Chapter 220: The Fierce Prince's Guards

Chapter 221 The Fierce Guards of the Dauphin

A French battlefield command post surrounded by a large number of Swiss Guards in red.

Joseph silently wrote down a series of orders from Berthier. Perhaps in the near future, he would have to give the same orders himself.

Seeing the herald running away quickly, Joseph picked up the battlefield notes he had made before and checked them. He confirmed the location of the artillery position and looked over with a telescope.

In the objective lens of the telescope, the two breastworks about ten meters wide on the hillside 1 kilometer away appeared. At this time, there were five 8-pound cannons quietly crawling behind them. Obviously, the artillerymen had not received the order yet.

According to the "cannon group tactics" brought by Joseph, all the heavy artillery brought by the Guards Corps were concentrated on this artillery position.

At present, European armies generally incorporate cannons into infantry regiments for use. The gun mounts are near the infantry positions. In combat, there is often only one cannon every hundreds of meters. Although this can cause casualties to the enemy in a larger range, it can only serve as auxiliary firepower for the infantry.

Napoleon's "cannon group tactics" is to concentrate all the artillery, under the unified command of the corps commander, and bombard a target with the greatest firepower in order to quickly defeat it.

It is better to break one finger than to hurt ten fingers. Once the enemy position that is bombarded by the focus collapses, it will become a breakthrough for the French army to tear open its front line. The effect is much better than the previous slow consumption of the enemy's front.

After about half a minute, Joseph finally saw the commander of the artillery company received the order and asked the flag bearer beside him to raise the small flag ready to shoot.

The target position has been determined. The gunners of each gun loudly urged the soldiers. Soon, they completed the shooting preparations one after another and stood on the side of the cannon waiting for orders.

The commander of the artillery company turned his head and said something, and the flag bearer immediately played the flag signal for free shooting. Several artillery pieces immediately spewed out raging flames. The gun body suddenly paused backwards. The artillery position was instantly shrouded in thick smoke.

After a few seconds, the sound of the cannon like thunder came into Joseph's ears from afar.

He turned the telescope and saw that the wheat field on the north side of the Albanian mercenary position opposite, which was located at a low position, was like a wheat field invaded by a buffalo. A small piece of it fell down instantly, and bloodstains could be vaguely seen on the ground.

That was a scene two or three kilometers away. There were often more than 20 or 30 people in the "small piece" of the army.

The main reason was that the mercenaries who were busy assembling the team stood too densely, and the artillery of the Guards Corps was also lucky. The first calibration shot directly hit the target, causing a large number of casualties.

Berthier on the side obviously also saw this result, and whispered: "Well done."

Less than a minute later, the five cannons roared again.

It was very different from the common scene of thousands of cannons firing at the same time in film and television dramas. The Guards Corps of more than 4,000 people only brought a total of 6 cannons, one of which was a four-pound cannon of the reserve team.

With the field logistics capabilities of this era, this is the highest proportion of cannons that the troops can carry under the premise of ensuring firepower. In fact, the most important factor affecting artillery firepower is the amount of ammunition.

As long as the cannons can continue to output, the damage caused by five eight-pound cannons is already terrifying. Even if more cannons are brought, if the ammunition is quickly exhausted, the cannon is just a lump of iron. It is better to bring a hundred or so more shells than to carry an extra cannon.

The eight-pound iron ball whizzed into the Albanian army and plowed several long bloody grooves.

The mercenaries who were still lining up around immediately fell into chaos-no matter how the officers yelled, the soldiers were only concerned with running around, or were so scared that they stayed in place and trembled. The entire left wing of the Albanian army was suddenly missing a section.

Joseph suddenly heard the sound of bagpipes, organs and violins that had been playing in his ears weakened-this is the battlefield of this era. Since the beginning of the battle, the music in various places on the battlefield has never stopped, as if you were at a grand but somewhat simple concert.

Immediately, the drum sound became clearer, and the infantry column that was originally advancing rapidly stopped on the spot and spread to both sides.

Two officers from each company came out and pulled a rope of 20 to 30 meters straight. The soldiers lined up behind the rope. The whole queue suddenly became straight.

A few minutes later, in front of the Albanian mercenary position, there appeared a line of infantry with three rows in front and back, spanning 700 to 800 meters. From Joseph's perspective, it was like a giant carving a white knife mark on the light yellow wasteland.

