Iron Powder and Spellcaster

Although they had gone through two calibration shots, in the eyes of Winters and Andre, several heavy guns heading toward the bay were still throwing thirty-two-pound iron balls toward the dock without accuracy.

Rather than providing fire support to the sailors of the Navy, it is better to say that they are firing cannons to cheer them up. The main purpose is to let everyone hear the sound, and to inform all parties that the artillery base has changed hands.

After a period of silence, when the artillery of the duckbill fort roared again, the naval officer who was directing the sailors to attack the dock was keenly aware that the war situation seemed to have changed.

The duckbill battery was originally firing at the artillery on the water, but now it turned and started shooting at the naval dock.

Although the shells hit the attackers and navy sailors at the same time without distinguishing between friend and foe, one can't help but suspect that it may just be because of the attacker's poor gunnery skills. But there is another possibility - reinforcements arrived and the fort was recaptured.

The morale of the more than 400 temporarily organized sailors was on the verge of collapse. If the naval officers had not retained more than 30 boarding members as the supervising team, this ragtag group would have thrown away their weapons and ran away.

The naval officers knew very well that this ragtag group could only fight against the wind. Now that they had determined that they could not win, they would turn around and run away if they encountered any resistance.

Sailors are not soldiers, sailors are sailors first and navy second. Normally, the work on the ship is extremely heavy, and the sailors have no time or energy to receive land warfare training. Therefore, boarding teams are specially set up on battleships to engage in hand-to-hand combat.

Similarly, a naval officer is a captain. His ability to rally sailors to counterattack in the chaos is already extraordinary. He really has no ability to lead this ragtag group of people to retake the dock.

Therefore, the navy sailors' several attacks on the shipyard collapsed immediately. One person turned around and ran away, and everyone else ran back. The naval officer watched anxiously from behind, but there was nothing he could do.

The naval officers were overjoyed to discover that the fort might have been recaptured by reinforcements. A captain was left with a team of supervisors to look after the demoralized sailors, and the naval officer led a few guards to bypass the dock and go straight to Cape Duckbill.

————

On the high wall, the officers on night duty discovered a rider approaching the fort gate in the darkness. The sound of horse hooves was particularly clear in the night.

Without saying a word, a highly nervous officer pulled out the red-hot iron solder from the carbon basin and stuffed it into the ignition slot of the artillery.

A cannonball roared out of the barrel and flew into the night, going somewhere unknown.

Before the sound of the cannon fell, the gunner received a big slap in the face.

"Who [expletive] asked you to fire the cannon? Can't you hear the sound of horse hooves? It's just one person! Why are you firing the cannon?" the duty officer yelled angrily, and slapped the gunner hard in the face with his backhand.

Winters and Andre, who came after hearing the sound, kept silent for fear of being burned.

The rider was not deterred by the shells. He quickly arrived outside the gate, but did not announce his identity. He just shouted to see the person in charge of the fort.

The other party didn't look like a messenger from Dongda Camp. Several night guard officers exchanged glances and grabbed their muskets and started loading. Winters also took out the steel awl.

"We are the Veneta Army, please inform us of your identity!" the officer on duty replied to the other party.

Unexpectedly, the rider outside the wall heard this, turned his horse's head and ran away without saying a word. A few army officers were left on the city wall feeling confused.

A few minutes later, the rider who ran away came to the fort again with the naval officer.

It turned out that just now, as the outline of the fort became clearer and clearer, the naval officer became more and more uneasy. In the end, it was decided to be cautious and send guards over to explore the situation first. After knowing that it was the Army men who had recaptured the fort, they hurried over to ask for help.

But the delighted naval officer did not even enter the fortress gate.

The duty officer refused to open the door to him without orders from a senior officer. When Colonel Kara got the report and came to the fortification wall, he bluntly said to the naval officer: "If you have anything to do, just say it outside."

In desperation, the naval officer raised his neck and explained his purpose, but was rejected by Colonel Kara: "Admiral Zio gave me an order to recapture the fort. We must hold on here until further orders are given. I can't." Allocate manpower to support you."

"Pirates will never come to the cannon fort again. Their ships have all run away. This is just a stone, a big dead stone!" The navy captain shouted angrily: "Are you going to watch the pirates destroy our warships?" Did the ship burn down?"

Winters, standing behind Colonel Kara, captured several key words: pirate, ran away. Winters doubted his ears: "How can any pirate dare to attack the home port of the Veneta Navy? Or did I hear it wrong? Or does 'pirate' mean not the kind of pirate I thought?"

But Colonel Kara was unmoved. He pointed to the lonely big ship on the sea and said to the navy: "The sailors on your ship, plus the people now, are enough to recapture the dock."

"That's not our ship! That's the Oathbreaker's ship! They won't help us." The naval officer angrily pushed back, and begged in a low voice: "Help us, the pirates have taken away four of our ships. Big ships, if they let them burn all the ships in the dock again, the fleet will not be able to recover for several years."

His words were so tragic that even the hard-hearted Colonel Kara could no longer treat him indifferently: "The number of cavalry under my command is too small to be of much use. Two groups of infantry are heading here. , will arrive soon, and they will help you defeat the enemy."

