March 30, 1675, dusk.
Djerburg battlefield.
"Ur! Ur!" The killing cry in Turkish swept from south to north like a tsunami, sweeping towards Leopold I, the sole emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
The Ottoman general offensive has begun!
The Battle of Djerburg started in the early morning of that day and had been fought for six or seven hours... No, it should have been the soldiers of the Holy Roman Empire who had been beaten for six or seven hours!
The outcome was actually determined from the first round of line infantry confrontation between the two sides. About 1,200 Ottoman long riflemen formed two very slender lines and approached the artillery position of the Holy Roman Empire. They killed and wounded seventy or eighty gunners with one salvo and paralyzed more than a dozen guns. 6 pounder gun. Seeing that something was wrong, the Shinra infantry reacted quickly, and 20 companies of infantry immediately launched a counterattack.
The brave HRE infantry formed a standard five-column line (three of which were fusiliers) and forced the Ottoman long riflemen from three directions at a brisk pace. Based on the HRE infantry's understanding of rifled guns, some of them might take one round from the Ottoman rifled guns, some would die, and some of the companies would collapse, but most of the companies would rush within the effective range of the muskets. , and then dispersed the Ottoman riflemen with rapid fire...
But what happened next was far beyond their expectations!
The Ottoman riflemen seem to have learned some magic about loading. They can actually reload as quickly as when using muskets... No, the loading speed is even faster than that of the Shinra infantry who use muskets. !
Almost two shots per minute!
Out of confidence in their own shooting skills and to avoid thick smoke blocking their sight, the Ottoman riflemen even dispersed their formation, turning the two straight lines into a loose semi-circular skirmish formation, so that they could Can fire at enemies approaching from three directions at the same time. And they no longer fired volleys, but used precise free fire to hit the entire advancing group of Shinra infantry.
Under the supervision of the strict Koprulu father and son, the training level of the Yenicheri warriors had been greatly improved. By 1674, almost every active Yenicheri warrior had undergone at least 6 years of rigorous training. train! Of course, the 7,500 long riflemen selected from 100,000 Yenicheri warriors all have very sophisticated shooting skills. If old-fashioned Turkish matchlocks are used, it will be difficult for their shooting skills to be effectively used - the matchlock soldiers The density of the formation was not as high as that of the Fusiliers, their reloading was also slow, and their matchlocks were easily blown out by the wind.
So when flintlock guns began to become popular, the Ottoman Empire, which had been able to suppress the Europeans in the past, inevitably went downhill... But now, the early emergence of minie bombs and the production bottleneck of rifled guns have made it difficult The training advantages of the Ottoman Yenicheri Corps were carried forward.
The 1,200 Ottoman long riflemen fired at least three cork bullets before 20 companies of Shinra infantry walked a hundred and dozens of yards and entered the effective range of the muskets!
3,600 fatal bullets swept through 20 Shinra infantry companies advancing in dense formation like a whirlwind of death, knocking down at least 800 people!
Such casualties were completely beyond the endurance of the Shinra infantry. The living people no longer dared to advance, and most of the company's officers were killed and wounded because they took the lead.
Without command, the mentally broken Shinra infantry company disintegrated one by one, without even firing a single salvo!
Seeing that the fusiliers' attack was completely ineffective, Count Montecuccoli, who had already come to the front to take command, had no choice but to order the 12-pounder cannon at the rear to fire explosive shells randomly to create smoke and cover his own position. At the same time, he reorganized the artillery that had just been attacked by the Ottomans with rifled guns, and asked all the 6-pounders to start firing again, bombarding the Ottomans in the distance with shotgun shells.
However, these measures only temporarily stabilized the situation and were not enough to repel the Ottoman offensive. Fortunately, Count Montecuccoli still had an ace in his hand, which was the cavalry of the Holy Roman Empire.
Taking advantage of the heavy artillery fire, Count Montecuccoli mobilized ten squadrons of cavalry and took advantage of the smoke on the battlefield to launch a charge.
But the Ottomans are not stupid. They have fought with the Europeans so many times, and they still don’t know the opponent’s tricks? So after the Ottoman long riflemen fired desperately at the opponent's artillery, they knew that the Shinra cavalry was coming up. So they immediately stopped shooting and retreated to their respective square formations!
