I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 184 Saint Denis (3)

The high platform that Captain Vauban built for the king was not so high. He was not crazy enough to erect the king as a conspicuous target, but it was enough for Louis to overlook the three wide trenches and the level ground in front of them. , and further ahead is the shining moat, and the suspension bridge on the moat has been suspended high, showing Lear's hostility resolutely and clearly.

Although the city of Lille is not as old as Brussels or Paris, it is not as old as people think. At least its defense system should have undergone a major adjustment in the fifteenth or sixteenth. The reason for this is because Before the fourteenth century, artillery was not popular enough, and its power was not strong enough, so the city walls at that time were mainly to defend against the enemy from entering the city, and they were always built as high as possible. Of course, we all know that the higher the city wall, the more The harder it is to make it thicker, because its own weight will cause the foundation to collapse or the city wall to collapse. Therefore, the city walls at that time were generally 30 to 50 feet thick, and the thickness was about 10 to 15 feet. Artillery has been used more and its power has become more and more powerful. The towering city walls will always succumb to the rumble and smoke of the artillery, so people quickly made a relative feedback, that is, the height of the city wall Lower, and then thicken the city wall. At this time, the city wall is generally made of gravel and soil on the inside, and bricks or stones on the outside. The thickness can reach 25 feet or more, and it has an inclined angle. Let the kinetic energy of the shells not all act on the city wall.

But such a thickness also caused a problem, that is, when the soldiers were standing on the city wall, it was difficult to see what the enemies under the city wall were doing, and they could not defend against the enemies who shook the base of the city wall - so it was either square or circular. The city wall has undergone some changes, that is, the addition of the Half Moon Fort, the Bastion and the convex angle fort. As the name suggests, the Half Moon Fort is a semi-circular fortress protruding outward from the city wall, and the Bastion is a sharp triangular fortress, the convex angle fort It is like a short finger sticking out from the city wall. There is more than one such fortress, and it is the same height as the city wall. Sometimes a small high platform is added in the middle of the fortress to enhance firepower or serve as a watchtower. Therefore, if you can look down from the sky, you can often see that these cities are like blooming flowers, or a five-pointed or six-pointed star.

Lille is such a star. These edges and corners that stretch out in all directions are like the fangs of the city. If an enemy comes to attack, then every line of the edges and corners can have soldiers to give a comprehensive blow - Wo. Captain Bang raised his binoculars and looked at it for a while, and then he put it down with confidence. Although the battle has not yet started, but based on the information obtained before and what he saw, Lille's bastion defense line is not complete, and the attack range is blind. Yes, although there are some apparently new lobe forts that are too low to pose a big threat. .

But neither he nor the Viscount Turena would be foolish enough to waste the lives of soldiers in vain. The war of the seventeenth century, whether on an open battlefield or a difficult siege, was fought with artillery. But it started with a loud noise - those metal beasts that had been rubbed by the king were pushed up, the bases of the artillery had already been prepared, and the brackets were quickly installed - this refers to medium and large artillery, small artillery as long as Remove the axles from the trolley, and it's ready - the king sits on his throne, watching the soldiers in the three trenches move like water in the trenches.

Vauban had not dug the three trenches for no reason. The third, the one closest to the king and the furthest from the enemy, was filled with bullets, muskets and cannons of stone and iron, and boxes of them. The gunpowder exists as an open-air armament warehouse. This distance can ensure that even if the enemy's artillery has the blessing of God or the curse of the devil, it will not hit it, and between it and the second trench, the first The trenches are connected by a Z-shaped channel, and the second trench is used to house the fort. It is mentioned here that Louis has been persistently recruiting bachelors, spreading his word, and generously rewarding those who are commensurate with the king's artillery. It was its extraordinary range and safety - Vauban didn't have to worry about those round shells not falling on the walls of Lille; the first trench was used to house the soldiers who were about to be put into battle, mostly musketeers , when the king looked over, they were checking their guns, these rifled guns certainly improved the speed and accuracy of the bullet, but when loading gunpowder and bullets, it was not as convenient as unrifled guns , so Louis also had to make concessions. There were only 4 rifles in each barrel, which could not be compared with the muskets of later generations with a maximum of more than 100 rifles.