At the same time, two infantry companies appeared on the north side, staring at the gap in the enemy's front line that was bombarded by artillery in a scattered formation, and began to move forward slowly.

Albanian Army Commander Semiz looked at the army in neat white uniforms, tight pants, and tricorn hats in the telescope, and was already sweating profusely, muttering: "It's the French, how is this possible? This is impossible..."

According to the information he received, the French army was still in Tunisia three days ago. This information was repeatedly confirmed by Albanian spies and the remnants of the Tunisian Guards, and it would never be wrong.

But where did these Frenchmen in front of him come from?

It is impossible for them to rush from Tunisia to Annaba in three days? !

In his opinion, this is indeed impossible to do, but for the Guards Corps who train all day long to carry loads and cross-country, it is far from reaching the limit.

Another round of artillery fire from a distance made Semiz startled. He saw that the French army's line had been deployed, while his side was still in a mess, and his heart suddenly tightened.

The military quality of the Guards Corps was much higher than that of the Albanians, and they had prepared for the assault early in the morning, so the speed of assembling the troops was naturally much faster than that of the mercenaries who were still marching. In the war of the flintlock era, whoever could complete the assembling first would have an absolute advantage.

At this time, the scouts sent by Semiz finally returned - he was also a veteran on the battlefield, and he could still do basic operations such as sending out cavalry reconnaissance as soon as he encountered the enemy.

The leading cavalry was still far away, so he shouted to him: "Pasha, there are about 4,000 enemy troops, and there may be hundreds of reserve troops behind."

Semiz was slightly determined in his heart. Although the enemy took advantage of the surprise attack, he had an absolute advantage in manpower.

In other words, as long as he could manage to stabilize his position and drag the battle into a head-on confrontation, victory would still belong to him!

His thoughts raced, and he looked at his own left wing, which was the most chaotic, and shouted to the aide-de-camp: "Let Nishani lead the cavalry to attack the enemy's right wing. At least hold the enemy for half an hour!"

The right wing of the French army was the left wing of the Albanian army.

The aide-de-camp hesitated: "Pasha, all the cavalry?"

Semiz gritted his teeth and nodded: "Yes! All the cavalry!"

He knew very well that he couldn't be reluctant to give up the cavalry at this time.

Although the cavalry was also in a mess and had not completed the formation, if it was just a harassment battle, each cavalry brigade could attack at will, and before all 1,600 cavalry were exhausted, it should be able to hold the enemy for a long time.

After that, he could use his military advantage to fight a positional battle with the French. Even if he couldn't win, General Kehler's army behind him would arrive tomorrow, and by then, with several times the number of troops, he would surely be able to quickly overwhelm the French army!

Just as another round of bombardment by the Guards Corps' artillery completely dispersed the Albanian left wing, the latter's army rang with horns, and more than a dozen heralds ran back and forth, gathering the cavalry.

And three hundred meters behind the Albanian army's gap, a team of reserve troops began to line up, ready to fill the front line with neat formations.

Just as the drummers of the Guards Corps beat the rhythmic drums and the "military bands" began to play again, preparing to launch a frontal assault, a large number of cavalry with bows and arrows poured out from the Albanian left wing like a tide.

Joseph heard the reminder of the staff officer on the side, and hurriedly looked over there with a telescope, and frowned immediately. Why did the Albanians react so quickly? You know, it is much more difficult to form a cavalry formation than an infantry, so why can they launch a cavalry attack immediately?

But he immediately found the clue and said to Berthier on the side: "Are they here to die?"

The cavalry without formation is no different from the wild horses running around on the grassland. They couldn't take care of other teams at high speed, and it was easy to become a piecemeal or a long and narrow line. If the opponent's cavalry attacked in formation, it would be a complete harvest of military merit.

"Your Highness, they should be trying to delay time." Berthier said, "We don't have as many cavalry as them, and it will take a long time to completely eliminate them. Before that, they will send some cavalry to attack our infantry line."

The strongest force of the infantry line in the flintlock era was the frontal attack, and the thin line would make the flank very vulnerable.

So generally speaking, both sides would use cavalry to cover their infantry flanks.

Joseph nodded and waited for Berthier's response.

