Napoleon in 1812 - Chapter 149

“Argh-l”

“Ack!”

This time, a scream erupted from the guard who fired again and was preparing for a bayonet charge. A hand-to-hand combat began. While commanding the retreat of his troops, Major General Mondron opened his eyes wide when he found out the identity of the British troops facing the Middle Guard.

Low nose, yel lowish or dark brown ski n, and a look completely different from Europeans at first g lan ce.

Wearing white un iforms, they were ‘sickling’ with a strangely curved sword that the French had never seen before. It was unimaginable that they belonged to the British army that the French had been dealing with so far.

“Where on earth are they from? Is it right for them to go to war for Britain?!”

Major General Mondron’s cry was drowned out by the noise from the battlefield.

A similar situation occurred in the Bisorov forest, another battlefield where the French and British faced off, while the Middle Guards fought against an enemy they had never seen before.

“Damn it, where do those monsters come from…!”

Brigadier General Dotro, Brigadier General of the French Imperial Guard. It was summarizing the struggles that the French were experiencing in the chaos of the forest battle.

A dull black military uniform that did not seem to leak a piece of sunlight, a beard long enough to cover the neck, and reddish-brown skin that was not considered European.

Those who could never be British pushed the French with tactics and fighting methods that the British had never used. They appeared out of nowhere, attacked the sides with skirmishes, lured the troops to divide and attack them at once.

It was more like the way a beast hunted its prey than a soldier’s fight.

While freely utilizing the special terrain of the forest, they wielded a saber and dagger with unique patterns.

The French Guard, the strongest army on the continent, fell to an unidentified enemy who did not use gunpowder weapons.

“Turn the front lines now! Each company’s officers, at their discretion, retreat to our positions at the entrance of the forest!”

Brigadier General Dotro issued an order to retreat without hesitation. Originally, such a thing would not have been possible for him. The command given by the headquarters (the capture of the Bisorov forest) was canceled only by a brigade commander, But this was possible because it was the French army.

‘The commander of the army is me, but you are the commanders of the divisions, brigades and regiments. You can autonomously judge and command on the battlefield for the victory and survival of your units. The burden will be the sole responsibility.’

Napoleon had created a new military system that respected the judgment a nd autonomy of field commanders as much as possible, contrary to the past French command and doctrine.

This was a concept that took a step further from the ‘autonomous military system that broke through rigidity and passivity1 led by Scharnhorst , Prussia’s chie of staff at the same time, giving the commander of the site the authority to decide the troop’s retreat in the event of conflict.

This reform had received much concern and criticism. However, at this moment, the efficiency of the mission-type command system was maximized.

The mission-type command system was also applied to small units below the brigade. Battalion and company officers obeyed the overall order in a large framework, but could find and implement the best route for the entire brigade to suffer the least damage based on the situation.

When the loss was large, the unit closest to the retreat route fell to the rear, and the relatively intact units voluntarily formed a front to protect the retreat and continue to engage with the unidentified enemies.

Subordinate officers stopped the enemy’s advance by implementing the best way of engagement at this moment, without the permission of their superiors.

Just as the octopus pulled itself out of a small bottle, the retreat proceeded organically without any collisions, complications, or bottlenecks. Eventually, the French troops succeeded in taking their feet off the forest. Despite being ambushed, they were able to escape from death with minimal damage.

“This is the French army led by Napoleon…”

The British officer, commander-in-chief of the mercenaries, smiled bitterly as he watched the whole scene. Even the mercenaries said in their own language that the blue army was formidable. They wondered if they should be paid more…

Upon hearing the battle reports from the various places, Napoleon could not help but admit that he had been beaten by the Coalition on this point. Although he was confident that he could respond fully to the enemy’s offensive, they prepared much more detailed strategies and tactics than he had expected, which led to the current situation.

Wellesley, Bliicher, Bennigsen, Gneisenau… they were strong enemies that could never be easily thought of.

‘But it’s my first time seeing these troops… I guess the British have hired mercenaries from somewhere else again.’

Britain had even used the desert nomads and the natives of the New World as mercenaries. It was not strange that they brought troops from another culture that France had never encountered,

However, if such mercenaries were used on such a large and important battlefield, it meant that the British appreciated their skills that much.

Napoleon certainly recognized the mastered skills in hand-to-hand combat and irregular warfare of warriors that did not use gunpowder weapons. The time for reflection and analysis was short. Napoleon immediately replaced his judgment with reasonable ‘tactics1.

“Stop the engagement and withdraw the troops from the front line. And deliver my message to your subordinates.”

