Chapter 732: Siege Battle
On 16 July, the Batavian defenders, who had been struggling for days, finally got a respite. Romance debutant?? Eight?? ww.81zw.com Chinese The wear and tear of the trebuchets caused by the slinging tactics used by the enemy for several days was concentrated on this day, and almost all the trebuchets on the eastern, northern, and western battlefields were damaged in large areas on this day. It can also be inferred from this that these trebuchets are indeed uniformly manufactured, so the degree of wear and tear of their service life tends to be the same.
Looking at the scattered trebuchets on the enemy position, the defenders on the city wall cheered, as if they had won a great victory. Although the council had finally agreed to Van Diemen's suggestion two days earlier, abandoning the tactic of using artillery to destroy the opponent's trebuchet at a distance, and approving the military's practice of temporarily abandoning the fortress outside the city and retaining the living force, the defenders had not been able to find a suitable outlet for the grievances they had been suppressed by this group of opponents, who had always been regarded as barbarians. The enemy's trebuchet began to break, which also indicated that the two sides were finally about to enter the phase of hand-to-hand combat, which did not seem to be bad news for the defenders, who had been stoned on one side for several days.
But for commanders like Van Dimen and Barth, this tone did not dare to relax at all. They were well aware that the main goal of the enemy in the previous confrontation was only to destroy the fortifications outside the city, not to kill or wound people, and that the war had not yet entered the stage of real cruelty. In the following hand-to-hand encounters, the defenders' weapons and equipment may have a certain advantage in terms of lethality, but close encounters are bound to greatly increase the casualties of the combatants, and the losses of the Dutch army will only increase compared with the previous days, not decrease.
With the beating of the cowhide drums of the Matara Blue Army, the military formation outside the city began to slowly advance towards the city wall. And this advance was no longer a small-scale breakthrough at the beginning of the battle, and from the top of the city, it seemed that at least a dozen phalanxes were advancing simultaneously, and there were thousands of soldiers in each phalanx. Interspersed between the phalanxes were a large number of sappers carrying ladders and planks, and it seemed that the Mata Blues would continue to use their previous tactics of ladder bridges to great effect to overcome the trenches outside the city. This simple tool is much easier to make than a trebuchet, and with the manpower of the Blue Army, hundreds of stairbridges can be built every day, but it is not easy for the defenders to destroy them.
When the Matari army entered the range of the city's defense artillery, the rumbling of artillery began to sound on the city wall one after another. At this time, the drums of the horses and blues became faster, and the soldiers gave up their slow way of advancing and began to trot.
After the sappers who were running in front reached the edge of the moat, they quickly began to build the ladder bridge with the tools at hand, and it was even faster than the previous day's offensive. On the offensive line, which was more than a mile wide, there were more than 30 ladder bridges being built at the same time, and this combat strategy made it difficult for the defenders at the head of the city to concentrate their firepower to attack it. The fort outside the city was in ruins, and the musketeers could not be expected to snipe at the construction of the Mataran sappers at close range.
Just a few minutes later, a squad of Matalan infantry brandished their scimitars and rushed over a newly built ladder bridge and pounced on the city walls. The initials of the new domain name Kele Novel Network (k1xsw), the largest free romance Chinese website, hurry up. Behind them were several soldiers carrying long ladders with long iron hooks in front of them, which, once on the top of the city, could hook the walls, making it difficult for the defenders to push them away from them.
"Remotee, listen to my orders and get ready to shoot!" Bart shouted the battle order.
The musket corps under his personal command consisted of 13o men, of whom 125 were combatants, divided into five horizontal squads of 25 men each, and the rotational firing method was used in combat. With a command, the musketeers in the first row extended their rifles to the top edge of the wall, and pointed their guns at the horses-beating Blues outside the city, which were like dense colonies of ants.
"Fire!" As Barth's saber fell, the first row of musketeers pulled the trigger, and the burning arquebus was pushed into the fire door by the mechanical structure, igniting the black powder inside, and propelling the projectile out of the chamber. As for whether the bullet can accurately hit the target at a distance, it depends on luck for a long time.
