The Last Frontier of Fire and Sword

　　 Tetsuchen hid behind a sandbag that was as high as a person, and curled up as much as possible to avoid exposing himself to artillery fire and bullets.

　　 This is the third day of the siege of Tsarist Russia and the Zaporozhye Cossacks. In the first two days, the enemy did not attack the city on a large scale, but continuously bombarded the city wall with small-caliber artillery, destroying the battlements and wooden sheds one by one.

　　 The Russian artillery fire was so urgent that on the first day of the siege, the northern city wall was severely damaged. One-third of the crenellations and wooden sheds were destroyed, and a few shells even crossed the city wall and hit the houses close to the inner city wall, causing a fire.

　　 Fortunately, his uncle dispatched someone to extinguish the fire in time, and it didn't cause more chaos. After this, Pidro asked people to forcibly drive out the residents near the city wall and demolish the house as a material for repairing the city wall. Even some people who claim to be nobles threaten to go to the parliament to sue.

　　 After this, sandbags were piled up on all the breaches. Chechen discovered that the sandbags had a much better defense effect on shells than the masonry walls. Shells hit the bricks, broken bricks splash and easily hurt people, but the penetration of the shells hit the sandbags is absorbed by the sand inside.

　　 So Cheorchen told Pietro about the discovery. After that, sandbags were piled up behind all the crenels, even those that were intact.

　　 "I think this is the case today."

　　 said Ruth who was sitting next to Cheorchen.

　　 Ruth now serves as the team leader. Arranging Ruth and Cheerchen to be in the same team, this is a kind of protection for Cheerchen by Pidro. Ruth is a veteran, rich in combat experience, and more calm.

　　 "Hope. I hope the people from Tsarist Russia will call here soon." Cheerchen said as he picked up a pistol on the ground, carefully checked whether the flint on it was good.

　　 "Children just love to play." Ruth seems to think Cheorchen treats fighting as a game for children to play.

　　 "No," Cheerchen waved his hand to block the big hand that Uncle Ruth touched his hair, and then said, "It's annoying that I'm shooting all day long."

　　 "This is war!"

　　 Listening to Tetsuchen's words, Ruth leaned against the sandbag behind him with emotion. When he was young, he had the same thoughts as Cheer Chen. He was very tired of this kind of war style of flying cannonballs all day long, hoping to fight the enemy with real swords and guns. But when his companion was cut by his side and the blood splashed all over him, he discovered that the happiest thing in the war was the "quietness" of this moment-at least there was no flesh and blood flying, life and death.

　　 The old and the young leaned on the sandbags, all lost in thought. But the sound of cannons outside the city wall gradually became thinner.

　　 "Cheechen, Ruth, get up quickly. The enemy is about to attack."

　　 On the tower with the broken roof, Chelchen’s uncle Pidro called out through the wooden window.

　　 Tetsuchen raised his head slightly and observed through the cracked crevice.

　　 Then, it was such a shocking sight unfolding before him:

　　 The original position of the gun has been obscured by a cloud of gray. The gray cloud rushed toward the walls of Smolensk like a black cloud in the sky.

　　 This dark cloud is made up of the lowest militia in the Tsarist Russian army. Normally, they used axes, clubs, and simple shields as weapons and acted as cannon fodder to consume the enemy's ammunition and energy. Therefore, the enemies of Tsarist Russia jokingly called them "the gray cattle of the tsar." At this time, these "czar's gray animals" didn't even have the simplest weapons. Each of them carried a bundle of adult-thin straw, slowly approaching the city wall.

　　 "Hurry up and stop them, they want to fill the moat."

　　Pidro was the first to understand the purpose of these soldiers carrying straw, and he shouted and commanded the soldiers.

　　 Tetsuchen and Ruth's musketeers showed their heads behind the crenel and began to take aim. Actually, you don't need to aim, the clouds are so dense that you can hit the target even with your eyes closed.

　　 "Fire."

　　 "Fire."

　　 Lieutenant and Second Lieutenant ordered one after another.

　　 Tetsuchen had long aimed at a bald, bearded Tsarist Russian soldier, and when he heard the order, he pulled the trigger. With a gunshot, a cloud of blood bloomed on the target's chest-the bald head staggered a few steps and fell unwillingly to the ground.

　　 The other musketeers also opened fire one after another. As the fire from the city head flickered, the dark clouds seemed to be shaved off a thin layer and assimilated into the ice and snow.

　　 The loss in the front row did not deter those behind. After the first row fell, the soldiers behind continued to charge forward carrying the straw, but their pace was faster.

　　 With a distance of thirty meters left, Cheorchen had only time to fire another shot. Cheerchen didn't aim this shot. He also discovered that such a dense crowd, as long as the muzzle is facing the crowd, it will not be empty.

