Chapter 219 The Crown Prince’s First Battle

Chapter 220 The Crown Prince’s First Battle

Nafzai Mountains.

Seimezi said to the herald on the side: "General Kehel asked us to send double the number of scouts. Clear out all the Tunisian untouchables nearby."

"Yes, Commander!"

As soon as the herald left, a messenger galloped along the endless queue of Albanian mercenaries and handed a piece of information to Seimezi's attendant.

The latter opened it and read it again, then bowed to Seimezi and signaled: "Commander, the Tunisian Bey issued a statement a few days ago, objecting to our interference in Tunisian affairs, and is very angry about our counter-insurgency operations. In addition, He also mentioned that he asked French brothers to help stop our army."

"Ignore it." Semiez smiled disdainfully, "Tunisian untouchables actually became brothers with Europeans? They are simply a shame to the Islamic world!"

The attendant put away the information: "Pasha, Tunisians do business with Europeans all year round, and there are a large number of French people in the territory. It is not surprising that they will be affected by them.

"By the way, I heard that those Tunisian untouchables started calling themselves 'descendants of Rome'. It's really ridiculous."

"That's good, I will be even more excited when I kill them." Seimezi waved his riding crop forward, "Send the order and speed up the march. I will make those untouchables regret their rebellion!"

…

"Look! That's His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Someone in the queue of police cadets, who were wearing white military uniforms, black tricorn hats and carrying the latest model August-style flash cap guns, pointed and shouted not far away.

Suddenly, there was chaos in the neat marching team. The soldiers looked up and shouted excitedly: "It's really His Highness! He is here to fight with us!"

"I saw it too! Long live His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Long live the principal!"

"Your Highness will lead us to victory!"

"Look, His Highness is walking just like us!"

It wasn't until the officers ran back and forth giving orders that the team finally realigned itself and began to move forward.

Joseph heard the sound and waved to the soldiers, which immediately caused a huge cheer.

He looked back at the team that stretched halfway up the hillside, feeling filled with pride. This is his Guards Corps, and he will fight with them on the battlefield for the first time.

Perhaps, in the future, I will take them throughout Europe and leave a glorious chapter in history.

"Your Highness, you really don't have to fight with the army." Berthier glanced at the excited soldiers and whispered to Joseph, "The number of enemies this time is three times ours. It is really too dangerous. .

"You see, your presence has greatly boosted morale. Even if you stay in a safe place now, the soldiers will still feel that you are with them."

He looked to the north and said carefully: "Actually, if you agree, we can turn to the coast now, and we can board the navy's warship in less than three days."

"Huh? Battleship?" Joseph was a little surprised. "Shouldn't the nearest battleship be in the Port of Bizerte? Why is it here?"

Berthier lowered his head and said: "Lieutenant Colonel Andre and I both believed that you should not risk participating in the battle, so we had people contact the United Fleet, and they sent a ship to follow..."

Joseph smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I know you have good intentions, Lieutenant Colonel Berthier, but this is really unnecessary."

He motioned to the advancing white queue: "This is my legion. I will often lead them in battles in the future. This is just the beginning."

Joseph knew very well that in this era where war was used to determine the right to survive, he had to be able to fight - only a king who knew how to use troops could bring prosperity and strength to his country.

At the moment, although he can't command the battle yet, he still wants to be with the army and let the soldiers know that their crown prince does not just sit in the Palace of Versailles and enjoy it, but lives with them through life and death. Only such an army can become one's own army and one's support.

In addition, although I can't fight yet, I have a large number of later generations' concepts and military cases that I can refer to, thereby making useful suggestions for combat deployment.

For example, this preemptive attack tactic can greatly reduce the losses of troops and win the strategic initiative. You can designate the general direction yourself, and leave the specific operations to military geniuses like Berthier and others. You can also learn to fight by following them.

Berthier tried to persuade him for a while, but when he saw that the crown prince remained unmoved, he had no choice but to give up.

He made a last effort: "Your Highness, at least get back to the carriage."

Joseph raised his eyes and looked at the special terrain of the Atlas Mountains - low and gentle mountains, filled with light yellow hard soil, with almost no plants taller than 20 centimeters, and only a small amount of weeds, sparsely dotted here and there. on the ground. It seemed extremely empty and desolate.

There are no "jewel" carriages equipped with high-end shock absorbers in the army. Riding a carriage on this kind of road is almost like being punished.

