Chapter 454 "Elixir of Immortality" (please vote for me)
Morris rubbed his eyes subconsciously. When he looked again, most of the white line had appeared, and there were at least seven or eight thousand people. !
The Saxon soldiers who were still "torturing food" were even more shocked. When the frontline officers began to order the troops to stop, they saw dozens of horses dragging cannons to their side and in front of them. In less than 10 seconds, At a distance of 200 steps, they began to unload their horses and set up their cannons.
Just a few minutes later, seven 6-pounders roared at the Saxon infantry. The iron ball accurately swept through the queue of soldiers, leaving stumps and broken arms all over the place.
The Saxon who had been beaten carelessly just now was immediately knocked out and dizzy, mainly because it was too scary to be hit in the face like this.
Before the Saxon cavalry could react, the 6-pounder guns had been reattached to the carriages, made a large circle from behind the French infantry, and appeared on the other side of the Saxon infantry.
The elusive shelling completely disrupted the Saxon rhythm. The infantry who had been hit by the shells dispersed to reduce losses, while officers in other positions pulled up ropes and loudly ordered the soldiers to line up in order to meet the French infantry line on the opposite side. List.
After struggling like this for more than 20 minutes, the infantry line of the Guards Corps had arrived less than 100 steps in front of the Saxon position, and the latter's formation was still crooked.
In the era of queuing to kill, using a scattered formation against a neat line formation is undoubtedly looking for abuse.
The Guards Corps took the lead and started a volley at a distance of 65 steps. Although this distance is a little far, it is a reasonable tactic when the enemy's formation is not in order - firing first can further disrupt the pace of the opponent's entire team.
Moreover, the percussion cap gun equipped by the Guards Corps has a relatively long range. Even if it is about 80 steps, it can cause effective damage, but the hit rate will be more impressive.
Sure enough, after being attacked, the Saxon soldiers began to subconsciously fight back. Due to the shelling just now, their officers were still busy organizing their troops and did not bother to stop the soldiers.
Messy shooting was difficult to cause effective damage. Occasionally, some bullets hit the target, but they were basically blocked by the bulletproof inserts equipped by the Guards Corps.
In this way, people continued to fall in the Saxon army formation, while the French army on the opposite side calmly reached a place less than 30 steps in front of them as if nothing had happened.
Suddenly, a Saxon soldier exclaimed: "That medicine is real! They can't die at all!"
His words immediately aroused great panic:
"God, there really is that kind of medicine!"
"How can we fight this?"
"No! This is impossible to defeat. We are finished..."
It turned out that after Driessen's troops returned to the Prussian coalition camp a while ago, they told others in fear that the French army had a magic medicine that could instantly heal gunshot wounds. After the Frenchman was shot, he could stand up again in less than a minute as long as he swallowed the medicine in his mouth.
Previously, the Saxon soldiers had ridiculed the Prussians as an excuse for their defeat. At this moment, they all believed it.
After another round of volleys, the Saxon soldiers began to turn around and run away, and even some junior officers also ran away - they also saw with their own eyes that the French who had been shot stood up again. How could this battle be fought?
In fact, most of the shooting between infantry lines that can cause a lot of damage occurs within 40 steps of the two sides. However, because the Guards seemed almost "invulnerable" at a long distance, this had a huge psychological impact on the Saxons. So much so that when they started to shoot at close range, their hands were shaking. There were slightly more casualties, and their morale was crushed.
The cavalry artillerymen of the Guards Corps approached and bombarded everywhere, which accelerated the process.
Similar to the situation of the Driessen Army, the defeat of the first infantry line quickly affected the rear. The second infantry line only exchanged fire with the Guards Army briefly before they also fled together, and then the third line... …
In just about 40 minutes, the Saxon Army formed three lines in front and back, with more than 13,000 soldiers, and began to run northward desperately. Berthier couldn't help but feel a little depressed when he looked at the black soldiers all over the mountains and plains. Most of the cavalry was sent to cover the Austrian retreat. He only had 6 cavalry companies here, and they had to be used to cover the flanks of the infantry. He didn't even have cavalry to pursue.
The Guards Corps rested in place for an hour and continued to advance north.
At this time, they were standing in the middle of the gap in the Austrian defense line, blocking the Prussian army that broke into the Austrian-controlled area.
The Duke of Brunswick quickly received the news that the Saxon Army was attacked, and he immediately frowned and lay on the map.
Although he didn't know where this French army came from, according to Morris's report, they only had more than 10,000 people. All he had to do was deploy his troops to stop them immediately.
He looked at the herald: "Order General Andreas to go to the breach immediately and intercept the French group."
He thought about it and felt it was not safe enough, so he added: "Move the August Army here as well."
The two legions have a total of more than 16,000 soldiers, and together with the cavalry responsible for covering them, the number is close to 18,000. He has a huge local strength advantage and is willing to invest troops.
Berthier soon received news that two Prussian armies were approaching. At this time, he was close to completely blocking the gap in the Austrian defense line, but he ordered without hesitation:
"The entire army turned to the southwest and gathered on the gentle slope to prepare for the incoming enemy."
The staff officer next to him hesitated and said: "General, but this way we have to abandon the newly blocked defense line."
"His Royal Highness the Dauphin once told me that we must never forget the established strategic goals." Berthier patted him on the shoulder, "We are here to annihilate the main force of the Prussian army, not to help Marshal Lacy retake the defense line. ”
The staff officer was stunned for a moment, then stood at attention and said, "Yes, General!"
When Andreas and the Augustus Army arrived at the gap in the defense line, the French army that had just attacked the Saxons had disappeared.
Then, what happened to the Saxon Army just now happened again——
The cavalry artillerymen suddenly bombarded from the front, and the Guards regiment infantry line appeared on their right, and rushed forward at an extremely fast speed.
These Prussian soldiers had also heard the legend of the "Elixir of Immortality". At this time, after facing the French army and firing several rounds of volleys, they also fell into fear.
The battle came to an end around 4 p.m., with Andreas' men barely able to cover up the stairs and retreating to the north, while the Augustus Army was completely defeated.
Berthier did not order a pursuit, but ordered the entire army to immediately return to the gap in the Austrian defense line, begin to deploy artillery, and send soldiers to block traffic arteries.
The Prussian regiment that had previously broken into the west side of the defense line had now been completely divided into Austrian-controlled areas.
(End of chapter)