Chapter 564: War Begins

Across the Rhine, the German coalition headquarters.

"A mob" is how Archduke Albrecht evaluated the coalition, especially the volunteers composed of civilians from small states.

However, he did not look down on those people. On the contrary, Archduke Albrecht admired their courage, but he also felt that war should be the business of soldiers.

It was the government and the army's fault to let untrained civilians go to the battlefield, so there were no civilians in his army, and even the transport team was soldiers.

The weapons of the volunteers were varied, from cold weapons to the muskets and matchlocks of the 16th and 17th centuries, to flintlocks, needle guns, homemade cannons, and even beech cannons.

The beech cannon is similar to the elm cannon during the Anti-Japanese War. Although it is stronger, wood is wood after all.

First, find a thick beech wood, saw it open, hollow out the middle, put in the barrel (this kind of barrel does not meet the requirements of a real barrel, usually because the wall is too thin), then use a few iron bars to fix the beech wood again, and drill holes to place the fuse.

It is also very simple to use, just put gunpowder iron sheets, stones, glass and other things together. The advantages are easy to obtain materials, simple manufacturing, and strong lethality at close range. The disadvantages are also very obvious. The range is too short and the power is limited, and it is difficult to cause substantial damage to solid fortifications.

In fact, the cost of this thing is not much cheaper than a regular iron cannon, because the woods usually belonged to the nobility at that time.

And this era was also an era of rapid development of the shipbuilding industry, so the very cheap beech wood now was not cheap at that time, not to mention that the beech wood used to make beech wood cannons was all aged and of high quality beech wood that met certain specifications.

In addition to weapons and clothing, it is impossible to unify the colorful and fishy smell.

But what really annoyed Archduke Albrecht was the discipline of this group of people. They boasted, drank, played cards, and got drunk. Even the most notorious mercenaries would not be worse than them.

However, this situation was within Franz's expectations, so it was normal for one or two allied soldiers to disappear in the Alsace-Lorraine region.

Albrecht did not like this excuse for starting a war, but looking at the chaotic scene at this time, he felt it was very reasonable.

Suddenly, an officer shouted: "Archduke! The French army on the other side of the river is slaughtering again!"

Upon hearing this, all the generals in the command center hurriedly picked up their telescopes and went outside to see that the French on the other side of the river had indeed made a new moth.

The French soldiers tied some "poor" people in front of the muzzle, and it was useless for those people to howl and struggle.

"Cannon execution" was the common thought that flashed through everyone's mind.

As the name suggests, execution by cannon means using cannons to execute prisoners. This practice is very bloody and shocking. The high-speed cannonballs will smash the human body.

The reason why Grouchy chose to do this was not only to humiliate but also to show his strength. After all, only large-caliber and high-quality cannons can really "smash" people. At the same time, placing the cannons on the river bank is also a warning to the coalition forces. If you want to cross the river, these people will be your fate.

"Call everyone over!"

Albrecht roared angrily, and other officers immediately got busy when they saw this. In fact, there was no need for the officers to call, as many soldiers had already gathered near the river bank. After all, they came here because of this matter.

The French soldiers laughed and talked while holding a mop dipped in water to clean the barrel of the gun. After all, the scene of execution by cannon is rare, unless it is in Morocco or Guatemala, where rebellions are rampant.

Another French soldier pierced the gunpowder bag and sprinkled the excess gunpowder on the prisoner. The latter's body twitched obviously, obviously out of fear, which caused a burst of laughter.

"Look! Those cowards." Grouchy also laughed out loud.

The solid bullet was put into the muzzle, and the next outcome was already expected by everyone.

With the roar of the new 12-pound field gun, the strong flames engulfed the prisoner, leaving only the blue smoke from the muzzle.

And the prisoner was like a broken porcelain, scattered everywhere.

One, two, three, four, until the last prisoner passed away, the coalition forces on the other side of the river were silent.

At this time, a priest in the army sang a requiem, and the soldiers and officers also sang consciously.

A sad atmosphere spread throughout the army, and Albrecht had only murderous intent in his eyes. In fact, he had already made a battle plan with Franz.

Although this was not the best time, France had sent the best motive.

"Shut up! France is attacking us! There are shells falling on our camp! Prepare to attack!"

Albrecht rode his horse and galloped in the camp. As he roared, the drumbeats of the military musicians immediately changed, becoming rapid and murderous.

In fact, the boats used to cross the river had been prepared long ago, and the pontoon bridge was also prepared upstream. As long as the cable was cut, a new pontoon bridge could be built here while going downstream.

The soldiers immediately prepared for battle and performed their duties. After all, there was no better war mobilization than this.

The coalition forces began to forcefully cross the Rhine, which was somewhat unexpected by the French army on the other side. After all, the French, including Grouchy, did not think that the Austrian army dared to forcefully cross the Rhine.

But in fact, the distance between the two banks was only 120 meters, which was why Albrecht chose to camp here. Although this place was not suitable for defense, it was very suitable for attack.

And this was the dry season of the Rhine, with a depth of only about 1 meter, and the flow rate of this section of the river was relatively slow.

Gruchy was not a mediocre person because he could win so many victories. He would not be frightened by such an unexpected situation. On the contrary, he felt that it was time to surpass Napoleon.

Gruchy did not think that there was anything wrong with inventing history. After all, history was written by the victors. His only mistake was failure.

So Grouchy planned to be a winner. He immediately ordered the cannons to fire. The quality of the French soldiers was worthy of the title of the strongest army in Europe at that time. The cannons used for executions immediately turned into defensive weapons, and the French troops on standby in the town also came to support immediately.

However, the cannons that Grouchy had high hopes for did not cause much damage to the coalition forces crossing the river. Instead, the excessive forward pressure of his artillery positions (execution grounds) gave the Austrian artillery a chance to show its prowess.

Several consecutive shells landed accurately on the French artillery positions. Previously, they were intended to allow the German coalition forces to see clearly, but now they did not expect that it would ruin things.

In fact, in addition to Grouchy's excessive recklessness in exposing the artillery to the field of vision of the Austrian artillery, the new breech-loading rifled cannon also made great contributions.

In fact, the rifled cannon is not a new thing. It appeared in the 17th century, but it quickly disappeared in the long river of history due to its own shortcomings.

When Franz was studying the breech-loading rifled gun, he inspired the artillery designers to come up with the breech-loading rifled cannon, which finally solved the problem of the difficulty of loading the rifled cannon and made it truly have practical value.