I am the Crown Prince of France

Chapter 329: A Young Napoleon's First Test

Blücher quickly reined in his horse, eyes wide as he turned to ask, "Are you sure it's not just a cavalry harassment?"

"It's definitely not just a raid, General," one of the hussars said as he exchanged a look with his companion. "We saw artillery, and there are at least three or four regiments."

Blücher felt a buzzing in his head, as if his thoughts were scattering. How could these French soldiers have wings?

He had ordered his troops to abandon a lot of their supplies to speed up the march, and they had just finished breaking camp, yet the French had already caught up!

What he didn't know was that the French Imperial Guard carried almost no supplies aside from ammunition and gunpowder. Even Prince Joseph didn't bring a bed, so why would the other officers?

An hour earlier, after crushing the Netherlands forces, Joseph had left one regiment to clean up the battlefield and two companies to tend to the wounded. The rest of his soldiers didn't even rest before they immediately marched towards the Prussian main force.

Soon, more hussars arrived, reporting the French army's approach. Blücher had no choice but to order his entire army to form up and prepare for battle.

The Prussian troops, who had just begun marching, immediately halted and started reorganizing. Supply wagons were hurried to the rear, creating chaos as nearly 10,000 soldiers scrambled together in confusion.

Blücher had just managed to form three infantry lines when the French cavalry appeared less than a kilometer away, with infantry following closely behind.

"Is the artillery ready?" Blücher asked, his face darkening as he turned to one of his aides.

The aide spoke with several messengers before returning and replying, "General, the artillery is on its way to the high ground; it should be ready in about half an hour."

"Tell them to hurry!" Blücher said, feeling a strange unease about this French army that only heavy artillery could ease.

"Yes, General!"

As both the Prussians and the French conducted reconnaissance and probing maneuvers, the Imperial Guard's infantry lines were already closing in, just 500 paces away from the Prussian forces.

Finally, Blücher received a detailed report on the size of the French force—11,000 men.

He frowned, mentally calculating that as long as the Altermann and Dettling regiments could return in time, they could still surround the French.

…

"Put your backs into it!" The commander of the Imperial Guard artillery battalion pointed to the hill ahead, shouting to the soldiers who were helping the horses pull the cannons. "The Prussians have divided their forces. As soon as we start firing, they'll quickly collapse!"

Nearly a thousand artillerymen let out enthusiastic shouts. "Smash the Prussians!"

"Victory and glory are ours!"

"Let's show these yokels what we can do! Long live the artillery!"

Today's battle had been a moment of pride for them. In previous wars, artillery had always played a supporting role to infantry. Even military textbooks stated that no matter how much success artillery achieved, it was always the infantry that finished the battle.

But in today's clash with the Netherlands forces, it was the artillery, especially the horse-drawn artillery, that had shattered the enemy's lines with their sudden and devastating close-range bombardment.

The infantry had merely cleaned up afterward. If it weren't for the overwhelming number of Prussian cavalry and the exhaustion of the Imperial Guard's horse artillery's horses, they would have loved to repeat that scene against Blücher.

As the leading cannon was about to be dragged up the hill, a thin, sharp-featured lieutenant surveyed the terrain, occasionally observing the Prussian deployment through his telescope.

Suddenly, he closed the telescope and quickly approached the artillery battalion commander. He saluted and said, "Commander, I believe this hill is not the best position for our artillery."

The commander, Major Lacoste, frowned but remembered that Prince Joseph seemed to hold this young officer in high regard. He patiently explained, "This is the position assigned by the staff, Lieutenant Bonaparte."

He gestured towards the distant Prussian lines visible to the west. "From here, we can directly bombard the enemy infantry lines, and there's no open ground nearby that's suitable for cavalry to form up. It's an excellent position for firing."

Napoleon pressed his lips together and summoned his courage to point to a more western slope. "Sir, I believe...that hill over there is the most ideal position for our artillery."

Major Lacoste was momentarily stunned, then raised his telescope to look at the spot Napoleon indicated. He smiled. "Lieutenant, that position is indeed closer to the enemy, and the angle for flanking fire is good. But you might not have noticed that there's a small forest just to the left of it."

"If the Prussian infantry comes under fire, they could move towards those trees, and we'd lose sight of them."

"Exactly!" Napoleon nodded emphatically. "That's the advantage of that position."

"Huh?" Lacoste blinked in surprise.

Napoleon took a deep breath and explained, "The more intense our bombardment, the more the enemy will want to move towards that forest. But the more distant troops won't be able to reach it. This could tear their infantry lines apart."

On a real battlefield, the fighting often spanned vast areas, with infantry lines stretching for miles. Soldiers in one part of the line couldn't see where their comrades were or what they were doing.

Even officers, if communication was poor, could lose track of their own forces.

Lacoste looked again at the artillery position Napoleon had suggested and began to think that the young lieutenant might be right.

After a moment's thought, he nodded and ordered a messenger to inform the staff of his decision to send some of the cannons to the new position. He then ordered Napoleon's artillery company to move out.

Ten minutes later, the roar of cannons signaled the beginning of the battle—a barrage from the Imperial Guard.

Fifteen 6-pounder cannons unleashed their shells with a terrifying whistle, tearing through the Prussian infantry's front line and gouging deep furrows in the green grass.

Blücher felt another jolt of shock. How could the French, after a long march, have managed to fire the first shots?

He scowled and ordered five squadrons of cavalry and a battalion of skirmishers to attack the French artillery while urging his own artillery to respond as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, Napoleon's company of five 6-pounder cannons waited patiently, hidden among tall grasses, for the right moment.

As an experienced commander, Blücher was cautious in large-scale battles, using his expertise to counter the Imperial Guard's maneuvers and harassment.

The infantry lines of the Prussians and the French inevitably closed in on each other, and as the drummers beat a steady rhythm and officers barked orders, the two sides prepared to clash, testing their training and morale.

But just as the Prussians' right flank was within 400 paces, fire suddenly erupted from the grasses, and five 6-pounder shells smashed into the Prussian lines with deadly precision.

The surprised Prussian soldiers let out a chorus of wails.

Through his telescope, Napoleon watched the devastation with a slight smile. His ballistic calculations had always been the best at the military academy, and at this range, hitting the target without adjusting the aim wasn't difficult for him.

(End of Chapter)

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