I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1254 The Valiant Augero
On the east side of Weimar, hundreds of French skirmishers were conducting sporadic harassment firing.

The Prussians on the other side also knew that their side was not the main battlefield, and they also slowly returned fire.

Not far away, the Prussian artillery on the high ground didn't even bother to glance in their direction, instead keeping its fire fixed on the main French force that was concentrating its attack on the frontal defenses.

At 2:30 p.m., the French skirmishers seemed to get bored and suddenly retreated to the sides.

Just as the Prussian soldiers defending the left flank were about to breathe a sigh of relief, they vaguely saw a large group of white figures appearing in the distance.

Just minutes later, accompanied by the sound of heavy drums and footsteps, the French column had rushed to within 200 paces of the Prussian defenses.

The Prussian officer hurriedly ordered the soldiers to maintain formation and prepare to fire.

Augereau did not ride a horse; instead, he personally followed a column of soldiers, jogging forward to meet the enemy.

Shortly afterward, gunfire erupted from the Prussians.

As the dense volley of fire swept across the French column, some soldiers in the front ranks fell, but others would immediately take their place. The officers' commands and the soldiers' steps were always as precise as clockwork.

The Prussians only had four volleys of fire before dozens of columns were already within 50 paces of them.

Augereau raised his sword and shouted, "All troops, form a line!"

The rhythm of the military drums changed accordingly, and nearly 3 soldiers turned around with great skill, taking their positions in less than half a minute.

Yes, the soldiers in the two regiments selected by Augereau were mostly graduates of the Paris Military Technical School, and nearly half of them had participated in the Luxembourg campaign a few years earlier, making them the absolute elite of the French Army.

Augereau pointed his sword forward and shouted, "Ready—"

The officers of each company then repeated his order. The French soldiers, who had already formed a line, immediately raised their rifles in unison.

"aim--"

"shooting--"

A burst of intense fire flashed, and the Prussian defensive line immediately became jagged and uneven. The fierce firepower startled the soldiers in the rear ranks, who dared not step forward to cover their positions for a moment.

Augereau's reason for using the more likely casualty-prone horizontal volley tactic was to maximize firepower and create an opening for Murat.

After withstanding a counterattack from the Prussian army, Augereau took the lead and charged forward about ten steps. The entire French column immediately stepped over the bodies of their fallen comrades and followed.

"shooting--"

With the French line firing its second close-range volley, hundreds of Prussian soldiers were instantly knocked to the ground by Minié shells. The Prussian commander at the front had no choice but to order the second rank of infantry to advance.

It was only at this point that the Prussian artillery finally reacted and hurriedly turned their guns towards their own left flank.

After the Prussian infantry line fired their volley, Augereau took a few more steps forward, only to suddenly hear the roar of artillery fire in the distance.

The two soldiers beside him were swept by a dark shadow, and most of their bodies disappeared instantly.

Augero's guards were shocked and rushed forward to pin him to the ground.

"Release me! This is an order!" Augero struggled to his feet, waving his hands forcefully at the soldiers on either side, and shouted, "In the name of the Crown Prince! Crush the enemy!"

This was a slogan that could ignite the spirits of every veteran in the Royal Guard. The entire line followed Augereau forward, charging to within 30 paces of the Prussian lines, completely ignoring the hail of bullets, shouting "In the name of the Crown Prince!" and firing their rifles in unison.

The second line of Prussian infantry, which had just been brought up, hadn't even settled in before they were forced to retreat.

Under such intense and precise firepower, even the "appeal of His Majesty the King" had no effect whatsoever.

Augereau quickly noticed a gap of over ten meters wide in the Prussian defenses and pointed it out, saying, "This way! Follow me, divide the fire!"

The so-called "firepower division" involves concentrating forces in a narrow area, preventing the enemy's rear guard from quickly assembling. Augereau's goal from the beginning was to create opportunities for his cavalry to penetrate.

A few minutes later, Augereau led more than 400 soldiers and formed a six-rank formation in front of the gap in the enemy infantry line. They used a method of firing two ranks at a time to continue to widen the gap with maximum firepower.

However, the overly concentrated formation also made them prime targets for enemy artillery, and several shells immediately flew over with a sharp whistle.

The French troops were hit by two of the iron balls, and more than a dozen were instantly torn to shreds.

"Hold on, everyone!" Augereau shouted, his eyes bloodshot, then turned to the messenger and said, "Have Murat make the move!"

"Yes, General!"

A signal car from Sapu behind them issued a series of commands in the southwest direction. A few minutes later, Murat appeared not far from Augereau with nearly a thousand cavalrymen.

Augereau glanced at the gap in the Prussian defenses that was now sixty or seventy meters wide, and shouted to the officer beside him, "Spread out to the sides! Maintain covering fire!"

Immediately, the French troops' multi-tiered lines turned to the sides, clearing the space directly in front of the gap.

More than 300 French cuirassiers, wearing long-brimmed iron helmets adorned with red feathers and gleaming steel armor decorated with brass, were the first to break through the infantry and wield their sabers as they cut into the enemy lines.

Behind them were 600 hussars wearing cylindrical hats and "ribbed" uniforms. They had their sabers hanging on their saddles and were all holding Joseph 1797 revolvers.

The Prussian officer immediately spotted the cavalry and frantically ordered his soldiers to fire at them.

However, there were not many Prussian soldiers near the gap, and most of the bullets fired hit the 3mm thick steel breastplates in front, leaving only small dents.

The cuirassiers roared through the gap, followed by hussars who retaliated with pistols at the enemy infantry.

The continuous and dense gunfire instantly forced the few remaining Prussian troops who were still resisting to retreat.

Murat felt a sense of relief upon seeing the third line of troops ahead, where there were no enemy soldiers. In reality, the Weimar army that William III had brought consisted of only a little over 14,000 men, all of whom had long been committed to the defensive line under the fierce attack of Augereau's army. The left flank, where the fighting had not been too intense before, had not prepared any reserves.

Murat quickly determined the direction and pointed his saber at the southern outskirts of Weimar: "Maintain formation, follow me!"

On the high ground to the north, Marshal Merendov, the Prussian commander-in-chief, turned pale when he saw the surging French cavalry through his binoculars.

He had no reserves left, and his cavalry was still locked in combat with the French on the right flank. In less than half an hour, the French cavalry would breach his command post.

He then noticed that the French did not seem to be coming directly in his direction.

Didn't the French discover the location of the command post?

He looked up at the hot air balloons floating in the distance, then his pupils suddenly contracted, and he turned to look at the tents in the distance: "No, they're heading towards His Majesty!"

(End of this chapter)