Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 848 - 756: This is the Surprise

At a point 9 kilometers south of Yukeler Town, French soldiers in white uniforms were methodically organizing their formations.

Strangely enough, the uniforms of over 4,000 soldiers on the northernmost side were light gray, a style that was unmistakably those of the Walloon Police.

Indeed, the "French Army" stationed outside Mafnie Town to intimidate Count Radetsky was, in fact, police officers dressed in French military garb.

Having suffered yesterday’s defeat, they were no longer capable of continuing combat, but they could still line up and stand there.

This was precisely why Count Radetsky continuously reported to Prince Coburg, believing that the main force of the French Army was ready to launch an offensive on Mafnie Town at any moment.

Joseph used this ruse to conceal over 4,000 French soldiers.

He then commanded the Royal Fourth Infantry Division to execute a forced march overnight.

The division finally reached Wavre by three o’clock in the morning—though even this most elite unit in Europe saw over a thousand soldiers fall behind during the night-long march.

By dawn today, Joseph ordered Lefevre to lead the remaining able-bodied 13,000 soldiers northward for a proactive attack on Prince Coburg’s forces.

To Prince Coburg, it appeared that the 6,000 French soldiers near Wavre were fiercely assaulting Count Radetsky. He believed it was necessary to maintain the offensive momentum and capture Wavre in one fell swoop.

What he did not foresee, however, was being suddenly confronted by the assault of over 10,000 French soldiers.

Lefevre’s gaze swept over the soldiers with dark circles under their eyes and an exhausted demeanor, and he silently sighed.

These young men had marched 25 kilometers during the day yesterday, continued 8 kilometers overnight, and only slept about four hours before marching another 9 kilometers this morning to reach this point—their exhaustion was beyond question.

He raised his riding crop and galloped past the soldiers, shouting loudly:

"Yes, I know all of you are extremely fatigued, perhaps even struggling just to remain standing!"

He turned slightly and pointed his riding crop eastward: "But the enemy is equally weary. In their rush to reinforce Radetsky’s army, they have been engaging in forced marches since dawn, leaving their formations highly disorganized.

"I want you to persevere, to show those Austrians what it means to be real men! Terrify them as they witness how your iron will crush them completely!"

He abruptly drew his sword, raising it high above his head, and declared proudly, "You are the Crown Prince’s Guard Corps. You are the finest soldiers on the European Continent. You will triumph over all opponents!"

Although they had officially been restructured as the Royal Fourth Army, the soldiers still took pride in the name "Guard Corps" and referred to themselves by that title in private.

Upon hearing "Guard Corps," the soldiers immediately lifted their heads; their eyes, once hollow with fatigue, now gleamed with excitement and fervor.

Lefevre turned his horse and charged toward the Austrian Army in the east: "In the name of the Crown Prince! Crush them!"

Over 10,000 soldiers immediately erupted into deafening shouts: "In the name of the Crown Prince!"

Their bodies seemed to forget their exhaustion as they marched in rhythm with the drumbeats, striding boldly toward Prince Coburg.

Of course, this resilience was largely the result of their exceptionally rigorous physical training. Without such conditioning, no amount of morale-boosting could overcome physical limitations.

The French Army’s frequent 5-kilometer weighted runs were now paying off, allowing them to "squeeze out" some remaining stamina.

In contrast, Austrian soldiers had already exhausted nearly all their energy after just under 10 kilometers of forced marching this morning.

Prince Coburg’s response was undoubtedly swift. As the French troops covered the final 3 kilometers, he managed to rally five infantry regiments and complete their formation on the western side.

Lefevre had no alternative; the terrain around Brussels was flat and open. Three kilometers was the shortest distance they could cover without being discovered by Austrian scouting cavalry.

In fact, had Prince Coburg not been in such a hurry, he would have maintained a separation of at least six kilometers to avoid detection.

But given the chaos caused by the Austrian Army’s forced march, three kilometers was enough!

The first attack on the Austrian Army was not initiated by Lefevre’s cavalry or infantry, but by artillery.

While Joseph had refrained from deploying any mounted artillery in order not to divert forces from the Rhine River front, the marching speed of the Royal Foot Artillery Battalion remained impressively fast.

Ten six-pound cannons began firing from a distance of 500 paces from the Austrian Army—almost the maximum effective range of these guns.

In front of them were scattered Austrian soldiers, running to and fro. With the shooting accuracy of the Royal Artillery Camp, there was no concern about missing targets.

As cannonballs incessantly swept through, screams echoed within the Austrian Army. Aside from the 7,000 soldiers already organized into formations, the remaining troops rushing toward the regimental banners descended into greater chaos due to a lack of officer control.

On Prince Coburg’s side, most of his artillery was positioned near the rear of his formation, and only three cannons were currently able to return fire.

After ten minutes, twelve French infantry columns emerged in front of the Austrian infantry’s line formation under the cover of scattered soldiers and began accelerating their charge.

"Stand your ground! Do not move!"

Austrian officers shouted desperately, but the skirmishing fire from just over 600 French soldiers was enough to destabilize their line formation.

Soon after, the French columns halted about 100 paces from the Austrian line formation and began deploying into horizontal formations.

Within just half a minute, multiple hundred-meter-long horizontal lines appeared in front of the Austrian infantry line, with skirmishers seamlessly filling the gaps between them to maintain continuous firepower.

"Advance!" Following the officers’ commands, the 6,000 French infantry in horizontal formations began pressing forward, their movements synchronized with the rhythmic beat of military drums.

When the distance between the two forces shrank to 60 paces, the Austrian Army could no longer hold back and launched their first volley.

Forty or fifty French soldiers were struck by gunfire, but thanks to their bullet-proof inserts, fewer than 10 soldiers were seriously injured.

The French Army’s drumbeat quickened, and the horizontal formations charged forward another 12 paces before stopping, raising their caplock guns under the officers’ command.

"Aim—"

"Fire—"

Blinding bursts of muzzle flash illuminated the horizontal formations, and with the closer range and superior marksmanship of the French soldiers, blood and gore erupted along the Austrian line, leaving 200 or more soldiers collapsing to the ground.

"Reload—"

Without needing officer commands, the French soldiers carried out the reloading process instinctively. Their muscle memory ensured that actions like standing the guns upright, loading powder, and ramming it down were performed swiftly.

Thanks to their more proficient reloading skills—along with the fewer steps needed to load caplock guns—while the Austrian soldiers had just completed reloading and were raising their guns, the French soldiers were aiming at them again.

Bear in mind, the French troops had also advanced an extra 12 paces!

Both sides fired almost simultaneously within a matter of seconds, sending tens of thousands of lead bullets flying across each other.

Once again, the bullet-proof inserts proved invaluable.

The Austrians suffered another 200 or more fatalities, while French casualties remained at just around 40 soldiers.