xymnovel 95. The Battle of Cux 2
95. The Battle of Cux 2
The portly Ken struggled to jump from the swaying boat onto the mudflats; his weight of over 220 pounds caused the wet sand beneath his feet to sink half an inch.
He completely ignored the fact that his trouser legs were soaked with seawater and held the large Knok seven-barreled salvo gun tightly with both hands.
This fat man was incredibly excited, whether he had just drunk opium liquor or smoked opium.
Even with the distant, sporadic gunfire still echoing in his ears, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Everyone, follow! Charge!"
The soldiers behind him were all locals from Hanover. Seeing the familiar coastline of their hometown, they roared and followed closely behind, charging along the mudflats toward the port streets.
Ken, in a state of high excitement, ran very fast, leading dozens of soldiers up a tunnel.
A dozen or so French infantrymen, who had just retreated from the artillery position, happened to reach this passageway and encountered the British landing force charging towards them. They panicked and immediately raised their rifles to fire wildly.
A few lead bullets flew past, grazing the air.
"Damn Frenchman, come kiss your dad's ass!" Ken was excited, but he also remembered the incredible recoil of the seven-barreled gun and dared not stand to fire. He immediately crouched down, rested the thick barrel of the gun on his shoulder, and pulled the flintlock trigger.
Swoosh—Boom!
The central barrel fired first, and the propellant gases instantly ignited the other six barrels through the pores in the barrel wall, and seven .46-inch lead bullets were ejected in the same instant.
The immense recoil slammed into Ken's shoulder. Even though he was prepared, he was still shaken and his shoulder felt sore, numb, and throbbing.
Seven bullets swept in a scattering pattern towards the French skirmishers more than 20 meters ahead, a distance that was exactly the effective range of the Knox seven-barreled gun.
The three French soldiers at the forefront were instantly shot and fell to the ground screaming.
The remaining French soldiers were terrified at the sight and dared not resist any longer, turning around and running wildly into the city.
"Haha! Pretty impressive, huh!" Ken rubbed his numb shoulders, watching the fleeing enemies, and laughed triumphantly.
"Give me another one."
With all seven barrels empty, to fire again, one has to reload each barrel with black powder and lead bullets one by one from the muzzle, which takes at least two or three minutes to reload.
So Ken specifically found a squad of soldiers, each carrying one of his seven-barreled guns, and fired one before replacing it.
Ken took the second seven-barreled gun and continued charging forward, howling.
Seeing their commander's bravery, the soldiers were filled with patriotic fervor and shouted as they followed Ken.
When Ken rushed to the other end of the tunnel, he was astonished to find forty or fifty French soldiers already lined up there waiting for them.
"Fire!" the French officer ordered.
呯呯
A volley of shots.
Ken instinctively raised his arm to protect his face.
Perhaps it was truly God's blessing that, at such close range, not a single bullet hit Ken.
However, seven or eight of Ken's soldiers fell.
"Shit, fuck!" Ken roared and fired another shot at the French soldier with his seven-barreled gun.
boom
This time, the distance was slightly greater, and the bullets were more scattered. One shot felled four French soldiers.
"Give me..." Just as Ken was about to switch to another seven-barreled rifle, the French soldiers charged forward with bayonets.
puff
Caught off guard, Ken was stabbed more than two inches into the stomach by a French bayonet. Fortunately, the fat man had a lot of fat on his stomach, and he also managed to grab the French gun barrel tightly with his hands in time, preventing the bayonet from penetrating further into his body, so he was only injured in the flesh.
"Whoa!" In the face of life and death, Ken's adrenaline surged, and he actually swung the nearly 30-pound seven-barreled gun with one hand and smashed it down on the French soldier's head.
click
The sound of bones being smashed was very crisp.
The French soldier's head was smashed in half, and he fell headfirst to the ground, where he lay motionless.
"shooting!"
Bang bang bang
At this point, the British infantry began to retaliate.
A single volley of fire wiped out half of the forty-odd French soldiers on the opposite side.
"Frenchmen, Sack Makdick!" Ignoring his stomach wound, Ken continued to charge at the French soldiers, brandishing his seven-barreled rifle.
The French troops, having suffered more than half their casualties and intimidated by the imposing presence of this two-meter-tall giant, turned and fled.
"Major, here's your gun." A soldier handed Ken a seven-barreled gun that was already loaded with bullets.
"Don't run, Frenchmen!" Ken once raised his seven-barreled gun and fired a shot at the back of a fleeing Frenchman.
boom
This time the distance was relatively far, and only one unlucky Frenchman was hit.
"Charge!" Ken threw down his gun, drew his sword, and led his soldiers in pursuit along the tunnel.
They chased it all the way to the end of the tunnel, only to find that it was just an ammunition depot for coastal defense artillery shells.
"Tear it down," Ken said, pointing to the French tricolor flag hanging in the open space.
The soldiers swiftly lowered the French tricolor flag and replaced it with the British Union Jack.
"That fat pig, he was the first to capture the enemy's position?" Dugan saw through his binoculars on the ship that Ken's company was the first to raise the British flag.
"The fortifications have been completely destroyed, the beach landing went smoothly, and the first advance force of over 2000 men has landed." Colonel Decken was elated, filled with the excitement of returning home. "I didn't expect the French troops in Cux to be so lax in their defenses."
Colonel Charles nodded and said, "The fog will last for at least another two hours, allowing the transport ships to continue deploying troops in batches. According to the plan, the second wave of two thousand men will complete their landing this afternoon."
Dugan lowered his binoculars and said to Colonel Decken, "According to intelligence, the main French force is far away in various fortresses, and there are only a small number of French troops and newly recruited Hanoverian conscripts in the port. Those conscripts were forcibly conscripted by the French, and their morale is low; they may not fight to the death."
Dugan then ordered, "Decker, command the troops to advance in two columns. One column will clear out the remaining French forces in the port and take control of the docks and streets; the other column will seize the city of Cuxes as quickly as possible."
"Yes, General!" Deken immediately turned around and sent a communications soldier in a small boat to the beach to deliver the order.
One landing craft after another shuttled between the transport ships and the mudflats, and four thousand German soldiers gradually disembarked.
Hanover's flag and the British flag were successively raised high throughout Cooks, fluttering in the sea breeze.
"Long live Hanova!"
"Drive the French out!"
Long live Britain!
Inside the port streets, the remaining French soldiers tried to hold out against the enemy by relying on the houses and alleys, but as soon as they started fighting, they found that the enemy on the other side was fearless and valiant.
Those Hanoverians who were forcibly conscripted by the French army were unwilling to serve the French in the first place.
After the German soldiers shouted in German to persuade them to surrender, many of the Hanoverian soldiers simply dropped their weapons, either surrendering on the spot or turning their guns on the French officers and pulling the triggers without hesitation.
Around 10 a.m., the communications soldier returned and reported: "General! The entire city of Cux has been taken into our hands, and the remnants of the French army have fled south."