The musketeers, who had finished firing, quickly left their firing positions and retreated to the back to reload. Another platoon of musketeers behind him immediately restocked, raising their guns and aiming them outside the city. The musket team under Bart are all veterans who have participated in many battles, and the skills of using arquebuses are also relatively skilled, and the five rows of rotational shooting can basically achieve a salvo frequency of about 2o seconds, which is also a relatively good level among the defenders in the city.
Since the enemy forces outside the city had to pass through the moat to reach the city, a large number of soldiers were gathered in front of the moat, and the musketeers at the head of the city almost did not aim at these targets, and at least seventy percent of the 25 lead bullets fired each time could hit people. In the Matara army under the city, people kept being shot and fell to the ground, and wailing and screaming came one after another.
However, the Matara Blue Army had no intention of depleting the defenders' ammunition with human lives, and soon counterattacked the city with bows and arrows and short spears under the command of the officers. Of course, it is much more difficult to shoot from a low place to a high place than to shoot from a high place. However, it is undeniable that such counterattacks still interfered with the defenders' operations that could not be ignored, and despite the armor, casualties among the defenders inevitably began.
The first siege ladder reached the wall faster than Bart expected, but before the Mataran soldiers under the city could climb up, a log with iron chains at both ends was rolled out of the wall, and the siege ladder was crushed at the waist.
The second siege ladder that was attached to the wall suffered similar treatment, except that stones were thrown down from the top of the city. The stone slid down the middle of the ladder, and in the middle of the ladder there was no time to dodge, and the three soldiers smashed to the ground along with the people below the escalator. When the brunt of the person hung up on the spot, and the person with the back below could not escape the end of breaking his hands and feet. But the offensive of the besieging forces was not slowed down by the resistance of the defenders, and more and more siege ladders were being transported to the city.
"Let all the trebuchets in the city move, and don't let these monkeys get close to the walls easily!" Bart grabbed one of his subordinates and shouted orders to him. The frightened subordinate lifted his helmet and hurried down the city wall to give the order.
The defenders also deployed a small number of trebuchets in the city, and the firing lines of these trebuchets were carefully calculated to ensure that the highest point of their projectile reached the city wall of Guò, and then fell under the combined force of air resistance and gravity to the outside of the city not far from the city wall, and the area of attack was north of the moat, where the Mata Blue Army was currently assembled to wait for the Guò ladder bridge.
The troops in the city did not disappoint Bart, and soon there was a whistling sound, and a volley of stone bullets flew through the city walls, smashing into the Mata Blue Army outside the city.
"You wild monkeys, let you taste the power of trebuchets too!" Bart, who had been suppressed by the ramblings for many days, finally had a chance to vent, poking his head out of the battlements of the wall and shouting and scolding, while the Matar Blues responded to him with a volley of dozens of bows and arrows. If it weren't for the adjutant's quick hand to pull him back, Bart would probably have to pay the price of a few more holes in his head for his scolding.
However, the psychological deterrent effect of this projection is far greater than the actual damage, and the drop of a dozen stone bullets will not prevent the Mata Blue Army from continuing to attack the city wall through the moat. Only one of the stone bullets hit a ladder bridge over the trench impartially, collapsing the bridge deck and plunging seven or eight soldiers into the water, which slightly slowed down the enemy's offensive.
Three minutes later, the trebuchets in the city fired another round, this time no longer with stone projectiles, but at burning canisters of oil. After the thing hit the ground, it shattered, and the fire ignited four or five meters around the landing point, which immediately caused chaos among the enemy troops outside the city.
"Well done, burn these damned heretics!" Bart shouted to cheer up the soldiers on the city walls as he directed the musketeers to continue firing at the enemy forces outside the city.
The offensive of the Matar Blue Army lasted from early morning to the afternoon, and after paying thousands of casualties, the Mata Blue Army saw that it was still unable to capture the city, so it chose to withdraw its troops.
