The cannon closest to the southern entrance of the fortress suddenly fell silent.
The advancing French infantry, inspired, quickly unfolded into a skirmish formation—infantry of this corps had undergone extensive skirmish combat training.
As the French Army fired the first volley, the enemy forces near the fortress entrance began retreating eastward.
They then turned their fire towards the fortress gates to prevent the Austrian Army inside from coming out to reinforce.
But soon, the cannon and flintlock guns on the fortress started shooting wildly in this direction, immediately covering more than a dozen French soldiers in blood as they fell and died.
The French battalion commander loudly encouraged the soldiers, "Hold on, Major Waser's reinforcements will arrive soon, and this will become our breakthrough point into the fortress!"
Gerard busily led the team to a heavy cannon at the corner, starting to shoot before entering the cannon's blind spot.