But for the soldiers, this change was just right. In addition, Condé, Viscount Turenne and other generals also changed the original tactics under the feedback of themselves and the soldiers. But it is the musketeers' musketeers, because the barrels of musketeers are short enough that neither the powder nor the bullet will get stuck in the halfway, so they can have eight or ten rifling, which is almost the limit, because At this time, the barrel rifling can only be made from iron bars with hooks, which is very slow and inefficient, and the scrap rate is also high.

  The king was able to stock up with enough muskets for this battle, and it was thanks to the wizards of Gayola that they were able to work around the clock like a revived corpse entirely because of the king's gold.

Vauban had placed only ten guns in the second trench, and when they roared like dragons, even the ground shook under the king's feet, and the guns on the walls of Lille roared, but they listened. It was so weak and weak that the shells fell to the ground before the first ditch, without causing any damage to the French army, the soldiers laughed, and some brave men jumped out of the trenches and ran out to pick up one. The iron shells, and then returned to their positions, received a burst of enthusiastic applause and cheers.

This kind of behavior is unimaginable in the army of later generations, but in this era, it is undoubtedly a proof of courage. At least the soldiers who saw this scene were greatly encouraged, and the round cannonball was quickly sent. In the king's hands, it was still hot when Louis took it. "This may be the best gift." He thought about it, took off his hat and handed it to Vauban, "Give this to the soldier. ," he said, "as my reward." Vauban bowed to him, and ran off quickly.

Louis' hats today are bright red, even with the pigments made by the wizards, without the need for expensive cochineal insects, but because the king has repeatedly reiterated that these dyes have not yet appeared on the market in large quantities, they still maintain high prices. , In addition, in the king's clothing, jewelry is always indispensable, such as this hat, the button used to fix the snow-white ostrich feather, is a silver sapphire brooch, but the ostrich feather may be more than a brooch more expensive.

This is indeed a generous reward. During the period of Louis XIII, the French king issued a series of prohibitions on luxury. In short, it was not only to stop the chattering mouth of the Roman church, but also to ensure the gold and silver of France. It will not be a large outflow - after all, at this time, France has not yet been able to become the capital of fashion, Italian gold and silver jewelry, British lace, Dutch woolen, etc., are the objects that the French flock to - of course, nobles and kings are always exceptions of.

  The brave soldier immediately took off his hat and put on the king's hat. Although he couldn't see it, the king could imagine how proud he was from the swaying ostrich feather.

For the French, this was almost an innocuous and interesting episode, but for the Lille, it was a humiliation, or - although their artillery couldn't reach the French, The French artillery can continue to shake their walls and confidence, and if the ten cannons placed in the trenches can give them a chance, then the fifteen small cannons that were pushed deeper by Vauban It's another matter - it's just that this small cannon has not been able to make any special improvements for the time being. In addition to increasing the rifling, he has prepared a more accurate iron ruler for the gunners, which is the current rangefinder. , although today's gunners are bound to scold when they see such a rangefinder - especially the previous ones...

That is a wooden stick with a horizontal strip, the gunner will put the stick up on the gun, perpendicular to the gun ring (the circular iron bar on the gun body), and then set the target into the intersection of the two virtual lines - um , you can imagine how poor this aiming method is. Anyway, within 300 feet, this kind of small gun cannot easily hit the target, even if there is a rifle, but Vauban does not need accuracy, but In order to clean up those outer lobe forts, perhaps due to time constraints, these lobe forts only have a parapet with a height of about six feet, and the shells of the small artillery can directly hit the soldiers and artillery inside.

