The heavy gunfire never stopped. The general was alone in the courtyard, and he crouched behind a low wall. The soldiers he placed outside the fortress were fighting step by step and did not give up the land easily. But the enemy's fire forced them not to abandon their hiding places, and had to crawl back one by one. They were given orders to stall for time, not to expose themselves, so that the Prussian army would not know their strength. An hour passed again. A sergeant came in. Saying that there were only two or three people left outside, the general took out his watch and muttered, "It's two o'clock, and we're going to teach them a lesson." ”

Everything was ready, and he knew that the French could put up a strong resistance. Because the Prussian army was on the other side of the river, there was no need to worry that they would rush over right away. There was a bridge two kilometers away, which they probably didn't know, and it didn't seem likely that they were wading across the river. Therefore, the French officers sent men to monitor the main road alone, and all their forces were used against the direction of the field.

The shootout stopped again. The fortress seemed to die in the sun. Not a single window panel was open, not a sound came out of it. At this time, the Prussian army slowly began to appear at the edge of the woods, and they poked their heads out and grew bolder. Several French soldiers in the bunker had already put their butts on their shoulders to aim, but one officer exclaimed:

"No! No way! Wait a little longer...... Let them come! ”

The Prussians looked cautious and looked suspicious. In this fortress, there was no sound at all.

The Prussian army advanced. When about a hundred people came to the grass opposite, the officer said:

"Fire!"

There was a hail of gunfire, followed by a dense burst of gunfire all around. His father, Emperor Napoleon III, shuddered, and unconsciously raised his hands to cover his ears. He stood behind the soldiers and watched, and when the smoke cleared a little, he saw many Prussians lying on their backs in the grass. The rest hid behind willows and aspens. But then their offensive began.

"Attention! Note! The general suddenly shouted loudly at the soldiers who were operating the rifles.

He had just seen a group of black-pressed people come out of the woods. This was followed by a terrible volley of guns, flying like a hurricane. A window panel was knocked off, and bullets whizzed in through the open window. Two soldiers rolled to the ground, one of them did not move, because he was lying there in the way, and was pushed against the wall. The other bent over and begged others to end his life, but no one paid attention to him. Bullets kept coming in, and everyone hid, trying to find a hole to shoot back. Another soldier was wounded, and he fell silently and staring blankly at a table. The bunker is littered with all sorts of debris, broken weapons, and broken furniture.

The Prussian army appeared in large numbers, and the French platoon shooters left the loading handle and came to the right side of the firing handle of the platoon gun. The shooter can quickly shake the handle for a week and fire all the bullets, or slowly shake the handle to shoot one shot at a time. He saw the shooter's movements, and his heart hung in the air.

The shooters of the platoon were very skillful, apparently trained for a long time, and although their comrades were constantly being hit by bullets fired by the Prussians, they operated in an orderly manner and did not appear to be disturbed in the slightest.

Several of the rifles finally fired, and he saw the shooter slowly shake the firing handle, and the bullets rained out, and the Prussian ranks broke out in a terrible cry, and the Prussian infantry in the front row was swept to the ground like ears of wheat.

"Good! Well played! His father, Emperor Napoleon III, shouted.

He felt as if blood was filling his eyes all over his body, and he watched as a Prussian officer was hit, and several blood mist erupted from his chest in an instant, presumably more than one bullet hitting it at the same time.

He knew that this phenomenon had already been put forward by the Qianguo man named Lin Yizhe in those documents, that the firing range of the French platoon guns was very narrow, but its firing rate was relatively fast, and the interval between the 25 rounds was extremely short, almost equivalent to a salvo, and the projectiles were very concentrated, so they were horizontally distributed relatively densely at long distances and lacked coverage.

In less than a second, a sharp flying gun ran out of bullets, and after the last barrel was fired, the shooter shook the reloading handle in reverse, moving the tailstock of the platoon back, and then the shooter turned the firing handle in reverse to reset the stopper, and then pulled the reloading plate back, at which point the reloading plate became a casing. The shooter lifts the reloader up, removes the reload plate along with the empty shell, and reloads a reloader with new shells.

The Lifei Platoon consists of 25 barrels, and the loading tool is a steel plate with 25 round holes, into which a bullet is inserted, and the position of each bullet corresponds to a barrel. The firing mechanism is driven by a handle, and by turning the handle clockwise, all 25 rounds will be fired in less than a second (although the shooter can also make each barrel fire sequentially at any speed by controlling the speed of the crank handle if he wishes). After the reloading plate is inserted into place, the bullets will be aligned with their respective barrels, after which the shooter will shake the reloading handle with his left hand, and the tailstock of the platoon will move forward, pushing the feeding plate forward until the bullet in it is inserted into the corresponding barrel, at this time, the round hole of the feeding plate becomes the chamber. At this point, the platoon gun is locked, and the spring-driven firing pin is also backward and stuck in the arresting iron, ready to fire the bullet. The firing pin cannot be placed backwards until the platoon is locked, thus avoiding accidental misfire. Since the cartridge case used in the platoon gun had a constricted neck, this part protruded into the tailstock of the barrel, which played a good role in sealing the gunpowder gases.

