at least 100,000!"
"What should we do? Sir, should we move closer to the Chinese army?"
"Stay closer! When did the French army become deserters? Even if we want to retreat, we still have to take the initiative to charge to test the enemy's background!"
"We must not embarrass the empire, nor can we embarrass His Majesty the Emperor!"
"Order the front line to continue the attack... Let our cavalry assault!"
France is known as the world's strongest army. Of course, a strong army must have the pride of a strong army. Faced with such a fierce artillery bombardment, those troops who suffered huge casualties still launched a tenacious counterattack.
The shouting French troops held rifles and gleaming bayonets. They pushed against the crowd of the Bavarian Legion, and the two sides suddenly fell into hand-to-hand combat.
In the fierce battle, both sides fought hard to retreat, and human life had become the cheapest consumable.
The French cavalry mobilized their horses to attack from both wings, their sabers were waving in the air, and their breastplates were shining!
Prince Liutpod looked at the charging cavalry with a sneer, and pressed down his white gloves, "Fire a salvo of artillery...and then let our cavalry attack!"
The Krupp steel cannon adjusted its angle and began to roar. The shells almost grazed the heads of the soldiers and flew to the battlefield. The French cavalry charge queue suddenly fell into chaos.
The shell fragments flew into the air, the war horses neighed and rolled to the ground, and the cavalrymen were thrown to pieces with broken bones and tendons!
"Bavarian Cavalry! Attack..." After a round of shelling, the Bavarian cavalry finally began to counterattack. A total of three thousand cavalry collided with the French cavalry in a chaotic formation, and a medieval cold weapon was staged in the wilderness. Great war.
"The artillery extends its fire, making full use of our range to disrupt the enemy's main formation! The reserve infantry attacks, and the skirmishers fire freely..."
Prince Liutpod was indeed an old fox, and his keen observation ability on the battlefield was really different from ordinary people. Under his calm command, the advantage was gradually grasped in his hands.
The reserve infantry regiment entered the battle. This time there was no marching drum accompaniment. Thousands of soldiers charged forward in skirmish lines, loading bullets and firing freely at any time.
The charging infantry passed through the fierce cavalry battlefield, shooting the proud French knights off their horses with bullets.
The half-kneeling soldiers began to support the brothers fighting in front, and the French front line faced unprecedented pressure.
The French rear was also unstable, suffering heavy casualties under the fierce bombardment of German artillery!
"We can't hold on anymore! Sir, we have tried our best... The marshal's order is for us to fight with caution. If necessary, we can join the Chinese army. Now is the time to retreat!"
"No matter how late it is, we won't be able to retreat! Please pay attention quickly..."
"Sir...the artillery position has been completely wiped out. Only three or four artillery can still maintain firing at this moment, and the rest have all failed to fire..."
"Without artillery, this battle cannot be fought!"
At this moment, a burst of bugles suddenly came from the sky to the north of the battlefield, and then the ranger scouts ran towards the Chinese army as if they had seen a ghost.
"A large number of enemies appear in the north... The flags of the Prussian Fifth Army are flying all over the sky! Enemy reinforcements appear in the north..."
Now the command headquarters was in complete chaos. The Third Division was almost unable to withstand the attack of the Bavarian Second Army alone. Now that enemy reinforcements were coming from the north, how could they fight?
"Retreat...the entire army retreats! Retreat to Walter...join the central army!"
The 3rd Division lost 3,000 men in this brief encounter, lost all its artillery, and retreated to Volta in disgrace.
At this moment, Walter has become an isolated island. McMahon's position is in chaos. The sudden appearance of the Bavarian Second Army in the west and the Prussian Fifth Army in the north have brought unprecedented pressure to him.
Even a large-scale Baden garrison appeared on the east bank of the iron bridge over the Rhine east of Walter City, vigilantly confronting Walter's French army.
"Surrounded on three sides! The Prussians want to eat us completely! I'm sure there must be another army outflanking us to the south..."
"Prince Carl wants to completely annihilate us!"
"What should we do? What should we do?" President McMahon's face turned dark.
At this moment, the messenger from the Third Division rushed in panting, "Report to the General... Our unit has retreated, but has lost all its artillery..."
"The division commander asked me to bring the latest intelligence... the enemy... the enemy has more artillery than it should be equipped with!"
"The Bavarian army alone used more than 200 artillery pieces... The firepower gap is really huge! We can't withstand it..."
"Two hundred doors? How is that possible!" McMahon was shocked when he heard this number.
The 19th century was different from the later periods of World War I and World War II. At that time, the level of industry was not high, and strategic weapons such as artillery were treasures of various countries.
In the historical Battle of Sedan, the Prussian army assembled all its artillery to bombard Sedan, but it was only 700 artillery pieces!
McMahon would never believe that a corps could have 200 artillery pieces.
"Marshal! How dare we deceive you? Our artillery position has a total of sixty artillery pieces, but they were completely destroyed by the enemy in just one encounter!"
"The enemy's artillery shells fell like hailstones, dense as rain!"
"Two hundred gates is also a conservative number. In my opinion, the enemy has more than three hundred gates!"
