Wild North America 1846

Chapter 570 Retreating in despair

Author: Portuguese toothless

Chapter 570 Retreating in despair

The French commander, Colonel Francois Canrobert, was enveloped in extreme shock. He was so angry that he was shaking all over. Veins popped out in his big hand holding the command knife. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

According to intelligence;

There were only two companies of German soldiers stationed in the port of Saint-Malo. Where did they get so many heavy machine guns?

He is the commander of the current French government army who has repeatedly fought against the German army (note: after the failure of the Paris Commune, it was no longer called the "Versailles Army" and was changed to the normal French government army). He clearly knows that it is impossible for two companies of German troops to

Equipped with expensive weapons such as heavy machine guns.

It's impossible to have one, let alone six heavy machine guns.

Colonel François Canrobert is no stranger to this 6-barreled revolving Colt heavy machine gun. Its birth has been more than 20 years ago. It was first equipped in the army of the Tang Empire and once gave the U.S. cavalry a significant impact.

Kill.

There are also a small number of imitations in the United States of America, France and the Kingdom of Prussia (note; now the German Empire), but the regular army is not generally equipped with them because the bullet consumption is too high and the price is expensive.

The price of a heavy machine gun can almost buy an expensive 6-pound Colt breech-loading field gun. As for the old-fashioned 6-pound front-loading Napoleon cannon, you can buy 2.5 artillery pieces.

Could it be...

Colonel Francois Canrobert thought of a possibility and couldn't help but gasped, "Hey..."

Intelligence shows that there are more than 630 Tang Guards in Marlow Port, which is equivalent to the size of an infantry regiment. Could it be the weapons equipped by these North American upstarts?

No matter what, after the artillery bombardment, all the ghosts and monsters hiding in the house will be blown out, and it will be clear by then.

The French soldiers were setting up artillery positions more than 700 meters away from the small stone bridge. From here, they were shelling the stone houses on the other side of the small stone bridge. The distance was about 850 meters to more than 1,000 meters, which was exactly within the optimal range of the artillery.

.

The artillery position is divided into left and right sides, with 6 artillery pieces on each side.

This unit is equipped with the old-fashioned Napoleon 6-pounder field gun, which is front-loaded. It is a steel hoop gun produced in the 1840s. Its range has been extended, ranging from 1,600 to 1,800 yards.

As for why the French army is equipped with such old-fashioned artillery, the reason is not complicated.

Because the French army equipped a large number of such muzzle-loading artillery, with a total number of tens of thousands, it was not able to match the latest artillery of the German Empire in terms of performance. However, it was still an advanced weapon and invincible in colonial wars around the world.

You can't throw them all away, that's not realistic.

Colonel Francois Canrobert was ordered to attack the port of Saint-Malo this time in order to severely crack down on the rampant behavior from North America and save France from heavy losses.

If you can take the opportunity to make a big profit, that would be great!

The goods smuggled by the Tang Empire were large in quantity, high in value, of many varieties, and lasted for a long time. Their harm was greater than that of Britain and Germany combined multiplied by 2, which caused serious losses in French customs revenue and was listed as the primary target of attack.

As the world's top veteran colonizer, when did France suffer such a big loss?

If you don't react at all when being bullied, then you are really frustrated.

honestly

The proud French really didn't take the Tang Empire seriously. Perhaps this stemmed from the white people's traditional arrogance and condescension.

Perhaps it was the smooth colonization of the world that made the French, British or Europeans forget about themselves and breed an arrogant and arrogant mood.

This is not the view of Colonel Francois Canrobert alone, but the whole of Europe has this kind of blind confidence and arrogance, thinking that it is superior to others and not looking down on North American regional powers like Datang.

Its military strength is often underestimated.

It is quite fair to evaluate the Tang Empire as a second-rate power in the world. There are only four first-rate powers in the world: Britain, France, Germany, and Russia, and the others are insignificant. This also includes the Austrian Empire, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire, which were reduced to second-rate powers.

Empire, plus a Datang Empire.

Some people would say that the Tang Empire participated in the British-French coalition and won the Crimean War, which is enough to prove its strength.

The French will never agree that the Crimean War was a war that brought about the rise of France. It was also a war that brought Napoleon III to the altar. It was also a landmark victory for France's re-emergence in Europe. How can this glory be achieved?

Maybe it was taken away by Datang?

Some people would say that the Tang Empire defeated the United States of America. There were more than two dozen battles involving hundreds of thousands of people, and there were also astonishing battles of one million people. Doesn't this prove its strength?

Both the French and the British can only laugh at this argument.

Does the United States of America have a regular military?

Before the war, it only had a few divisions. After the war, the rapidly expanding American militia became the main force. The British and French, etc., the veteran colonists had seen too many in the world's colonial wars, including the conquest of the Indian subcontinent and the two wars against the Qing Dynasty.

, aren’t there tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of troops at every turn?

So what?

Rather than being completely annihilated by the very small British and French troops, the French Count of Baliqiao was very decisive and defeated the 50,000 to 60,000 people invested by the Qing army with almost no damage, including more than 30,000 cavalry, and only lost 12

people.