When Bart saw the retreat of the Matari army under the city, he didn't even have the strength to remove the heavy armor on his body, so he sat down on the ground. He had shouted hoarsely during the morning command, and now his voice was hoarse, and he had to let the adjutant temporarily exercise command in his place.
Although they repelled the attack of the Matar Blues and inflicted some casualties on the enemy, the price paid by the defenders was not low at all. The musket corps under Barth's personal command alone had only ninety-seven men still in the battle at the end of the battle.
Of course, compared to the defenders, the losses of the Mada Blue Army were undoubtedly much stricter, and the corpses outside the city alone were enough to be shocking. Although a careful count has not yet been made, Bart estimates that the number of casualties in the battle between the northern wall alone would have been around 1,000 to 1,300, which is almost twice the number of the first day of the battle.
The entire northern city wall is in relatively good condition, probably only outside the north gate. The two forts guarding the north gate and the only passage through the moat are still alive, and although the two forts have been torn apart in many places by enemy trebuchets in the days since the beginning of the war, the work that went into the construction of these two forts has played a noticeable role. While the rest of the forts had fallen apart, the two forts were still standing outside the North Gate. In today's engagement, the Dutch soldiers stationed at the two forts also dealt heavy blows to the attackers with artillery and muskets at close range, so much so that the Matar Blues did not even focus on the north gate, but chose other weakly defended areas to build ladder bridges and cross moats to attack the city.
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If it weren't for the adjutant's quick hand to pull him back, Bart would probably have to pay the price of a few more holes in his head for his scolding.
However, the psychological deterrent effect of this projection is far greater than the actual damage, and the drop of a dozen stone bullets will not prevent the Mata Blue Army from continuing to attack the city wall through the moat. Only one of the stone bullets hit a ladder bridge over the trench impartially, collapsing the bridge deck and plunging seven or eight soldiers into the water, which slightly slowed down the enemy's offensive.
Three minutes later, the trebuchets in the city fired another round, this time no longer with stone projectiles, but at burning canisters of oil. After the thing hit the ground, it shattered, and the fire ignited four or five meters around the landing point, which immediately caused chaos among the enemy troops outside the city.
"Well done, burn these damned heretics!" Bart shouted to cheer up the soldiers on the city walls as he directed the musketeers to continue firing at the enemy forces outside the city.
The offensive of the Matar Blue Army lasted from early morning to the afternoon, and after paying thousands of casualties, the Mata Blue Army saw that it was still unable to capture the city, so it chose to withdraw its troops.
When Bart saw the retreat of the Matari army under the city, he didn't even have the strength to remove the heavy armor on his body, so he sat down on the ground. He had shouted hoarsely during the morning command, and now his voice was hoarse, and he had to let the adjutant temporarily exercise command in his place.
Although they repelled the attack of the Matar Blues and inflicted some casualties on the enemy, the price paid by the defenders was not low at all. The musket corps under Barth's personal command alone had only ninety-seven men still in the battle at the end of the battle.
Of course, compared to the defenders, the losses of the Mada Blue Army were undoubtedly much stricter, and the corpses outside the city alone were enough to be shocking. Although a careful count has not yet been made, Bart estimates that the number of casualties in the battle between the northern wall alone would have been around 1,000 to 1,300, which is almost twice the number of the first day of the battle.
The entire northern city wall is in relatively good condition, probably only outside the north gate. The two forts guarding the north gate and the only passage through the moat are still alive, and although the two forts have been torn apart in many places by enemy trebuchets in the days since the beginning of the war, the work that went into the construction of these two forts has played a noticeable role. While the rest of the forts had fallen apart, the two forts were still standing outside the North Gate. In today's engagement, the Dutch soldiers stationed at the two forts also dealt heavy blows to the attackers with artillery and muskets at close range, so much so that the Matar Blues did not even focus on the north gate, but chose other weakly defended areas to build ladder bridges and cross moats to attack the city.