When the smoke cleared from the explosion, there were only eight men left in Captain Pierre's platoon, two of whom were still lying on the ground, but at least they were not blown to pieces like the others, or missing arms and legs.

"Get them back!"

Captain Pierre ordered that the soldiers, though reluctant, had the right to execute them at any time on the battlefield.

After a brief exchange, two unlucky eggs are chosen to go to the rescue.

The two unlucky men cautiously approached the two relatively intact bodies, one of which had lost his breath, and although there were no wounds on the surface, most of the internal organs had been damaged.

The other was Benoit Valentine, whose comrades in the front blocked most of the impact of the explosion and the debris they carried up, while his comrades in the back provided him with a cushion.

Even so, Benoit Valentine was delirious, and the two unlucky ones were ready to drag him back with his straps.

However, how could the Celesta militia, who had already killed the red-eyed, let them go so easily?

With a whistle, the Celesta militia, hiding in the rubble, poked their heads out again and raised their guns to shoot.

Captain Pierre also ordered to return fire, and the scene was again thrown into chaos, with bullets and stone chips flying wildly, but due to the limitations of marksmanship and weapons, there were few casualties.

In the end, Captain Pierre withdrew from the engagement area with six of his men, and was replaced by other platoons.

The encounter with Captain Pierre and his platoon was only a microcosm of the whole war, and most of the previous tactics of the French army did not make any sense in the street fighting at this time.

Victims like Benoit Valentine are on the rise, and they have had to carry out meaningless orders.

This caused complaints among the soldiers and officers at the grassroots level, and some suggested that the old tactics should be changed in favor of new tactics that were more suitable for street fighting.

However, these voices from the bottom are not heard from the top, they will only shoot the deserters, and then send more people to fill the hole.

Saarburg.

The battlefield here is not like the quagmire of the Celesta, but the walls of the small Saarburg are as immovable as a mountain.

Ramosillier also wanted to be like the traditional generals, drinking red wine, eating steak, taking his lover for a walk, or reading the newspaper to fight the battle.

However, he didn't have that kind of mood at this time, more than 60,000 French elites attacked repeatedly, and more than a dozen of the twelve-pounder siege guns were scrapped and there was still no result.

He didn't get anything but the almost ruined fortress and the corpses that were stacked all over the ground.

The reason why the defenders of Saarburg are still holding out is that they came from the Strasbourg area, and many of them witnessed the massacre on the Rhine.

They were well aware that the vast majority of those who were shelled were innocent, and that Grouchy only wanted to execute some of them.

Watching the crowds of fleeing people pass through Saarburg every day, and even the new vizier of the Orleans dynasty, Thiers, running away, it is not difficult to imagine how ferocious the enemy in the rear was.

Note: Louis Philippe abandoned the constitutional monarchy after being expelled from Paris, so Thiers, who fled with him, was chancellor at this time.

The defenders of Saarburg could flee or even hide, as they had done before in Strasbourg. But then the tragedy would repeat itself, so they chose to stand up.

But even without them, the chambers and guilds of Saarburg have banded together, and everyone has paid to gather all the mercenaries in the surrounding towns to defend their homes.

In an era of rampant nationalism, the Alsace region is no exception.

Thiers was a man who was very good at adapting to the situation, he didn't care about nationalism, he only knew that it was in his best interest for the Orleans dynasty to do so at this time.

As a result, the Orleans dynasty began to promote nationalism and allowed local guilds to fight against the invasion of the Second French Republic.

So it's not that Ramosilier's tactics didn't work, it's that Saarburg's reinforcements were replenished much faster than they were consumed.

Ramosirier was not a mere genius either, and his instincts told him that if he couldn't take Saarburg quickly at this time, not only would the previous plan not be completed, but even the current results would not be saved.

Ramosilier ordered.

"Let the artillery advance to a distance of three hundred meters from the enemy before firing!"

The herald and the adjutant were a little puzzled, they had heard of bayonets on cannons, but it was a field battle, and the siege was so close? I'm afraid it will become a target for the enemy, right?

"Your Excellency, Marshal."

"Execute the order!"

Ramosirier made a decisive decision on the spot, and his attitude was so resolute that his subordinates did not dare to refute.

Putting bayonets on the cannons, Ramosilier was also helpless. Although the French were in the ascendancy, the Saarburg defenders would be crushed sooner or later.

But this war of attrition does not know how long it will last. One day? Two days? One week? One month?

It would take no more than twenty days for the Austrian army to reach Alsace from Vienna, and Ramosirier could not bet that the Austrians would sleep like proud rabbits.

So no matter how much sacrifice he made, he had to take Saarburg as soon as possible.

Even at the expense of precious artillery

At this time, professional artillery is very precious, they need at least a secondary school education, and at the same time they also need a strong body, after all, it is a hard work to adjust the angle of the gun of three or five hundred kilograms.

Not strong enough to even move a powder keg

In addition, the distance of 300 meters is indeed very dangerous for artillery, first of all, the threat from enemy artillery, 300 meters has reached the accurate range of artillery at this time.

The artillery of this era could not be fired directly, and special tools were needed to compact the shells and gunpowder to ensure that they fit snugly.

If the gun is moved after reloading, there is a high risk that the gap will be too large, which will result in a bore or insufficient gunpowder thrust.

At this time, even skilled artillerymen could not fully prepare for the fire in one minute, not to mention that the maximum range of most artillery guns at this time was close to one kilometer.

The artillery had to endure multiple rounds of artillery fire in order to advance to the enemy's position of 300 meters, in addition to the threat of infantry.

At this time, the firing range of the rifle was mostly more than six hundred meters, and it was quite capable of threatening the advancing artillery. And the closer the distance, the greater the threat to the gunner.

"I'm not going to do it! You're sending us to death! ”

The artillery commander was obviously very dissatisfied with the decision from above, he was not going to die like those infantrymen, and if Ramosirier insisted on going his own way, then he would not do it, anyway, he was only here to the front to mix up the merits.

However, what the artillery commander did not expect was that Ramosillier's adjutant directly called the overseers to correct him on the spot.

"You dare! My uncle is Mr. Dan Gilla's secretary!."

"Bang!"

The efficiency of the French Warlords is still quite high.

"Phew! Are you justified in battlefield disobedience? ”

(End of chapter)