Chapter 457: Run away if you want to survive (first update, please subscribe)
The airship is coming!
The Sixth Army assembly area in the south was the first German unit to be attacked by air raids and machine guns. While tens of thousands of Prussian soldiers were trapped in the hell of machine guns, the Prussian artillery on the southeastern heights continued to fire shells at the city of Sedan.
"Fire!"
Following the officers' orders, the artillerymen pulled the fuse again and again. In the thick smoke, shells whizzed out and flew towards the city of Sedan and beyond.
Over the past two days, Prussian artillery had fired more than 300,000 shells at the city, a devastating fire that was enough to destroy everything.
What can be done in the face of such fierce French artillery?
They can only passively take the beating, and at most strengthen their fortifications, hoping to use them to protect their own safety.
As a professional artillery officer, Major Jean Pierre was on the verge of collapse. When the Prussian shells whistled in and exploded the moment they hit the ground, he shouted excitedly.
"Damn you, damn marshal, damn general, don't you know that the world has changed? Where are our breech-loading guns, where are our percussion fuses?"
The reason Jean Pierre was so excited was that their cannons were bronze muzzle-loaders that still used the old-fashioned time fuses.
Well, Emperor Napoleon is still using Emperor Napoleon's weapons.
Faced with the Prussians' fierce artillery bombardment, they were not only unable to fight back, but even the range of their artillery could not reach the enemy, so they could only passively take the beating!
"Look, what is that?"
Suddenly, an officer pointed at the Prussian artillery position on the high ground and shouted.
"Look, they're being bombarded!"
As if to prove his words, a huge cloud of smoke suddenly exploded on the high ground. Looking at the huge black smoke, Jean Pierre said excitedly.
"This, this is at least a 500-pound shell..."
500 pounds... Do we have a cannon that big?
As soon as he finished speaking, more than a dozen huge smoke columns exploded on the high ground again. The deafening sound of the explosions was like the fireworks on National Day, continuously ringing out from the Prussian artillery positions.
bomb!
Hundreds of 10kg, 50kg and 100kg bombs rained down on the Prussian artillery positions. In order to improve the accuracy of the bombing, under the command of Ma Guangming, the airship troops even descended to an altitude of 1,000 meters.
"Observer, find their ammunition dump!"
While observing the effects of the bombing, Ma Guangming shouted to the observer.
Although the bombs are very powerful, it is not realistic to destroy those cannons. Compared to destroying all the cannons, it is undoubtedly more appropriate to destroy the ammunition dumps or military stations.
As the airship troops slowly descended, the people on the ground finally saw their presence!
"It's an airship, it's our airship!"
The French, who had been struggling under intensive artillery fire just a few minutes ago, excitedly jumped out of the trenches and fortifications. They pointed desperately at the airship in the sky and shouted excitedly.
"Yes, that's right, that's it, blow up those damn Germans!"
"Hey, blast some more to the north, blast some more to the north..."
Although everyone knew that the airship in the sky would definitely not be able to hear their shouts clearly, it was certain that at that moment, the French soldiers' lost courage returned.
In the past two days, facing the fierce artillery fire, their will was almost collapsed. Even Marshal McMahon doubted whether the troops could hold on. With his right arm injured and a bandage in his hand, he stood on the ruins and watched the columns of smoke rising from the Prussian positions. Looking at the battlefield shrouded in smoke, he spoke to the emperor with some excitement.
"Your Majesty, look, Nanhua's airships are coming, and they are bombing the Prussian positions. Now, we must seize the opportunity and break out of Na Monsalle while the Prussian army is in chaos!"
In response to the marshal's request, Napoleon III said.
"Bless your God, they finally came. My respectable nephew-in-law finally sent his invincible airship troops in time. My God! He saved France. However, Marshal, the town of Namonsal is now controlled by the Prussian army. If we break out rashly, will we suffer greater losses? And..."
Napoleon III looked at the soldiers in the distance. In the past two days, tens of thousands of officers and soldiers had lost their lives and tens of thousands of soldiers had been injured in the unprecedented bombardment. Are they ready to break out?
"Our soldiers need to rest. After all, in the past few days, they..."
"Your Majesty, if we don't hurry up, we may miss this opportunity!"
McMahon said anxiously.
"Your Majesty, we must break out now, no matter what the cost. The bombing by the airships has brought unprecedented trouble to the Germans. Their cannons have been destroyed. Now is the time for us to exert our advantages!"
In response to the marshal's request, Napoleon III turned his eyes to Felix Douai, who also agreed.
"Your Majesty, just as the marshal said, we must seize the last chance. Once we miss this opportunity, perhaps there will be no more chances! Even by that time..."
Staring at His Majesty, Felix Douay did not continue speaking. Napoleon III himself knew very well what he wanted to say - by then, he would be captured or die in Sedan.
This was obviously not what Napoleon III wanted. Facing the generals' request, he thought for a moment and said.
"If we were to retreat, our wounded..."
At this time he seemed to be a good emperor. Compared to victory, he cared more about the wounded. If they retreated, what would happen to the wounded?
McMahon, knowing full well that the Emperor was looking for an excuse, spoke directly.
"Prussia is a civilized country after all. I believe they will treat them well. Also, we should discard all unnecessary supplies and make a full effort to break out in the direction of Paris before the Prussian army can react."
Just as McMahon's voice fell, suddenly, a huge column of smoke rose from the forest outside the city. The black smoke rose for thousands of meters. At the same time, violent explosions were heard. At this moment, people seemed to be able to feel the earth shaking.
"It's their arsenal! God bless you, Your Majesty, they must have blown up the Prussian arsenal. Now those damn four people must be in chaos. We must escape now..."
(End of this chapter)
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