He had also tried riding a horse before, but due to the lack of training, he had large blisters on his inner thighs in just one day, so he had to walk forward.

But I didn't expect that it would greatly boost morale, but it was a mistake.

As the sky grew darker, the sound of the military drums in the ranks of the Guards began to change its tune, and finally stopped along with the sound of the trumpets.

The officers of each company began to direct the soldiers to the preset resting positions - the scouts had already scouted the situation ahead on horseback and marked areas suitable for overnight stays.

The soldiers had a simple dinner, sang and drank to relax for half an hour - wine was a necessary military commodity, and everyone's quota would not make you drunk - then they spread blankets on the ground and slept in the open air.

The distance between each person is about half a meter, like neat little squares, covering the Atlas Mountains with a unique "carpet".

In the officer's tent, Joseph drank vegetable beef soup and watched Berthier and the others discussing combat deployment around the map.

"Since the day before yesterday, we have encountered more and more Algiers scouts. It seems that they are not far from here." The commander of the cavalry battalion said.

Berthier pointed to the west side of Nafzai: "We can arrive here tomorrow. We must be prepared for encounters at any time."

Next to them, a major laughed and said: "The Algiers must have thought we were still in the Tunisian city. Who knew we had already rushed right up to the tip of their noses."

Berthier smiled and nodded: "His Highness's tactics will definitely catch the enemy off guard. I'm really looking forward to seeing their shocked expressions when they encounter our army."

Yes, Joseph's plan was to use offense as defense. Taking advantage of the high-speed marching ability of the Guards Corps, they marched 110 kilometers in three and a half days, from Tunisia City to the border of Algiers and Tunisia.

Then, on the battlefield he chose, he caught the marching Algiers army by surprise.

The Algiers army, which set out a week earlier than the Guards Corps, has just arrived east of Annaba, having traveled more than 170 kilometers.

Berthier suddenly remembered something, turned around and asked the staff officer on the side: "Where is the Mulan Army?"

"Here." The staff officer pointed to the west side of Bizerte on the map, "We are still one day away."

Berthier frowned and looked at Joseph again: "The Algiers army is very close to us and may discover us at any time. Perhaps Lieutenant Colonel Andre's infantry will not have time to participate in the first battle."

The Moulins Army is considered quite outstanding among the old French armies, but in terms of marching speed, there is still a big gap with the Guards Army. Therefore, they only had more than 400 cavalry to keep up with the Guards Corps, and the infantry lagged far behind.

Joseph didn't say much. After all, he, a just-started officer, had no say in the fight.

"This is your authority, dear Commander."

Although Berthier's command level is not as good as that of "super-class players" such as Lana, Soult, Massena, etc., he is at least in the middle of the marshal pool for the emperor, and he should have no problem dealing with the Algiers Guards. Difficult.

"Thank you for your trust, Your Highness."

Berthier bowed to Joseph and then looked at the map: "Towards the northwest from Naifzai, there is an uphill slope. I think it is most advantageous to have a decisive battle near here."

Joseph looked at the contour lines on the map - the Tunisian Mountains are on the south side of Annaba, so most of them are from Algiers to Tunisia. Only the short section from Nafzai to Bizerte encountered Some intermittent hills have become slightly lower.

The police academy officer Le Drian on the side also nodded in agreement: "The terrain here is indeed good. It's just that our scouts haven't found where the main force of the Algiers is yet..."

As he was talking, he heard the rapid sound of horse hooves, and then a scout cavalry quickly walked into the tent and said loudly: "Your Highness, Lieutenant Colonel, we have discovered a large group of enemy troops. The number should exceed 10,000." Name. Judging from his clothing and weapons, he seems to be an Albanian mercenary.”

"Why are there only more than 10,000 people?" Berthier asked doubtfully.

"That's not clear yet, Lieutenant Colonel. But it certainly won't be too different."

Little did he know that in order to be the first to enter Tunisia and plunder, the Albanian mercenaries relied on their slightly faster marching speed to throw the Algiers Guards away for more than ten kilometers.

Considering that the troops were still in Algiers, Seimezi let him go.

Berthier asked the scouts about the specific location of the enemy, quickly measured it on the map, turned to several senior officers in the tent and said: "It is only more than 20 kilometers away from us. It seems that the enemy will be there at noon tomorrow at the earliest." can be encountered.