The shooters quickly finished reloading and started firing again. Perhaps noticing that the first round of fire was not working well, this time the shooters slowed down their firing speed, and after the bullets were fired, they skillfully repeated the action of reloading.

In just one minute, the French shooter with the nearest platoon of guns fired 12 salvos and fired 300 rounds!

The Prussians were surrounded by the terrible fire of the French platoons, and bullets were buzzing at them like flies in the distance, or flying near with terrible snorts. More and more, ringing right next to their heads, noses, eyes, and shoulders, in the thousands, beyond count.

"Jesus!" Someone screamed, followed by an order: "Attack!" Don't stop! Then there was another groan: "Oh God! Then the groans became more and more frequent, the commands became more urgent, and the Prussians attacked more and more tightly. The whistling of bullets became more sudden and urgent, and it made people shudder. There are dead people everywhere. It seems like the end of the world.

On the grass in front of the fortress, there were large swaths of Prussian infantry corpses, and countless wounded soldiers groaned among the corpses. The Prussians, who had not died, did not retreat, but one by one they fell to the ground, with a look of horror on their faces, and stopped charging forward.

Now it was the Prussian army that became a shrunken turtle, and it was the turn of the French army to counterattack. As soon as the French offensive began, the fire was fierce. It didn't stop for half an hour. Suddenly, there was a heavy explosion, and a French cannonball broke a branch of a large elm tree by the river. The French army had artillery. The artillery positions were right on the edge of the battle line, and they bombarded the opposite bank of the river. The Prussian artillery began to return fire, and shells flew from here to there, and from that side to this side. The fortress was hit, two walls fell. Especially on the side of the river, the destruction is so sad that people can see it. Ivy rose from the shaking wall and hung like strips of rags, and the river carried away all sorts of rags. Although the Prussian artillery fire was still fierce, the French forts withstood the terrible blow, providing effective protection for the French soldiers hiding inside, especially the shooters of the platoon gun battalion, so that they could continue to inflict terrible damage on the enemy with their weapons.

The Prussian army finally showed signs of collapse, and then the French army launched a counteroffensive. A crazy white-knuckle fight. Under the rust-colored sky, the eerie valley was littered with dead bodies. The vast pastures were full of isolated trees and aspens that cast shaded shades like curtains, which looked murderous, and the forests on the left and right sides were like walls of the jousting grounds, surrounding the people who were fighting. Springs and rivers also whimpered in the horrors of the battlefield.

The Prussian army was finally completely annihilated, and his father, Emperor Napoleon III, could not help but shed tears.

Since the outbreak of war, this should have been the first victory he had ever seen the French army fight.

A French officer with a hundred spirits rushed to the battlefield, his tall body straight, and his smile was very cute like that of a handsome beautiful man. Seeing that some of his subordinates were still looking this way through the smoking ruins, he stood among the corpses of the Prussians, gave them a military salute with his saber, and shouted: "Victory!" We've won! Long live France! ”

Looking at this exciting scene, Napoleon IV remembered the advice in the secret letter of the Qianguo man to his father, who at this time no longer stayed here to watch the battle, and he was to hurry back to the headquarters and order his pedantic and stubborn generals to use the platoon gun correctly, the weapon he loved for ten minutes.

In the end of the war, the two sides were tied.

For France, the war was too cruel and too dramatic.

Some say that it was the Chasebo rifle and the Lifei platoon gun that saved the French Empire.

It is also said that it was the fleet of the lone general who saved the French Empire.

Others say that it was the "Oriental Magic Box" that saved the French Empire.

As a witness of this war, Napoleon IV knew that the "Oriental Magic Box" was real.

Without this box, the Lifei platoon guns would not have worked, and the lone colonel would not have led the fleet on the expedition.

I should be grateful for this war, for the box and for the person who gave it away.

If it weren't for this war, that box, he might have missed the throne.

And before he could repay that man, that man had already died.

Now, that man's twin brother is coming to France.

For Lin Yiqing, Napoleon IV somehow always felt that he was not the same as Lin Yizhe.

During Lin Yizhe's visit to Europe, he came to learn from European countries, and Lin Yiqing's purpose seems to be only one -- to buy warships.

This man ordered warships in Italy, Austria-Hungary and Germany, which together could already form a large fleet.

In the impression of Napoleon IV, the government of Qianguo had never spent so much money on warships.

When he comes to France, what kind of warships will he order?

