I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1224 Encounter on a narrow road

On the northwest side of Lake Lucerne, Suvorov is leading 5 Russian troops back along the same route.

In fact, he left the Weddensville battlefield around noon today.

Yes, he had suspected two days earlier that the French might have more than one ambush point. And he quickly noticed that the enemy had chosen to defend themselves against Rosenberg's attack of less than 3 men, so he immediately concluded that other French troops might be attacking them.

Adhering to the principle of prioritizing offense, he immediately withdrew his main force and turned to attack from behind.

Based on his experience, he deduced that the French were unlikely to deploy in Schwyz, as it was too close to Blücher, making it easy for Russian and Prussian troops to combine their forces.

Therefore, it most likely came from the direction of Warren.

Then, he launched a rapid attack on the northwest side, hoping to take advantage of the French army's unpreparedness and quickly defeat them.

Then, we can lead our troops back to Weydensville and slowly annihilate the French forces there.

If Blücher were fast enough to flank them, they might even be able to annihilate the French forces in Switzerland.

That evening, Suvorov's army received bread and wine from Zug, Switzerland—the Federal Parliament's order did have some effect.

Since there was no need to wait for supplies, he ordered the soldiers to march two kilometers further before setting up camp to rest.

The following morning, Suvorov's army continued its march toward Volyn.

According to his estimate, it would take at least a day from when the French troops in Wedensville discovered him to when they sent the message to Warren.

Then, the French troops in Warren began a forced march, and by this time they should have covered about 5 versts, or less than 6 kilometers.

If he maintains his current speed, he will encounter the French army between noon and 3 p.m. today.

He could already imagine the shock and helplessness the French would feel when they suddenly saw tens of thousands of troops appear before them.

However, at that moment, a light blue hot air balloon floated leisurely into the northern sky.

Russian soldiers quickly spotted it and reported it to their officers. Eventually, the report reached Suvorov through the ranks.

Suvorov had heard about hot air balloons, a new type of military equipment, from Prussia. Although he didn't know much about it, he knew it meant there were enemy troops nearby.

He immediately ordered his troops to form a battle formation, while his cavalry moved to the flanks. As the Russian army was still hastily assembling, a series of sharp whistles suddenly pierced the sky, and then more than a dozen black shadows, like the Grim Reaper, darted through the Russian soldiers.

Blood and bits of flesh splattered everywhere, and screams and cries of agony filled the air.

Suvorov felt his mind go blank; he could hear at least a dozen 12-pounder cannons firing at him. This was definitely the main force of the French army!

But where did these people come from?

He had previously scouted the hills along the Reuss River repeatedly and could not have missed a large French force, so the enemy must have started from Warren at least.

Even if they had been marching at full speed, they couldn't possibly have gotten here by now!

This place is a full 15 kilometers from Warren, and the Frenchman probably only found out he had arrived in Wedensville yesterday, close to dusk.

Unless they can fly, there's no way they could walk that far in half a morning!
Little did he know that the French army was equipped with a large number of high-tech mobile signal vehicles.

Switzerland's mountainous terrain is ideal for cell tower communications.

Sérusier had previously set up two mobile signal cars on the hills on the southern shore of Lake Zurich to facilitate communication with his right flank—a small hill southwest of Weydensville kept his right flank somewhat distant from the central army. However, after being attacked by Russian forces, Sérusier sent cavalry to relay the message, while his signalmen also relayed it to the furthest signal car.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, the signal chariot commander on the hill ordered the two horses pulling the chariot to be untied, and he himself transformed into a cavalryman and rushed towards Warren.

They were positioned on the outer edge of the battlefield and did not encounter any Russian scout cavalry along the way.

Thus, by pushing the horses to their limits, the wagon driver arrived in Warren around 3 p.m.

Massena then immediately led his troops toward Wedensville.

It was this mobile signal vehicle that "squeezed out" 9 kilometers, giving Massena the advantage.

After the 12-pounder cannon roared for a while, a slightly quieter cannon shot came from the left flank of the Russian army. It was the French cavalry artillery's 6-pounder cannon.

Suvorov struggled to regain his composure, and after a quick thought, issued a series of orders:
"Vestayev, immediately lead the reserve cavalry to find the enemy artillery and disperse them at all costs."

"The Rosenberg Legion will encircle Zurich from the direction of Lake Zurich, and if they cannot find an opportunity, they will continue to return to Zurich."

"The Vorotov Legion is preparing to meet the enemy head-on..."

"Gorchakov went around the mountains on the south side..."

His response was quite effective: he withdrew the vanguard corps that had been ambushed, allowing the reserves to take their place, while simultaneously spreading out his troops as much as possible. Since his own side was already in disarray, he wanted to disrupt the French formation as much as possible as well.

But he forgot that there was a hot air balloon in the sky that could see everything nearby.

After learning of the Russian army's movements, Massena decisively ordered the concentration of superior forces to launch a frontal assault.

Meanwhile, Udino and Gazen were separated, each leading 5 soldiers to intercept the enemy forces that were spreading out to the two flanks.

More than ten minutes later, a brigade of 5 soldiers, in hundreds of columns and under the cover of tens of thousands of skirmishers, charged toward the Russian lines from a two-kilometer-wide front.

Vorotov personally shouted loudly in front of the infantry line to keep the soldiers in formation.

However, the French rifled guns in the distance only needed a few volleys to create large gaps in the Russian defenses, and the soldiers retreated in panic.

Then, a dark, dense column of soldiers rushed forward.

A few Russian soldiers who had not yet panicked quickly raised their guns and returned fire.

Amidst the gray infantry lines, scattered firelight flickered, but the French infantry, already close at hand, merely staggered slightly before continuing their rapid march to the beat of the drums.

Yes, most Russian soldiers were still equipped with flintlock muskets, which were a level below percussion cap muskets in terms of gas tightness. Even at a distance of 40 paces, they could not penetrate the bulletproof inserts commonly used by the French army.

Seeing that the French column had begun to deploy, Vorotov gritted his teeth and ordered a bayonet charge.

However, his orders went unanswered—that's how Russians fight: when they have the upper hand, they're willing to fight to the death with bayonets and cannons; when they're at a disadvantage, they're in complete chaos and hardly listen to their officers.

Finally, the French soldiers who had charged forward completed their line-up and fired their first volley at a distance of 50 paces.

The Minié missiles flew accurately to their targets, and a red mist instantly rose from the entire Russian infantry line.

(End of this chapter)