I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1278 Poland Will Never Perish
Four days later.

In the middle of the Ore Mountains, outside the Nahesser Pass.

Major Drouot, the French artillery battalion commander, turned to look at the endless infantry line to the north and muttered in bewilderment, "They were able to launch the attack yesterday at noon, what are they trying to do..."

It's no wonder he was puzzled. At this time, more than 7 troops had gathered on the north side of the mountain pass, and they were all lined up in neat rows, as if they were there for a military parade.

It should be noted that although the Nahesser Pass is not very narrow, it is at most wide enough for seven or eight thousand soldiers to launch an attack on the fortress on the ridge.

Colonel Rana rode over on horseback, glanced at the imposing artillery position, and said to Drouot, "Have you moved all the ammunition over?"

"Yes, Commander," the latter quickly stood at attention and said, "Everything was ready yesterday."

“Then fire!” Lana gestured toward the distant St. Peter’s Fortress. “Use the most concentrated firepower.”

Drouot glanced at the infantrymen standing ramrod straight in the distance: "It seems the attacking force isn't ready yet..."

Rana smiled and said, "It's alright, this is just to scare the Austrians."

"what?"

Rana patted him on the shoulder: "General Soult is worried that the Poles won't be able to 'knock' open the two fortresses south of the pass, so he wants to help them."

Drouot immediately understood.

The main body of the Erzgebirge complex consists of three bastions. St. Peter's Basilica sits at the highest point of the ridge, while the Theresa and Joseph's Basilicas are located on the south side of the pass.

If the Polish army cannot quickly breach the latter two fortresses, even if the French army manages to break through the mountain pass, they will be subjected to crossfire from the Polish forces.

With General Soult deploying so many troops on the north side of the fortress, the Austrian army inside St. Peter's fortress will surely be frightened into requesting reinforcements from the other two fortresses. This will significantly reduce the difficulty for the Polish army in attacking the fortress.

More than ten minutes later, hundreds of cannons on the north side of the Nahsser Pass roared simultaneously. Although only five of them, 24-pounders, were within range of the fortress, the deafening roar and the smoke that covered most of the pass still terrified the Austrian soldiers on the fortress.

Fortress commander Lieutenant Colonel Steinocher almost without hesitation sent men to request reinforcements from other fortresses—the Saint Peter Fortress had fewer than two thousand soldiers, while the French forces that suddenly appeared numbered at least 30 times his number!
at the same time.

On the outskirts of Ust, 15 kilometers east of the Joseph Fortress to the south, Chief of the General Staff Knyanavich was reporting the latest military intelligence to Koschushko: "The enemy has followed Lieutenant Colonel Tuchkut toward Brno. We should have successfully shaken off the enemy..."

Three days ago, the Polish army was intercepted by 6,000 Austrian troops in the Turnov area. In order not to expose the whereabouts of the main force, Koschushko ordered Tuchkut to lead three regiments to lure the enemy away.

Now there are no obstacles between them and the Nahse Pass.

A cavalryman dressed as a traveling merchant hurried over and reported to Koschushko: "Marshal, nearly a thousand enemy troops left Joseph Fortress this morning."

Knianavic exclaimed excitedly, "It must be our French allies attacking the mountain pass!"

Koschusko took a deep breath, turned his horse around, and galloped past the ranks of soldiers, shouting:

Soldiers! Fellow countrymen!

"I know that the wailing of the Vistula River still echoes in your ears, and you still remember the sinister smiles of the invaders as they stepped into Minsk."

"I know that your uniforms are stained with the blood of your comrades, and also with the tears of our motherland. I know that you may have suffered and despaired, but merciful God has given us the opportunity for revenge!"
"Yes, we will use this gun, with our lives, to avenge Poland! To send all the invaders to hell!"

He pointed sharply north: "Our French comrades are tearing through the Austrians' last line of defense, and that's what we're doing too."

"Hundreds of thousands of French troops will join us in flattening Vienna."

"After that, we will head east to reclaim Octättia, Minsk, and the west bank of the Dnieper! To reclaim all our homeland!"

"We will use guns, bayonets, and cannons to crush those Russians into the mud, plant our flag on the east bank of the Dnieper, and hold a victory parade there!"

He drew his sword sharply, its blade gleaming blindingly in the sunlight: "Now, this is our first battle of revenge! For our motherland!"

"For the Fatherland!" Tens of thousands of Polish soldiers roared, following behind the Marshal as they charged toward Fort Joseph.

"As long as we have a breath left, Poland will not perish. Raise your swords, reclaim our lost territories. Forward, forward, Dombrowski... The Crown Prince has shown us how to achieve victory..."

The song "Poland Never Dies" echoed across the Central European Plain, like a declaration of defiance from every Polish soldier.

The Austrians did not expect the French army to suddenly attack Erzgebirge, but what surprised them even more was that at the same time, nearly 4 Polish troops launched a pincer attack on them from the south.

When the Polish soldiers, their eyes bloodshot, surged like madmen toward the Theresienwiese and Joseph Fortresses, the defending Austrian troops were left with nothing but despair.

With a large number of troops transferred to reinforce St. Peter's Fortress, there were only about 500 soldiers left in each of the two fortresses. Even if they could hit their targets with every shot, they simply couldn't stop the Poles who were frantically climbing up from all sides.

In fact, at least half of the Austrian soldiers were so frightened that they huddled under the wall and dared not even look up to fire.

Before nightfall, Fort Joseph had already been captured by the Polish army, while Fort Theresa had its cannons destroyed on three sides, leaving it essentially powerless to fight back.

The next morning, Koschushko, leaning on his cane, slowly walked among the bodies of the fallen soldiers.

There were no tears in his eyes, only a silent recitation as he bowed his head: "Every Pole will forever remember your sacrifices..."

The next morning.

Just as Soult was about to order the "routine performance" to continue, he suddenly focused his gaze and looked south.

The faint sound of cannon fire could be heard in the distance.

He turned to the messenger and shouted, "Quickly, have Lana launch an immediate attack. A real attack!"

The dozens of cannons on St. Peter's Fortress soon began to roar at full power.

Lieutenant Colonel Steinochel personally drew his sword and ordered the soldiers to hold their positions.

But less than an hour later, the southern hillside was covered with tiny white dots. Those were countless Polish soldiers.

Every now and then, shells would glide across the hillside, and a few white dots would be replaced by a splash of red, but immediately more white dots would fill the space.

(End of this chapter)