I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1288 Mississippi War Chronicles
"At that time, I was an infantry captain. After the Americans launched a sudden attack, we only fought one battle, and then we started to retreat continuously."

As Major Macquart recounted his story in a monotonous and unremarkable tone, Baron Leotar seemed to be right there in the midst of the war on the banks of the Mississippi River…

“Commander, we can’t waste any more time here!” Captain Makar risked violating military discipline, pushed aside two guards, strode up to Napoleon, looked north and said, “You know, once the Americans occupy Baton Rouge, New Orleans will be hard to defend.”

"If we hurry back now, we should still make it in time!"

Yes, after the French army was "defeated" at Woodville, Napoleon kept avoiding battle and retreating, even abandoning the important town of Baton Rouge, and had by then retreated to a wilderness on the lower Mississippi River.

Makar suspected that if the dense forest to the east hadn't blocked their marching route, Major Bonaparte would most likely have retreated directly to New Orleans.

Seeing that Napoleon seemed unconcerned, the staff officer standing beside him cautiously added:

"Commander, those indigenous soldiers are clearly affected by our continuous retreat; some are secretly deserting from the army every day..."

“Don’t worry about it, those who stay are the real warriors.” Napoleon said, putting down his binoculars and glancing at the serious-looking Makar. “Your post shouldn’t be here.”

"I'm so sorry, Commander, but..."

Napoleon waved his hand and said, "You don't need to worry about Baton Rouge. Wayne won't attack there."

"Huh? Why?"

Napoleon gestured around:
“He’s been chasing us for over half a month, and now that he’s found us stuck in a ‘quagmire,’ he’ll definitely drop everything to come and wipe us out.”

Makar looked into the distance, following his hand. To the south lay a sharp bend in the Mississippi River, where engineers were building a pontoon bridge; to the east stretched a vast, impassable forest. Retreating westward would mean opening the road to New Orleans.

Cold sweat immediately broke out on his forehead.

This place is extremely dangerous. If the Americans suddenly launch an attack, we will have no choice but to fight a decisive battle.

At this time, there were only two thousand European soldiers and fewer than 1700 Native American soldiers—originally there were more than four thousand Native Americans, but most of them had deserted during the previous retreat.

This was simply not possible to repel 7 regular American troops.

"Then...then we should immediately abandon our baggage and requisition civilian boats to cross the river!" Makar exclaimed urgently, "Otherwise, once the Americans arrive..."

Napoleon smiled:
“I’m waiting for that moment.”

As expected, the US forces abandoned Baton Rouge, and they arrived very quickly. Their vanguard appeared in the French army's sight at 2 p.m., clearly having undergone a forced march.

The Indian company on the north side immediately panicked and retreated, almost getting tangled up with the French soldiers behind them.

U.S. Army Commander-in-Chief Anthony Wayne looked at the surrounding terrain and excitedly said to the officer beside him:
"Look, just as I predicted, the bend in the Mississippi River has slowed down the French."

Several officers nodded and smiled.

"We've finally caught these cowards."

"It's great that we were able to stop them before they escaped back to New Orleans!"

"This is the best reward for our tireless efforts over the past few days..."

A ranger wearing a felt hat rushed up to report to Wayne:
"General, the French are building a pontoon bridge across the river to the south. However, they have only completed two-thirds of it."

Wayne was overjoyed and pointed to the wilderness to the west of the French army, shouting: "Colonel Green, immediately lead the cavalry to cut off the French retreat to the west."

He then turned and waved to a middle-aged officer with a sharply defined face:

"General Arnold, get the soldiers ready. We'll launch the general offensive in half an hour."

"Yes, Commander!"

Soon, the six cannons of the US military roared into action.

Several iron balls swept past the French ranks, and the Indian soldiers, who had just managed to line up under the reprimands of the French officers, were thrown into chaos once again.

Immediately, nearly 3 American infantrymen, urged on by war drums, marched in orderly formation toward the opposite position.

Meanwhile, more than 600 American cavalrymen circled around to the left flank of the French army, followed by 500 infantrymen to assist in the interception.

Only then did the French finally have two 6-pounder cannons begin to return fire.

Major Lincoln, the U.S. Army staff officer, frowned as he looked through his binoculars at the chaotic French Indian soldiers. He said to Wayne, "General, although the enemy is in complete disarray, they haven't broken apart. Could there be some kind of conspiracy..."

The latter scoffed dismissively: "We possess an overwhelming advantage in combat power. The French can't withstand a frontal attack; no amount of scheming will help."

Lincoln hesitated and said, "General, I have heard that the French commander Bonaparte defeated 100,000 Austrian troops on the Italian battlefield."

“That battle was commanded by General Demobin.” Wayne looked proudly to the other side of the battlefield. “Bonaparte was just an exile.”

As the American infantry line and the Native American soldiers drew closer, the latter could no longer contain themselves and began firing.

There was no volley of fire, and sparks were randomly popping up everywhere, which finally relieved Lincoln: "I think I was overthinking it, General."

He failed to notice that although the Native American shooting was chaotic, it caused real casualties.

As the American troops advanced, soldiers continued to groan and fall to the ground.

They quickly returned fire with volleys, but most of the Native Americans were hiding among the tall grass and trees, which greatly reduced the effectiveness of their shots.

Once the Native Americans had loaded their guns—after three or four months of training, their loading speed was now almost as fast as that of American soldiers—they jumped out of their hiding places and opened fire. They then slowly moved backward in response to the captain's whistle.

Although they lacked war drums, standardized officers of all ranks, and even uniforms, these Native Americans achieved 70-80% of the effect of European skirmishers using traditional tribal warfare methods.

However, as Wayne said, the US military's advantage is simply too great.

Under the cover of artillery, they quickly pushed the Indian skirmishers to the front of the line formations of the French soldiers.

The sound of war drums mingled with the shouts of the Indian captain, and the Indian soldiers parted to the sides, revealing the main force of the French army armed with Charleville flintlock muskets.

In addition, there are three twelve-pound cannons and three six-pound cannons on the hills to the east.

As a "cannon fanatic," how could Napoleon not prepare cannons? His only request to the governor of Louisiana was to buy a batch of cannons from the Spanish army in Mexico at a high price.

(End of this chapter)