Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Chapter 1305: Chapter 1210: The Military Technology Gap

Baron Vernick was immediately overjoyed.

The French were so eager to attack that they hadn’t even properly formed their ranks, while on his side, although hastily arrayed, they had at least established an infantry line.

As long as there were no mistakes in command, the French Army’s raid would only deliver achievements to him!

He calmly issued a series of orders: “Cavalry battalion, immediately disperse the enemy’s artillery.

“Mounted Artillery, deploy beside the grove on the south side and attack the enemy’s left wing.

“Reserve Corps, move southward…”

After a few officers left to receive their orders, Vernick still felt it wasn’t secure enough, so he rode with his guards to the front lines to personally oversee the infantry line’s operations.

More than ten minutes later, the “loosely arranged” French Army attack formation had already rushed to a point over 200 paces from the Austrian front line.

Until then, Vernick hadn’t noticed that although the French soldiers’ formation was chaotic, though seven or eight thousand of the soldiers kept the same pace forward, and their positions barely changed.

This was obviously the result of long-term training.

Austria’s Mounted Artillery also reached their predetermined positions at that time, and soldiers scrambled to unload the carts to prepare for firing.

After Austria underwent Archduke Karl’s military reform, they established a French-style Mounted Artillery unit, which, while not as fast as their French counterparts, was several times quicker than regular artillery, allowing sudden attacks at critical points.

However, at that time, a squad of 600 or 700 French Hussars rushed up from the valley on the southeast side, just over 3 kilometers away from them.

Yes, as soon as the Austrian Mounted Artillery began moving south, the French Army’s balloon in the sky had already spotted them. The openness of the Po River Plain was a favorite for aerial reconnaissance units.

Moro immediately deployed 4 cavalry battalions to respond.

The Austrian Cuirassiers responsible for covering the Mounted Artillery reacted quickly, immediately adjusting their formation to confront the French Cavalry.

The two cavalry forces, just moments before collision, both adjusted to their right side according to “protocol,” crossing paths with each other.

At the same time, both sides drew pistols and fired at their sides.

Shooting while galloping was difficult to aim effectively, but it was better than nothing, and the gunfire served an intimidating purpose.

A series of flashes burst out, and amidst the gunpowder smoke, several individuals on both sides were hit by bullets.

The Austrian Cuirassiers put away their carbines to prepare to turn around and reform their ranks but soon noticed that the French were still holding their guns, fiddling with them somehow, and gunfire resumed.

As several Austrian cavalry screamed and fell off their horses, the French cavalry re-cocked, spun the revolver cylinder, reloaded, and fired another volley.

After a sequence of 6 volleys, the French were finally satisfied and put away their guns.

Though the casualties weren’t high—totaling just over 20 hits—the inability to retaliate severely impacted morale, and the Austrian cavalry’s eyes were filled with fear.

Yes, at present, nearly half of the French Hussars were equipped with the Joseph Model 1797 revolvers—due to the complex production process, the output was only so much.

Though the range of this revolver was shorter, its rifled barrel meant the trajectory was straight, and its killing distance was not much inferior to a standard short-barreled flintlock gun.

Moreover, in terms of firing speed, it overwhelmed the carbine.

Both cavalries simultaneously turned at a distance. The Austrians were clearly bewildered by the attacks until the French Hussars drew their horse sabers and charged towards their artillery positions, prompting them to frantically start reforming their ranks.

On the frontal battlefield, the French scattered soldier cluster initiated the first volley when they were 130 paces away from the enemy.

Vernick shook his head indifferently, thinking to himself that this French Army must be composed of recruits—not only was the formation chaotic, but they fired randomly.

But as he watched his infantry line fall like dry grass blown by a fierce wind, he was instantly shocked with his mouth agape.

How could there be such a high hit rate at such a distance?!

Following that, the French Army actually stopped, beginning to reload in place. With such range advantage, only a fool wouldn’t utilize it. Newest update provided by NoveI(F)ire.net

When their second volley killed another seven or eight hundred Austrian soldiers, Vernick didn’t dare hesitate anymore and turned urgently to the Order Officer, shouting: “Advance the entire army by 50 paces!”

His central troops were equipped with more than 3,000 Wind Guns; as long as they entered shooting range, they could rely on overwhelming firing speed to crush the French!

Drums sounded in front of the Austrian positions, and although the soldiers wondered why they were initiating an attack in a defensive battle, they resolutely carried out the order.

The standard infantry line marching rate was 70 paces per minute, causing the Austrian Army to endure two more volleys while the left wing, which had been continuously bombarded, showed signs of collapse.

Vernick clenched his fists tightly and stared intently at his left wing, not relaxing until he heard an officer raise his Sword and ordered firing.

Fortunately, the soldiers held on without collapsing.

Now the counterattack was on its way!

At that moment, the French Army soldiers suddenly started finding nearby cover, even lowering their bodies.

Air gun bullets continuously whizzed by but barely hit anyone.

Vernick was momentarily stunned. This, was this skirmish tactics?

Nearly ten thousand scattered soldiers?

Was France joking?!

In the next moment, French soldiers who had finished reloading re-emerged from cover, and dense flashes flickered again.

Coincidentally, the French Mounted Artillery also completed a volley. Under the dual assault of Minnie balls and cannon shells, Vernick’s left wing finally collapsed.

Vernick couldn’t understand how, despite having a manpower advantage, the infantry line lost to a group of scattered soldiers in face-to-face fire.

One should know, skirmishers are usually used for harassment; once the opposing infantry line begins a volley, they would retreat and hand the battlefield over to their own infantry line.

Vernick looked at the French Army’s infantry line in the rear. It was surprisingly scant, just two thin rows with wide intervals, clearly not meant for decisive battle.

He bit his lip and said to the Order Officer in a deep voice: “Forward assault the entire army, tear the enemy apart with white blade combat!”

Due to their casual positioning and wide spacing, skirmishers were often weak against the massed charge of an infantry line.

Vernick decided to take a gamble.

Moro’s front-line commander, Savary, heard the urgent drumbeat from the opposing side and frowned. Were the Austrians going to charge?

He quickly made a judgment and said to the Order Officer: “Order the soldiers to maintain free firing.”

According to standard combat procedure, when facing an enemy closing in, skirmishers should retreat to reform as battalions behind the lines.

Yet, given the high casualties already inflicted on the Austrian Army during prior exchanges, he believed that before they reached melee range, the enemy would be completely routed.

Soon, over 13,000 Austrian soldiers pointed their bayonets diagonally forward and charged towards the French scattered soldier cluster, shouting.