Chapter 6

Overall, the穿越者 (time traveler) still has an advantage. Even if the Prince has a broad and keen vision, it has its limits. He could think of machine guns and trench defense systems because these things have appeared before. But rapid-fire artillery has never appeared on land! If the Prince could think of this, Ruprecht would be very willing to ask for his phone number.

The Prince's first wave of suppressive fire encountered an unexpected situation. When the German artillery fired the first blank shell, before the artillery could reset, a series of cannon shots from the opposite side startled everyone! "That's at least a battery's worth of firepower!" A series of loud booms came from afar, leaving the Prince somewhat at a loss. A minute later, Count Schelling reminded him, "Your artillery position has been destroyed. In actual combat, at this distance, your artillery would not survive such intense shelling!"

"Seems they've come up with something!" The Prince, having lost two artillery pieces, immediately adjusted his deployment. He ordered all the artillery to be positioned behind cover and to increase the elevation angle. The old artillery pieces using brown powder had a low initial velocity and a curved trajectory, which, combined with hastily constructed cover, successfully placed them in a blind spot of the enemy's fire! "When the cavalry charges, at least two artillery pieces should fire smoke shells to reduce the effectiveness of the machine guns," the Prince specifically instructed.

There's a saying, isn't there? It's not the divine opponent you fear, but the pig-like teammate! And this time, Ruprecht would add, don't fear the divine weapons of the enemy, but the reliability of your own equipment! The new rapid-fire artillery, which was supposed to be a show, finally had problems in the near-combat environment! One artillery piece malfunctioned after firing 8 shells in a minute! It leaked fluid again!

At this moment, Ruprecht couldn't help but marvel at the strong inertia of history. All the problems encountered before the birth of rapid-fire artillery, we, the time travelers, haven't missed a single one! People in the future all know about the famous French M1897 rapid-fire artillery. Its almost farthest range and greatest rate of fire among similar artillery made the 75mm lady stand out. But this artillery was not the first rapid-fire artillery. In 1889, the French developed a short-recoil 57mm rapid-fire artillery, which was not very successful due to its immaturity.

At the same time, a German engineer was also researching rapid-fire artillery. This was Armand von Krupp, who had just become a baron. Historically, he designed the first long-recoil rapid-fire artillery and applied for a patent in 1891. It used a hydraulic recoil system. However, he couldn't solve the leakage problem in a short time and missed out on the opportunity with Krupp. The time travelers successfully found this designer and also successfully restored this rapid-fire artillery, which appeared later. But they also inherited the technical issues of this immature artillery—leakage!

If it weren't for this technical issue, the time travelers would have liked to have a friendly discussion with their uncle. Was it necessary to make things so complicated? But from the current situation, the result seems even worse!

The first artillery piece had a problem, and the second one might also have a problem. The fierce and aggressive artillery left a deep impression on the Prince. But then, the artillery in both nests went silent one after another, which surprised him. However, adhering to the principle of taking any opportunity, under the cover of artillery, a company of Bavarian cavalry launched a charge! At this point, the time traveler only had one artillery piece left to intercept the enemy's attack! Originally, there were four artillery pieces, and any direction could concentrate three pieces for firing. But after two pieces malfunctioned, the time traveler sadly discovered that he could only rely on one artillery piece to resist a company of cavalry! And even more tragically, this cavalry company had a company of artillery support!

However, the time traveler's imitation of the M1897 rapid-fire artillery had excellent overall performance. Besides firepower and range, another advantage was its light weight. A 1-ton artillery piece was barely within the range of human pushing, giving it a certain degree of battlefield mobility! By discarding the single-foot carriage and using a double-foot carriage, the artillery's field of fire reached 25 degrees, far exceeding the original 6 degrees! These designs ultimately gave the Prince a slight chance!

