I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1255 Heading to Berlin
Marshal Mehrendorf shouted with all his might to his attendants, "Horses! Bring me my horses!"

A moment later, he climbed onto the horse, panting, gripped the reins tightly, and headed toward William III's tent.

However, he was too old to let the horse run, otherwise he might fall off at any moment.

He then anxiously waved to the officer beside him: "Quickly! General Schmeichel, go and protect His Majesty as he evacuates!"

"Yes, Marshal!"

It took Mellendorf more than ten minutes to finally reach the luxurious tent used by William III, only to find Major General Schmetau standing there in a daze.

He frowned, spurred his horse forward, and called out loudly, "What are you doing? Where is His Majesty?"

Shi Meitao turned around and shook his head, saying, "His Majesty... is not here."

Mellendorf was startled and shouted to the guards, "Go find His Majesty immediately!"

“No need.” Shi Meitao raised his hand to stop the guard, then pointed to several royal guards beside him. “His Majesty has already left.”

"Leave?" Mehrendorf looked at the royal guards in surprise. "Where did His Majesty go?"

Someone with their head bowed said, "His Majesty... heard that there was a breach in the defenses, so he returned to Naumburg. We were ordered to gather his furniture here..."

Mellendorf's eyes were filled with shock, but he quickly nodded and smiled wryly: "Very good. His Majesty's safety is the most important thing, this is good."

He turned to the messenger and said, "Immediately dispatch the cavalry battalion to hold off the enemy cavalry..."

He sighed again, seemingly exhausted from commanding the battle for most of the day. He slowly sat down on the carpet in front of the tent: "Send someone to Naumburg to tell them to send someone to meet His Majesty."

When Murat rushed to the location previously reported by the hot air balloon, he only saw an empty tent.

He frowned, dispatched several dozen cavalrymen to search the area, and then followed the direction with the densest hoofprints on the ground.

News of the king's escape quickly spread among the Prussian soldiers.

God is my witness, Mellendorf had repeatedly ordered his men not to leak the news, but some officers at the front saw that the French cavalry had crossed the line and sent men to protect the king, only to find abandoned tents.

The higher the morale of the Prussian army was before, the faster it collapsed.

So much so that when they began to scatter and flee, Augereau thought it was an enemy plot and sent men to scout repeatedly. Only after confirming that there was no ambush did he order a pursuit.

At 5 p.m., Augereau stood atop the bell tower of Weimar Cathedral, gazing at the plains to the north, and said to Masson beside him, “Let everyone have a good rest for the day. We have a week of continuous travel ahead, and I’m afraid we won’t have time to rest until we reach Berlin.”

"Oh, has someone been sent to report to the General Staff?"

"Yes, General, the liaison officer set off as soon as the battle ended."

"Many people have sacrificed their lives today; they were the finest soldiers of France."

"Yes, General."

"But we won."

"A great victory, General."

next morning.

Murat led several hundred hussars to the outskirts of Naumburg. Just as he was about to give up, he suddenly saw a row of farmhouses in the distance.

He gestured to the captain beside him: "Egzelmang, send someone to inquire."

Before long, the latter returned with several hussars and said to Murat, "Major, they said that a cavalry unit passed by here half an hour ago and headed towards Naumburg."

Murat was overjoyed and waved to the soldiers: "Let's go after them!"

He asked Egzelmang, "They wouldn't lie, would they?"

“No,” the latter laughed. “Those farmers thought we were Prussian cavalry.”

"I should express my gratitude to them." Well, in this era, the styles of military uniforms from different countries were very casual, and ordinary people couldn't tell them apart at all.

Murat had over 200 men with the best horses gallop with him, and finally, when they were three or four kilometers away from Naumburg, they saw the cavalry wearing bearskin hats ahead.

He immediately drew his saber and spurred his horse's flanks hard with his legs: "Prepare for battle!"

William III hung his head wearily, his body swaying from side to side with the gait of his horse, while he calculated in his mind when the Allied reinforcements would arrive in Potsdam.

The attendant beside him suddenly exclaimed, "They're French!"

The King of Prussia was startled and turned around, and sure enough, he saw a row of white figures.

"Dreiger, you protect His Majesty!" an officer urged. "The rest of you, hold off the enemy!"

William III immediately became extremely vigilant and frantically whipped his mount.

I don't know how far I ran, but I heard bursts of gunfire behind me, which quickly subsided.

He had never realized that silence could be so despairing.

The sound of hooves grew closer. Although his horse was also a fine steed, his riding skills were far inferior to those of the elite French hussars.

William III nearly snapped his whip, but the white demons drew ever closer to him.

Dreger drew his sword and shouted, but just as he was about to turn around, a bullet pierced his cheek.

"Halt!" came a shout from behind. "We will give you the dignity befitting a monarch."

William III sighed, already preparing to rein in his horse.

Just then, a group of soldiers in gray-green uniforms emerged from the woods ahead. Overjoyed, he waved vigorously at them, shouting, "I'm here!"

Murat, who was leading the way, frowned as he looked at the soldiers, who were probably the garrison of Naumburg.

He pointed his gun at William III's back: "Stop immediately, or I will shoot!"

The latter completely ignored him and instead swung his whip even faster.

"boom--"

The distance was too far, so it was clear that the shot missed.

"Bang, bang-"

Murat fired all his remaining bullets and saw the Prussian king's body suddenly sway. He was immediately excited and his eyes widened, but the damned horse was still galloping wildly.

The Prussians ahead had already begun firing their guns in their direction. Murat reluctantly tightened the reins, signaling the soldiers to stop the pursuit, and then took out his binoculars from his backpack.

He carefully searched for the lovely bullet hole on William III's body.

He shook his head in disappointment when he saw that the king's right hand remained pressed against his thigh.

……

30 kilometers east of Kassel.

The Duke of Brunswick anxiously urged his soldiers to speed up; the French had been missing for a day and a half, and if this continued, he might lose all trace of them.

Several cavalrymen suddenly appeared in front of him, and he breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed that they had spotted the enemy.

However, the cavalry lieutenant's hoarse voice made his face turn black: "Marshal, our vanguard has been attacked by the enemy!"

　Thank you so much, Alliance Leader Lin Jia Er Shi, for your generous donation of 25000 Qidian Coins! The humble author is deeply grateful and extends his highest respect to you! Mwah! The author will continue to update for you in the future!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)