But in the same way, these gunners will inevitably be shrouded in the enemy's artillery fire. At this time, the newly built ladders are pushed up, and the grenadiers and their earthen pots, gunpowder are all on it. The ladders that were originally used as siege equipment Played a new role here, the grenadier not only commanded, but also threw the ammunition farther, and even threatened the soldiers on the city wall - but the French were not without losses, some small guns were overturned, the gunner fell, and the wooden guns fell. The frame burned, some of the ladders were also hit, and the grenadier fell from above, and the smoke and dust from the explosion immediately drowned him completely.

  Louis couldn't help holding the armrest of the chair. Although he couldn't see the blood dripping, he couldn't hear the screaming shenyin, but he knew very well that the battlefield must be full of messes.

Those who have not witnessed death with their own eyes and have not personally experienced the fighting, even if they can compose the most passionate music and write the most tragic poems, they will never be able to comprehend and comprehend Louis's current emotions, even if he was chased by werewolves and murdered by wizards. Forget it, I was cursed by my own uncle, and I also experienced the pain of losing relatives and freedom... But war is different and can never be the same. This is the greatest malice bestowed by God on mankind, and it is also a feast held by the devil in the world. On the battlefield, anyone can fall, be injured and die, no matter whether he was a kind person or a vicious person before, cowardly or brave, whether he has sins on his back... the same, no difference, in the artillery fire Down, the fallen soldiers were like the grass and trees devastated by the hurricane, silent and without any warning.

But this is only the prelude, only the opening, Captain Vauban is already in the trench, and the Viscount Turenne has entered the field - the soldiers are coming out of the first trench, the artillery in the second trench is heading towards the first trench Move, these most powerful artillery will fire three more salvos - after three times, Lille's city walls are already crumbling, and Lear's defenders seem to have realized that they can no longer rely on the protection of the city walls, the earth bags behind the city gates And the stones were removed, and the Spaniards filed out with the Lille militia, lining up in front of the city.

The army also had musketeers, but there were also traditional spearmen and halberdists, who were arranged in familiar divisions, the 30-man formation commonly used by the Dutch, a formation of 30, and three verticals. There were ten people in each column. There was a distance of about six feet between the teams and about eight feet between the people. In front of the French were five teams. There were also some loose musketeers around. a long line.

Viscount Turenne used a new kind of formation, two companies of eighty musketeers, eight musketeers in each column, about nine feet apart, because they were fighting head-on with row fire That is to say, after the first person has finished shooting, they must immediately run to the last column to clear the chamber, reload gunpowder and bullets, so be sure to leave enough space. Because it was the first time to fight the enemy head-on, the veterans standing at the front were all calm. They only needed 15 to 20 seconds to shoot once, while the newcomers at the back needed 25 to 30 seconds. Even so, The French army can still guarantee that forty bullets are fired every minute.

Louis also once slandered that the musket tactics of this era were like lining up to be shot, but when he really saw all this, he couldn't help but feel a stinging pain, those who fell one by one in the smoke, maybe a docile one. his son, perhaps a devoted husband, and more likely a loving father, but their lifeline was cut by fate, and everything in the world had nothing to do with them. Bishop El was muttering prayers—Louis also read the scriptures, although he didn’t really believe that this would bring the dead to heaven—but at this time he did understand that those who placed their hopes in monks and holy relics people on top.

The two neatly lined teams marched straight toward each other, and when they were only two hundred feet away from each other, more people fell. And the lancers were also ready--and suddenly, with the loud and rapid drumbeat, and the shouts of the officers, the French musketeers in the first column were suddenly half short, and they were half-kneeling. Come down, put his knees on the ground, one end of the long spear is placed on his shoulder, and the musketeers in the second row immediately take a big step to the right, and the musketeers in the third row immediately face the soldiers of Lille—these three Individuals lit the arquebus at the same time, the gunshots blared loudly, and triple the bullets washed over the soldiers of Lille like a torrential rain, the gunmen who had not had time to raise their muskets, the halberdiers and spearmen who were preparing to charge the enemy, Their eyes widened, and they fell down in disbelief. At such a close distance and such a dense launch, almost no one in the first few lines was spared!

   (end of this chapter)