Chapter 960: Bayonet on Cannon

After the smoke from the explosion dissipated, there were only eight people left in Captain Pierre's platoon. Two of them were still lying on the ground, not knowing whether they were alive or dead. But at least they were not directly blown to pieces like the others, or were missing arms. leg.

"Get them back!"

Captain Pierre ordered that although the soldiers were reluctant, the commander had the right to execute them at any time on the battlefield.

After a brief exchange, two unlucky guys were chosen to go to the rescue.

The two unlucky guys cautiously approached two relatively complete bodies. One of them had already expired. Although there were no wounds on the surface, most of the internal organs were damaged.

The other one was Benoit Valentin. The comrades in the front blocked most of the impact of the explosion and the debris, while the comrades in the back provided him with a buffer.

Even so, Benoit Valentin was still unconscious, and two unfortunate men were ready to drag him back by his belt.

However, how could the Celesta militiamen, who were already red-eyed, let them go so easily?

As a whistle sounded, the Celesta militiamen hiding in the ruins once again poked their heads out and fired.

Captain Pierre also ordered a return fire, and the scene once again fell into chaos, with bullets and stone fragments flying everywhere. However, due to the limitations of marksmanship and weapons, there were not many casualties.

In the end, Captain Pierre and his six men withdrew from the fighting area, and other platoons took over.

The encounter of Captain Pierre and his platoon was only a microcosm of the entire war. Most of the French army's previous tactics had no meaning in the street fighting at this time.

The number of victims, like Benoit Valentin, continues to increase, and they have to carry out orders that make no sense.

This caused complaints among soldiers and officers at the grassroots level. Some people proposed to change the original tactics and use new tactics more suitable for street fighting.

However, the voices at the bottom cannot be heard by the higher-ups. They will only shoot those deserters and then send more people to fill this big hole.

Saarburg.

The battlefield here is not like a quagmire like Celesta, but the not tall Salburg wall is as still as a mountain at this time.

Lamosilière also wanted to fight the war like those traditional generals, drinking red wine, eating steak, taking his lover for a walk, or reading the newspaper.

However, he was not in that mood at all at this time. More than 60,000 French elite troops attacked repeatedly, and more than a dozen 12-pound siege guns were shot and disabled, but there was still no result.

He didn't get anything except the almost ruined fortress and the corpses stacked on the ground.

The reason why the defenders of Saarburg can still persist until now is because they are from the Strasbourg area, and many of them witnessed the massacre on the Rhine with their own eyes.

They knew very well that most of those who were shot were innocent, and Grouchy only wanted to execute some people.

Watching a large number of people fleeing through Salburg every day, and even Thiers, the new prime minister of the Orleans Dynasty, ran away, it is not difficult to imagine how ferocious the enemies in the rear were.

Note: Louis Philippe abandoned the constitutional monarchy after being driven out of Paris, so Thiers, who fled with him, was prime minister at this time.

The defenders of Saarburg could flee or even hide as they had done before at Strasbourg. But in that case, the tragedy would happen again, so they chose to stand up.

But even without them, the chambers of commerce and guilds in Salburg have all united, and everyone has paid to gather all the mercenaries from the surrounding towns to guard their homes.

In an era of rampant nationalism, the Alsace region is no exception.

】

Thiers is a person who is very good at taking advantage of the situation. He doesn't care about nationalism. He only knows that doing so at this time is the most beneficial to him and the Orleans Dynasty.

As a result, the Orleans Dynasty also began to advocate nationalism and allowed local guilds to organize personnel to jointly fight against the invasion of the Second French Republic.

So it's not that Lamosilière's tactics didn't work, but that Salburg's reinforcements were replenished much faster than they were consumed.

Lamosilière is not a mediocre person. His intuition tells him that if Salburg cannot be captured quickly at this time, not only will the previous plan not be completed, but the current results will not be preserved.

Lamosilier ordered.

"Let the artillery advance to three hundred meters away from the enemy before firing!"

The messenger and the adjutant were a little confused. They had heard of bayonets on cannons, but that was a field battle, and the siege was so close? I'm afraid I'll become a target for the enemy, right?

"Your Excellency Marshal."

"Excuting an order!"

Lamosilière made a decisive decision and his attitude was so firm that his subordinates did not dare to refute.

Putting bayonets on the cannons was also a helpless move for Lamosilier. Although the French army is having the upper hand, the defenders of Salburg will be defeated sooner or later.

But we don’t know how long this war of attrition will last. one day? Two days? One week? A month?

It would take no more than twenty days for the Austrian army to reach Alsace from Vienna, and Lamosilier did not dare to bet that the Austrians would sleep like proud rabbits before coming back.

So no matter how much sacrifice he had to make, he had to capture Saarburg as soon as possible.

Even if it means sacrificing precious artillery, we will not hesitate to do so.

Professional artillerymen were very precious at this time. They needed at least a high school degree and a strong body. After all, adjusting the angle of a three to five hundred kilogram artillery piece was a laborious task.

You may not even be able to lift the powder keg if you are not strong enough.

In addition, the distance of 300 meters is indeed very dangerous for artillery. First of all, there is the threat from enemy artillery. 300 meters has reached the precise range of artillery at this time.

And the artillery of this era cannot be fired directly. Special tools are needed to compact the shells and gunpowder to ensure that they fit tightly together.

If the artillery is moved after loading, it is very likely to cause too large a gap, which will cause the barrel to explode or insufficient gunpowder thrust.

At this time, even skilled artillerymen cannot fully prepare for shooting within one minute, not to mention that the maximum range of most artillery is close to one kilometer.

If the artillery wants to advance to the enemy's position of 300 meters, it must withstand multiple rounds of artillery fire, and in addition, it must be threatened by infantry.

At this time, the range of rifles is mostly over 600 meters, which is fully capable of threatening the advancing artillery. And the closer the distance, the greater the threat to the gunner.

"I won't do it! You are sending us to die!"

The artillery commander was obviously very dissatisfied with the decision from above. He would not die like those infantrymen. If Lamosilier insisted on doing it, he would quit. Anyway, he was just here to get military merit.

However, what the artillery commander did not expect was that Lamosilier's adjutant directly called the supervision team to execute him on the spot.

"How dare you! My uncle is Mr. Dan Gira's secretary!"

"Bang!"

The efficiency of the French supervision team was quite high.

"Bah! You are right to disobey orders on the battlefield?"