He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 492

(492) Grande Batterie: The Roar of Thunder Resounds

Grande Batterie [Grand Battery], a tactic known as the grand battery of artillery.

“Now, then. Emperor’s artillery. Unleash the roar of thunder!”

Marmont, the commander of the Grande Armée’s artillery, ordered.

-Rumble, crash!

As if thunder were rumbling, the magnificent roar of the cannons echoed across the Bautzen plains.

Of course, the unit taking the brunt of the enemy’s blows and firing the cannons at the forefront was the Russian artillery.

However, the gunners filling the entire central line behind them were, without a doubt, from the French Imperial Army.

The artillerymen who hauled the cannons all the way to Bautzen were, again, Russian soldiers.

In short, the Russian army did all the hard work, took all the direct fire, but the French army got to look like they were fighting magnificently.

Even so, to line up in the vanguard in the middle of the battlefield and fire cannons was not something that could be done with ordinary courage.

It was something only the glorious artillery that survived Borodino could endure.

Suddenly, Chief of the Guard, Lan, ran over to watch and whistled.

“Wow, it’s quite a spectacle when you look at it like this, Senior General Marmont.”

“You wouldn’t have thought so when we were on the receiving end, Marshal Lan.”

“It was too cold in Borodino, even though it was summer. It’s really warm here, which is nice,” Lan said, glancing around at the still chilly early spring German landscape, a stark contrast to France.

“By the way, I don’t know how you came up with the idea of concentrating 300 cannons at once.”

The total number of cannons was 300.

In fact, in the Battle of Eylau in 1807 in history, hundreds of cannons clashed on the battlefield.

At that time, France mobilized 200 cannons, and the Russian and Prussian allied forces mobilized 460 cannons.

Compared to this, the number of French cannons gathered on this battlefield was clearly smaller.

However, as revealed at Borodino, the concentration of cannons is a force in itself.

However, the flanking maneuver that maximized the mobility of cavalry and line infantry was the tactic mainly used by Napoleon on the Western European battlefield.

Naturally, Hungary, Prussia, and the Rhine Confederation, who had only studied Napoleon, neglected artillery.

As a result, they couldn’t even think of operating a large-scale artillery force.

Or rather, it was impossible from the start.

To operate artillery while increasing mobility, horse artillery had to be used.

However, since most of the horses had been requisitioned by the French army, the remaining horses had to be used entirely for cavalry.

Therefore, although the Prussian army concentrated all its forces, the number of cannons was only around 50.

Moreover, thanks to Yermolov’s preemptive shelling that struck the enemy, there was no time for counter-fire to be launched.

Looking through the smoke with a telescope, Marmont said.

“Kutuzov showed us something at Borodino.”

“What was it? Shelling his own troops?”

“Well, that’s certainly a technique that only the Russian Empire can showcase. But the reason that was possible was because all of Russia’s cannons were concentrated on one battlefield.”

Pretending to look at the battlefield that was unfortunately not very visible, Marmont firmly replied to Lan.

“We are imitating that situation. Right here, in Bautzen.”

In fact, in history, the Grande Batterie, the grand battery of artillery, first appeared at Austerlitz.

So, in fact, Napoleon was the first to use the artillery concentration tactic.

On the other hand, Napoleon mainly used mobile flanking maneuvers at Austerlitz, and firepower was replaced by modern rifles.

So, the Prussian army’s rifles became quite modern, but their cannons were clearly behind.

So why hasn’t the Grande Batterie tactic been used until now?

“Basically, cannons are actually inaccurate. That means there are many misfires.”

“Are the infantry being battered over there fools who run to their deaths from errant shells?”

“Ah, Marshal! Isn’t that what I’m saying? So, we replace accuracy with quantity!”

Marmont frowned and shouted.

“Do you know why we couldn’t use artillery-centered tactics in the early days of the revolution? Accuracy, rate of fire, speed of movement! Everything was low! The accuracy was low, the rate of fire was slow! The speed of movement was even worse!”