　　 This is indeed the case. With this shot, Cheerchen knocked down another enemy. But this time, he didn't even see the person's appearance.

　　 After two rounds of shooting, the soldiers of Tsarist Russia finally rushed to the front of the trench. They threw the straw into the trench, bundle after bundle, and then quickly turned back. As the straw continues to fill in, the trenches continue to disappear at a speed visible to the naked eye. But the soldiers on the wall had no choice but to fill the ammunition at the fastest speed and fire the accident.

　　 "If only we had cavalry."

　　 Ruth handed the musket that had fired the lead bullet to a soldier behind him, and then took a loaded musket from his hand. By his side, there are three soldiers serving him.

　　 For Ruth's words, Cheorchen also deeply agrees. While studying at the seminary, Cheerchen knew this truth: the city wall was not to be guarded. If you wait until the enemy advances to the edge of the city wall, then you will not be far from breaking the city. Therefore, smart commanders will arrange a troop within the firepower of the city wall to form a second line of defense; or arrange a cavalry to form a side attack on the local infantry when the enemy assaults the city wall, disrupting the enemy’s offensive. Rhythm.

　　 In Smolensk, neither of these two points can be achieved. Not to mention the lack of defenders in the city and the inability to form an effective second line of defense, that is, the cavalry that was originally scarce in the mercenary regiment was transferred to the winged cavalry regiment (formerly aristocratic guard).

　　 Finally, after paying dozens of lives, the trench in front of the North City Wall was finally filled. The soldiers of Tsarist Russia uttered "Ula" and "Ula" cheers, turned back and retreated.

　　 "They just left?"

　　 Tetsuchen is a little weird. In his opinion, although these soldiers of Tsarist Russia are simple and simple, they are not afraid of death. Now that the trench has been filled, why don't they take advantage of this **** courage to attack it in one go?

　　 "Maybe the task assigned to them by their chief is to fill in the trenches."

　　 Cheerchen asked Ruth next to him, but he couldn't tell, he just made a speculation.

　　 In front of Prince Alexei’s imperial tent, the prince of Tsarist Russia looked at the soldiers returning like a tide with no joy or anger on his face. The fact is exactly as Ruth guessed, the task assigned by the prince to these "cannon fodder" is to fill the trenches. The battle-tested Prince Alexei knew that although the number of soldiers composed of these serfs was large, the poor equipment and lack of training made them not only unable to play a role in the siege, but also easily hindered the regular forces due to the collapse of morale. attack.

　　 Prince Alexei glanced at the messenger beside him. The messenger understood, and began to vigorously wave the banner in his hand. As a result, the shooting troops lined up behind the position, under the leadership of the captains of each team, carried muskets and marched forward in neat steps. The soldiers of the shooting army agreed to wear red uniforms.

　　 So, after the dark clouds, a sea of ​​blood began to hit.

　　 The red-robed shooting army stopped thirty meters away from the city wall. Five of them lined up in a long line of one hundred and twenty rows. The soldiers in the first row inserted the long axe behind their backs into the ground, and then set the musket stand.

　　 "Don't show your head, don't show your head. The enemy is about to shoot."

　　Pidro issued the order again on the tower, and then the order was passed to the ears of every soldier. Fortunately, these mercenaries were all elites trained by Franco for a long time. None of them violated the order.

　　 They should also be grateful for their compliance. Shortly after Pidro's order, the first row of lead bullets from the shooting army hit the crenels and sandbags.

　　 Due to the remoteness of Tsarist Russia, the forging technology of iron and muskets lags far behind Western Europe and the Republic of Poland. As a result, the caliber and length of the barrel of the musket produced by Tsarist Russia far exceeded that of the muskets of neighboring countries, and became extremely heavy. The disadvantage of being bulky is that it is inconvenient to carry, but it also has the advantage that it can use more powerful lead bullets.

　　 Tetsuchen felt the power of these "silly, black and thick" muskets. Every lead shot hitting the buttress and the sandbag is like a shot from a small artillery. A hit on the sandbag is a hole, and hiding behind himself, leaning on the back of the sandbag, is like being hammered by a hammer. To the general.

　　 After the firing army in the first row finished firing, they retreated to the end with muskets and long axes. The guns in the second row took a step forward and repeated the actions of the first row. Next is the third row, fourth row, fifth row, and so on.

　　 After three rounds of shooting, the prince’s messenger waved the flag again. So a group of soldiers wearing cotton armor and paper hats crossed the gap in the shooting army formation, and hurriedly carried the ladder to the city wall.

　　 "Counter-attack, counter-attack."

