"Uhhhhhhhhh!"

"What, what's wrong?!"

"What's going on with that sound?!"

"It's a thunder! The thunder fell!"

"What thunder! This is a cannon!"

…

In the blink of an eye, the Changzhou army was in chaos.

Due to their limited knowledge, many people - especially those forcibly recruited ronin, peasants and soldiers - had never seen a cannon and did not recognize the sound of the cannon. When they heard the terrifying "rumbling" sound, they were all frightened.

Some people even thought it was thunder falling from the sky, and their expressions changed with horror, and they almost collapsed on the ground.

Screaming, roaring, shouting, whining... "noisy" and "chaos" dominate this space.

At first glance, the Changzhou Army seemed to be showing signs of collapse.

At this time, Kurushima Matabei finally recovered from his shock.

As a veteran who participated in the Shimonoseki War and experienced saturation bombing by the U.S. and French fleets, he was no stranger to artillery and the "rumbling" sound of artillery.

Thanks to this personal experience, he knew very well: Although cannons are a terrible weapon, their hit rate is not high, and their deterrent power far outweighs their destructive power.

The shells are not scary, it is the panic derived from the shells that is scary!

After calming down, he gritted his teeth, quickly stood up, and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Don't panic! Don't scream! Don't run! This is just a cannon! It's not a thunder! Those shells can't hit us that easily!"

The facts are as he said.

Although the firepower of the Shinsengumi was very fierce, with dozens of artillery bombardments repeatedly, the "rumbling" echoing endlessly, and the sound was terrifying, those shells basically landed outside the Choshu military formation, or even in more distant places.

So far, no artillery shells have hit the Changshu military formation, and only a few dozen people have been slightly injured by the aftermath of the explosion.

Kurushima Matabei happened to be a man with a loud voice.

As soon as he spoke, all the soldiers in the army heard his voice.

Under the diligent persuasion of Kurushima Matabei, the morale of the soldiers calmed down a little, and the screams and shouts gradually subsided.

As we all know, every additional "0" in the army size number increases the difficulty of management exponentially.

Not only that, the larger the army, the easier it is for panic to spread.

Unfortunately, the Choshu Army on the Fushimi side only had 3,000 soldiers. It was not large in scale and was relatively easy to manage.

If its scale is expanded several times, then Kurushima Matabei may not be able to stabilize the morale of the military in a short period of time.

If so, then this round of shelling alone would be enough to cause panic to spread rapidly, causing the army to collapse and flee.

In addition, Kurushima Matabei's ace - the guerrillas directly affiliated with him - also played a major role at the moment.

The 600 soldiers of the guerrillas firmly defended the perimeter of the formation.

After the artillery rain came, although they looked panicked, they remained as steady as a mountain.

He neither yelled nor moved randomly, but stood firm and effectively suppressed the spread of panic.

These elite soldiers are the backbone of an army.

They are here, the army is here.

If they were gone, the army would immediately disperse.

Seeing that the guerrilla soldiers remained motionless, those who were confused suddenly felt a little at ease.

In this way, after experiencing a brief panic, the Changzhou military formation barely restored order and was not in danger of collapse for the time being.

Kurushima Matabei breathed a sigh of relief - but soon, his face became filled with sadness again.

He turned his head and looked fiercely at the musketeers ahead who were getting closer and closer to them.

The hail of artillery fire is nothing to be afraid of.

The Musketeers, who are slowly approaching them, are the biggest threat!

If they were allowed to close the distance and enter their shooting range, it would be no joke!

At this time, Kurushima Matabei finally understood Aonto's tactics:

——Hmph! Use the cannon as a cover and let the iron gunners take the opportunity to get close and shoot... What a good plan!

——Ju Qingden, you really underestimate us! Do you think we Changzhou men will be intimidated by mere shells?!

As soon as he thought about this, Kushima Matabei immediately issued a new military order:

"Iron gunners, archers come forward! Defeat the enemy!"

There are a total of 250 musketeers and archers under his command.

Among them were 200 musketeers and 50 archers.

Although the number was small, Kushima Matabei did not feel embarrassed.

Ju Qingdeng was so ignorant of soldiers that he did not send any troops, but the cavalry escorted him, and he sent musketeers to die. How is this different from "baring his chest in front of the enemy's sword"?

Just a few volleys are enough to defeat them!

Although under the persuasion and dispatch of Kurushima Matabei, the Choshu soldiers barely suppressed their panic, the fear caused by "cannonballs flying over their heads and repeated explosions heard around them" would not be so easy.

dissipate.

I saw the musketeers and archers of the Changzhou Army carrying their matchlocks and bows and arrows cautiously, moving to the front of the formation and forming three long lines.

The musketeers were in the first two columns, the first column squatting on the ground, the second column standing. The archers stood in the last column.

In line with the simple idea of ​​"strike first to gain the upper hand", Kurushima Matabei immediately ordered:

"Prepare!"

The musketeers raised their matchlocks.

The archers raised their arrows and drew their strings.

"put!"

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Projectiles pierced the atmosphere one after another.

Arrows pierced the sky one after another.

It roared and fell towards the 6th and 8th divisions that were still moving forward.

At this time, the distance between the two sides was about three hundred meters.

Because the distance was very far, only one unlucky guy was hit in the thigh by the projectile, and the others were unharmed.

After the unlucky guy fell to the ground injured, the person behind him immediately took two quick steps to fill the gap.

The troops continued to advance without any panic, as if nothing had happened.

Kurushima Matabei continued to order:

"Don't stop! Keep going! Keep going!"

The musketeers lowered their heads and concentrated on loading their ammunition.

The "reloading" speed of archers is undoubtedly faster than that of musketeers.

After all, all they have to do is draw new arrows from the quiver.

Therefore, in just a moment, the archers fired a second round of arrows.

As they walked some distance further and the distance between the two sides narrowed, many people fell to the ground this time after being hit by arrows.

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

"I, I was hit by an arrow...!"

"Tsk...! Damn Changzhou dog!"

The screams and wails in the 6th and 8th divisions suddenly increased.

At this time, the musketeers of the Changzhou Army had loaded their projectiles and were ready to shoot again.

These long-range troops are the elite of the Changzhou Army, not cannon fodder recruited temporarily - one wonders where those ronin, peasant soldiers would have the opportunity to use such expensive weapons.

Therefore, they all have a certain level of military training.

Accompanied by the sound of "click, click, click", the musketeers raised their weapons again.

Immediately afterwards, another barrage swept past.

Along with the clouds of blood mist, some people screamed and fell to the ground because they were shot. Upon seeing this, Kurushima Matabei couldn't help grinning, showing an excited expression.

His idea is simple: as long as he keeps outputting, he can defeat all the enemies before they get close!

As far as he knew, there was no army in the world that could ignore the barrage and march forward despite the barrage.

The once powerful Takeda Cavalry was defeated by the Oda Iron Artillery Corps in the Battle of Changbi!

He seemed to have seen the tragic scene of the Shinsengumi Musketeers, unable to withstand the casualties and panic, gradually losing their fighting spirit and order, and finally collapsing.

However... as time passed, the smile on his face gradually solidified.

First, his expression was startled, and then his joy gradually turned into disbelief.

Finally, his facial expression was dominated by intense shock!

The Shinsengumi Musketeers collapsed - this scene did not appear as he expected.

Under the attack of barrages and arrows, the 6th and 8th divisions indeed suffered continuous damage, and people kept falling down.

However, no matter how many people fall, the people behind will take two steps to fill the gap to ensure that the front row array is always neat.
To be continued...