I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1348 A Defense Line Formed with Blood

Kutuzov continued, "Furthermore, the engineer battalion is to immediately proceed to the Dnieper River and construct a pontoon bridge capable of supporting twelve-pound cannons within a week."

The staff officer standing nearby felt uneasy upon hearing this; it seemed the commander was preparing for a retreat.

He hesitated for a moment, then whispered a reminder: "General, His Majesty the Emperor's order is for us to hold Minsk at all costs..."

“I’m doing that.” Kutuzov glanced at him before looking toward the battlefield. “The 5th, 6th and 11th Cossack cavalry battalions will immediately launch a strong attack on the enemy artillery positions, with the Biannov Corps providing cover.”

"Tell them that I hope we won't hear any more Polish artillery fire before 3 p.m.

His keen battlefield intuition told him that the situation in Minsk was going to get worse.

If the Tsar's order were carried out, the only result would be the complete annihilation of Russia's most elite troops under his command.

He would only have a chance to repel the Polish army if a large amount of British supplies arrived.

Until then, unless we can take out those few cannons that suddenly appeared on the other side, we might be able to hold out for a while longer.

Therefore, he committed all three of his most combat-effective cavalry battalions to the attack, hoping that the Poles would become complacent due to the prolonged offensive.

He then summoned several senior generals and issued a series of counter-offensive orders on the map.

An hour later, a dense drumbeat rang out from the central Russian positions, which had been entrenched in a defensive posture. More than 5 Russian infantrymen, in a line formation and with the support of skirmishers, launched a counter-attack against the oncoming Polish troops.

The Polish army was still using the traditional tactic of launching a surprise attack in columns and then turning into a line at close range.

Two regiments of Polish soldiers had only charged a few hundred paces when they suddenly encountered an infantry line opposite them. They had no choice but to hastily deploy, but before they could even adjust their formation, they were already being tossed about by a dense volley of fire from the Russian army.

General Madalinski, commander of the Polish central army, quickly noticed the situation on the battlefield and hurriedly sent two reserve infantry regiments to the front. After thinking it over, he felt it was not safe enough, so he said to the messenger, "Order Yannick to send a battalion and a cavalry battalion to seal the gap as soon as possible."

"Yes, General!"

On the Polish left flank, Yannick also saw the Russian counterattack in the distance. After receiving the order, he immediately and without hesitation dispatched two units to reinforce them.

The Polish army, which had been advancing relentlessly, suddenly thinned out considerably on this front.

On a hill a kilometer from the front line, Vizczek listened to the rumbling of artillery fire from the east and said to the company commander with a big smile, "Look, my men have already planned the route. There's a grove of trees over there that will provide cover, and we'll have a good chance of sneaking up to the Russian artillery."

"Please let me give it a try..."

The company commander glared at him irritably: "You're now a reserve soldier, and our entire company is a reserve soldier. Stay here and wait for orders."

He heard that it was because Vizczek violated the conscription regulations that their company was removed from the offensive order.

As the two were talking, they suddenly heard what sounded like a downpour coming from the northwest.

The company commander immediately turned around and looked. He was a veteran who had been to Erzgebirge and knew that this must be a large number of cavalry moving in formation.

As the sound grew louder, a messenger rushed over and shouted, "The brigade commander has ordered the Sixth Skirmisher Battalion to proceed to the high ground on the west side to defend against the enemy!"

The previously sullen reserve soldiers immediately became excited and, guided by the flags, sped towards their target.

The Russian Cossack cavalry battalion easily slipped between two Polish infantry units—there should have been a battalion there, but they had recently been redeployed to reinforce the central area. Just as the Russian cavalry commander could see the cannons on the distant slope with the naked eye, a burst of gunfire suddenly rang out from his flank.

He quickly dispatched a small team to scout ahead.

Before long, the scout cavalry returned and reported to him that there were more than 600 Polish infantrymen building a defensive line there.

The Cossack commander immediately and without hesitation ordered an attack.

Although it was not cost-effective to charge infantry head-on with cavalry, he had thousands of his most elite cavalrymen at his disposal, and General Kutuzov's orders were "at all costs."

When General Madalinsky heard his staff report that the left flank had been attacked by Russian cavalry, the Polish artillery in the distance suddenly stopped firing.

His heart sank. Looking at the thousands of Russian infantrymen who were still fighting against his own forces with inferior numbers, he finally realized that it was just bait.

He was preparing to personally lead his guards into battle when he suddenly heard his own cannons start firing again.

Immediately, a messenger arrived and reported to him: "General, Lieutenant Colonel Yannick says that his men have held off the enemy cavalry who launched the surprise attack."

Madalinsky immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and when he looked at the Russian infantrymen who were making a feint attack again, his eyes turned indifferent.

"Order the Mazovie Regiment to retreat a little. Have Colonel Radosław send two cavalry battalions to insert themselves on the enemy's northern flank."

"Yes, General!"

On a gentle slope on the left flank of the Polish army, General Voichkhov walked across the sticky ground soaked in blood. There was no sign of life in sight; the corpses of men and horses were scattered everywhere like fallen leaves.

The staff officer quickly caught up, his voice low, "General, we've only found fewer than 70 wounded. The rest are probably..."

Voichkhov took a deep breath and looked up at the artillery positions higher up: "Is the defensive line in place?"

“Yes, General, the Second Regiment is there. The Parma soldiers have all returned,” the staff officer continued. “According to the wounded, the Russian cavalry has lost nearly half its strength. I think they probably won’t be coming any further.”

Wojtekhov nodded silently: "Whose troops were guarding this place just now?"

"It seems to be Lieutenant Colonel Yannick's reserve force, General."

Just now, more than 600 soldiers of the Sixth Skirmish Battalion held off thousands of Cossack cavalrymen with their blood and flesh in this sparse thicket for a full half hour, buying General Voichev precious time to send reinforcements.

"How are my men?!"

Yannick arrived on horseback with over a hundred soldiers. He looked up and saw the body of a Polish soldier whose hands were still tightly gripping the front legs of an enemy warhorse.

General Voichkhov walked over and shook his head, saying, "They were all great heroes. Only fewer than 70 are still alive."

Yannick suddenly remembered something and asked urgently, "Wizczyk, where is Sergeant Wizczyk?"

His staff officer hurriedly led a group to count the wounded, and returned shortly afterward, whispering to him, "Lieutenant Colonel, someone saw him kill at least three Russians, and then... he was slashed by a saber..."

(End of this chapter)