Wild North America 1846

Chapter 569 The Price of Arrogance

Author: Portuguese toothless

Chapter 569 The Price of Arrogance

A little after 11 a.m.

The incoming unknown force appeared on the eastern outskirts of the town of Saint-Malo. A shadowy team came forward, with dozens of cavalry in front, followed by a long queue carrying rifles, with about 70 carriages and carriages escorted in the middle.

Twelve field guns towed.

If the guess is correct, these baggage carriages should be loaded with weapons and ammunition, spare guns, some tents, cooking utensils and other items. Of course, there are also carriages loaded with cannonballs and gunpowder. They are extremely well prepared for battle.

On the eastern outskirts of the town of Saint-Malo, German Major August von Blaine, who had been waiting for a long time, led his 173 soldiers, crossed the small stone bridge with neat steps, and then formed a horizontal formation after about tens of meters.

.

There are two platoons, each with more than 86 soldiers.

In addition, the German Major August von Bryan and the company commander Lieutenant Hans stood side by side, waiting for the other side to come forward.

The incoming French army stopped less than a thousand meters away. After several horse-riding commanders whispered to each other and discussed, several people immediately ran back on their horses and vaguely heard the slogan "Prepare to fight".

Voice.

Soon, the French infantry formations were mobilized and deployed horizontally to face the German army. This was an infantry battalion of about 400 people. After unfolding, there were more than 140 people in each row, making a total of three rows.

At the command of the commander, these French soldiers put down the rifles on their shoulders and began to take out paper shells and load them, obviously preparing for the battle.

And this move

The German Major August von Brian's face turned pale with anger. He bit his lips and ordered loudly: "All soldiers put their guns down on their shoulders, check their guns, load bullets and prepare for battle."

At this point, it was too late to say regrets. We had to brave this round of attacks by the French army and then talk about retreat.

The escorts hidden in the main position on the left side of the rear were already ready, with bullets loaded, waiting for the enemy to step into the fire net of machine gun and rifle fire.

Sheriff Ma Wenyong was also on the front line. He stood at the window of the two-story building and carefully observed the enemy's formation with a monocular. He found that they had no intention of using artillery, and he couldn't help but feel overjoyed.

He speculated in his mind;

Perhaps the German soldiers who greeted them gave the enemy the illusion that the main defensive force of the Saint-Malo port was here.

How could a mere 170-strong force be able to withstand an army of more than 2,000 people?

The French commander was also very proud and sent only one battalion of soldiers to fight, which was slightly more than twice the strength, to defeat the Germans from the front.

As for the heavy firepower of artillery, there is no need for it at all.

Ma Wenyong didn't believe that the French attacked this port. Would he not know the strength of the Chinese escort of more than 600 people?

Could it be that for being so trusting, you are also guilty of pride?

It seems that the great reputation of the Tang Empire for its bravery and prowess in war has been weakened invisibly a lot across the Atlantic Ocean. How can it be so unbearable in the eyes of the French?

And this...maybe this is a good opportunity?

Think of this

Ma Wenyong immediately ordered in a serious tone: "Pass my order, all the escorts will be hidden for me and not allowed to show their heads. If anyone exposes the target, I will kill him with my own hands, including the right wing position and reserve team. All are hidden."

Now, prepare to give these French guys a big surprise."

"As you command, sir."

The messenger quickly went to convey the order. Ma Wenyong continued to pick up the monocular and began to carefully observe the enemy's movements.

Looking from a distance

The French commander on horseback was also observing the town with a telescope, but after watching it for a few minutes, he put it down and started talking and laughing with the officers around him, as if he was sure of victory.

Soon, the sound of war drums sounded behind the French army. This was a military band composed of 9 people, playing a marching song for the attacking French army.

The French commander standing on the far right side of the horizontal line drew out his sharp command knife and loudly ordered "advance", and the long horizontal line of French troops began to move.

two or three minutes later

The French army's offensive formation has approached within 500 meters, and still maintains a strict horizontal formation of infantry. From this point of view, they are well-trained veterans.

It is impossible for the recruits to walk so neatly. After a few hundred meters, the fear and hesitation in the face of death would have turned the horizontal queue into a winding snake. They would never be so calm and calm.

The German army is also a veteran of the war. Under the command of Major August von Bryan, the German soldiers in the front row who had finished loading squatted down, and the soldiers in the rear row stood. They adopted a typical two-stage firing method of line infantry.

Tactics.

Seeing the attacking French soldiers getting closer and closer, from 500 meters to 400 meters, and then from 400 meters to 350 meters, Major August von Brian swung the saber in his hand fiercely.

Ordered; "1st Platoon, all fire!"

"Pa bang bang..."

The sound of dense volleys of gunfire rang out, and the thick gray smoke rose slowly like a curved flying snake. The volleyball bullets fired by the German army were as dense as locusts and pounced on the French army, instantly shooting down more than a dozen attacking soldiers, and blood spattered.

And out.

