I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1248 The Line of Defense Against Death - Part 4
More than half an hour later, the French hussars finally confirmed that the main Russian force opposite them was moving south.

The brigade commander of the 31st Brigade, Saiduton, sensed something was wrong.

The entire Offenburg defensive line was over ten kilometers wide—Baden's terrain was flat, so defenses could only be carried out by relying on towns and villages—almost every section of the defensive line was under attack from the Allied forces.

At this moment, the sudden departure of several thousand Russian troops from the village of Orakl meant that the enemy forces facing the other defensive line would immediately increase dramatically.

Seido quickly made a decision: he left an infantry battalion to continue defending the village of Orakl, while he led the main force of his brigade to the south to reinforce the area. At the same time, he sent someone to report the enemy's movements to the Offenburg command.

After a brief regrouping, the 31st Brigade began its march south to the town of Schnat at 9:30 a.m.

Fortunately, the French soldiers had recovered well the night before and were able to advance almost at a jog. After just over an hour, they saw the town's clock tower.

At this moment, the cavalrymen in front also turned back and reported to Saidu: "Lieutenant Colonel, the Russian army just arrived in the east of the town more than ten minutes ago and seems to be preparing to launch an attack."

Seido turned to look at the chaotic soldiers beside him, his brow furrowing. After the forced march, his new recruits were no longer in formation, but if they weren't quickly thrown into battle, the town of Schnat might be swiftly captured by the Allied forces, who had concentrated their superior numbers.

This was Graham's plan: to use the rapid movement of troops in different positions to disrupt the French formation. And this seemingly simple task of assembling entire units actually best reflects the level of training of the soldiers.

These French recruits, only mobilized for two or three months, are bound to cause confusion during marches and formations. That's exactly the opportunity he needs.

Saidou loudly ordered the entire army to switch to combat formation and moved the most disorganized battalions to the rear to prevent them from interfering with the others.

Just then, the liaison officer from Schnat arrived and shouted to him, "Lieutenant Colonel, please reinforce the left flank as soon as possible. More than 20,000 enemy troops are attacking our lines."

Saidoo was shocked: "So many?!"

Schnatter was just a small town, and although its location was relatively important, the French troops responsible for defending it numbered only a little over 3.

The liaison officer wiped his sweat and said urgently, "Since this morning, enemy troops from both the north and south sides of the town have been continuously converging here. Enemy troops from Ilhis Town and Lelats Village should have arrived as well..."

Saidu personally led several staff officers back and forth to organize the troops. Once the southernmost battalions were roughly assembled, he immediately ordered a counterattack against the nearest Russian troops.

On the French defensive line northeast of Schnatter, Gaizka and his comrades were just breathing a sigh of relief after their hard-won victory against the British attack when they suddenly heard the drums beating rapidly again.

That's a signal that the enemy is attacking.

Gaizka looked up and saw a long gray line appear to the north.

Unlike the British, this gray line appeared somewhat loose, but its advance was much faster. His own cannons had only fired fifteen or sixteen times when he could already see the outlines of the enemy soldiers.

“They’re Russians,” Sergeant Popard said in a deep voice. “We’re in trouble.”

Gaizka's hands began to tremble again. He subconsciously squeezed the button on Nasserly's shirt in his pocket, thinking that perhaps soon someone would also carry his button or something similar on their person and occasionally call out his name.

"Prepare--"

The shouts of the company lieutenant came from behind.

Gaizka raised his gun, but the densely packed Russians in front of him enveloped him in a palpable sense of despair.

However, the Russian battle line suddenly paused and then began to turn north. At the same time, British battle lines followed.

Someone shouted from afar, "Reinforcements! Our reinforcements have arrived!"

Gaizka felt much more at ease and began to carefully aim at the enemy. However, at this moment, Lieutenant Colonel Dimas, standing on a barn outside the town of Schnat, had a furrowed brow.

He could clearly see through his binoculars that more than 4 Russian troops were flanking him on his left flank, while the 31st Brigade, which had come to reinforce him, had only committed less than 3 soldiers.

To make matters worse, the line formation of our reinforcements was broken into four sections, and their marching speed was inconsistent, with the eastern side lagging behind by nearly 4 meters compared to other positions.

If we were to engage the well-prepared Russian army in this manner, we would certainly be quickly defeated.

He originally intended to send someone to warn the 31st Brigade, but then he saw the meager strength on his defensive line and the Russian troops approaching from the right flank.

He sighed heavily and said only to his staff officer, "Get the reserves ready for battle. Hopefully, we can see the sunset today..."

Left side of the Schnat town defense line.

Yefremov also noticed the disorganized French troops, smiled contemptuously, and turned to signal to the messenger: "Have my lads fix their bayonets. We need to finish this battle as quickly as possible and then be the first to storm into the town."

He was a staunch supporter of Suvorov, firmly believing in the latter's theory that "bullets are idiots, bayonets are heroes."

Of course, in the warfare of that era, the power of a bayonet charge was indeed far greater than that of musket fire. According to Suvorov, a bayonet could wound three people in a short time, while hundreds of bullets might just fly aimlessly through the air.

Therefore, once a bayonet charge is launched, as long as the enemy's morale is suppressed, the enemy can be defeated almost instantly.

This is precisely where the Russian army excels. Historically, they have repeatedly relied on hand-to-hand combat to defeat opponents stronger than themselves.

Facing a French army that outnumbered him and whose ranks were disorganized, Yefremov was certain that he could end the battle here in just a few minutes.

Soon, a rapid bugle call sounded from the north side of the town.

Immediately, the monotonous drumbeats that had been playing for so long in front of the Russian troops suddenly accelerated, becoming rapid and violent, like hailstones pelting down on a rooftop.

A hoarse, suppressed roar burst from the Russian soldier's throat: "Hurrah—"

The shouts quickly coalesced into a torrent, like a dam bursting.

The gray "waves" surged wildly toward the thin white lines opposite, as if a single collision would crush them to pieces.

The French soldiers of the 31st Brigade were so startled by this imposing aura that they stopped in their tracks.

However, just seconds later, a French honor guard turned to the soldiers, waved and shouted: "See that? Those beasts are charging at us, but we are not afraid!"

"For the motherland!"

Immediately, someone shouted, "Yes! Let them see who the true master of the battlefield is!"

"It is the great France!"

"For the Fatherland! Citizens of France, march on!"

"Long live France! Prepare bayonets!"

"Annihilate all enemies!"

The Russian soldiers, who were running wildly, were surprised to find that the Frenchmen opposite them did not show the same fear as their usual enemies. In fact, the Frenchmen even had excitement and fanaticism on their faces!
(End of this chapter)