The latter thought for a while and said to the messenger: "Let the cavalry immediately support the right wing. Recall the skirmishers, assist the infantry on the right wing, and switch to the hollow square defense. Give them the artillery of the reserve team as well."

"Yes!"

The hollow square is another advanced tactic that Joseph brought to the Guards Corps. Of course, the hollow square had already appeared in the early 18th century, but it was only used as an emergency measure when the infantry was cut and surrounded by the cavalry and was ready to fight to the death.

Joseph knew how Emperor Napoleon used it to deal with the Mamluk cavalry.

The infantry took the initiative to form multiple squares that supported each other, staggered over a large area, slowed down the cavalry's impact speed, and continuously consumed the cavalry, thus becoming an offensive square.

The order was transmitted to the right wing of the infantry line one minute later, and two skirmisher companies and eight infantry companies began to move. At the same time, the officers on the right wing also sent people to report that they would face an enemy cavalry raid.

When the Albanian cavalry vanguards rushed to the right wing of the French army in a mess, the Guards Corps and the Moulin Corps, a total of more than 500 cavalry, had completed the formation and swept towards the sparse Albanian cavalry in five rows.

The latter only rushed up with more than a hundred people, and they were dispersed almost immediately after the first encounter. Most of them were chopped off their horses by sabers, and a few were shot and killed by the skirmishers who were covering the infantry on the side.

The French cavalry did not stop at all, drew an arc in the distance, turned around and reorganized.

The two skirmisher companies had already blocked the side of the infantry line, forming a T shape.

Soon, more Albanian cavalry galloped over. The French skirmisher column fired dense bullets, and the first 20 to 30 riders fell off their horses - many of these skirmishers were prepared by Joseph to be trained as hunters, that is, snipers, with very good marksmanship. If the enemy's charge formation was not too chaotic, the results would be even greater.

The Albanians were beaten in a daze - the infantry in front of them showed no fear at all when facing them, they just stood upright and aimed and fired. For a moment, the cavalry behind them reined in their horses due to the momentum and prepared to pass sideways.

The French cavalry not far away quickly completed the entire team, roaring and inserting into the enemy cavalry formation from the side.

The chaotic cavalry was completely unable to fight against the neatly arranged cavalry, let alone being attacked from the waist. The Albanian cavalry immediately collapsed and was massacred by the French cavalry.

In just ten minutes, the Albanian cavalry had sent nearly 400 people away. A large number of horses that had lost their owners stood there in a daze, and instead became a barrier for the French infantry.

A French skirmisher company commander named Lefebvre looked at the enemy corpses on the ground, then looked at the almost uninjured soldiers beside him, licked his dry lips, and shouted to the messenger next to him : "I think we can block the enemy cavalry without using a hollow phalanx."

The latter was stunned for a moment and quickly typed out what he said in semaphore.

Lefebvre quickly stopped him: "I'm just saying, I didn't ask you to..."

However, Berthier in the distance saw the semaphore with his telescope, but he smiled and nodded: "He is an adventurous guy. Okay, then I'll do as you say."

He turned to his staff and said: "Leave four companies to defend the right wing, and then transfer two companies from the reserve. The other infantry will still form a line formation to attack frontally!"

Joseph saw that the Guards were like a slow-moving giant. It took a minute for the instructions from the "brain" to be transmitted to the limbs, and the right hand that had just been spread out to prepare for defense was clenched into a fist again.

The four-pounder gun of the reserve was also towed to the right wing. The gunner followed the instructions and ordered the loader to stuff grapeshot into the barrel.

A few minutes later, the rhythmic drumbeat sounded again in front of the infantry line of the Guards Corps. The drummer took the lead in stepping forward, driving the entire infantry line toward the Albanian position.

The fierce fighting on the right continued. The Albanian cavalry rushed against the French infantry, which consisted of only five or six hundred men, but were repeatedly sniped by muskets and four-pounders.

This is actually a battle of willpower.

If these cavalry are brave enough to withstand two or three volleys and rush into the crowd of infantry, it will result in a one-sided massacre. Even if the French cavalry comes to cover, the advantage of the formation will be greatly reduced because there are French infantry around.

Then it is very possible to penetrate the French right wing defense line.

However, it was the French infantry who were not afraid of death. They watched the enemy cavalry rush more than 30 meters away, shouting and completing targeted shooting, and the morale of the Albanians who were close at hand was shattered.