I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 454 "Immortal Elixir" (asking for monthly votes)

Morris rubbed his eyes subconsciously, and when he looked again, the white line had already appeared for the most part, at least 7,000 to 8,000 people!

The Saxon soldiers who were still "bullying" were even more shocked. When the front-line officers began to order the troops to stop and assemble, they saw dozens of horses dragging cannons to their side and front, and began to unload the horses and set up the cannons less than 200 steps away.

Just a few minutes later, 7 6-pound cannons roared at the Saxon infantry. The iron balls swept accurately through the ranks of soldiers, leaving a pile of broken limbs and arms.

The Saxons who had been fighting carelessly just now were immediately beaten dizzy, mainly because it was too scary to be bombarded in the face like this.

Before the Saxon cavalry could react, the 6-pound cannons had been re-harnessed on the carriages, and made a big circle from behind the French infantry, appearing on the other side of the Saxon infantry.

The elusive bombardment completely disrupted the rhythm of the Saxons. The infantrymen who were hit by the shells scattered to reduce losses, while the officers in other positions pulled up the ropes and shouted to the soldiers to line up in order to meet the French infantry lines on the opposite side.

After more than 20 minutes of tossing, the infantry lines of the Guards Corps had come to less than 100 steps in front of the Saxon position, and the latter's formation was still crooked.

In the era of line shooting, using a scattered formation to fight against a neat line formation was undoubtedly asking for abuse.

The Guards Corps took the lead in firing a volley at a distance of 65 steps. Although this distance is a bit far, it is a reasonable tactic when the enemy's formation is not in order - firing first can further disrupt the pace of the opponent's formation.

Moreover, the range of the percussion guns equipped by the Guards Corps is relatively long, and even at about 80 steps, it can cause effective casualties, but the hit rate will be more touching.

Sure enough, after being attacked, the Saxon soldiers began to counterattack subconsciously. Because of the bombardment just now, their officers were still busy lining up and had no time to stop the soldiers.

The chaotic shooting was originally difficult to cause effective casualties. Occasionally, some bullets hit the target, but they were basically blocked by the bulletproof inserts equipped by the Guards Corps.

In this way, people in the Saxon army kept falling, while the French army on the opposite side pushed to less than 30 steps in front of them as if nothing had happened.

Suddenly, a Saxon soldier cried out: "That medicine is real! They can't die at all!"

His words immediately aroused great fear:

"God, there really is that kind of medicine!"

"How can we fight this?"

"No! This is impossible, we are finished..."

It turned out that after Driesen's troops returned to the Prussian coalition camp a while ago, they told others with fear that the French army had a magic medicine that could instantly heal gunshot wounds. After the French were shot, they just had to swallow the medicine in their mouths and they could stand up again in less than a minute.

Before, the Saxon soldiers laughed at the Prussians for making excuses for their failure. But at this moment, they all believed it.

After another round of volleys, the Saxon soldiers began to turn around and flee, and even some junior officers followed them - they also saw with their own eyes that some Frenchmen who were shot stood up again. How could this battle be fought?

In fact, the shooting between infantry lines that could cause a lot of casualties mostly occurred within 40 steps of each other. But because the distance was far, the Guards Corps seemed almost "invulnerable", which caused a huge psychological impact on the Saxons. So much so that when they started to shoot at close range, their hands were shaking, and their morale was crushed if the casualties were slightly higher.

The cavalry artillery of the Guards Corps approached and bombarded everywhere, which accelerated the process.

Similar to the situation of the Driesen Corps at the beginning, the fleeing soldiers of the first infantry line quickly affected the back, and the second infantry line only exchanged a little fire with the Guards Corps, and then fled together, and then the third line...

In just 40 minutes, the Saxon Corps lined up in three lines in front and behind, with more than 13,000 soldiers, and began to flee desperately to the north.

Berthier looked at the black-clad soldiers all over the mountains and couldn't help feeling depressed. Most of the cavalry were sent to cover the Austrian fleeing soldiers. He only had 6 cavalry companies here, and they had to cover the flanks of the infantry. There was no cavalry to pursue.

The Guards Corps rested for an hour and continued to advance northward.

At this time, they were standing in the middle of the gap in the Austrian defense line, cutting off the Prussian army that broke into the Austrian-controlled area.

The Duke of Brunswick soon received the news that the Saxon army was attacked, and immediately frowned and lay on the map.

Although he didn't know where this French army came from, according to Maurice's report, they only had more than 10,000 people, and he just had to immediately withdraw troops to stop them.

He looked at the herald: "Order General Andreas to go to the breakthrough point immediately to intercept the French team."

He thought about it, felt it was not safe enough, and then continued: "Transfer the August Corps as well."

The two corps had a total of more than 16,000 soldiers, plus the cavalry responsible for covering them, nearly 18,000 people. He had a huge advantage in local forces and was willing to invest in them.

Berthier soon received news that two Prussian armies were on their way. At this time, he was close to completely plugging the gap in the Austrian defense line, but he ordered without hesitation:

"The entire army will turn to the southwest and gather on the gentle slope to prepare to deal with the enemy."

The staff officer next to him hesitated and said, "General, but in this way we have to give up the defense line we just blocked."

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince once told me that I must never forget the established strategic goals." Berthier patted him on the shoulder, "We are here to annihilate the main force of the Prussian army, not to help Marshal Lacy regain the defense line."

The staff officer was stunned and stood at attention and said, "Yes, General!"

When Andreas and the August Corps arrived at the gap in the defense line, the French army that had just attacked the Saxons had disappeared.

Then, the experience of the Saxon army just now was repeated-

The cavalry artillery suddenly attacked in the face, and the infantry line of the Guard Corps appeared on their right side and rushed to the front at a very fast speed.

These Prussian soldiers had also heard of the legend of the "immortal elixir". At this time, after several rounds of face-to-face volleys with the French army, they were also in fear.

The battle ended around 4 p.m., and Andreas's men were barely able to cover each other in echelons and retreat to the north, while August's army was completely defeated.

Berthier did not order a pursuit, but ordered the entire army to immediately return to the gap in the Austrian defense line, began to deploy artillery, and sent soldiers to block the main traffic routes.

Previously, the Prussian army that broke into the west side of the defense line had been completely separated in the Austrian-controlled area.