"It will be too late by the time they arrive!"

"It's too late! Whatever is in your dock has been burned to charcoal. I won't let the officers die for charcoal. Please go back."

After saying that, Colonel Kara turned his head and left ruthlessly.

The naval officer stood blankly outside the fort for a while, then rode away in despair.

Seeing the back of this dedicated naval officer gradually disappearing, the officers on the fortress felt a little uncomfortable. The joy of winning a battle was diluted, and everyone turned and left in silence.

"Look what's over there?" Andre suddenly shouted.

The officers heard the sound and turned around to look. On the mainland connecting Hailan City and Haidong Port, black bushes are moving - a marching queue. Accompanied by the beating of drums, the soldiers marched in uniform steps in eight columns. From a distance, the super-long spears looked like a forest, moving in an orderly manner.

Major General Antonio Serbetti arrived with the Third Army Corps - "Grand Veneta"!

A black spot separated from the queue, skirted the dock, and approached the battery. The cavalry officer drove his horse hard and galloped outside the fort gate.

The horses were frothing and the herald shouted: "Where is Colonel Kara?!"

"I am!" Colonel Kara strode back to the tower.

"Password to Major General Serbetti: Order your troops to cooperate with our troops in attacking the enemy entrenched in the dock!" After saying this, the messenger pulled the reins and galloped away again without stopping.

There are no explanations or instructions, just orders. The officers on the fort were a little confused and involuntarily focused their eyes on Colonel Kara.

Colonel Kara was stunned for a moment, and soon regained his composure. He glanced around: "Didn't you hear the order? Wake up everyone! The lightly wounded will stay here, and the rest will attack!"

The naval shipyard is connected to the sea to the north, and the land part is separated from other port buildings by a circle of stone walls. The attackers relied on this stone wall to block several attacks by navy sailors.

The attackers deployed a large number of musketeers beside the parapet, and also dragged several cannons from the ship being repaired.

A naval sailor who came within fifty paces would be beaten with an arquebus, and when the first man was knocked down, the faint-hearted would turn and flee.

The behavior of individual people fleeing in the face of battle could not be stopped, which led to more people fleeing. One more round of bombardment by the attackers with short-barreled cannon loaded with shotgun shells, and the attacker's morale will completely collapse.

In the end, the navy sailors only dared to stand sixty steps away and engage in painless musketry with the attackers from a distance.

But this time the people who came were not sailors, but the most elite Veneta standing corps.

The configuration and tactics of the Alliance Army have not undergone any major changes since the end of the Sovereignty War. Marshal Ned improved the Duke of Orleans' phalanx and spear tactics, and retained some sword and shield men to restrain the Duke of Orleans' phalanx. Replaced crossbowmen and archers with musketeers.

In the Battle of the Butcher, Marshal Ned used this improved spear phalanx to defeat the Duke of Orleans' troops in the field. The composite system of super spears, sword shieldmen and musketeers is still in use today.

However, it is obvious that there is no need for a phalanx to deal with the enemy in front of you. In the sound of drums, the infantry of the two brigades smoothly spread out in horizontal rows. The spearmen put their spears on the ground, drew their swords, and lined up behind the sword and shield men.

The musketeers stood at the front of the queue at intervals of two steps, drew out their ramrods, and began to load their matchlocks.

The enemy in the dock felt unprecedented pressure. This time the attack was no longer a mob waving sailor swords and shouting for courage.

The infantrymen of the Third Army stood a hundred meters away, their formations as neat as knives, but as quiet as hell. Apart from the sound of wind, the only sound on the battlefield was the sound of lead bullets being pushed into gun barrels.

The musketeers loaded the gunpowder, pushed in the lead bullet, and inserted the ejector rod back into the empty slot under the barrel. Pour gunpowder into the trough and fasten the lid. Finally, he clamped the smoldering match rope and completed the entire loading process calmly under the enemy's gaze.

The officer in charge of commanding the musketeers passed by the formation and confirmed that all musketeers had completed loading. He stood up in the stirrups and waved the battle flag hanging on his spear three times.

Antonio, who was behind the array, saw the flag waving and nodded to his flag officer.

The spellcaster officer walked forward and shouted with the blessing of amplification: "Great Veneta!"

The soldiers responded by shouting: "Kazar! [Long live]"

"Grand Veneta!"

"KAzar!"

"Grand Veneta!"

"KAZAR!"

Three war cries, each one more powerful than the last. Not only were the enemies in the shipyard frightened, but even the navy sailors behind them were so frightened that their legs trembled.

A musketeer behind the stone wall pulled the shooting lever in fright, the gunfire rang out, and the lead bullets made a crater on the ground. A dozen more gunshots followed, and others subconsciously followed suit.

The officers who were lining up outside the fort heard these three war cries and understood that the Third Army was about to attack.

Time waits for no one. Colonel Kara drew his saber and loudly ordered: "Arrow formation, the colonel is in front, the young man goes to the back, I will be the first."

