David Copperfield, who had just sacrificed his own interests to arrange the retreat behind the palace, suddenly heard a strange scream in the air, and his face changed dramatically in an instant.

In the next moment, he was lying on the ground, clinging to the ground with his body, covering his ears tightly with his hands, completely losing his previous chic and handsome gentlemanly demeanor.

And John, the black man next to him, was still standing against the low wall in a daze, looking dazed.

Because he didn't know what the screaming in the air meant.

Although this British mercenary is equipped with a musket comparable to that of the Qin army, they have a big shortcoming.

This shortcoming is their artillery configuration.

Compared with muskets, artillery is an order of magnitude higher in terms of casting process and technical difficulty.

In the current British military industrial system, the artillery that fights with the synchronized troops is mainly field artillery pulled by horse-drawn carriages.

Although this kind of artillery can accompany infantry combat, relatively speaking, their weight is still not light, and their size is not small, so in infantry combat, they tend to move slowly.

Moreover, the trajectory of this artillery is a straight trajectory, and the firing range is relatively close.

This British mercenary army, naturally, was equipped with artillery.

It's just that their artillery, which is the field artillery mentioned above, moves slowly because of its size and weight, and is still among the main forces in the rear and has not reached the front line.

The light mortars and heavy mortars that the Qin army currently possessed did not begin to be equipped with in the current British Imperial Army.

For ordinary soldiers and officers, the existence of such a cannon was not even known at all.

The reason why David Copperfield was so frightened after hearing the strange sound in the air just now was because he had seen the horror of this kind of artillery before.

It was when he was in China before he crossed the continent that he was invited to participate in a test firing of a new infantry artillery.

At that time, he was deeply impressed by the curved artillery, which could accompany the infantry and fire quickly.

It's just that there were many problems with this artillery at that time, so it was not mass-produced to equip the army at that time.

It was precisely because of that artillery test firing that he was very impressed that he was able to make such a frightened and exaggerated act after hearing a familiar voice.

He didn't have time to think about why the British Empire's artillery was still being tested and improved, and the army in front of him had already been equipped with the army and used on the battlefield.

Because at this moment the shells had already landed, and there was a violent explosion.

A mortar shell landed next to John, a black man who was still dazed and confused.

A fragment of a cannonball was violently ejected by the powerful impact of the gunpowder explosion, and spun at high speed and plunged directly into the throat of Black John.

John, a black man, with a dazed and unwilling face, clutched his throat with his hands.

Bloody blood spilled unscrupulously from between his fingers.

And several British mercenaries beside the black John were also harvested by the shells in an instant, and turned into a corpse in an instant.

Although it was the first round of test firing, it also caused dozens of casualties to the unsuspecting British mercenaries.

Although the casualties seem small, they are even more severe to the already hesitant will to fight of this British mercenary army.

Many people looked at the companions around them who were still alive just now, and suddenly turned into an ugly corpse, even if they were experienced in a hundred battles and strong-willed, but they also sincerely felt a kind of fear.

If the previous advantage of their muskets was offset in front of the muskets of the Qin army, then now in the face of the sudden appearance of the new artillery of the Qin army, they are in a situation of being completely crushed.

In this case, their will to fight is even more rapidly weakened.

They are a mercenary army, and mercenaries fight for profit.

When the stakes are big enough, they can be fierce and warlike, but the current situation is clearly unprofitable, and it is highly likely that they will be left with their lives.

Some are even beginning to run backwards, this is not their war, they do not need to pay with their lives at all.

David Copperfield knew at this point that the tide was turning.

And as a battle-hardened mercenary leader, although he has no real experience in the use of mortars, according to common sense, he knows that the first round of shelling just now was just a test shot.

Soon there will be a second round of the third round, and even more shelling.

If you don't choose to retreat at this time, then maybe you will die on this foreign land in the next round of shelling.

So immediately after the first round of shelling, he jumped up and shouted: "Withdraw!" Fall back! Retreat now! ”

Without waiting to finish speaking, he took the lead and ran quickly to the rear in an S-shaped trajectory.

The speed and agility he showed shocked the mercenary soldiers who didn't react.

They looked at each other, and many of them saw in each other's eyes in disbelief, for it was the first time they had seen this devil-like leader have such a day of fear.

However, this is obviously not the time to gossip about this, the leader has already fled, and they naturally have no reason to stay.

They all ran away behind David Copperfield's buttocks.

The commander of the Qin army, who was organizing a head-on exchange of fire with the enemy, saw the British mercenaries fleeing quickly like rabbits from the clairvoyant mirror, and his face instantly froze.

I thought it would be a tough one. In a protracted battle, he didn't expect the enemy to retreat so quickly, and it was just a round of shelling, which made him laugh and cry.

However, he was only stunned for a moment, and quickly reacted and ordered the troops to rush out of cover and start pursuing.

After all, he was ordered to hold on to the British army and not let them escape so easily.

The artillery commander, who was preparing for the second round of shelling, also saw the scene of the British fleeing, and after being stunned for a moment, he was so angry that he scolded the British for being cowardly as a mouse.

However, he quickly ordered the firing to be adjusted, allowing the artillery to fire extended, and carried out a second round of shelling of those British mercenaries who were left behind.

The cannonballs whizzed from the sky into the panicked British, and soon a large number of them were brought down.

It's just that at this time, all the British mercenaries have no time to care about the life and death of their comrades, they just run back desperately.

With the rapid escape of the British, the mortar could not produce results after only three rounds of fire, so the artillery commander decisively gave the order to stop firing.

The pursuit was given to the musketeers who chased after them like tigers descending from the mountains.