Pull the wire back and shrink it. It was the most standard reaction a commander could take after receiving an unexpected blow. However, the difference between Napoleon and other commanders was the thorough arrangement of movements and subsequent situations when taking formations.

The soldiers of the French expeditionary force were not numerous. Among the Great Army, only those who had received the best evaluation in indicators such as training performance, war experience, education level, values, mindset, and loyalty were eligible to join the expeditionary force.

Since then, the French expeditionary forces had become the most elite corps of France, having the mindset of all for one and one for all after going through numerous training and hardship together.

These top talents had demonstrated their true worth, fulfilling Napoleon’s orders by 120%.

“Shoot-!”

Tatatatatata! Tatatatata!

British troops were moving forward while others were clearing the trenches first. The Chasseur Regiment, which had been covered with bushes and such, did not forgive their impatience and poured out intensive fire at once.

Armed with new French-made rifles, the ‘Bonaparte rifles’, their shots were enough to pierce the British troops who were advancing without hesitation.

Napoleon had installed several mounds and trenches here from the beginning. Even if the front row was broken through, the next row could be easily defended. The British commander shouted and urged the advance, but their momentum was weakened.

“Prepare the battery! Let me know as soon as you finish calculating the coordinates.”

“Yes, sir!”

After the Peninsular War, France went into military reform under Napoleon’s leadership and made numerous changes and developments.

The installation of a mission-type command system, the creation of rifle units, modification and addition of tactics, explosives shells and Paixhans cannons… Napoleon had also invested considerably in lightening the field guns and improving their mobility.

French field guns were already lighter and easier to move than other countries’ cannons, but Napoleon doubled this extremely. The classification of field guns by pound was subdivided to enable appropriate distribution according to tasks and situations.

In that sense, the French three-pound field artillery, which could be pulled by two people, was the best cannon to display the concept of ‘mobile artillery’.

Maneuverability, a typical weakness of artillery, did not apply to it. In other words, it meant that the field guns could be brought and prepared in the best position to sweep the enemy away.

“The calculation is over! Waiting for orders!”

“To hell with the islanders! Fire!”

Boom! Bang! Bang! Boom-!

The mobile artillery in the front row had grapes and pellets, and the heavy guns and batteries in the rear row had spherical shells. They fired on the British troops who were advancing to cross the mounds and trenches. The shelling distracted them. The advance of the British army was now completely halted.

“Infantry!”

French infantry battalions watching the scene prepared for the final blow.

“Charge-!”

Who could think of these as troops preparing to retreat? The battle ended as the infantry neatly finished what the Chasseurs and artillery had started.

It was like the French were saying ‘Are you afraid to get hurt by the enemies’ pursuit during the retreat? Then you can smash them first. They won’t even dare to come after us.’ The Napoleonic retreat proceeded without any obstruction.

A similar situation was happening elsewhere. A French dragon cavalry battalion raided the British batteries that were lagging behind, causing great damage.

Rifle snipers, who were ambushed in bushes and bridges, shot British officers and engaged in guerrilla warfare.

In the meantime, French mobile artillery was able to fully use its advantages and supported various battlefields at the same time, allowing the French have instantaneously superior firepower.

Peeeeeeee-H

“You brought your toys.”

Napoleon smirked. The British response to the French counterattack was also formidable. The Congreve rocket could go higher, was sharper and noisier than regular artillery shells, and had a much longer range than cannons, but had a lower accuracy rate.

Napoleon had also paid attention to the potential of Congreve rockets, but he quickly gave up. They were not easy to handle, and above all, their unit price was not right. However, the British seemed to have created their own doctrine to make the most of the rocket’s characteristics.

“The batteries deployed in the rear are being attacked by enemy rockets.”

“One of the gunpowder dumps was burned down! Further damage is expected.”

In the past, British troops had used the Congreve rockets by pouring them in areas where the infantry was concentrated, blocking the view with smoke and flames from the rockets, or demoralizing the enemies.

But today, the British Congreve rocket battalion was firing rockets with a fixed target firmly set.

Its target was the large artillery and material storage area, which could not avoid the rockets. The shelling of the Congreve rockets briefly paralyzed the French rear batteries and disrupted the transport and supply of gunpowder. The British infantry confidently continued their advance and entered the shooting range.

“Shoot-!”

Tatatata! Tatatata!

As the French pushed their ranks back, they managed to counterattack considerably in the middle, but it was basically Britain who took the offensive on this battlefield.

They had no choice but to take the initiative in the battlefield. Napoleon immediately recognized that those infantry were mixed regiments of line infantry and light infantry.

Frontline infantry with muskets was shooting from the front, and light infantry with rifles fired again from the rear. Their combination allowed the British army to greatly increase the intensity of its frontal firepower.

