"All move forward!!

The German bugle and drum music sounded, and the German musketeers lined up in a horizontal phalanx marched forward en masse, stepping on the drums to steadily meet the elite grenadiers of the Taiping Army who were advancing at the same time on the opposite side.

Behind the musketeers were pikemen marching in formation, and in the gaps between the left and right sides of the phalanx and behind were mid- and low-ranking officers commanding on horses.

Eldore, a descendant of a standard traditional German aristocratic family, wears a bearskin hat with feathers and rides on a fine German military horse he has purchased, constantly wielding delicate flintlock handcuffs to coordinate the advance of his soldiers.

Thanks to the glory of his family and many years of enlistment, Erdore, like most of the children of the German military aristocracy, became the commander of a battalion, which made him not have to stay at the forefront and lead the musketeers forward, but only need to shout a few orders from the rear of his battalion, and it is enough to correct the disobedient and deserted soldiers on the spot.

For Erdore, this is very skillful.

The shells of both sides landed inaccurately around the formation, and then bounced and smashed shallow pits in the dirt, or carried the legs of a few unlucky people away from their masters.

Erdore looked at the elite grenadiers of the Taiping Army who were coming from the opposite army in full formation, and his face was full of rebelliousness that he did not admit defeat.

With the rise of the Taiping Army, defeating one opponent after another, the undefeated myth of the Taiping Army has long spread throughout Eastern Europe, even if there are a few examples of the Taiping Army being completely annihilated, it is also fought in the case of the enemy occupying an absolute superiority in strength, the most terrifying thing is that the Taiping Army has not surrendered to the record, which is shocking.

Of course, in other countries on the European continent, the soldiers who regarded glory as their life naturally took the defeat of the Taiping Army as their lifelong goal, especially those soldiers and military nobles who had not fought against the Taiping Army or were not defeated by the Taiping Army, scoffed at the rumors that the Taiping Army had been 'deified', and had been eager for the opportunity to defeat the Taiping Army and enhance the reputation of themselves and their own troops.

For the weak, the Taiping Army is the devil crawling out of hell, but for the army that truly has glory, the Taiping Army is their best touchstone!

This is inseparable from the chivalry that has been praised in Europe for many years, a simple and idiotic idea, but it is the belief of European soldiers and officers in this era to persist in fighting.

Different from the ancient Oriental countries of the same period, due to the frequent wars in Europe, the monarchs and nobles of various countries are constantly improving the sense of honor of the soldiers, so being a soldier is no longer a lowly profession despised by the common people, but a manifestation of loyalty and courage to protect the monarch.

Obviously, a German officer like Erdore, who was brainwashed by traditional chivalry, was full of fighting spirit in the face of the Taiping Army at this time!

The high morale of the army was also an important factor in the fact that many German generals such as Leopold I dared to fight the Taiping army head-on.

If the Polish-Lithuanian Restoration Army encountered a large number of Taiping troops in the field, it would be good if it could be defeated without being hit by a single blow......

Morale is a miraculous thing, and even in the later era when all kinds of advanced weapons dominated the battlefield, the morale of the army was crucial, let alone the era of hot and cold weapons in the 17th century.

The speeding cannonballs did not bring any discomfort to Erdore, even if a few unlucky soldiers under his command were smashed by the solid iron ball, and their entire bodies were 'shattered', it still did not make Erdore, a battle-experienced officer, frown, on the battlefield, death is the main theme, if you can't even adapt to this, it will only make others laugh.

And Erdore's calm and calm performance undoubtedly boosted the confidence of the soldiers under his command who peeked from time to time, and the morale of the soldiers led by a heroic commander often increased.

In the ranks of the advancing German musketeers, officers like Erdore abounded, and Leopold I did not let the cannon fodder troops on the second line fight the Taiping army, because Leopold I knew very well that in addition to consuming the Taiping army's ammunition and causing meaningless casualties, it would only cause the morale of his main army to be damaged.

What is needed on the battlefield is to be vigorous in one go, not to be exhausted again!

"All of them, stop moving! Raise your gun and aim! ”

When the distance was almost 100 meters, Erdore, like other officers, ordered his battalion to stop, in the era when communications basically relied on roaring, line tactics had to rely on experienced middle and low-level officers to command on the spot to be effective, and the commanders in the rear were more likely to give some general orders, such as dispatching several corps to support a certain position, and the real battles on the front line were all commanded by front-line officers on the spot.

Fortunately, there is no shortage of middle- and low-level officers like Erdore in war-torn Central Europe.

The long line of German musketeers steadily stopped, and the flintlock pistols modified from arquebuses in their hands were raised under the command of the officers.

Finally, you don't have to wrap a big bundle of arquebuses around your body like a stupid fork!

Erdore looked at the elite grenadiers of the Taiping Army who were still advancing on the opposite side, and remained silent without giving orders, while at this time, the musketeers of several other battalions had already pulled the trigger under the orders of their respective officers.

On a battlefield of tens of thousands of people, the battle line was extremely wide, and it was impossible to fire muskets at the same time, and even the frequency of firing between each battalion was different.

That's why the sound of scattered and noisy shots is always heard on the real battlefield.

A salvo is just the opening of fire from every battalion or even a single company.

The rows of salvos in later film and television dramas were for aesthetic artistry, and small forces might be able to do it, but large-scale battles are tantamount to fantasy.

The transmission of the order to open fire alone is a big problem......

Erdore, an experienced and calm officer, squinted slightly at the approaching elite grenadiers of the Taiping Army, and did not give the order to open fire like his colleagues, because he knew very well that the first round of fire in the platoon gun was crucial, and Erdore knew better how to use the musket than the officers who had just 'transferred' from the cold weapons unit!

It wasn't until the elite grenadiers of the Taiping Army entered 50 meters that Erdore suddenly ordered: "Fire!" ”

Bang bang bang......

A puff of white smoke spread in front of Erdore's battalion, and the soldiers in the front row of the elite grenadiers of the Taiping Army in front of Erdore fell in pieces visible to the naked eye!

"Hmph, the myth of undefeated? It's just a bunch of mortal creatures. Erdore looked at the elite grenadiers of the Taiping Army who came up on the bench, and there was a hint of disdain in his eyes.