Chapter 386: Battle of Antwerp (Part 1)
Carolingian Kingdom,
Outside the city of Antwerp, on the vast plain, the two armies were separated by a great distance, and the atmosphere was grim.
It is said that the Albert family, the royal family of the Carolingian Kingdom, was once extremely glorious.
The family has a long history that can even be traced back to ancient times. It belongs to the bloodline of the Hero King and is a glorious model among the nobles of the Old Continent.
No matter where you go, just by virtue of the glory of your ancestors, you will be treated with the highest standards of etiquette.
Even with the title recognized by many nobles, he can mediate many conflicts among nobles.
However, when the Habsburg Empire rose and attempted to seize the right to speak as the overlord of the Western Continent, it came into conflict with the Bonaparte Empire.
As the two empires competed, the Carolingian Kingdom, which was caught in the middle, suffered a lot. From that time on, the Albert family never had a comfortable life.
Because they were always bullied by both sides, the Hero King even lost all his reputation. When other old nobles talked about them, they mostly mocked them.
If the Duchy of Normandy could still find a way to divide power, please both sides and maintain a balance.
Then Caroline has to choose a side!
And this generation's King Albert I undoubtedly chose to stand on the side of the Bonaparte Empire.
Facing the Habsburg Empire's declaration of war, Albert I also summoned the courage of a heroic king. He declared to all the nobles and citizens: A country that can save itself will never perish!
It has to be said that the royal family still has some appeal. All the nobles sent out their own knight orders, and the Albert family even brought out many of their hidden talents.
Thus, outside the city of Antwerp, the first clash that marked the beginning of the war began.
However, what no one expected was that this battle would end so quickly and so tragically.
…
The Carolingian Kingdom's tactics still seemed quite primitive.
The farmers who gathered were all armed, that is, they were given a spear and simple leather armor, and then formed a relatively tight formation and marched forward to the sound of drums.
From a distance, the spears looked like a forest, which was quite intimidating!
It is obvious that these farmers have received training in their spare time, otherwise they would not be so neat.
At the front of the team, there are all real strong men, at least second-level professionals or above, or third-level extraordinary people.
Only with powerful shield warriors standing there can the farmers have enough confidence.
In traditional warfare, without this group of people, the farmers would often collapse quickly and would not be able to withstand the impact.
As for the two sides of the formation, there were groups of light cavalry cruising in order to protect the two sides of the central army.
Most of them were knight squires, proficient in swordsmanship and bows, but they did not have a complete set of knight plate armor.
A complete set of knight armor is expensive, and ordinary knight squires cannot afford it, so they can only serve as cavalry.
However, they also have the advantages of speed and agility. They can run very fast, which is useful when chasing enemies and even more useful when escaping.
As for the real knights, they gathered in the rear.
Almost all the most powerful knights in the Carolingian Kingdom are here, densely packed, numbering thousands.
Almost everyone of them was wearing a set of standard knight plate armor, holding dragon spears high in their hands. The war horses they rode were of Warcraft bloodline, possessed extraordinary endurance, and were all covered in armor.
Their leader, a great knight commander at the peak of the third level of transcendence, had a knightly aura that spread outwards, even covering thousands of knights.
The infantry in front are nothing. They are the absolute main force and the decisive weapon on the battlefield.
In fact, the Carolingian Kingdom chose to fight the Imperial Legion in the field on the plains outside Antwerp.
It is because of this huge group of knights that their combat effectiveness can only be maximized in field battles.
On the other hand, of course, with the prevalence of magic cannons, the role that city walls can play has become very limited, and there is not much point in hiding inside.
Of course, in addition to the traditional knightly orders, the Carolingian Kingdom also brought out its best means, such as the cobbled-together mage corps.
There were estimated to be about a hundred of them, all gathered together, with a super-large magic circle carved under their feet.
It is worth mentioning that the Carolingian Kingdom is also keeping pace with the times. They have obtained a lot of magic cannons and magic firearms from the Habsburg Empire through various channels.
Those weak magic apprentices were gathered together to operate these weapons.
However, people will only reflect and grow after experiencing beatings.
Before this, they were used to dealing with problems based on experience and dogma, and always felt that previous knowledge was suitable for all situations.
The knights didn't care about these magical weapons at all, and their positions were set up on both sides, at a distance apart.
If it was before the rise of the magic industry, I'm afraid this war would be two similar formations, starting to rush, approach, and fight.
Then the Knights looked for opportunities and began to charge, collide, penetrate and strangle.
Until one side's formation was broken through and could no longer hold on, they began to flee, be hunted down, and be captured.
It’s an old trick, and the nobles of the Old World are most familiar with it. But today, the Habsburg Empire taught them a lesson.
When the infantry began to advance, the first thing they encountered was the relentless attack of the artillery.
