Chapter 220 The Fierce Crown Prince's Guards Corps

Chapter 221 The Fierce Crown Prince’s Guards Corps

A French army field command post surrounded by a large number of red-coated Swiss Guards.

Joseph silently wrote down a series of Berthier's orders. Perhaps in the near future, he himself will conduct the same command.

Seeing the herald running away quickly, Joseph picked up the battlefield notes he had made before and compared them. He confirmed the location of the artillery position and raised his binoculars to look over.

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

According to the "artillery 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 integrate artillery into infantry regiments for use. The gun was mounted near the infantry position. In battle, there is often only one cannon several hundred meters away. Although this can cause damage to enemy troops in a wider range, it can only be used as auxiliary firepower for infantry.

Nahuang's "artillery group tactics" is to gather all the artillery, under the unified command of the legion commander, to bombard a target with the maximum firepower in order to quickly defeat it.

It is better to cut off one of his fingers than to injure ten of them. Once the enemy's position under heavy bombardment collapses, it will become a breakthrough for the French army to tear apart its front. The effect is much better than slowly consuming the enemy's front.

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

The target location has long been determined. The gunners of each gun loudly urged the soldiers. Soon they completed their firing preparations and stood beside the cannon waiting for orders.

The artillery battery commander turned around and said something, and the flag bearer immediately played the free fire flag. Several artillery pieces immediately spit out blazing flames. The cannon body jerked back. The artillery position was instantly enveloped in thick smoke.

After a few seconds, the thunderous sound of the cannon reached Joseph's ears from a distance.

He turned the telescope and saw that the northern side of the low-lying Albanian mercenary position opposite looked like a wheat field invaded by bison. It fell down in a small area in an instant, and faint blood stains could be seen on the ground.

That was a scene two or three kilometers away. There were often twenty or thirty people in the "small area" of the military formation.

The main reason was that the mercenaries who were busy forming 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 the result of the victory and muttered in a low voice: "It was a good fight."

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

It is very different from the common scene of thousands of guns firing in movies and TV dramas. The Guards Corps of more than 4,000 people only brought a total of 6 cannons, including one four-pounder cannon from the reserve team.

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

As long as the continuous output of the cannons can be ensured, the damage that five eight-pound cannons can cause is already terrifying. And even if you bring more cannons, if the ammunition is quickly exhausted, the cannons will be nothing more than iron lumps. Carrying an extra cannon is not as good as carrying an extra hundred rounds of artillery shells.

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

The mercenaries who were still forming a team around them immediately fell into chaos - no matter how the officers yelled and cursed, the soldiers just ran around or stayed in place and trembled in fear. The entire Albanian army's left wing suddenly lost a section.

Joseph suddenly heard the sound of bagpipes, organs and violins that had been playing in his ears weakening - this was the case on the battlefields of this era. From the beginning of the battle, the music from all over the battlefield never stopped, like being in a grand but somewhat simple concert.

Immediately, the sound of the drums became clearer, and the infantry column that had been advancing rapidly stopped on the spot and spread out to both sides.

Two officers from each company went out to pull a twenty- to thirty-meter rope straight. The soldiers lined up behind the rope. The entire queue suddenly became straight.

A few minutes later, in front of the Albanian mercenary position, an infantry line with three rows in front and back, spanning 700 to 800 meters long, appeared. From Joseph's perspective, it was as if a giant had carved a white knife mark on the pale yellow wasteland.

At the same time, two infantry companies appeared on the north side, forming a skirmishing formation and staring at the gap opened by artillery in the enemy's line, and began to move forward slowly.

Albanian Army Commander Seimezi looked through the telescope at the troops in crisp white military uniforms, tight pants, and tricorn hats. His brow was covered in cold sweat, and he kept muttering: "They are French, how is this possible?" ?This is impossible……"

According to the intelligence he received, the French army was still in the Tunisian city three days ago. This information has been repeatedly confirmed by Albanian spies and the remnants of the Tunisian Guards, and there is no way it is wrong.

But where did the Frenchmen in front of me come from?

It's impossible for them to get from Tunisia to Annaba in three days, right? !

According to his knowledge, this is indeed impossible, but for the Guards Corps who train cross-country with heavy loads all day long, it is far from reaching the limit.