　　 This meeting, without Pedro's command, all the officers gave orders to counterattack their subordinates. Every soldier stood up and shot the musket out of the crenel to shoot down.

　　 And the group of Tsarist Russian soldiers, who were more elite at the sight of their outfits under the city, also fought back with their bows and arrows in their hands. For a time, lead bullets and feather arrows flew in the same space. From time to time, people who were shot fell to the ground, and from time to time, mercenaries whose throats were pierced by arrows fell down the walls.

　　 The ladder was erected on the city wall. However, Cheerchen and Ruth's assistants could not keep up with the firing speed of the gun. After thoroughly firing the third musket, his assistant did not pass the narrow musket into his hand. Cheerchen looked back and saw that the assistant was still using the putter to push the bullet into the chamber. In a hurry, Cheer Chen prepared to pick up the pistol beside him in an emergency. These pistols were all loaded by Cheechen in accordance with Ruth's requirements, and they could be picked up and used.

　　 "Don't worry. Wait for the enemy to show his head before pistol, hide first."

　　 Ruth glanced at the enemy who had only climbed halfway up the ladder, and told Cheerchen not to be anxious. He also grabbed two pistols himself, and then shrank himself behind the crenel and hid it.

　　 Tetsuchen's palms were sweaty. Although in today's battle, he has achieved two victories. But that was obtained by hiding behind the battlements under the cover of the city wall. And now, it is about to enter the bloodiest and fierce hand-to-hand combat in the siege. Thinking of being easily defeated by his opponents in Eastern Europe several times without a musket since he left Spain, Cheerchen can't help but become nervous.

　　 These thoughts came up in a blink of an eye. A hand was exposed at the end of the ladder.

　　 This is a giant hand with muscles. Obviously, the owner of this hand is a powerful warrior. Cheer Chen stared at the hand hooked on the edge of the city wall, his body retracted into the shadow of the crenel as much as possible, and the pistol in his hand was flush with the giant hand.

　　 Slowly, a beard-faced head with a paper hat appeared on the edge of the wall. There was a broad-backed saber in the mouth of this head, and his complexion was grim.

"bring it on."

　　 Tetsuchen suddenly jumped out of the shadows, his hand holding the pistol was already level with the man's hand, and now the pistol was pointed straight at the opponent's face.

　　 "@#￥@#￥"

　　 The man let out an exclamation of unknown meaning.

　　 may be praying for Cheerchen's life, or calling God's name, but these are not important anymore. Because Cheorchen pulled the trigger.

　　 A cloud of black smoke from the muzzle enveloped the giant's face.

　　 Then the man fell off the ladder.

　　 Before Cheering could catch his breath, another figure jumped out of the ladder and jumped onto the city wall. The man swung the knife decisively and slashed the pistol in Cheerchen's other hand~www.NovelMTL.com~ the bullet hit the sandbag. Then came another turn, and cut down a loading assistant next to him. A set of actions were completed in one go, without a trace of muddle-headedness.

　　 On the other hand, Ruth's situation is not optimistic. Although Ruth fired his guns from left to right and killed two soldiers who had climbed up the city wall. But after the bullet was finished, an enemy was allowed to climb the ladder. The two immediately started a hand-to-hand fight. Relying on his tall stature, the man clenched Ruth's neck with iron arms and pressed him to the ground.

　　 Cheekchen's pistol's enemy slashed people, but it was enough for Cheorchen to escape the attack range of the saber. He retreated to the two companions behind him, and picked up a halberd beside him. The three of them held halberds in their hands and slashed at the enemy's sabers.

　　 Although the saber is more dominant in a narrow space, the Tetsuchen and the three did not cut blindly, but stabbed each other with the pointed ends of the halberds. As a result, the advantage of the saber's flexibility is impossible to use. Even if that person had great abilities, he could only stand up to the halberd that pierced him, without the power to counterattack.

　　 Finally, one carelessly, the man was stabbed in the leg by a halberd. Afterwards, Cheechen and another halberd stabbed him in the chest, and the three of them worked together to withdraw his body from the broken crevice.

　　 After removing his danger, Cheor Chen hurried to rescue Uncle Ruth with his companions. The Russian soldier who pinched Ruth's neck was unaware of the enemy behind him. Cheechen cut Ruth's face in the back, and then fell down to press on Ruth's face with a mouthful of blood.

　　 Cheerchen pushed away the corpse that was pressing on Uncle Ruth, and helped him up. The four of them looked around, and enemies flooded into many gaps, and there was the sound of sword fighting and shouting everywhere.

　　 "Pour oil, pour oil."

　　 Among the various voices, Uncle Pidro's voice was particularly clear in Cheor Chen's ears.