Thinking that France had now stopped building large ironclad ships, the corners of Napoleon IV's mouth couldn't help but show a wry smile.

If Lin Yiqing knew that the French Navy was now a "new school" in vogue, what would his expression be?

Theophile, who succeeded Lone as French Minister of the Navy? Vice Admiral Aube has been relentlessly promoting the "New School of Naval Studies" - he proposed that instead of building traditional battleships for sea supremacy, he would instead build faster steel cruisers and torpedo boats to challenge the fragile ocean-going commercial routes of Britain, the old enemy at sea.

During his tenure as Secretary of the Admiralty, Aube proposed that a country with many overseas colonies, such as France, would have to strike a ruthless blow against the Empire's maritime trade and economic activities if it was to win a future war against Great Britain. At its core, it was to make every French overseas colony a base and base for the destruction of British shipping or trade.

In this way, the military function of these colonies is no longer merely passive defense against enemy strikes, but direct command of combat detachments to carry out strike and harassment missions. Suffice it to look at France's colonial networks around the world: such war networks could theoretically be devastating to an empire that was highly dependent on the sea.

Aube refers to the capital ships as the "saber-toothed elephants" that are on the verge of extinction: expensive, unarmed, clumsy, slow, and bulky. He advocated the construction of light cruisers and light high-speed ships with torpedoes as their main weapons. He was categorically opposed to going on the defensive in future naval battles. According to Aube's plan, in the future, France's main overseas colonies would be assigned one or several combat detachments with cruisers as the core, depending on their location. The core of each detachment is a steel-armored cruiser with a displacement of about 2,500 tons, a speed of more than 20 knots, a cruising range of 3,000 nautical miles, and two breech-loading rapid-fire guns of 127 mm caliber, two torpedo tubes, and several rapid-fire guns. The cruiser is the flagship of the formation, and the cruiser is also responsible for providing logistical support such as fuel, ammunition supply and personnel rest for the small ships.

In Obe's "ideal formation" there were also 2 gunboats and 8 torpedo boats and rod mineboats. Among them, the gunboat has a displacement of about 400 tons, and under the premise of ensuring a large speed and endurance, it is equipped with L 127 mm breech guns and several machine guns, and has a crew of 50 people. The high-speed torpedo boats in the formation, which were responsible for carrying out lightning strikes against enemy ships, were equipped with two torpedo tubes and were not armed with other artillery. The pole mineboats, which were responsible for covering the cruisers and torpedo boats, were equipped with pole mines and some Habeg Kaisi machine guns. The task of such a harassment fleet is to strike everywhere and disrupt the enemy's maritime trade.

In fact, before Aube, due to the increasing maturity of the steam engine in the application of ship power, some young officers in the French navy clearly pointed out that the sabotage war against the enemy country, mainly against the British, which had a conflict of interest with France on the colonial question, had ushered in a great turning point.

The British were more dependent on overseas trade than ever before, so if their overseas trade was disrupted, famine and unemployment would plunge Britain into chaos. Due to fuel constraints, merchant ships that no longer use sails will be forced to sail along relatively fixed routes; Cruisers propelled by steam engines had a much higher speed than ordinary merchant ships, and could choose to launch a volley or escape at full autonomy.

These two factors make the sabotage war exude a strong temptation for the strategic extravagance of a weak mainland navy to defeat the navy of a strong island country. And during the American Civil War, the pressure of the weak Confederate navy on the shipping and economic formation of the Northern Union fully demonstrated that a few well-armed attack ships can achieve far-reaching tactical success if tactics are used properly.

As early as four years ago, when he was not yet the Minister of the French Navy, Aube, who had just been promoted to rear admiral, publicly stated: "Since the national wealth is the muscle of war, the destruction of the enemy's national wealth is not only necessary in war, but also reasonable and legitimate." As soon as war breaks out, the entire fleet and naval attack ships should be used to deliver a thorough blow to the enemy's war potential. Whether the other side is a seaport, a seaside fortress, or an undefended peaceful city, it must be ruthlessly destroyed and turned into ruins and rubble. Until they give in and hand over the ransom. ”

Obey is well aware that the current rules of engagement in civilized society are nothing more than a "tight spell" used to limit the power of weak countries under the dominance of the powerful state. If necessary, even these powerful countries themselves will not follow. Hence his unequivocal declaration: strikes against commercial and peaceful goals are absolutely necessary to win a war. "Others can protest. Instead, we accept these new means of destruction as the development of the laws of evolution in which we firmly believe, and the end result will be the complete elimination of war. ”

The British government, shocked by Aube's remarks, asked the French government: Does this represent the official view of the French government? France, for its part, used diplomatic rhetoric to claim that this was only Aube's personal opinion and had nothing to do with the government. But the French Navy has shown in practice that they are practicing Aube's theory. (To be continued.) )