The battered French army hesitated only for a moment before continuing to advance resolutely.

When there were vacancies in the front row, the French troops in the rear row silently moved forward to fill them, enduring casualties and continuing to advance.

"Pa bang bang..."

After the second round of firing, more than 20 attacking French soldiers fell down again. However, they did not stop advancing and shortened the distance to about 300 meters.

At this moment

The preemptive German soldiers had reloaded their bullets and raised their rifles in unison. The French commander loudly ordered, "Everyone stop advancing, raise their guns level, and prepare to... fire!"

"Pa bang bang..."

"Pa bang bang..."

Soldiers from both sides fired almost at the same time, regardless of the front or rear. The dense bullets shuttled back and forth and penetrated the flesh, making a creepy muffled sound of "puff, puff, puff". Soldiers from both sides fell softly to the ground and died.

Relatively speaking

Because the French army had a wider platoon, the number of bullets fired at the same time was denser, causing greater damage to the German soldiers.

The first round of shooting alone hit nearly 30 German soldiers, causing a large section of the German soldiers' platoon to collapse.

Then...the second and third rounds of shooting followed.

After the strong smoke

The German troops at the front had nearly half of their casualties. At least seventy or eighty of them were shot and lying dead. Among them was the overly conceited Major August von Bryan, who died under the heavy rain of bullets from the French army.

.

Lieutenant Hans standing next to him was wounded in the shoulder. Seeing that the place was overwhelming, he had to wave and order, "Retreat, quickly retreat across the small stone bridge."

There were less than a hundred German soldiers left and they retreated in embarrassment. Some soldiers even supported their wounded comrades and stumbled towards the small stone bridge.

I felt so proud when I walked over with my head held high, but now I feel so embarrassed.

"Pa bang bang..."

"Pa bang bang..."

"Pa bang bang..."

The experienced French soldiers would not give up this opportunity to beat the drowned dog. They stood still and continued three rounds of alternating concentrated fire. After knocking down about forty or fifty of the retreating German soldiers again, they took it easy.

Continue slowly and finish loading.

Under a series of orders from the commander, the attacking French soldiers shouldered their guns and continued to advance forward with proud steps.

Defeating their old enemy the Germans head-on made the French soldiers who had been suppressed for a long time particularly excited, and bursts of cheers could be heard from a distance.

The French commanders who were standing behind to watch the battle were all smiling. They waved their hands and ordered the follow-up troops to continue to advance. They followed closely behind the attacking French army and marched in a swaggering formation.

A total of 174 German officers and soldiers strode across the small stone bridge with their heads held high, and only 46 of them retreated in embarrassment. The rest were either shot dead or seriously injured and fell to the ground groaning in pain. There was basically no chance of survival.

The French soldiers are ruthless and will not be lenient when it comes to their own compatriots, and they will not be lenient when dealing with Germans.

Either don't do it, or do it absolutely.

Due to the restrictions of the small stone bridge, the attacking French soldiers could not maintain their horizontal formation. When they were about 100 meters away from the small stone bridge, the French commander issued an order to "disband the horizontal formation."

The French soldiers rushed up in a swarm, fiercely stabbed and fired at the German officers and soldiers who fell on the ground on the other side of the small stone bridge, and then came up like a tide with sharp bayonets...

in their eyes

The retreating German soldiers had already crossed the small stone bridge and ran away. About forty German soldiers retreated into the town in embarrassment. The French soldiers behind them couldn't help but speed up their pace to catch up, and started to trot after them.

When most of this group of about 350 French soldiers passed the small stone bridge, Ma Wenyong waved his hands fiercely and said: "Hit me, hit me hard."

The guards hiding in the house and behind the walls emerged one after another, and the rags and felt covering the Colt heavy machine gun were also torn off, and the black muzzles were pointed at the swarming people.

French soldier.

The nearest one is only a dozen meters away, which can almost be said to be a close encounter.

In the horrified eyes of these French soldiers, three heavy machine guns took the lead in firing "ta da da... da da da da...", and then more than 100 rifles also fired intensively, drowning these French soldiers in the dense fire.

In the net.

“Da da da… da da da da…”

The three heavy machine guns in the town and the three heavy machine guns in the main position on the right all fired wildly, with crisp rifle sounds in between. The intensive firepower lasted for five or six minutes before Ma Wenyong loudly ordered "cease fire."

,everyone stop shooting..."

The smoke has cleared

The French infantry battalion that had rashly passed through the small stone bridge had been completely wiped out. Bodies lay scattered all over the ground. The strong smell of blood was nauseating, and it was simply a bloody slaughterhouse.

The French commander in the rear was already stunned. After seeing that his attacking troops were completely wiped out, his face twitched violently and he shouted heartbreakingly;

"God! Drag our artillery out quickly, go, go...I will use artillery fire to smash these despicable enemies and let them die in fire and fear, these damn Germans..."

At this time, he has not yet figured out who the real enemy he is facing is?

(End of chapter)