I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 757 This is a surprise

9 kilometers south of the town of Uccle, French soldiers in white uniforms are lining up in an orderly manner.

What is somewhat strange is that the clothes of the more than 4 soldiers on the northernmost side are light gray, which is obviously the uniform of the Walloon police.

Yes, the "French army" that was intimidating Count Radetzky outside the town of Mavergne was actually Walloon police dressed in French soldier uniforms.

They were too weak to fight after yesterday's rout, but they could still stand in line.

This is also the reason why Count Radetzky kept reporting to Prince Cobourg that the main force of the French army was ready to launch an attack on the town of Mavergne at any time.

Joseph used this method to hide more than 4 French soldiers.

He then ordered the Royal 4th Infantry Division to march quickly overnight.

The 4th Division finally arrived at Wavre at three o'clock in the morning. Even though it was one of the top troops in Europe, thousands of soldiers fell behind after marching for half the night.

Early this morning, Joseph ordered Lefebvre to lead 1 soldiers who still had strength to move quickly north and launch an active attack on Prince Coburg's troops.

From Prince Coburg's point of view, the 6 French troops in the Wavre area were besieging Count Radetzky, and he should have maintained a fierce offensive and occupied Wavre in one fell swoop.

And he never thought that he would be suddenly attacked by tens of thousands of French troops.

Lefebvre's eyes swept across the faces of the soldiers with dark circles under their eyes and tired expressions, and he sighed in his heart.

These guys traveled 25 kilometers during the day yesterday, walked 8 kilometers overnight, and only slept for about four hours at night. This morning they walked another 4 kilometers to get here. You can imagine how much physical energy they had consumed.

He waved his whip, galloped past the soldiers, and shouted:

"Yes, I know everyone is very tired, and maybe even standing like this is a bit tiring."

He turned sideways and pointed his whip to the east: "But the enemy is equally exhausted. They have been marching rapidly since this morning to reinforce the Radetzky Corps, and their formation has become extremely messy.

"I want you to hold on and show those Austrians what a real man is! Let them watch in horror as you crush them completely with your iron will!"

He suddenly drew out his sword, raised it above his head, and said proudly: "You are the guards of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince! You are the best soldiers in Europe! You will overcome everything!"

Yes, although it has been reorganized into the Royal Fourth Regiment, the soldiers are proud of the "Guards Regiment" and still refer to themselves by that name in private.

When they heard the word "Guards", the soldiers immediately raised their heads, and excitement and enthusiasm replaced the previous fatigue in their eyes.

Lefebvre turned his horse and rushed towards the Austrian army in the east: "In the name of the Dauphin! Defeat them!"

Tens of thousands of soldiers immediately followed suit and roared, "In the name of the Crown Prince!"

Their bodies seemed to have forgotten their fatigue, and they marched towards Prince Coburg in time with the drum beats.

Of course, this is also the result of their daily ultra-high-intensity physical training. Otherwise, no matter how much they motivate themselves, it will be useless if the body can't hold on.

But the French new army had to practice 5-kilometer weighted running all the time, so they could still "squeeze" out some physical strength at this time.

In comparison, the Austrian soldiers had only carried out a forced march of less than 10 kilometers this morning, and their physical strength had already been exhausted.

Prince Coburg's response was timely. While the French army was rushing through the last 3 kilometers, he had gathered 5 infantry regiments and completed the battle array on the west side.

Lefebvre had no other choice. The terrain around Brussels was flat, and 3 kilometers was the shortest distance to avoid being discovered by the Austrian scouts. In fact, if Prince Coburg was not in a hurry, he would have to keep a distance of at least 6 kilometers to avoid being discovered.

But considering the level of chaos caused by the Austrian army's forced march, 3 kilometers was enough for concealment!
The first to attack the Austrian army was not Lefebvre's cavalry or infantry, but artillery.

Although Joseph did not bring any cavalry artillery this time in order not to disperse the offensive forces on the Rhine line, the marching speed of the Royal Infantry Artillery Battalion was not slow at all.

Ten 10-pound guns began firing at 6 paces from the Austrians, which was almost the maximum effective range of these guns.

However, at this time, there were Austrian soldiers running around everywhere in front, and with the shooting level of the Royal Artillery Battalion, there was no need to worry about hitting the target.

As the shells passed by one after another, screams were heard incessantly in the Austrian army. Except for the more than 7 soldiers who had already lined up, the other soldiers who were still gathering towards the military flag became even more confused due to the lack of officer restraint and the damage caused by the shells.

On Prince Coburg's side, most of the artillery was still at the back of the team, and only three guns could fight back.

More than ten minutes later, 12 French infantry columns, under the cover of skirmisher battalions, appeared in front of the Austrian infantry line and began to charge at an accelerated speed.

"Stand still, don't move!"

The Austrian officers shouted desperately, but the shooting of more than 6 French skirmishers alone caused their line formation to waver.

Immediately afterwards, the French columns arrived at a position about 100 steps away from the linear formation, stopped, and began to deploy into a horizontal line.

In just half a minute, several columns of more than 100 meters long appeared in front of the Austrian infantry line, and the skirmishers tacitly filled in between the columns to make up for the gaps in firepower.

"Forward!" Following the officer's order, a horizontal column of 6 French infantrymen followed the sound of military drums and pressed towards the opposite line formation.

When the two sides were 60 steps apart, the Austrian army finally could not hold back and launched the first volley.

Thirty or forty French soldiers were hit by bullets, but thanks to the protection of bulletproof inserts, less than ten were actually injured.

The rhythm of the French military drums also accelerated, and the horizontal column rushed forward 12 steps, and then at the order of the officers, they raised their percussion rifles at the same time.

"aim--"

"shooting--"

The dense fire covered the entire horizontal column. Because the distance was closer and the French army had a higher shooting level, blood and flesh splattered on the Austrian line, and hundreds of people fell to the ground.

"Reload—"

In fact, there was no need for officers to give orders at all. The French soldiers, driven almost by muscle memory, quickly performed actions such as raising their guns, loading powder, and pestling.

Because they were more proficient in loading skills and the fact that there were fewer steps to load a percussion cap rifle, as soon as the Austrians finished loading and raised their guns, the French followed closely and aimed at them.

You know, they just took 12 more steps!

The two sides fired shots two or three seconds apart, and tens of thousands of lead bullets flew across the air.

The bulletproof inserts once again show great value.

More than 150 Austrian soldiers were shot dead, while the French army suffered only about 40 casualties.

(End of this chapter)