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The sense of crushing brought by technology can override all courage, just like the muskets ended the charge of the knights, and the artillery ended the majesty of the cold weapon regiment. At present, the naval guns of the Zhiyuan are compared to the light weapons of the French Army. , is the same existence as the Terminator.
What a killing! Courage is not worth a dime here, and the entire five-kilometer-long beach is full of soldiers fleeing in panic.
It’s not that no one attempted to counterattack. Those veterans and brave officers who had experienced hundreds of battles charged forward again and again, gathering counterattack troops one after another, and used the field artillery that had been unloaded in the early stage to attempt to counterattack.
However, all the weapons of the Army were as weak as toothpicks in front of the Zhiyuan. Even the artillery on the battleship could not penetrate the steel armor of the Zhiyuan, let alone these field guns with a caliber of tens of millimeters.
The tickling shells exploded on the Zhiyuan, which had no effect other than blackening the ship. On the contrary, every bombardment brought revenge from the Zhiyuan's firepower.
The French regiment, whose position was exposed, was bombarded by naval guns. With just one shell, a battalion of French troops was bombed miserably. Hundreds of French troops were turned into corpses and pieces during the bombing.
This is a kind of firepower output with a crushing nature. As a strategic weapon of this era, the armored ship has such a domineering attitude!
The French military remained silent after the war on how many people the French landing force lost in this field battle. However, according to later British and Prussian statistics, the total number of French troops lost in this massacre had reached about 6,000 to 7,000.
Of course, the French refused to admit such battle damage figures. They blindly emphasized that after the bombardment began, a large number of French troops had begun to evacuate and move. No matter how powerful the Zhiyuan's artillery was, each shot did not cause many casualties!
But the French veterans who had actually experienced this massacre had painful memories on countless informal occasions: "It was so tragic! When the enemy ships rushed over, our soldiers had not completely disembarked..."
"Many brothers were killed by enemy bombs on the ship. Wooden-hulled merchant ships were no match for enemy ships. Every merchant ship that was bombed and sunk sank. The sea was full of corpses of brothers, and the struggles of survivors..."
"In contrast, the brothers who had landed ashore were lucky. Except for a few who were gathered by officers to fight back, the soldiers who hid in the darkness all survived in the end..."
"It's all because of Hof, that stupid idiot, who ruined this expedition..."
After the war, these surviving soldiers hated Hof even more than they hated the Chinese. If it hadn't been for Hof's series of command mistakes, how could they have suffered such heavy losses, and thousands of lives were lost in his hands!
When Hoff saw that the Zhiyuan completely ignored his order to surrender, the furious commander ordered the entire fleet to open fire immediately. He wanted to sink this warship without eyes!
But at this moment, the British fleet watching the battle suddenly sent him a message!
"Commander! The telegram from the Duke of Newx... He said... He said that the commander of the Reach is a prince?"
"What? Prince? Impossible..." Hof screamed.
It is very common for nobles to join the army in this era. Even Hof himself carries the name of a viscount. Although he is from a declining noble family, he is still a member of the noble system!
In this era, nobles really have the right to avoid death, and the higher the title, the greater the privileges. Generally, if you reach earl or above, even on the battlefield, the enemy will not be too difficult.
For high-ranking nobles, try to capture rather than kill. This is an unspoken rule in all European countries, because a high-ranking noble can obtain a lot of practical benefits at the negotiation table.
What's more, all the nobles in the world are one family! If you have done a great job today, you will have planted the seeds of unforgivable hatred in the enemy's heart. In the future, the other nobles will definitely use all their strength to retaliate!
So, for things like war, it would be better if more untouchables die. Anyway, the untouchables will not seek revenge from me... If he kills a high-ranking noble, how can the other family let him go?
"How is it possible? Is the Duke lying to me..."
"Commander... I'm not lying to you... The British made it clear that the captain of the Zhiyuan is a relative of Xiang Shaolong, the king of the newly established Far East Kingdom..."
"And he is the first in line of succession... it is very likely that he will be the king of the Far East Kingdom in the future!"
"What a damn Far Eastern country, we France don't recognize it, we don't recognize it!" Hof yelled.
The intelligence officer who accompanied the expedition said with a grimace, "I'm afraid it's useless if you don't admit it. The British and the Chinese exchanged letters of credence before, and the British have officially recognized the national status of the Chinese Federation..."
"The Far East Kingdom is a state under the Chinese ethnic group. The British even recognize the Chinese ethnic group, so naturally they will also recognize the status of a vassal state under the Chinese ethnic group..."
"Damn! So what if he is the heir to the king's title? I have already persuaded him to surrender, but he does not accept the surrender. Do I still want to let him massacre my soldiers?"
"Keep firing until the Zhiyuan is sunk!"
Hof's heart went cold. He knew that he was on the verge of death. How much he hoped that these Chinese people could surrender!
On the one hand, only if the Zhiyuan surrenders can he be pardoned to the greatest extent. This naval battle really stinks like shit. With such huge battle damage, the military court will not spare him lightly!
Only if the Zhiyuan surrenders can this battleship and these prisoners become a shining achievement! The French Academy of Sciences can obtain the latest technology, and the French Emperor also has a lot of valuable bargaining chips on the negotiating table.
These prisoners will even be taken to Paris to be paraded in public, which can save the collapsed morale of the people!
Only in this way can you be forgiven and even be rewarded based on your merits!
Now, Hoff has added one more thing to his random thoughts, and that is this inexplicable heir to the king!
Hof didn't know much about the Chinese. He was a naval admiral and was far away from the political circles in Paris. He didn't know much about the news.
He didn't understand what kind of federation the Chinese were, nor did he understand where the hatred between the French Emperor and Xiao Letian came from. He didn't even know what the Far East Country was.
He only knew that the Chinese defeated the French fleet on the sea, also defeated the Tsarist Russian fleet, and captured Vladivostok! He was interested in everything about the navy, but he was not willing to think too much about subsequent political changes.
So he had no idea who the King of the Far East was, nor did he know that the captain of the Zhiyuan was the first heir to the King of the Far East!
"Oh God! If this damn heir to the prince dies here...will the Far East Congress retaliate against me? I am just a little viscount, can I withstand the revenge of the prince... …”
"No, no, no... I can't think nonsense anymore. I am a noble French noble, and the Far East Country is just a barbarian from the East. How could they hurt me?"
"The King of France will protect me, he will definitely!"
Hof was talking to himself, like a madman!