The Empire's magic cannons have been updated many times, and this time the artillery corps is equipped with the fifth generation.
Not only does it have a long range and great power, but the barrel has rifling, and the loading method has become rear-loading, which is much faster.
The shells also changed from their original round shape to a cylindrical shape with a brass bullet head.
More importantly, the shells are filled with a lot of fragments, which explode after being fired and can cause area-type splash damage.
This type of artillery shell is designed for dense infantry phalanxes.
When artillery shells fell from the sky from several kilometers away, the dense infantry corps became sitting ducks.
Amidst the loud roar, the earth trembled, smoke and dust rose up, mixed with flying debris. Within a radius of several meters, only broken limbs were left.
The infantry formation of the Carolingian Kingdom was very solid, but the artillery shells seemed to have eyes, starting from the front and plowing backwards accurately.
Wherever they passed, there were no intact corpses. There was only blood, mud mixed with broken limbs, scattered everywhere.
How could a group of peasant spearmen endure such cruelty? A huge collapse occurred immediately behind the infantry formation.
The farmers dropped their weapons and fled for their lives.
However, the squeeze of the dense formation would only cause trampling. Except for a very small number of people on the periphery who had a chance to escape far away, the others would either fall to the ground and be trampled to death or be blown to death.
As for the strong men in front, they held on for a while longer.
Some activated magic items, some fought with fighting spirit, and a very lucky few ran forward, escaped the coverage of the cannons, and managed to survive.
But standing there alone, they were at a loss.
At this moment, should they rush forward or not?
Of course, most of them were blown to pieces by the endless artillery fire.
As for the light cavalry on both sides, they had already been thrown into chaos and fled in all directions.
However, what is even more unimaginable is that the range of this cannon is extremely exaggerated. After sweeping the infantry formation, it fired shells at the location of the Knights.
Now, the Knights had no choice but to charge even if they didn't want to.
They rushed to a closer location, avoiding the artillery bombardment and looking for a chance to turn the tables.
But if you run back, you will die!
Then, under the roar of the Grand Knight Commander, countless fighting spirits burst out, mixed with various magic shields and defensive force fields, and the huge group of knights began to charge.
The speed increased from slow to fast, and the Warcraft mount seemed to be walking on the wind, desperately moving forward under the artillery fire.
It has to be said that these knights were quite brave, and various defensive magics also played a huge role.
Although many knights fell on the way to charge, at least more than half of them broke through the barrier formed by the artillery fire.
However, the situation they faced was even worse!
Then, on the ground, the covers were lifted up one by one, revealing the dug trenches.
And in the trenches, there were imperial soldiers who had been prepared for a long time.
Some of them held magic rifles and fired precise bursts; others set up Maxim magic heavy machine guns and swept across without hesitation.
There were also warriors who were proficient in throwing. They held oval-shaped bombs in their hands, pulled out the pins, infused them with magic power, and threw them directly out.
As a result, a cloud of smoke and dust exploded immediately after landing.
In terms of power, although it is far inferior to a cannonball, it can still sweep across an area within a radius of two meters.
This is the grenade given by Luo Yi. It is a single-soldier throwing weapon with great destructive power.
It also gave every imperial soldier the ability to pose a threat beyond measure.
That's right, even if it's a third-level extraordinary, as long as it's not an earth element, or holding a tower shield, or a pervert like Luo Yi,
Otherwise, they would definitely not be willing to take the blast damage from a grenade head-on.
At this moment, the knights who rushed out were almost all sitting ducks.
There are third-level extraordinary people among them, but even if they reach the third level, the maximum attack range of the Dou Qi Slash is only about a hundred meters.
However, the range of the automatic rifles and heavy machine guns is hundreds of meters away, and the resulting scene can only be described as a crushing defeat!
Of course, the Warcraft horses are still extremely fast, and it won’t take long to cover a distance of hundreds of meters.
But when they rushed closer, they found that the imperial soldiers had retreated from one trench to another.
Then, continue to set up the machine gun and continue to fire.
The situation did not improve until a super knight rushed within dozens of meters with fighting spirit and magic shield.
His Dou Qi slash was released in anger, covering a very wide area.
As it plowed along the ground, the soil and rocks were given great power by the fighting spirit, splashing out like bullets, causing casualties to at least a small team.
But this is also the first time that imperial soldiers have been killed since the war!
And this extraordinary and powerful person who emerged died an even more miserable death.
A gunshot rang out, and the peculiar sound was extremely clear in the chaotic battlefield.
Then, the extraordinary man's head exploded.
An armor-piercing bullet fired from a thousand meters away directly penetrated his fighting spirit defense and exploded his head.
There’s more to come, I have to finish writing this plot!
(End of this chapter)
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