"What good things are you thinking about?" Colonel Bozukhov clapped his horse, slapped Colonel Kara on the back with the back of his knife, and said with a smile: "Why are you standing in the front alone?"

After three war cries, Antonio turned his head and whispered to the adjutant beside him: "Let's begin."

Accompanied by a "forward" command. The drum beat sounded, the musketeers were at the forefront, and the Third Army began to advance.

The soldiers of the Third Legion were like an unstoppable tsunami, approaching the shipyard step by step. When they were more than 60 steps away, there was another musketeer inside the wall who couldn't bear the psychological pressure and shot at the army soldiers who were getting closer and closer.

This time, not only a dozen people fired, but also all the musketeers with gunpowder in their guns pulled the shooting lever. The sound of gunfire was like popping beans, and even the short-barreled cannons fired.

Dozens of grape-sized pellets ejected from the muzzle, forming a barrage.

Among the bullets and cannonballs, more than twenty musketeers were instantly knocked down, with four or five bloody holes on their bodies.

Being beaten to death is a mercy, and most deaths are accompanied by cruel pain. A musketeer had his lungs shot through, blood poured into his trachea, and his alveoli were squeezed out of his mouth. But he hadn't yet breathed his last, lying on the ground whimpering helplessly.

But the soldiers of the Third Legion still moved forward resolutely, and the musketeers looked ahead, not even looking at their fallen comrades. Not only the musketeers, but also the sword and shield bearers and spearmen behind them.

The soldiers turned a blind eye to the bodies and dying on the ground, stepping over them like fallen logs.

After advancing about fifty steps, with a "stop" command, the human wall stopped moving.

"Guns on the shelf!"

The musketeer drove the support rod into the ground and set up his arquebus.

At this time, their enemies were reloading hurriedly.

"Prepare!"

The musketeers blew lightly on the match rope and opened the lid of the powder trough.

"aim!"

The gun was put on his shoulder and the rear sight was pointed at the enemy.

"Fire!"

Pulling the shooting lever, the smoldering rope tip drew an arc and ignited the gunpowder in the tank. The fire flashed, gunfire rang out, a row of lead bullets flew towards the stone wall in the smoke, and screams came from behind the smoke wall.

"charge!"

The lieutenants who guided their subordinates behind the musketeers' queue stabbed their horses in the ribs and rushed to the front. The sword and shield soldiers followed them and rushed towards the Haidong Port Shipyard with shouts.

On the other side of Haidong Port, the officer cavalry team had completed its formation and was running towards the dock at a "brisk walk" speed.

Four colonels were at the front of the entire charge, responsible for guiding the charge. Behind the four colonels, the queue gradually grew wider.

The charge formation is generally arrow-shaped, and this formation is called arrow formation or arrow formation. Just like being red with horns won't make you faster, being in an arrow formation won't increase the penetration of your charge.

The real function of the Yafeng Formation is that as long as every cavalry behind follows the cavalry in front, the cavalry at the front can guide the direction of the entire charging formation, and under this premise, the formation is maximized. width.

When there was less than a hundred meters left from the shipyard wall, Colonel Kara roared and issued the charge order. All the officers drew their sabers, leaned down, and accelerated with all their might.

It was originally expected that this distance would require officers to brave a hail of bullets to break through, but no gunfire rang out from the stone wall.

The cavalry met no resistance and rushed to the stone wall in an instant. Colonel Kara jumped on his horse without hesitation and crossed the breastwork beautifully.

Kara leaped past, leaving the other officers dumbfounded. Winters, for example, had never trained to power hurdles. Seeing Colonel Kara leaping over the parapet, the Warrant Officer's heart stopped for a beat.

He had no idea whether Qiang Luck would suddenly stop at the stone wall, throw himself out and break his neck. But if the seniors in front of him jumped over, he would have to bite the bullet and jump.

Fortunately, the others were not as reckless as Colonel Kara. Colonel Bozukhov reined in the reins at the wall and stopped. The rest of the people also stopped.

Cursing, Bozukhov led the other two officers over the parapet and opened the gate.

The cavalry stormed into the shipyard, but stood frozen. There weren't any enemies in the shipyard, just people running around.

"[Vulgar language]?!" Colonel Bozukhov cursed: "The three armies have finished their work! They left us some leftovers."

"What should we do?"

"What should I do?" Bozukhov glared at the person who asked the question fiercely: "You won't eat the leftovers? Hack to death everyone who is not wearing military uniforms!"

After that, the colonel slapped the horse's butt with the side of his saber and rushed towards the enemies who were fleeing to the seaside.

Winters saw Andrei following Colonel Bozukhov and happily went to hunt down the fleeing enemy.

The bonus for the cavalry arrow formation in the station-wide series has always been to increase penetration. In fact, this formation does exist, but the main reason is that it is easy to turn, and the rider at the front can control the direction of the charge alone. Thank you to the book friends who have voted for recommendations before, thank you to book friends Yanyunsan for their recommendation votes, thank you to book friends who don’t know what they are called, and thank book friends writersblock for their recommendation votes. Thank you all.