Chapter 2549 Battle of Barn Mountain (Ⅱ)

On June 13, just after dawn, the Feizhen warship patrolling at sea discovered the movement on the Granary Hill.

General William Howe, without bothering to notify the Army, immediately ordered the warships to fire on Barn Hill.

Heavy artillery fire destroyed many bunkers built by the militia, but caused few casualties.

The sound of naval guns woke Winthrop and his generals from their sleep. They were surprised to find that the barn hill was full of rebels overnight, and the enemy had seized this strategic height ahead of them.

General Clinton believes that it is time to immediately send troops to capture the "neck" of the Riding Hood Peninsula and cut off the peninsula's connection with the mainland.

"The rebel forces on the peninsula lack naval support, and once they are cut off their retreat, they will be defeated."

General Cornwallis and General Burgoyne unanimously opposed Clinton's proposal. They believed that the offensive should be launched directly from the sea. Under the cover of artillery fire from the naval fleet, the army troop carrier could easily land on the Horseshoe Peninsula and wipe out the rebels trapped on the hills. .

On the contrary, it is too risky to attack the "neck" of the peninsula by going around a long distance. The army loses the cover of artillery fire at sea and attacks the positions heavily guarded by the rebels. He raised his cannons, crossed the narrow strait between the two islands, and directly bombarded the city of New Avalon.

The city of New Avalon was bombarded by the rebels. The direct casualties and losses would not be too great, but it would definitely cause a severe setback to the morale of the soldiers and civilians in the city. As the governor of the city, Earl Winthrop couldn't hold back his face.

Earl Winthrop finally made a decision, adopting the battle plan of directly attacking Barn Hill.

The two new generals were not very familiar with the battlefield terrain, and the battle was commanded by Thomas Cornwallis.

General Kang Huali's command style is particularly conservative, and the most prominent tactical feature is to follow every step of the way, not seeking merit but seeking no fault.

He planned to take 7,000 officers and soldiers to attack Barn Mountain. It took four hours to gather the 7,000 people, and then let the soldiers board the barge and transport them from the New Avalon Pier to the shallows of the Horseshoe Peninsula. Under cover, the landing was not completed until two o'clock in the afternoon.

The procrastination of Fizen's troops gave the Continental Army militia enough time to build fortifications and strengthen the defense of the Granary Hill position.

But the Continental Army also has its own troubles, such as chaotic command and lax military discipline!

After all, Laval is a general from Midgard. Although he is the temporary commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, the only ones he can really command are the officers and personal guards he brought from Midgard.

The militiamen who came from the villages and towns of Jotunheim were more accustomed to listening to their "big brother" and ignored him as the temporary commander-in-chief, which annoyed Laval, who had always advocated strict military management.

At 2:40 in the afternoon, Feizhen finally launched an offensive.

General Cornwallis himself left a regiment in reserve, and Burgoyne and Clinton, each with a brigade of infantry, attacked Barn Hill from both flanks.

Meanwhile, Admiral Cornwallis contacted Admiral William Howe, Admiral of the Navy, to order the ships to shell Barn Hill to provide cover fire for the infantry.

Trenches were built on the mountain, and the artillery shells fired by warships from ten miles away were not accurate at all, causing very limited damage to the Continental Army, and only served as a threat. It was the individual soldiers on both sides who really made them realize the huge gap. equipment level.

Feizhen's regular army is equipped with all-standard smoothbore magic crystal rifles.

Less than one-third of the militiamen of the Continental Army were equipped with a variety of shotguns, and even the specifications of the bullets could not be unified. As for the rest of the soldiers, they could only fight with cold weapons such as crossbows, swords, and spears.

Laval knew that his ammunition was limited, and every bullet had to exert its maximum effect. He issued a simple and rude order to the soldiers:

"Wait until you see the white eyeball of the enemy before shooting! Hit low!"

This move really worked. Seeing that Feizhen's troops were about to rush up the mountain, the militiamen crawling in the trenches on the top of the mountain fired their guns and arrows, immediately knocking down a large area.

The Feizhen army still followed the old habit, and marched in neat lines accompanied by the military band, completely exposed to the enemy's guns.

The militiamen of the Continental Army were protected by trenches and bunkers, and they "fired black guns" without any psychological burden. After several rounds of counter-fire, Fizhen's troops suffered heavy losses, and General Cornwallis had to order a retreat.

On the barn hill, the militiamen cheered excitedly to celebrate the victory when they saw the Feizhen army retreat.

This was the first time they fought off the mighty Fiji regular army face to face, and they had reason to be proud and proud.

Baron Laval deserves to be the number one hero in the New World. He calmly reminded everyone not to be too happy. The battle is not over yet, and the Feizhen army will come back.

Sure enough, within an hour, Feizhen soldiers charged up again.

Of course, the soldiers of the Continental Army would not be polite, and they still used the trick that Laval taught them-wait for the enemy army to approach them under their noses, and hit them accordingly!

However, this time, the spellcasters on Feizhen's side also participated in the offensive, and blasted countless blazing fireballs thousands of feet away with their magic wands, which precisely landed on the inside of the trench, sending out a series of roars that shook the hills, and the sand seemed to be boiling. , Flesh flying everywhere!

No less than two hundred soldiers of the Continental Army died in the first wave of fireball bombing launched by the Fizenofa troops.

Most of the militiamen who participated in the battle were teenagers from remote areas with little knowledge. In the past, they only heard stories about mages and warlocks in taverns. Many of them grew up without seeing a spellcaster. Magic seemed to be far away from their lives.

Now they finally saw the legendary caster and the legendary magic, but in the cruelest way.

It was the first time in his life to participate in a real war, and it was the first time he witnessed the terrifying power of magic. He watched helplessly that the guy who was smoking a pipe with him a few minutes ago was blown to pieces by the "fireball technique", and blood sprayed all over him. Face, let alone a country boy who lacks actual combat experience, even a veteran will inevitably feel frightened.

Seeing the militiamen curled up in the trenches trembling in fright from the rain of fireballs, not daring to raise their heads, even crying and praying, Laval shook his head, not surprised by this situation.

He confessed to Colonel Wall Stone, nicknamed "Stone Wall", "Quickly summon the spellcasters in the army and launch a counterattack against the enemy's arcane troops."

When General Laval went north to take office, many of the old subordinates who followed him were spellcasters who originally belonged to the Midgard Corps, including his younger brother, the 13th-level "Arcane Knight" Arnold Major Laval.