Another round of artillery fire from the distance shocked Seimezi. He saw that the French army's line had been deployed, but his own team was still in disarray, 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. The speed of the whole team was naturally much faster than that of the mercenaries who were still marching. In the war of the flintlock era, whoever can complete the entire team first will have an absolute advantage.

At this moment, the scouts sent by Seimetz finally returned - he was considered a veteran on the battlefield, and he could still perform basic operations such as sending out cavalry for reconnaissance immediately after encountering the enemy.

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

Seimezi was certain in his mind that although the enemy had taken advantage of the surprise attack, he had an absolute advantage in strength.

In other words, as long as you can manage to stabilize your position and drag the battle into a head-on confrontation, victory will still belong to you!

His thoughts were racing, and he looked at his left wing, which was the most chaotic, and shouted to the attendant: "Let Nishani lead the cavalry to attack the enemy's right wing. Delay the enemy for at least half an hour!"

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

The attendant hesitated: "Pasha, is it all the cavalry?"

Seimezi gritted his teeth and nodded: "Yes! All cavalry!"

He knew very well that he could not let go of the cavalry at this time.

Although the cavalry side is still in a mess and has not completed the entire team, if it is just a harassment battle, each cavalry brigade attacks at will, and it should be able to delay the enemy for a long time before all 1,600 cavalry are exhausted.

After that, he can take advantage of his strength and fight a positional battle with the French. Even if they can't win, General Keheler's army will arrive tomorrow. By then, with several times their strength, they will surely be able to quickly overwhelm the French army!

Just as another round of bombardment by the Guards Corps artillery completely scattered the Albanian left wing, horns sounded in the latter's military formation, and more than a dozen heralds ran back and forth to gather the cavalry.

Three hundred meters behind the Albanian army's gap, a reserve team began to form a team, preparing to fill the front line with a neat queue.

Just as the drummers of the Guards beat rhythmic drums and the "military band" started playing again, preparing to launch a frontal attack, a large number of cavalry carrying bows and arrows poured out from the Albanian left wing.

Joseph heard the prompt from the staff officer on the side and looked over there with the binoculars, and suddenly frowned. How did the Albanians react so quickly? You know, it is much more difficult to form a cavalry team than infantry. Why can they launch a cavalry attack immediately?

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

There is no difference between cavalry without formation and wild horses running around on the grassland. They were unable to take into account other teams while moving at high speed, and in the end it was easy to become a patch here and there, or a long and narrow line. If the opponent's cavalry lines up to attack, it will be a complete victory.

"Your Highness, they are probably trying to delay time." Berthier said, "We don't have as many cavalry as they do, and it will take a long time to completely eliminate them. But before that, they will separate some of their cavalry to attack our infantry. Lines.”

The strongest infantry line in the fusilier era was its frontal attack power, and a thin line would make the flanks very vulnerable.

So generally speaking, both sides will 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 herald: "Let the cavalry immediately respond to the right wing. Retract the skirmishers, assist the infantry on the right wing, and switch to hollow square defense. Give them the artillery of the reserve team."

"yes!"

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

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

The infantry took the initiative to form multiple phalanxes that supported each other and staggered across a large area, slowing down the cavalry's impact and constantly consuming the cavalry, thus becoming an offensive phalanx.

The order was conveyed to the right wing of the infantry line a minute later, and 2 skirmisher companies and 8 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 forward rushed to the French right wing in a chaotic manner, more than 500 cavalrymen from the Guards Corps and the Mullan Corps had already completed their formation and swept towards the sparse Albanian cavalry in five rows.

The latter only rushed up to a hundred or so people, and they were scattered almost immediately when they met. Most of them were cut down from their horses by sabers, and a few were shot dead by skirmishers who were covering the infantry from the side.

The French cavalry did not make any stop, drew an arc in the distance, turned around and regrouped.

The two skirmisher companies have blocked the sides of the infantry line, forming a T shape.

Soon, more Albanian cavalry came galloping forward. The French skirmishers fired dense bullets from the queue, and the twenty or thirty riders at the front fell off their horses - many of these skirmishers were trained by Joseph to be used as hunters, that is, snipers, and their marksmanship was very good. If the enemy's charge formation hadn't been too chaotic, the result would have been 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 flank. The gunner followed the instructions and ordered the loader to stuff grapeshot into the barrel of the gun.

A few minutes later, the rhythmic drumbeat sounded again in front of the infantry line of the Guards Corps. The drummer took the lead to move 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 to six hundred people, 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.