typeface
large
in
Small
Turn off the lights
Previous bookshelf directory Bookmark Next

Chapter Eighteen: Live or Die

The northern part of Genoa is a rolling hilly area.

This is the transition zone between the Ott Mountains and the southern plains. The terrain is dominated by sparse hills. There is only a small amount of agriculture in the area. It is a rare pastoral area in the south, providing meat and large livestock for farming land in the south.

By this time, the local residents had fled their homes, and they fled in such a hurry that some livestock that had lost their owners were running around.

Most of the Civil Defense Force led by Viscount Lincoln had arrived at the last camp in Wells.

The remnants of the werewolf raid are still there, with the dead bodies of Civil Defense Force vanguard soldiers and discarded flags, vehicles and personal belongings everywhere.

Lincoln spent a whole day collecting and burying the remains of the dead soldiers. Before that, he also encountered a small number of broken soldiers, as well as Viscount Brandon.

Viscount Brandon was seriously injured and in a coma, so Lincoln had to send someone back to Poitou. I heard that Viscount Brandon was very brave during the battle.

At this time, Lincoln had received the order to stop advancing and wait for Sean to come and take over the military power.

Morale was extremely low, and the expressions of fear on the soldiers' faces could not be deceived. These rookies were frightened out of their wits. This was really not a good sign.

After finally surviving the night, the soldiers regained their energy a little the next day. With the instructor as the company commander, the camp was transformed into a hedgehog, and there were two companies of cannons, which gave the soldiers some courage.

But the soldiers sent out for reconnaissance came back and reported that they found an unknown armed force rushing towards here, and it was not a werewolf.

An hour later, this armed force arrived outside the camp. There were five hundred people in total, but their momentum seemed to be that of a rebel force from San Nuve.

This armed force, whose number was less than half that of the Civil Defense Force, completely overwhelmed the latter in terms of momentum.

Viscount Lincoln advocated taking the initiative because he was worried that the other party would cut off the water source. However, the officers believed that although the water source was in danger of being cut off, they had already reserved water for seven days, but the other party had come a long way and could not consume it here.

This is a quite conservative and quite safe judgment.

Viscount Lincoln accepted this judgment and relied mainly on the command of Villar Perosa.

It is extremely tempting to take the initiative to attack. In the telescope, the formation of the rebels is very loose. This is probably related to the reason why they were originally gathered from militias from various places.

But what Perosa was worried about was his men. At least the enemy opposite had been on the battlefield. His men were all rookies, so it was a safe move to let them defend.

Instructing his subordinates to maintain strict vigilance, Perosa went to the headquarters to see Lincoln.

Viscount Lincoln is cleaning his rifle. His rifle is also Bess 1830, but he has added personal decorations to the butt of his gun, including a rather fancy silver rose pattern and his own initials.

Nobles always like to do these things, which are regarded as personal interests.

As a nobleman, Lincoln was also a good hunter, but this was the first time he had used it on the battlefield. Perosa could understand the Viscount's nervous mood at this time, and cleaning his weapons was also an excellent activity to relieve tension.

"Sorry, I'm a little nervous." Lincoln laughed at himself.

"I can totally understand, Lord Viscount. In fact, before I went to the battlefield for the first time, I peed many times because I drank all the water in my water bottle in one go." Perosa said with a smile.

"Listen, Villar, if a battle breaks out, everything depends on your command, including me!" Lincoln said seriously.

"Yes, Viscount." Perosa stood at attention.

"Did you come to see me for something?" Lincoln asked.

Perosa hesitated and said, "Viscount, there seems to be some instability in the army."

"What happened?" Lincoln asked.

"Some soldiers said privately that the rebels on the opposite side are all brothers who believe in the True God Religion. As long as they send people to negotiate with the other side, they will reach an agreement to stop the troops." Perosa said, "The soldiers who talk like this are all True Gods.

Teach believers.”

Lincoln's expression changed: "The Governor has long told me that these soldiers who believe in the True God Religion are not reliable, but Viscount Connally believes that they are a group of honest and reliable soldiers."

"At this juncture, if we take decisive measures, I am afraid it will cause a mutiny." Perosa said, "In fact, only a few soldiers are talking about it."

"Okay, let's wait until after the war. I believe they will fight side by side with me." Lincoln seemed to be cheering himself up.

"Besides, it looks like the rebels are waiting for dark?" Lincoln asked again.

"It's about this. Dark night is really not a good time to fight, because it can easily cause confusion, especially for soldiers who are new to the battlefield." Perosa said, "But we are already prepared for night operations."

"Then fight, life or death!"

Lincoln nodded. The rifle in his hand had been cleaned and replaced with a new flint of high quality.

Night falls quickly.

Outside the positions where the Civil Defense Force was stationed, Perosa arranged bonfires and soldiers on guard along various routes where the enemy might attack.

