I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 362 Ransom of 800,000

Joseph and Berthier looked at each other again.

Although neither of them understood what was going on, they spoke almost at the same time, "Your Highness, I suggest launching an attack immediately!"

"I think we should cooperate with Major Lacoste to launch a strong attack."

Berthier then bowed slightly: "Yes, Your Highness!"

Soon, the scattered soldiers of the Guards began to surround the village of Ogchenner, and at the same time, the cannons roared, tearing the thin infantry lines of the Hanoverian defenders with shells.

Berthier looked at Joseph with some worry, and whispered: "Your Highness, is it that the cavalry artillery didn't have time to infiltrate, and the enemy's reinforcements have already joined the rear team?"

He frowned again: "Or, they were defeated by the enemy's reinforcements?"

Joseph thought and shook his head: "At least it's not the latter, otherwise it would be difficult for them to launch such a fierce bombardment. You just said that there are dozens of cannons shooting at the enemy."

Berthier was relieved when he heard it: "You are right, at least they didn't suffer very heavy losses.

"In this way, even if they didn't have time to stop the Hanoverian reinforcements, they are now in a pincer attack on the village of Ogchenna with us, which is a good situation. "

Just as they were talking worriedly, a guard led a burly soldier covered in black smoke.

Berthier immediately recognized the man: "Are you Matthew, the messenger of the cavalry artillery battalion?"

"Yes, General. Matthew Dibble. "The messenger raised his hat and saluted," The battalion commander heard the sound of artillery firing from your side, so he asked me to come and report to you. The cavalry artillery battalion and the dragoons cooperated to defeat the reinforcements from Hanover to support the rear team. Then the battalion commander learned from the prisoners that the enemy had set up defenses in the village of Ogchener, so he decided to rush here to attack the enemy. "

Berthier was stunned for a second, and then he smiled happily: "Major Lacoste is really...ah, so brave! He made an outstanding contribution to the victory of the legion."

He looked at Joseph again and whispered: "He used to be a very stable officer."

Joseph immediately thought of a certain artillery company commander, curled his lips, and said: "Maybe it was an adventurous subordinate who gave him the idea. "

The Hanoverian army in Ogchenner village obviously didn't expect to be attacked from behind, and soon they were in chaos.

The commander, Lieutenant Colonel Schmidt, shouted desperately, mobilizing soldiers to the north to stop the enemy, but he had deployed people on the roof before, and it took half an hour to pass the order and organize the team, and less than three companies reached the north of the village.

And his tossing, the Hanoverian soldiers in the village were a little confused, and they all came down from the roof for a while, but heard a louder movement from the south, and hurried back to the roof...

North side The cavalry artillery rushed into the village with almost no one blocking them.

Captain Lacoste had the cannons dragged to a few farmhouses less than a hundred steps away from the enemy soldiers, and blew them down.

The Hanoverian soldiers who saw this scene were so frightened that they left the farmhouses in a hurry, fearing that they would be buried in the ruins like their compatriots.

On the south side of the village, Davout pointed to the burning farmhouse in front and shouted to the herald: "The fire there has destroyed the enemy's defense line. Let's rush over with me! "

The drummer and the flag bearer carried out the captain's order without hesitation. Under the rapid drumbeats, hundreds of Guards soldiers quickly passed through the burning farmhouse on both sides. Although the flames licked off all their eyebrows and beards, and even some people's clothes were set on fire, there were indeed no Hanoverian soldiers nearby.

Davout commanded the soldiers to put out the fire on each other's bodies, simply lined up, and immediately fired at the enemy infantry line on their sides.

Then, the gap became larger and larger, and more Guards soldiers shouted and poured into the village from there.

Less than an hour later, the Guards soldiers who attacked from both the north and south sides met in the village.

Afterwards, Lieutenant Colonel Schmidt, whose hair was burnt and a large piece of his uniform was torn, was escorted to Joseph by a company commander.

After learning of Joseph's identity, the Hanoverian officer politely saluted him on his chest: "I didn't expect that the commander of this army would be the young French Crown Prince. Your command art has left me with a very unforgettable impression. "

Joseph nodded to him and said, "Then, please tell me, how long will it take for His Excellency Karl II to complete the defense line?"

"I'm sorry, Your Highness. Out of loyalty to His Majesty the King, I can't say a word to you."

Joseph waved his hand, looked at Berthier, and whispered, "What is this person's family background?"

The latter thought for a while, and asked the staff officer next to him, and then replied, "Your Highness, Viscount Schmidt is a big family in Verden. Since the time of George II, his grandfather was a lieutenant general in Hanover."

Joseph nodded and smiled. It seems that his family background should be quite rich.

So he gestured to the guards next to him, "Please change Viscount Schmidt into neat clothes first, and then invite him to my tent for a cup of tea. Even if it is an enemy, you should give a decent person due respect."

Lieutenant Colonel Schmidt was about to express his gratitude, but he heard the French Crown Prince continue, "The ransom is set at 800,000 livres, which should be able to show your noble status. "

Schmidt almost vomited blood. It was the first time he heard of a prisoner being "priced" on the spot.

800,000 livres, that's more than 300,000 florins!

He couldn't come up with that much money even if he sold all his property!

"Your Highness, you can't..."

He was about to "bargain" when he heard the French crown prince whisper to the general beside him: "Ah? A lot? No, no, I heard that it is easy for senior officers to get loans from British banks."

All his words were stuck in his throat until a French officer asked him to move to the military tent...

...

Karl II asked his staff almost every half an hour, "How long will it take for the army to complete the assembly?"

This time, the staff did not report the positions of the troops as before, but whispered with a dark face: "Marshal, I just received news that the village of Ogchener has been breached..."

Karl II felt dizzy. It was less than 4 hours, and Schmidt, who was very good at defensive battles, was defeated? !

In other words, there was only less than 3 miles of open road between the French army and himself.

He looked at the map on the side. At this time, the farthest infantry regiment on his side was still 1.5 miles away. When the French launched the attack, they might not be able to complete the assembly.

And the most fatal thing was that there was no news from the artillery of the rear team.

If there were no cannons, even if he fought the French army head-on, he would only be beaten up in the end.

He hesitated for a long time, called an officer not far away, and said loudly: "Sir Dill, you are now in full command of the army."