As a result, the HRE cavalry who charged desperately crashed into the Ottoman phalanx. Although two or three of them were scattered, the remaining phalanx was intact, and the HRE cavalry suffered heavy casualties!
While repelling the charge of the HRE cavalry, Ahmed Koprulu ordered his artillery to move forward, concentrated more than 20 6-pound cannons in front of his own front line, and at the same time mobilized another 15 One long rifle battalion replaced the 10 previously invested long rifle battalions.
After completing the adjustment, more long riflemen began to shoot at Shinra's artillery at a distance of more than 200 yards!
Although the smoke on the battlefield greatly reduced the shooting accuracy of these Ottoman sharpshooters, the intensive firepower of nearly 2,000 rifled guns still knocked down Shinra's artillery piece by piece!
As a last resort, Count Montecuccoli had no choice but to mobilize his infantry to charge again - no more shooting, just charge up with bayonets and spears!
As a result, they ran into more than 20 Ottoman 6-pound cannons that had just been deployed... After a burst of shotgun shells, less than half of the more than 20 infantry companies invested by Count Montecuccoli collapsed, and the remaining Shinra troops The infantry collapsed one by one under the firepower and impact of the Ottoman battalion-level phalanx!
In order to stabilize his own front, Count Montecuccoli once again had to invest in cavalry, and at the same time ordered the two wings to press up, trying to outflank the Ottoman flanks.
However, the Ottomans held firmly. Their rifled guns, 6-pounder cannons, and the spears of the phalanx soldiers completely crushed the attack of the Shinra army.
At this point in the battle, Count Montecuccoli and Charles Lorraine knew they had lost.
But they couldn't retreat!
Because Ahmed Koprulu still has 20,000 cavalry on hand and has not gone into battle... If the Shinra army retreats, then with the pursuit of 20,000 cavalry, I really don’t know how many people can run back. Vienna?
As for pushing into the Djellburg Fortress... that's even worse. Considering the "rifled gun magic" of the Ottoman army, Louis XIV would definitely not dare to come rashly - even without the "rifled gun magic", he Nor would he come to rescue a Shinra Emperor who was trapped in Djellburg!
Leopold I was the last male in the Habsburg family to be able to have children!
If he died... to whom would the Habsburg legacy be left? Louis XIV, who married a Spanish Habsburg princess, was undoubtedly the only heir!
Therefore, Count Montecuccoli and Charles Lorraine had no choice but to bite the bullet and command the troops to resist desperately, hoping to delay the withdrawal until dark.
But how could Ahmed Koprulu give Leopold a chance to escape?
The Ottoman army attacked wave after wave until four or five o'clock in the afternoon, when the tide-like attack finally began!
The start of the general offensive was marked by the heavy cavalry of the Ottoman Empire, under the cover of gunpowder smoke, rushing towards the center of the Shinra army that had long been beaten to the verge of collapse.
"Your Majesty, run quickly... Your Majesty, we are defeated!"
Seeing the overwhelming defeat of the army in front of him, Charles Lorraine had no choice but to advise his emperor to flee for his life.
King Leopold I's face turned gray and his lips trembled, "Charlie, where should we escape to?"
Charlie Lorraine said: "Anywhere will do... but it cannot fall into the hands of the Tianfang cultists!"
Is it okay to just fall into the hands of Louis XIV? Leopold I's slight hesitation turned into a big mistake. An infantry regiment in front of him suddenly collapsed. The soldiers who had been condensed into a square seemed to have been smashed by something, and they ran away screaming.
Without the cover of this infantry regiment, the breakthrough Tianfang Sect knights came towards Leopold I, who was surrounded by the Royal Guards.
The Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire also knew that something was wrong. He was just about to turn his horse's head and run away, but he never thought that some Ottoman Empire skirmishers had already rushed up with their cavalry. Some of them were sharp-eyed and saw the clothes from a distance. A magnificent Holy Roman Emperor.
Several long rifles were pointed at the emperor who was turning his horse around, and then several gunshots were fired. Leopold I was shot on the spot... and became a saint!
