Chapter 205 Battle of Beirut (Part 2)

When Ibrahim saw the deserters being torn apart by the Sudanese natives, he felt not only fear and disgust, but also very excited.

At this time, he found that the distance between the coalition's line infantry and the skirmishers was still far, and if he had a cavalry, he could cause great damage to the skirmishers.

However, Egypt lacked cavalry, and the only camels were used to transport supplies and support the northern front, so he was so passive in the face of these skirmishers.

At this time, the closest to the coalition's skirmishers were the Sudanese natives, so Ibrahim was ready to completely sacrifice these natives who disappointed him.

Ibrahim ordered the Death Army to charge, and he thought in his heart, "If these natives can replace the coalition's skirmishers, it would be great. In this way, when all the coalition's troops leave the fortress, he can use the column to charge."

The European tactics of this period advocated offense, believing that active offense can seize the initiative in the war and win victory. France is the birthplace of this kind of thinking. Ibrahim's study in France made him believe that attack is the true meaning of war.

On the battlefield, as the horns urging the advance sounded from the rear, the Sudanese natives panted and looked at each other.

The Sudanese natives only had simple leaves and animal skins on their bodies, their plump muscles were exposed, and their eyes exuded a bloodthirsty red light.

As the first Sudanese native roared and rushed towards the coalition forces, countless natives followed his footsteps, screaming and rushing towards the coalition's scattered soldiers.

When the scattered soldiers saw this formation, they carried their guns and ran towards their own line infantry. They knew very well that if they were caught up by the Sudanese natives, they would definitely end up being hacked to pieces.

Gabrents stamped his feet in the rear. The line infantry of his own side moved too slowly, mainly because there was a lack of effective communication channels between the coalition forces, resulting in unnecessary congestion, which caused the scattered soldiers and the line to be out of touch.

Being able to seize such a small gap proves that the other general is not a mediocre person. At this time, he began to regret listening to the British advice.

In fact, in history, General Gabrenz was not a coward. On the contrary, he was a ruthless man who dared to lead the infantry to charge with a saber.

It's just that the pressure from Metternich and Count Latour before the war was too great. Both regarded this battle as a key battle related to the face of the Austrian Empire.

Of course, the two sides had completely different views. Prince Metternich hoped that he could preserve his strength as much as possible, while Count Latour hoped that he could cause as many casualties as possible.

In 1839, Gabrenz was still an unknown major in Lombardy. But due to Franz's interference, the Austrian War Department selected him as a military observer to Mexico.

After the Mexican War, Gabrenz was promoted to a position where he should not have been, so he was worried about gains and losses.

Colonel Carter was also a little surprised. These Sudanese natives were very timid before. They ran away when they saw cannons, gun muzzles, and bayonets. How could they be so brave today? Was it Egypt that was acting before? But the play was too realistic.

The Egyptian soldiers couldn't help but cheer when they saw the Sudanese natives were so brave.

But one of the Sudanese natives who rushed halfway suddenly dropped his weapon, and then the other natives also dropped their weapons. Just when both sides were confused, the natives suddenly raised their hands and shouted in poor English, "I surrender."

This kneeling surrender made both sides a little nervous.

So the commanders of both sides ordered the large troops to advance, and the war was about to break out.

The coalition forces used the traditional horizontal column plus the skirmish line, while Ibrahim used the Napoleon-style column plus the skirmish line, plus the Charleville rifles in their hands, which was simply the French African rudder.

Some people must have questions here. Why did the coalition forces just defeat the Egyptian skirmishers? Where did Ibrahim get the skirmisher line now?

In fact, it is very simple. The Egyptian skirmisher line is just ordinary infantry with rifles. Let those line infantry take rifles to replace those fallen skirmishers. This is what Ibrahim did.

Of course, the combat effectiveness of this skirmisher line is known without guessing. It was soon defeated by the coalition's skirmishers.

The Egyptian army charging in columns also received the focus of artillery fire. This time, the cannon was replaced with solid bullets. The scorching iron ball flew out of the barrel and hit the Egyptian team. The shells brought a thick blood line in the Egyptian queue like bowling.

The British concentrated all their artillery to bombard the Egyptian queue. This heavy artillery used for naval battles was too terrifying for infantry.

Once hit by this 32-pound artillery shell, even if it hits the hands and feet, the whole person will be carried flying, and then fall to the ground like a puddle of mud.

If it hits the torso or head directly, it will cause a bloody storm, and the sanity of the comrades around will drop wildly.

Before the Egyptian soldiers who were lucky enough not to be hit by solid bullets had time to be happy, the eight-pound howitzers brought by the Austrians opened fire.

As artillery specifically for infantry, the Egyptians were also kindly equipped with shrapnel shells, a terrifying weapon.

Although this shell was invented by the British, the Austrians only bought one shell and copied it, and gave it a new name "shrapnel shell".

It is common for countries to plagiarize weapon designs. The British patent office was not established until 1852. At this time, it was simply impossible to protect rights across borders.

That is why countless time travelers rushed to the UK to register patents. In fact, patent law in this era has always been domestic law, not international law.

The first global intellectual property rights organization had to wait until the end of the 19th century.

As shrapnel shells exploded in the air, countless small steel balls shot at the poor Egyptian soldiers. Some people wanted to reach out to block them, but it was in vain. Countless small steel balls were embedded in their bodies.

Those Egyptian soldiers who were shot were lucky if they died on the spot. Otherwise, the steel balls embedded in their bodies were extremely difficult to remove. Even if they were removed, they would have a high probability of dying from postoperative infection and suffering for a few more days.

Those Egyptian soldiers who survived the two types of bombardment were named one by one by the scattered soldiers. Soon the ground was covered with Egyptian corpses. In order to prevent the army's morale from collapsing, Ibrahim could only order the supervisory team to kill people in the back.

But even though the supervision team had killed so many people that blood flowed, they still couldn't stop the soldiers from fleeing in front. What was even more terrifying was that the line infantry of the coalition forces was approaching step by step and had already spread out in a fan shape. The next battle would undoubtedly be a massacre.

At this time, the disadvantage of the Egyptian side was infinite. Ibrahim didn't understand why he was defeated so badly. He was obviously using Napoleon's tactics and his soldiers were using French equipment, but he could only swallow the bitter fruit of failure.

In fact, Napoleon once said: "Unless there is an advantage in artillery, the column cannot break through the horizontal column."