Confidence and risk-taking

The Prussia cavalry, serving as reserves, and the Hilde Cavalry Battalion, responsible for covering the right flank Artillery, quickly received orders to form ranks and prepare to annihilate the France Horse Artillery who dared to push forward to the front lines.

Meanwhile, the France Horse Artillery battalion had completed its firing preparations, the horses had been driven more than a hundred meters away, and the cannons had been adjusted to their firing angles.

The Artillery battalion's Orderly Officer ran quickly past the makeshift Artillery position, shouting, "Solid Shot! Prepare for calibration!"

The gunners skillfully filled the muzzle with Gunpowder, tamped it down, and then inserted a 6-pound iron ball.

The company commanders received reports that preparations were complete, and the command flags not far away were immediately lowered.

The igniter immediately pulled the firing cord, and the hammer at the rear of the cannon slammed heavily onto the Percussion Cap, Ignition the Gunpowder in the breech.

Yes, all the cannons equipped by the Royal Guard Legion Horse Artillery have been replaced with Percussion Cap. In fact, once the Percussion Cap Gun was perfected, the Percussion Cap firing technology could easily be transferred to cannons. All that was needed was to repeatedly adjust the structural strength of the breechblock and to test-produce slightly larger, dedicated Percussion Cap. The Royal Armory had basically completed these tasks at the beginning of the year.

With a deafening roar, thick black smoke billowed from the cannon muzzle, and twelve iron balls whistled as they flew toward the Southern Netherlands Army nearly two hundred paces away.

Under close-range artillery fire, nearly a third of the shells accurately passed through the Infantry Line. The enormous impact swept across the bodies like hitting a water-filled balloon, causing flesh and blood to burst open, and red and black sticky substances were thrown backward in a fan shape for as long as seven or eight meters.

Even the fragments of bone thrown out have terrifying lethality; being stabbed by one is not much different from being hit by a bullet. Basically, the area within 1 meter on either side of a shell's trajectory is an absolute dead zone, and soldiers within 2 meters are likely to be killed.

The shell left four gaps in the Infantry Line, and after landing, it bounced and rolled a little further. Even then, if anyone was grazed by that black iron ball, they would immediately pay the price of broken limbs.

One shell even rolled so high that it rolled into the second Infantry Line behind the Netherlands Army, crushing a drummer's calf.

The commanders of the cavalry Artillery Company Royal Guard Legion observed the effects of the previous firing through their Telescope and quickly ordered their gunners to adjust the firing angle.

Nearly half a minute later, the order came from the Horse Artillery Battalion commander, "Grapeshot!"

Solid Shot is merely a tickle when it comes to killing Infantry; Grapeshot is the real nightmare.

However, Grapeshot has a relatively short range, so it's difficult to use in Artillery —they would be suppressed by the enemy's longer -Solid Shot. At this point, the Royal Guard Legion Horse Artillery were practically right in the face of the Netherlands Infantry, making it feasible to use Grapeshot.

After the loader tamped the Gunpowder down, the ammunition handler unloaded a cylindrical "Sheet Metal can" from the Ammunition cart, carefully filled it into the muzzle, and then tamped it down again.

As the order to fire was given, the twelve Six-Pound Cannon once again spewed out thick smoke, but this time what flew toward the Netherlands Infantry Line was not a solid iron ball, but a spinning cylindrical barrel.

Many movies and TV shows, when they say Grapeshot is being fired, actually use Canister Shot, but there is a big difference between the two.

Although Grapeshot also relies on Canister Shot to kill, it is not simply a matter of stuffing a bunch of small Bullet into a cannon. Instead, a large number of small iron balls are fixed together with ropes, Sheet Metal, etc., and are usually wrapped in multiple layers.

The shells treated in this way can fly a long distance due to their overall inertia—compared to simple Canister Shot —and when they get close to the enemy, the fragile outer shell encasing the Bullet will tear under the impact, and the Bullet inside will then scatter and fly out.

A horrifying, hellish scream erupted from the Southern Netherlands Infantry Line.

Thanks to the previous practice shots, nearly a hundred Walnut -sized Bullet swept around the crowd like a giant fly swatter, instantly turning forty or fifty soldiers into pieces.

The Netherlands officer shouted in a panic, "Grapeshot! Get down! Don't run around, keep formation!"

The France Infantry Line opposite were not far apart. If they were to scatter to avoid the artillery fire, the Netherlands Army might not be able to regroup by the time the France charged. So they had no choice but to grit their teeth and hold on.

"Don't worry, at this close range, our cavalry will take care of those cannons very quickly!"

"Once we take care of the France cannons, victory will be ours!"

The Netherlands soldiers turned to look and saw that their cavalry had almost completed their formation. Their confidence soared, and they began to fill the gaps left by their fallen comrades.

Less than twenty seconds later, the France Horse Artillery fired again.

It was still Grapeshot, flying in with a strange whistling sound unlike ordinary shells, but it stopped abruptly halfway through its flight—the shell casing shattered, ejecting the Bullet inside.

Another cloud of blood rose, but because the Netherlands soldiers deliberately crouched and dodged under the command of their officers, only a dozen or so were hit. However, such heavy casualties were enough to cause panic among the Infantry Line.

It's important to understand that in this era of Smoothbore Musket and Muzzle-loading Cannon, even if Infantry Line on both sides fired volleys at close range, the casualties would be at most a few dozen.

Few people have ever seen such a bloody and horrific scene.

Major Hilde could see the horrific scene on the Netherlands Infantry Line at a glance. Turning his head and seeing that his cavalry had mostly assembled, he impatiently pointed forward with his whip and roared, "Follow me to teach those suicidal France Artillery a lesson!"

Immediately, more than 800 warhorses trotted out—a violation of cavalry regulations. Normally, a trot is only allowed when the enemy is about 300 paces away, and a charge is permitted only when they are within 100 paces.

At this time, Hilde's Cavalry Battalion was at least 700 paces away from the France Horse Artillery, which would severely deplete the horses' stamina.

But Hilde couldn't worry about that now. If she didn't deal with those cannons soon, the Netherlands would be bombarded to the point of collapse by Grapeshot!

Moreover, at such close range, the cannons wouldn't have time to escape. He only needs to rush over to easily reap the rewards of more than a dozen cannons. Compared to that, the Infantry losses earlier were nothing.

However, almost as soon as his cavalry charged out, the France Artillery at the forefront of the battlefield began to gather their firing gear and frantically harnessed their cannons to their horses.

Hilde sneered at the sight. These foolish France dared to position their cannons so far forward! Even the most skilled gunner would need at least five minutes to harness the cannons and begin retreating. And it would take several more minutes to get them within range of their own Infantry.

That's plenty of time; I can kill all those gunners, nail all the gun ports shut, and then leisurely smoke a cigarette!