What he can rely on most is the artillery. In terms of quantity and firepower, the Civil Defense Force has the advantage. Those twelve cannons will be intimidating to any opponent, although their shooting is always inaccurate during training.

However, Perosa is still walking on thin ice. He can expect that when the battle begins, various accidents will continue to occur. In the era of queuing and shooting in line combat, darkness will make these accidents worse. If he is commanding

A group of veterans, he had already taken the initiative.

In order to boost morale, before the sun set, Perosa asked the artillerymen to test-fire two rounds in order to adjust the angle in advance and block the enemy's attack route.

Amid the roar of bronze cannons, the soldiers cheered, even though the enemy was still far away.

It seems to work well.

Amid the beating of the campfire, the soldiers held their rifles tightly, their expressions were nervous, and their calves were even trembling.

After a soldier misfired, everyone opened fire gradually, as if the enemy was right in front of him. The officer shouted loudly.

The unrestrained jeers of the rebels could be heard in the distance.

The most difficult thing was waiting. At 12 o'clock at night, the highly nervous soldiers were all mentally exhausted and they could not take turns to rest as required by the officers.

At this moment, the rebels launched an attack. They probed the siege from all directions, trying to find weaknesses in the Civil Defense Force's defense.

Amidst the gunshots and the flames coming out of the gun barrels, gunpowder smoke filled the battlefield. The thick smoke inevitably brought by the burning of black powder made the night darker.

The bonfires that were burned in advance for lighting also became blurred in the line of sight.

The soldiers kept repeating the complicated shooting procedures. Some of the lead bullets they took out were nervous and could not be loaded into the barrel, some did not insert the bass bullets into the position where they should be, some installed less ignition powder, and some even nervously

All he knew was to pull the trigger, but he didn't realize that there was actually nothing in the chamber of his gun.

There are also soldiers running around, either too excited or their minds are blank.

At this time, it shows that the training ground is not the same as the actual battlefield, and actual combat can only be worse.

The officers shouted loudly and the scene was chaotic.

The rebels finally began to attack. Their main attack point was on the east side of the defensive position. The real test came when real lead bullets hit the body.

In the smoke, the soldiers of the Civil Defense Force could not see clearly what was happening on the other side, let alone at night.

In fact, even an experienced officer like Wells cannot accurately judge. It is not until the sound of the gunshot when the opponent fires and the light emitted from the barrel that the opponent knows that the opponent has entered the shooting range.

"Shoot!" The Civil Defense Force finally fired a pretty good salvo. They lined up in three rows, the first row retreated after shooting, the second row took three steps forward and fired, and then the third row.

There was no time to check whether the opponent was hit, and they could not see clearly. The soldiers were busy loading ammunition under the orders of the officers.

At this time, another burst of fierce gunfire came from the western position, and the rebels began to attack again from the west.

This time, the Civil Defense Force lost more than twenty people. Although the weapons in the hands of the rebels were not very sophisticated, they were close enough.

The casualties intensified the fear of the Civil Defense Force soldiers. Some instinctively retreated, which disrupted their own formation. Some were forced to retreat, while others thought it was an order from an officer.

The rebels saw the loopholes here and followed up frantically, which greatly shocked the Civil Defense Force soldiers.

Perosa took command from the center, and he personally commanded a group of soldiers serving as a reserve force to fill the gap and barely stop it.

He found that his opponents were gathering in front, which was an excellent opportunity.

"Order the artillery to fire!" Perosa shouted to his messenger.

The artillery finally opened fire, but the first shot hit the Civil Defense Force's own defense line. The shotshells flew into the crowd with fuses, and then exploded, sending countless small iron balls flying in the crowd.

Amidst the huge explosion, limbs were flying in the air. Everyone was stunned.

Immediately afterwards, more artillery shells were fired into the crowd, and the solid shells plowed out blank areas. The Civil Defense Force was instantly stunned by the explosion.

"Sir, Viscount Lincoln said that the artillery company has mutinied, please retreat immediately!"

"What?" Perosa's eyes widened angrily, almost unbelievable.

Nothing could be done, Perosa had no choice but to lead the remaining soldiers in the western position to move eastward. At the same time, the soldiers on the north and south defense lines also moved eastward, and then retreated one after another, completely letting go of the sheep.

They only stood guard for half an hour, which seemed like a century.

At dawn the next day, Perosa gathered his troops and found that only 200 people were killed and 300 others were injured to varying degrees, with few serious injuries.

However, all 12 cannons from two artillery batteries were lost, including all ammunition. It is said that some soldiers rebelled and killed the supervising artillery officer.

He has never experienced such a useless battle.

What's more important is that Viscount Lincoln disappeared, and Perosa only found his lost rifle.

This respectable nobleman did not mess with his command. Perosa saw with his own eyes the viscount and ordinary soldiers fighting side by side.


This chapter has been completed!
Previous Bookshelf directory Bookmark Next