I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 620 Thunder
The faces of the Confederate soldiers in front of them could not be seen clearly due to the smoke, but from their movements, it could be seen that the approach of the Union Army had made them panic. Many of them screamed meaninglessly, some were pouring gunpowder with their gun barrels upright, some were pulling out the cleaning rods, some were meaninglessly pulling the trigger on their unloaded guns, and some were retreating without firing. There were even a few Confederate soldiers who threw away their muskets and held their swords in their hands, but they did not dare to rush forward and stood there at a loss.
At this moment, a strong north wind blew and pushed the smoke backwards. The vision in front suddenly became clear. Wang Ze could even clearly see the panic and fear in the eyes of the young Southern Army soldier opposite him, as well as the large patch of water under his crotch.
Before he could take a closer look, a long stop signal finally sounded, the battalion's drum beat four times in quick succession, and the company commander in front shouted "All company."

Wang Ze and other soldiers around who heard it immediately repeated it loudly so that other soldiers could hear it as well.

"The whole company."

“Stop!”

With a bang, the entire company stomped their right feet on the ground in unison and stood still.

The vibrations, drum sounds, flute sounds, and footsteps all disappeared. On the battle line of the entire battalion, the front-row company commanders of the six battalions issued a stop order at the same time, and each company stood still one after another. After this period of marching, the battle line was no longer a standard straight line, but was roughly fifteen to eighteen steps away from the Confederate formation.

The scene changed from extreme movement to extreme stillness in an instant. Such a drastic change attracted the attention of the Confederate Army on the opposite side, including the soldiers who were loading ammunition. They seemed to pause for a few seconds, staring blankly at the silent enemy fifteen steps away. His eyes and nose were clearly visible, as if within reach. Before they could react and do anything, the Union Army took action again.

"Ready!" The company commander raised his flag gun high and gave the order at the top of his voice.

After hearing this, Liu Di and his teammates in the first row loudly repeated "Ready!!!" and raised the muzzle of the gun upwards, cocked the hammer, and put the flintlock into firing position. There was a sound of metal friction, and the same sound came from the surrounding companies one after another. The forest of bayonets above his head grew taller.

As the volley was about to begin, the Confederate Army finally reacted. Some tried to escape, some tried to rush towards the Union Army, some wanted to hide behind others, some were shouting, and some were still reloading. The supervision team swung their swords to kill many of those who were shouting and running away, but they were unable to control the spread of the chaos. Several teams that had lost their command huddled together, and the true nature of the copycat Guards was exposed.

Several Southern Army soldiers opposite Wang Ze fired at the Northern Army, but only two muskets fired normally. The rest either had broken flints or forgot to pour the primers. Wu Hao next to Wang Ze screamed and was hit in the thigh and fell down. The other soldiers stood still. When the back row was filling up, the company commander's second order came.

"aim!!"

"Aim!" Wang Ze screamed at the top of his lungs. Thousands of flintlock rifles were laid flat in the first two rows, and the soldiers in the first two rows laid their flintlock rifles flat in an orderly manner.

The chaos on the opposite side gave Wang Ze a sense of pride. He was a brave and fearless guard. The southern rebels were just a group of cowards in front of him. He could become a combat hero. After the Northern Army raised their guns, the Southern Army finally faced the muzzle of the gun. The Southern Army's battle line was like a river bank about to collapse under the impact of a flood. Some places had already collapsed. These Southern Army soldiers could not bear the psychological pressure of facing the muzzle of the gun at such a close distance and fell into a semi-crazy state. At this distance, the low earthen walls of the ruins of Xiaoshi Village had no effect at all. They desperately ran to the rear, even if they would be chopped down by the supervisors behind them, they still didn't care. They had only one thought in their minds, which was to get as far away from the terrible battle line on the opposite side as possible, and don't care about anything else.

Guo Xun, Luo Erhu, the rear lines of the two armies, the two wings, and the artillery, everyone's eyes were attracted by the flat smoothbore muskets. They stopped what they were doing and stared blankly at the battle lines that were only fifteen steps apart. People calmed down, not daring to make any sound, waiting for the result to be revealed.

Liu Di had just pulled out the stick when he noticed the Northern Army standing still fifteen steps away. From that moment on, his whole body began to tremble constantly, and waves of chills kept coming from his lower body. His legs were trembling so much that he could hardly stand.

At this moment, he didn't know that he had become the first row. The person in front of him had already run to the second row of another column, and was wrestling and squeezing together with a group of people, all trying to hide behind each other.

When the sound of aiming came from the opposite side, Liu Di looked up blankly. There was nothing blocking him and the Northern Army. The muzzles of the other side's raised guns had been lowered, and a row of black muzzles were facing him. He felt as if he was stripped naked and placed on the stage. Directly opposite him was a dark-skinned soldier in Red Army uniform, with excitement flashing in his eyes.

Liu Di stared at the soldier with his mouth wide open, his whole body numb. It was too late for him to escape. The result of such a volley of fire from such a distance was predictable.
He suddenly thought of those deserters who had fled because they could not bear the corporal punishment. After they were caught, they were executed with rifles in front of all the soldiers. This might be how they felt when facing the execution gun.
Fifteen steps is 22.5 meters. Shooting at this distance can be considered an execution-style shooting.
At that moment, Liu Di suddenly felt that the screams and curses around him disappeared from his ears. The whole world was silent, leaving only the row of black gun muzzles on the opposite side. Time seemed to have frozen at this moment.
A brief silence on the battlefield
"Shoot!!!" The company commander's hoarse shout reached Wang Ze's ears.

Wang Ze pulled the trigger hard, and the hammer hit the steel sickle of the firing port with a click, sending a spark into the firing port. There was an immediate loud noise in the barrel of the gun, and the gun body shook backwards, and the flintlock in his hand spewed out a long flame and white smoke.

The battle line was like countless flowers with red stamens and white petals blooming at the same time. With a thunderous roar, white smoke walls extended to both wings with these company commanders as the center. In the blink of an eye, they connected with each other, quickly forming a long white dragon on the 300-meter battle line.

The sound of explosive gunshots merged into one, sweeping across the earth like a storm. Countless bullets whistled into the chaotic ranks of the Confederate Army, violently tearing their black uniforms apart. Making endless popping sounds, raising clouds of blood mist that entered their bodies. The deformed bullet bodies rolled over, increasing the area of ​​the wound several times, crushing their internal organs, and causing them to let out heart-wrenching screams.

Along the line, the Confederates fell neatly in rows in the blink of an eye. Some of these Confederates were hit in the torso or limbs. They rolled and crawled on the ground, and their screams echoed throughout the wilderness. The bodies of the Confederates drew a continuous black line on the ground, marking the cruel war.

The Confederate troops who were crowded together in many places were hit by more intensive firepower. They were crowded together, leaving gaps on the front line. The Union troops on the opposite side of these gaps had to aim their guns obliquely at the crowded crowd. Almost all the Confederate troops on the outermost side of the crowd were hit by lead bullets and fell down in an instant, piling up into a semicircular circle of corpses.

On the entire front, there were about a thousand Confederates who were directly facing the Union Army's volleys. In this round of earth-shaking volleys, more than 800 fell, and in a short moment, the two front rows of the Confederate Army were wiped out. This was when some of the Confederates left the battle line and reduced the contact surface. The sophisticated barrels and sights played an important role, and the Union Army's hit rate exceeded 100. It only took a round of violent volleys for the Confederate Army to collapse in an instant.
(End of this chapter)