The French infantry battalions, exposed to heavy fire from the British mixed regiment, were quickly defeated and forced to retreat to the rear despite the protection of trenches and mounds. As one side advanced, so did the other.

“Charge!”

When the smoke of the guns covered the front and a hand-to-hand combat started, their ‘mercenaries’ came out without fail. Eastern warriors were running through the fields like wolves with their strange curved swords and daggers.

Even though it was difficult to have a good visibility because of the smoke, they were running around freely like they owned the place, causing great damage to the French soldiers.

Napoleon heard the identity of those Eastern warriors from several captured British officers.

Singhalas from Sri Lanka, Gorkas from the Kingdom of Gorka in Nepal, and Rajputs from the Maratha Confederacy. The British, with capital, their greatest weapon, hired native Indians, who were enemies of Britain, as mercenaries and sent them to this battlefield.

“The hand-to-hand battle against them wasn’t a very profitable business.”

The regimental commander of the Middle Guard, who was the first to fight against the Indian mercenaries, gave the following brief appreciation. For France’s elite troops, this expression could be regarded as the best compliment to the enemy.

“They are like beasts. It’s not the virtue of a top commander to insist on a head-to-head fight with them.”

With a meaningful smile, Napoleon brought back the grenadiers and infantry fighting in hand-to-hand combat against them.

At the same time, he ordered the other troops to step back another step. As the French army was withdrawing, the enemies seem to have seen the possibility of victory. They began to advance quickly to chase it.

The Indian mercenaries, praised by Napoleon for being like beasts, took the lead and ran, followed by the British mixed infantry regiment, with their bayonets pointing forward. The French were about to be bitten by their sharp teeth. It was then.

Booom! Boom-! Whaaam-H

A huge explosion shook the earth. British officers shouted, as they were conscious of the French artillery fire.

The British troops and Indian mercenaries immediately prepared for shelling in an open formation. Unfortunately, however, this was not the work of the cannons, The explosion did not start from the sky, but from under the ground.

“You’re not the only ones who can use terrain tricks.”

Whaaaam-! Booom-!! Boom!

Again, the explosion quickly turned the valiant British and Indian mercenaries passing over it into pieces. The principle was simple. Like grenades used by the grenadiers, a bomb that was designed to explode when its wick burned down was placed under the ground.

If sharp blades, screws, and nails were enclosed together with gunpowder, the debris scattered in all directions after the explosion, allowing for tremendous lethality. It was Napoleon’s secret weapon, which he had not used in the Battle of Leipzig.

‘It was a weapon that was difficult to use unless there was a soft land like a wetland, but thanks to your choice of this place as a battlefield, fortunately, I was able to use it.’

If the Allled command knew what was going on, would they regret their choice to fight i n the Orime wetlands? Na poleon became curious.

The British and Indian mercenaries, who were making fierce advances with the determination to end the battle, were completely engulfed in the terror of the intermittent underground explosions and terrifying deaths of their comrades.

The commander’s orders were no longer heard. The only things awaiting those who were scattered everywhere in panic were the explosives under the ground that had not yet exploded.

Whaaam-H

Explosions soaring several meters above the ground, flames arising from them, and countless iron fragments scattering everywhere. The British and Indian mercenaries were torn to shreds with desperate screams.

Even the Indian mercenaries, who knew no fear, cried out in search of their gods, making this area look like hell. However, this was not the end of Napoleon’s arrangement.

“Ready for regiment fire… Fire!!”

Tatatatatata!

Hitting a still target for the Chasseur Regiment with Bonaparte rifles was a piece of cake.

The accuracy rate and effective range may be slightly lower than that of the Baker rifle, but the proper power of the modified Bonaparte rifle was that it was as fast as a musket.

Countless bodies of British and Indian mercenaries piled up at the site of the second and third rounds of fire. This devastating power left the British command speech less.

Napoleon smirked, imagining them jumping up and down. The British command immediately stopped marching and called back the battle lines. The enemy could not advance any further and stopped at the front line drawn by the French.

Gone were the days when battlefield infantry lined up in long lines and engaged in an ignorant war of attrition. The development of guns and gunpowder, the development of tactics, the increasingly diversifying types of soldiers, and the accumulated experience and record of battle lines.

A new era of war had arrived in which the winner would be the commander who could mix all of these aspects more effectively and create a ‘formula’ with creativity and innovation.

At the center of history, Napoleon looked up at the sky, steppi ng on the enemy bodies. Even in the battlefield where tens of thousands of people died, the sky was blue and the sun was shining.