I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 959 Archduke Karl's Raid

Mustafa sighed in his heart: The training level of the Topizian new army is indeed far superior to that of the "left-handed" army, not to mention the Janissary Guards. [Note 1]

As an Aga of the Janissaries, or a high-ranking military officer, he was very wary of Topizians - the latter's growth would inevitably weaken the position of the Janissaries - but these new troops were indeed very useful in fighting.

He couldn't help but turn his head and look south, regretting that he didn't pay out of his own pocket to keep Captain Raymond and his men a few days ago - the fifth and sixth battalions of the new army had not yet completed their training, and their combat effectiveness was obviously much lower.

Raymond and others were the instructors sent by the Royal Army Academy of Tunisia to train the new Topizian army for Selim III. They used the more than two months of marching to train two battalions of soldiers.

Of course, we can't expect good training results in such a short period of time.

In accordance with the order of the General Staff, after the Turkish army entered Tarnovo, Raymond and his men returned to Tunisia.

Yes, it was Joseph's established strategy not to intervene in the war between Turkey and Austria.

Therefore, even if Mustafa took out more gold coins, it would be impossible to keep the French instructor.

Just as Mustafa and several of his chulas, or legion commanders, were discussing where to choose to fight the Austrian army after arriving in Bucharest, several Sekban cavalrymen, led by their attendants, hurried over and saluted him, saying, "Pasha, the Bulgarian legion has discovered that there are enemy troops on the west side."

Mustafa waved his hand nonchalantly: "Those must be Austrian scout cavalry. Just ask Mihajnov to disperse them and not affect the march."

"Yes, dear Pasha!"

However, just twenty minutes after the cavalry left, two more Bulgarian officers came galloping over.

Mustafa frowned and was about to say, "Don't report this trivial matter over and over again," but he heard the man shouting in panic, "Pasha, we are under attack!"

Mustafa was shocked and asked carefully, only to find out that five or six thousand Austrian troops attacked the Bulgarian corps on the periphery and defeated tens of thousands of Bulgarians in less than half an hour.

Although he was shocked at why the Austrians suddenly appeared in Tarnovo, he soon calmed down. After all, these Bulgarians were deployed on the periphery to serve as "warning birds".

However, they were defeated too quickly...

Mustafa immediately ordered the entire army to stop advancing and transferred 1 Janissary Guards to the left wing for reinforcement, while also sending out a large number of Sekban cavalry for reconnaissance.

At about two o'clock in the afternoon, the Guards from the west, Chula, sent someone to report that the Austrians had been repelled.

Mustafa was overjoyed and immediately sent six battalions of Topiz's new army to pursue the enemy.

To prevent confusion in the formation, he also ordered the central army to move westward at the same time.

Just when his main force in the middle had walked less than 5 kilometers, intensive artillery roars suddenly broke out from the north.

The shells hit the target very accurately. After three or four rounds of shooting, hundreds of Turkish soldiers were torn to pieces by the shells.

It was obvious that the cannons had been deployed in advance and their trajectories had been carefully calculated.

The two Guards Corps closest to the cannon were still on the march, but they were instantly defeated by the sudden attack and rushed towards Mustafa.

Mustafa ordered to shoot the fleeing soldiers without hesitation, but behind these Turkish soldiers, two lines of Austrian infantry followed closely. The fleeing soldiers in front blocked most of the bullets, and the Turkish artillery was slow to move and was still 1 kilometer away to the east.

Mustafa watched helplessly as the Austrians quickly approached his main force, and then fired a volley. The Janissary army collapsed, the Austrian army continued to advance, and the Turkish army continued to collapse...

These Austrian soldiers had been beaten by Napoleon like sheep before, but when facing the Turkish army, they seemed to have regained their nature as hungry wolves, and used flintlock rifles to frantically reap the lives of Ottomans.

Mustafa regretted it very much. If he had not sent out Topizius's new army, they should have been able to block the Austrian offensive and buy time for himself to set up defenses.

He gritted his teeth and shouted to the officer beside him: "Let Khalil attack the enemy's left wing. Tell him to hold the enemy back even if he dies!"

Khalil led the "Left-handed" army, a total of 1300 people, all of whom were transferred directly from Topkapi Palace to Wallachia.

These soldiers all have some connections in the palace, and Mustafa would never be willing to send them unless it was absolutely necessary.

Twenty minutes later, a group of tall Turkish soldiers wearing blue robes and golden conical hats rushed towards the Austrian left wing while shouting.

It was the Sultan’s “left-handed” guard.

The soldiers in the first row were armed with oval shields and scimitars, while the two rows behind them used flintlock rifles. Under the command of the officers, they stopped and fired every ten steps before moving forward again.

However, those shields could only serve as psychological comfort. Flintlock rifles could easily penetrate them within 70 steps.

Behind the Austrian army, Archduke Karl saw the "pointed-hat" Turkish troops like a suicide squad through the telescope, and could not help but sneer and shake his head.

He didn't even bother to tell his officers how to respond to this medieval-style charge.

He checked his pocket watch, turned to the herald officer and said, "Miller, let Colonel Hahnmayer launch the attack.

"Oh, the Odenburg Grenadier Battalion can be pulled out to cooperate with the cavalry. The enemy's frontal defense is too weak to use them at all."

"Yes, Marshal!"

Immediately, 15 squadrons of Austrian hussars who had been waiting behind the hills on the west side filed out and lined up to cut into the weakest point on the west side of the Turkish army - the troops here had previously been transferred by Mustafa to reinforce the defeated Bulgarians.

Yes, the attack from the west was just a way for Karl Ludwig to attract the enemy's attention. His cavalry arrived here yesterday afternoon, waiting for this moment.

Two of the four legions on the left side of the Ottoman center army were still using bows and arrows - if it were not for the 4 flintlock rifles provided by Joseph, most of them would be equipped with spears and bows and arrows.

Under the charge of the Austrian cavalry, a corps of archers and spearmen was the first to retreat, and a huge gap instantly appeared in the defense line.

Hahnmayer commanded the cavalry to make a circle, arranged the formation, and was about to rush into the gap, but suddenly he saw that the soldiers around him were all looking behind them.

He frowned and turned around, only to see a troop in white uniforms appearing on the grass not far away, forming a standard infantry line and rapidly approaching him.

[Note 1] The so-called "left-handed" army is the "Solak", the Sultan's personal guard, which is the most elite unit in the traditional Ottoman army. This corps holds the shield in the right hand to protect the Sultan, and uses the left hand to use the weapon, so it is called the left-handed army.

(End of this chapter)