Two fists can't match four hands. After a company of artillery fired at the remaining rapid-fire artillery for 10 minutes, Count Schelling announced that the artillery had lost its function. Subsequently, the Prince's cavalry decisively charged! When the cavalry was only 700 meters from the trench, the last artillery piece had moved to a suitable position, and the terrifying cannon fire sounded again! This artillery piece fired at a rate of 6 shells per minute. At the same time, the machine guns in front also began to roar!

"Your cavalry will suffer heavy casualties under this firepower. Theoretically, even if your cavalry can break through this line, the remaining personnel and horses will not exceed 30%," Count Schelling's ominous words came again. To be honest, he was satisfied with the young Prince's performance, although the result was certain. "If you withdraw your rear cavalry, you can still retain some strength," the Count suggested.

Although a company of cavalry was committed to the attack, the Prince's formation was still spread out. He had seen the power of machine guns and wanted to find a weak spot in the firepower to break through. However, the enemy's crossfire was well-arranged, and there were few weak points on the attack surface.

"Advance half of the artillery a bit." Despite the huge "casualties," the cavalry still rapidly advanced to the final distance. If nothing went wrong, the result of the exercise was already determined. But to be safe, the Prince still ordered some artillery to move forward!

The cavalry quickly crossed the first trench and passed by the artillery. According to the exercise rules, this line of defense had been breached, and the artillery position had been destroyed. The knights continued to advance, and with a bit more effort, they could break through the enemy's core defense. But at this moment, the roar of machine guns came from behind! The time traveler's side and rear firing positions finally came into play!

"Too cunning!" The Prince had to admit that his nephew was too devious and cunning! The suddenly attacking machine gun teams were on the side of the cavalry's attack line, and in this situation, the side fire was extremely lethal! If this were a real battle, this side fire could have wiped out a platoon of cavalry!

A company of cavalry all "fell" on the way to the attack. The Prince lost half of his forces, but as the defender, Ruprecht also ran out of his trump cards! Two artillery pieces were out of service due to malfunctions, one was destroyed by the enemy artillery, and another by the cavalry. Without the artillery, the machine gun positions could not be held, and when the last side firing position was exposed, the defenders lost their last machine gun! The enemy still had a company of cavalry and a company of artillery! The result was clear!

"Let's go, let's see my good nephew!" When Count Schelling signaled the end of the exercise, the Prince, with his entourage, stepped onto the defensive position. He was met by a grim-faced Prince Ruprecht and his adjutant, Baron Schmidt.

"If you had two more artillery pieces, the outcome of the battle would still be uncertain. My artillery has twice the number, but it lacks the firepower to match the numerical advantage," the Prince said calmly.

"Those two artillery pieces had a bit of a technical issue," Ruprecht was almost ready to find a crack in the ground to hide in. The reliability issue he had been trying to avoid was completely exposed in this real combat. The prince's heart was cold with disappointment.

"Good stuff, the flaws do not overshadow the virtues." The Prince circled around the malfunctioning artillery piece, looked at the leaking hydraulic cylinder, and said. In fact, the Prince was also conflicted! If it were a normal test, a malfunction after firing more than 20 shells would be absolutely unacceptable!

But the situation was different now. In the exercise, a new rapid-fire artillery piece almost suppressed a company of artillery and caused heavy casualties. The performance contrast was significant enough to outweigh certain flaws. The new rapid-fire artillery would definitely elevate the combat capability of the German army.

Such a high rate of fire made the Prince, who had once been a regimental commander of artillery, excited. Moreover, they were family. If they could use their own produced new artillery instead of buying from a certain nouveau riche in Essen, it would be better. A few simple words indicated the Prince's final conclusion: the direction is good, support it, but first, fix the technical issues.

Then, the Prince walked to a machine gun. Its extremely small size and weight surprised him! A simple tripod replaced the original carriage, and the entire machine gun box was much smaller than the Maxim machine gun, with a weight that could be carried by infantry and a size that could be easily hidden in cover, reducing the probability of being destroyed by artillery. After optimization, this would definitely be a groundbreaking infantry weapon!

Thank you to book friend KGV Duke of York for the support~~~. New book recommendation period, please collect~~~ please recommend~~~.

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