I am the Crown Prince of France

Chapter 327: The Fearsome French Artillery

Just as Hild was confidently planning how to wipe out those pesky French artillerymen, he was shocked to see the cannons start moving!

Instinctively, he glanced back. He had only covered about 400 paces, taking less than two minutes. This meant that the French artillery had completed their hitching process and started moving in such a short time!

How was that possible?!

He watched in disbelief as the French cannons retreated, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. Gritting his teeth, he shouted, "Speed up! We must stop those cannons!"

The French horse artillery had just fired nine rounds, causing hundreds of casualties among the Netherlands troops. If they managed to escape now, it would severely damage his side's morale.

In an instant, the six squadrons of cavalry began pushing their horses to the limit, galloping at a pace just shy of a full charge, which was the maximum speed the horses could handle at this distance.

However, the French cannons were retreating incredibly fast. Hild estimated that they were moving almost as fast as his cavalry at a trot. Especially the long, narrow wagons, which were nearly disappearing into the French infantry line.

By the time Hild's cavalry reached the position where the French artillery had been, the cannons were already gone.

Hild's deputy, gasping for breath, remarked, "Those guys run faster than foxes..."

Listening to the labored breathing of both his horse and his men, Hild frowned deeply. There was something off about the speed at which the French had hitched their cannons. No, they had almost no hitching process at all; the cannons had started moving immediately.

What Hild didn't know was that Joseph had introduced a new style of horse artillery and combat tactics to the Imperial Guard. The cannons had never been unhitched in the first place. When the Prussian cavalry approached, the gunners simply urged the horses forward, and the artillerymen used winches to shorten the distance between the cannons and the horses. They then used a quick-release latch to secure the cannon's rear to the driver's seat.

As for the ammunition wagons, they were even faster. The powder and ammunition were quickly packed into the wagons, which were already positioned close to the horses, so there was almost no need for hitching.

The well-designed ammunition wagons could move as quickly as city streetcars.

This was why the Imperial Guard's horse artillery dared to fire from such close range. In Napoleon's time, this tactic was known as "close-range artillery fire," colloquially referred to as "putting bayonets on the cannons."

However, the Imperial Guard hadn't fully executed this tactic; otherwise, they would have fired canister shots directly at the Prussian cavalry. But this battle didn't require them to go to such extremes.

In fact, if Joseph hadn't insisted on taking the Netherlands infantry line seriously, Berthier wouldn't have even bothered to show off the horse artillery like this.

Just as Hild was stewing in frustration, one of his guards suddenly pointed into the distance. "Sir, it looks like French cavalry!"

Hild strained to listen, and sure enough, he could hear the faint sound of hoofbeats from the east.

His heart sank. After exhausting their horses chasing the elusive French artillery, his men were now easy targets. If French cavalry attacked now, his men would be sitting ducks.

He quickly ordered two squadrons to cover the rear while the rest retreated to their lines.

But his horse only moved forward at a slow walk, its nostrils flaring, while the hoofbeats behind them grew louder and louder.

Finally, the rearguard cavalry made contact with the Imperial Guard.

To be fair, the quality of the Imperial Guard's cavalry didn't match that of the Prussian Junker soldiers—the latter were skilled riders, while half of the former had only learned to ride after joining the Paris Military Academy. The most experienced riders in the Guard were those recruited from the French Guard.

But at this point, they were up against exhausted, nearly stationary targets. After a flanking charge, the Prussian cavalry lost their will to fight and began dismounting to surrender.

Seeing this, Hild cursed the French artillerymen even more viciously. Then he noticed, to his horror, that the same accursed horse artillery had circled behind the French infantry and reappeared just 200 paces in front of the Netherlands infantry line, readying their cannons once again...

Meanwhile, the Imperial Guard infantry was steadily advancing.

No matter how fanatical the South Netherlands soldiers were, or how much their chaplains bolstered morale, it was impossible to maintain order and morale under relentless canister fire without effective counterattacks.

After nearly twenty rounds of grape shot from the French artillery, which left nearly a thousand dead, the Netherlands' first infantry line began to crumble. In fact, it was remarkable that they had held on as long as they had.

Seeing the situation through his telescope, General Witt quickly ordered the second line to move up, but by then, the rhythmic drums of the French infantry could already be heard.

Berthier had timed his advance perfectly. As the Netherlands' infantry lines rotated, he ordered the Imperial Guard to charge in columns.

The Prussian cannons on the hillsides immediately roared to life, firing solid shots at the advancing French, but despite the distance, they still posed a significant threat.

However, the Imperial Guard's horse artillery quickly maneuvered to the flank of the Prussian artillery and began suppressive fire.

With no choice, the Prussian gunners had to pivot their cannons to return fire, easing the pressure on the advancing French infantry.

Within moments, the French infantry columns had advanced to within thirty paces of the Netherlands' lines—close enough to be relatively safe from immediate harm—before quickly deploying into line formation and delivering a close-range volley.

Before General Witt's second line could reinforce the front, he heard the sound of concentrated musket fire, followed by retreating soldiers rushing back toward him.

The poorly trained Netherlands soldiers didn't know to move to the sides to allow the retreating men through, leading to chaos as the two groups collided.

Meanwhile, the French infantry line was already visible just over a hundred paces away...

...

Blücher was deep in discussion with his staff about how to best encircle the French when a messenger hurried into the tent and handed him a dispatch.

Seeing the wax seal from Major Christel, Blücher smiled. It seemed Diekirch had been captured. If he could defeat the French here, Luxembourg might fall to Christel at the same time.

Calmly, he opened the letter, but his expression quickly froze. The letter stated that Diekirch was heavily defended by French troops, making it impossible to attack. Christel requested to regroup with the main force.

"The French have troops in Diekirch?" Blücher frowned, handing the note to his aide.

Before he could finish speaking, another messenger burst into the tent, his face covered in soot and blood.

As he handed the report to Blücher, the messenger croaked, "General, General Witt's line has been broken..."

"What?!" Blücher was stunned, quickly unfurling the report, which indeed confirmed the defeat of the Netherlands army, signed by Hild.

(End of Chapter)

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