In colonial wars such as the conquest of Egypt, Burma, and Vietnam, situations like one-sided victory were not uncommon.

It is due to various past experiences that Europeans generally look down on wars that occur outside Europe, thinking that they are low-level rookies pecking each other and do not represent any real combat effectiveness.

"Launch, release..."

"Boom boom boom..."

The French artillery position roared, and twelve six-pound field guns unleashed their firepower one after another. Several residential buildings behind the small stone bridge were hit by the shells, making violent collisions and explosions. For a time, thick smoke billowed and dust was everywhere.

Out of 12 rounds of artillery shells, 7 hit in the first round, showing the superb artillery skills of the French artillery.

After the first round of firing, the artillery crew quickly cleaned the gunpowder residue in the barrel, reloaded the black powder packets and oval shells, and reset the artillery to prepare for the next firing.

The rumble of cannons resounded throughout the sky and the earth, and could be clearly heard more than 10 kilometers away.

The shelling lasted for 15 minutes

The French army fired more than 100 artillery shells frantically, and did not stop until several stone houses were reduced to a pile of ruins. All the houses that had stood tall collapsed and turned into ruins.

At this time, the passionate marching music was played, and the French army organized an infantry attack again.

Due to the limitation of the width of the small stone bridge, the attacking French army adopted a skirmish formation of 7 to 8 people. About a hundred soldiers were thrown into the attack at one time, followed by a second wave of more than a hundred infantrymen at the rear.

Infantry company size.

The first wave of attacking French troops were halfway through the small stone bridge when they were suddenly shot at by defensive soldiers standing out from behind the ruins. After a "crackling" burst of rifle fire, the attacking French troops lost more than 20 people and had to

retreat.

"No retreat, continue the attack..." French commander Colonel Francois Canrobert gave the order with a livid face.

The attacking French army was in a disadvantageous position. The two ends of the small stone bridge were open and unobstructed. The attacking French soldiers were forced to withstand random gunfire from the defenders from the ruins of the building.

In a chaotic battle where bullets are fired at each other, the enemy will obviously suffer more losses and suffer greater casualties.

But this is how cruel offensive battles are. The attacking side cannot choose a favorable terrain and can only rely on artillery fire and soldiers to attack in turns.

After more than an hour of fighting,

The French army had abandoned seventy or eighty corpses near the small stone bridge, and still could not cross the thunder pond.

at this time

A large number of armed militiamen came from the town of Saint-Malo, all of them white young and middle-aged local men, numbering about five to six hundred people. Led by Lu Shoushan and others, they came to support and their morale was greatly boosted.

Inspired by heavy recruitment by the Port Commission and the slogan "Defend Home", local French people in Saint-Malo actively joined the armed militia, preparing to give these aggressive enemies a powerful taste.

see this scene

Looking at the high-spirited French militiamen on the other side of the small stone bridge, waving their guns and shouting provocations, the French commander, Colonel Francois Canrobert, looked livid and his whole body was shaking with anger.

Nearly 500 soldiers have been deployed in front and behind, and the enemy's defense force is getting stronger and stronger, but the attacking French army is still uneasy, and there are already disturbing signs.

He will not forget that the defenders also have 6 heavy machine guns, which are extremely powerful for harvesting infantry.

"Continue the bombardment."

With no choice, the French army chose to continue the violent shelling in an attempt to frighten and weaken the enemy's will to resist.

The intermittent fighting continued into the evening. The French army fired almost all the artillery shells they brought and took up more than 140 people. They still failed to break through the Xiaoshiqiao position, which was firmly defended by the defenders, and had no choice but to retreat.

The fighter plane has been lost, and German reinforcements will arrive the next day.

And in the evening

It was the Malo Port Committee that mobilized more than 300 local French people to come up for support. Across the small stone bridge, the number of attackers and defenders was almost the same, and the other side also had six heavy machine guns that could severely damage French soldiers.

Seeing that there was nothing he could do, Colonel Francois Canrobert could only lead his troops to retreat and leave amid the deafening cheers of the enemy.

The gorgeous sunset glow in the sky highlighted the bleak figures of the retreating French soldiers, gradually disappearing at the end of the road.

This major crisis facing Saint-Malo has come to an end.

Post-war inventory

The French army lost 622 men in this battle and failed to take any advantage. In the end, they had to retreat in despair.

The defending port guard lost 47 people, the local French militia lost 6 people, and the German soldiers lost 128 people. Fortunately, the port of Saint-Malo was finally defended and the battle was won.

No further serious losses were caused, which can be considered a great blessing among misfortunes.

Although the Britannia region was a German war zone, the Germans only occupied a few core cities. The vast towns and fields were still French territory, and they could easily recruit tens of thousands of troops.

The reason why there was no heroic fight against the German invaders was because Emperor Napoleon III, who had once been on the altar, and the current French government surrendered. The Paris Commune, which advocated resolute resistance to the Germans, was bloody purged, and today France is in disarray.

At this time, France became unprecedentedly weak and powerless.

(End of chapter)