"If the enemy's troops are disconnected from the front and rear, it will indeed be a rare opportunity for us!"

…

In the desert of the Atlas Mountains, five cavalrymen wearing Ottoman-style light yellow robes, loose breeches on their legs, and cocked boots were galloping westward along the slope of the northern hill.

Suddenly, the cavalryman at the front raised his hand and gestured, and whispered in French: "There are enemies!"

The other four people immediately raised their eyes and looked into the distance, and sure enough they saw three or four Algiers scout cavalry.

The people on the other side obviously saw them too. With disdain for the Tunisian untouchables, they howled, drew their machetes and rushed over in a horizontal line.

The "Tunisian Untouchables" reacted very quickly, turned to the right and forward, and at the same time took out the short-barreled rifle from the saddle.

The distance between the two sides quickly closed, and the "Tunisian Untouchables" chose the moment when they were closest, aiming at the opposite side and firing a volley.

An Algiers cavalryman immediately flew out on his side, but his foot caught in the stirrup and was dragged hundreds of meters by the horse.

The "Tunisian Pariah" skillfully put away his gun and drew his saber. Under the leadership of the commander, he made an arc, turned his horse's head and ran towards the back of the Algiers.

The latter was startled and hurriedly pulled the reins to the left, trying to catch up to the enemy.

At this moment, the "Tunisian Untouchable" suddenly made a sharp turn and galloped to the right, so that the two sides became a figure-eight hedging situation.

The Algiers were obviously in a panic. The moment the horses of both sides lined up, the "Tunisian pariah" chopped down two of them. The remaining man was so frightened that he turned his horse and ran away.

The battle between cavalry is all about courage. Whoever escapes first will basically become a piece of meat on the chopping board - it is easy for others to slash forward with a sword, but it is almost impossible to twist the waist and slash behind. .

The "Tunisian Untouchable" caught up with him, ran four to five hundred meters, and then chopped him off his horse with a knife.

The faces of the five victorious cavalry were filled with excitement, and they turned back to clean up the battlefield: "They actually rushed over, I'm so grateful to them!"

"Sergeant Aubin, are these four guys enough for us to move up a level?"

"Well, Blanche just killed two, and he will definitely be promoted to sergeant. As for you, you don't seem to have caught any, so don't worry about it."

"Damn it! If we continue moving forward, we should still encounter enemy scouts."

Five Tunisian Guards Cavalrymen quickly mounted their horses and continued to clear out the enemy's reconnaissance cavalry along the edge of the predetermined battlefield.

The same situation occurred everywhere nearby, and Berthier sent half of his cavalry in Tunisian uniforms to clear out the enemy's scouts. He still has 400 Mulan cavalry in hand, so he has no worries about the physical strength of the cavalry.

In this way, although the Albanian mercenaries noticed something was wrong, they always believed that it was just the Tunisian tribal forces that were harassing them.

It wasn't until he was less than 5 kilometers away from the Guards that Seimetz truly realized that there was an army of thousands of people on the opposite side - in the unobstructed wilderness of the Atlas Mountains, this distance could already be used to directly use a telescope. I saw the army on the opposite side.

The Albanian mercenaries were still on the march before, and Seimezi hurriedly ordered to change their combat formation. As the officers passed on the order, the Albanians suddenly became a mess, shouting and neighing.

It is completely different from the war scenes in movies and TV shows. In real battles, the soldiers immediately line up like machines and fiercely take out their weapons and start fighting as soon as the officer gives the order.

With the communication capabilities of the 18th century, it took the 13,000 mercenaries more than 20 minutes just to convey the command to "change combat formation" to every soldier.

It was even more chaotic when waiting in line. You blocked my way, I took his place, and some soldiers even couldn't find their own officers.

The Guards Corps had already made preparations. When the infantry approached about 2 kilometers away from the enemy, the front team stopped and the rear team kept lining up on both sides.

After only ten minutes, a formation with more than 30 rows in front and nearly 100 columns in each row was formed.

Immediately the drums beat in unison, dozens of drummers took the lead in striding forward, and the infantry brigade quickly followed.

After more than ten minutes, the long march of Albanian mercenaries had just barely gathered together, and the Guards Corps had already approached 500 meters away from them.

On the hillside at the rear, Berthier put down his telescope and signaled to the herald: "Call the order, the infantry will form a fighting formation. The artillery will start firing."