Chapter 121: Fierce Artillery Battle（"Tomorrow I'll update Chapter 10. Friends, where can I find recommendations and bookmarks?"）

"Prime Minister, rest assured. The 2nd Infantry Division is confident they can make the Austrians suffer. They won't be able to break through our defenses," General Moro said confidently. As the commander of the 2nd Infantry Division, he was well aware of his unit's combat capabilities.

"Good, I look forward to seeing your performance," Napoleon smiled.

Napoleon nodded. The elite French forces were now among the best in the world. While there might still be gaps in individual soldier quality, their firepower was formidable. Even compared to the Russians, known as the steamroller of Europe, Napoleon was confident.

As for the Austrian army, they were simply rubbish. Even with their numerical advantage, they stood no chance of breaking through the French defenses.

...

July 1st, clear weather. It was a perfect day for a large-scale attack. A fierce battle was about to unfold on the heights of Tuna. The battle had now entered its intense phase.

Early in the morning, the Austrian artillery positions were bustling with activity. The Austrian artillerymen hastily pushed the new British Armstrong 20-pounder guns onto their hastily constructed artillery positions. Although the Austrian army numbered over twenty thousand, their artillery was not abundant. Long marches with heavy guns made them less effective. Therefore, these 20 British Armstrong heavy guns became the most important firepower support for the Austrian army.

However, in the eyes of Archduke Karl, Tuna did not have strong walls or well-built defensive works. The previous defenses of Tuna had been completely destroyed by the French, and what remained had been hurriedly constructed by Napoleon's men, offering little defense compared to before.

These British Armstrong guns were powerful and had been purchased at great expense from the British. They were extremely precious, even among the British military.

Shortly after 8 o'clock in the morning, the Austrian army was ready. At the command of Archduke Karl, the 20 new British Armstrong guns began to roar.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The muzzles flashed with orange flames as shells whistled through the air towards the French positions in the distance, emitting a piercing, sharp whistle.

"Artillery fire! Take cover!"

On the French position, the officers and soldiers orderly took refuge in the artillery pits or lay prone at the bottom of trenches, which were as deep as 1.8 meters. Though these defenses were earthen, they had been meticulously designed by Napoleon based on ballistic calculations to effectively evade artillery fire. As long as their luck wasn't too poor and shells didn't directly hit the trenches, the soldiers were not in grave danger.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Explosions resounded across the French position, leaving craters one after another. The entire area seemed engulfed in smoke. The Austrian artillery barrage was fierce, yet the casualties inflicted on the French were quite limited. Whether they were sheltered in the artillery pits or inside the fortifications, the losses among the French officers and soldiers were not substantial.

"Where are our artillerymen? Order them to fire! We can't let the Austrians have the upper hand," Napoleon commanded his artillerymen.

At that moment, the artillery staff were already estimating the approximate positions of the Austrian artillery based on the distance of the bombardment and the data obtained from observers on the city walls.

After identifying the rough locations of the Austrian artillery positions, all the French artillery within the city of Tuna opened fire. Napoleon had anticipated this artillery duel.

Moreover, Napoleon knew well that Austrian artillery technology was not mature. Most likely, they had imported their artillery from Britain, with which Napoleon was quite familiar in terms of range and power.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

When the sharp whistling sounded overhead, the faces of the Austrian artillerymen changed drastically, and they scrambled to flee. The artillery positions were littered with shells, and the consequences of being shelled at that moment were self-evident.

"Boom! Boom!"

Two consecutive shells landed in the Austrian artillery position, one blowing several Austrian artillerymen into the air, while the other landed beside a cannon, instantly turning that precious British-made Armstrong gun into a heap of scrap metal.

After the smoke cleared, the entire artillery position was in chaos, with bodies torn to pieces scattered everywhere, and a huge crater sitting in the center of the artillery position.

"Damn it, my cannon!" Karl's heart bled as he looked at the destroyed cannon. These cannons had been imported from England at great expense, and the cost of one cannon could arm an entire regiment.

"Damn it, quickly have our artillery suppress those damn French cannons!" Archduke Karl's face turned somewhat grim.

He had originally thought that with their powerful artillery, they could blast through the French defenses directly. However, right from the start, the French artillery had shown extremely formidable strength, causing Archduke Karl to realize that the course of the battle seemed to be deviating from his expectations.

"Continue the bombardment! Our cannons, whether in range or power, far exceed those of the French. If we cannot suppress the French artillery like this, then you are all incompetent!" Archduke Karl angrily ordered. For a military officer, it was a shame to not gain the upper hand when your equipment clearly outclassed the enemy's.

"Fire on! If we cannot suppress the French artillery, I will send all of you to military court!" Archduke Karl issued a deathly order.

"Yes, fire on and suppress the French!" Hearing Karl's threat, the Austrian artillery commander was drenched in cold sweat. Colonel Nielong had already been sent to the military tribunal because of poor vigilance, and they didn't want to follow in his footsteps.

Under Karl's urging, the Austrian artillerymen rallied and began bombarding the French again. With the Austrian artillery firing, the entire French position was immediately engulfed in flames.

"What's going on? Why are my artillerymen being suppressed? Can it be that the elite French artillery cannot even suppress those foolish barbarians from Austria?" Seeing his artillery being suppressed, Napoleon also became infuriated.

"Prime Minister, our cannons have a shorter effective range compared to the Austrian cannons," the artillery commander said with a bitter expression to Napoleon.

The British Armstrong cannons had an effective range of over 700 meters, while the French 15-pounder cannons had an effective range of less than 600 meters. This difference in range allowed the Austrian artillery to easily suppress the French artillery. Most of the time, the French artillery could only stare helplessly!

"Damn it!" Upon hearing this news, Napoleon couldn't help but curse silently. He never expected to be outgunned by the Austrians in artillery.

Fortunately, the Austrian artillery bombardment lasted less than half an hour before it ended. It wasn't that Karl didn't want to continue the barrage; it was the cost of the ammunition that he couldn't bear!

In just half an hour, the Austrian army had fired nearly a thousand shells. Considering each shell cost 1500 Austrian florins, Karl had spent 1.5 million florins in that short half hour alone. Even though Austria was wealthy, it couldn't sustain such an expense, especially since these shells needed to be specially imported from England. If they ran out, it would take at least a month to import more from England, by which time the war might be over. The practical situation forced Karl to stop the bombardment early and save enough ammunition to deal with unexpected situations.

After the artillery barrage, the Austrian army, already prepared, launched their attack. Under Colonel Othor's command, tens of thousands of Austrian soldiers surged toward the French positions like a gray tide.

"Artillery, open fire! We must stop the Austrian troops!" 

As Napoleon issued the order, the suppressed French artillerymen once again opened fire from their positions. Dense artillery shells whistled towards the Austrian army.

"Artillery fire! Get down!" 

A young Austrian lieutenant officer shouted loudly and was the first to hit the ground. However, many other Austrian soldiers were still bewildered and hesitated, unsure of what to do next.