Of course, it doesn’t matter if a siege warfare is fought like the wars before the French Revolution.

If a battle is fought with fixed fortresses, even if the accuracy of the cannons is low, there is meaning in firepower warfare.

However, France projected a large number of infantry, and it was fast even before the great general Napoleon appeared.

So, the wars after the French Revolution were mainly fought as mobile warfare.

Then, Lan, who was listening to the explanation, raised an objection.

“Wasn’t horse artillery your specialty? What I saw in Italy must have been a mirage?”

“That was, frankly, made by grinding both soldiers and horses. How many artillerymen who served in the horse artillery at that time do you think are here now?”

“Well, wouldn’t it be at least 30 percent? Even among my men, the Gascon cavalry who served at that time…”

Marmont shook his head.

“Zero. Not a single one! Most of the ‘veterans’ who served in the horse artillery at that time are either dead, crippled, or retired!”

Horse artillery is the pride of the French army, not just Napoleon’s corps.

Also, they considered themselves superior to foot artillery and directly traversed dangerous battlefields.

That means the loss rate was also high.

However, Napoleon, who was fighting the Battle of Borodino, found a clever way to turn the tide.

Of course, in history, it was just inspired by Austerlitz.

“Covering all of that with firepower is the Grande Batterie tactic.”

“Hmm, gathering all the cannons in the center? Simply put.”

“That’s not all. If that were the case, it would be no different from Kutuzov. The real key is something else.”

Suddenly, Marmont pointed forward with his baton and grinned.

“Pinpoint bombardment.”

It was the artillery tactic that Napoleon used in Toulon in the past.

“Shooting hundreds of cannons at a single point. This is the real key to the Imperial Grande Batterie, the artillery of Emperor Napoleon!”

Firing hundreds of cannons at a single point to project shells.

No matter how low the accuracy, how slow the speed, or how difficult the transition movement, if you stop and strike at only one place, its power is doubled.

In an era where the battle line is the basis of war, it becomes impossible to maintain the battle line.

-Bang!

Originally, it was a large-scale artillery battle in which the French were being hit by the Russian army.

It was the moment Prussia was hit.

***

The old Prussian general, Anton Wilhelm von L’Estocq, rode his horse like crazy.

“This is a nightmare! 300 cannons!”

It had already been 50 years since he participated in the battlefield under Frederick the Great.

He had participated in countless miserable battles and experienced defeats.

But this was the first time he had seen such a terrifying battlefield.

Brave soldiers die from shells before they can even resist.

If there was even a small gap, he could charge and kill those demonic gunners.

But for now, it’s impossible.

The old cavalry commander L’Estocq, who rushed into the forward command, shouted, scattering his white beard.

“Where is Kaiser [Emperor]!”

“How can we find His Majesty in this barrage! Let’s retreat right now!”

“Crazy talk!”

L’Estocq grabbed the infantry commander Yorck by the scruff of his neck and shook him.

“Retreat is only allowed to His Majesty! We must be martyred here. Otherwise, Prussia is finished! Yorck!”

So, L’Estocq didn’t come to run away.

He came to announce that they had to die.

But in the general headquarters, a different discussion was taking place.

Blücher muttered, looking back at the one-armed chief of staff, Scharnhorst.

“I wondered how they broke Bülow in Warsaw so quickly, but that was the secret.”

“Your Excellency, we must retreat.”

“Now? It used to be common for artillery to fire preemptively. After that, it was natural for line infantry to advance through the barrage. That’s how it was in the days of Frederick the Great.”

At Blücher’s words, Scharnhorst shook his head with a pale face.

“Our tactics were based on cavalry raids. If we can’t even pull out the cavalry now, there’s no turning back.”

This was also the advice of the exiled guest Kutuzov, who had left earlier.

Kutuzov, who had once operated large-scale artillery, knew the power of artillery concentration better than anyone else.

Hundreds of cannons can melt even hundreds of thousands of troops.

But if they run away from here, there may be no future for Prussia.

“Are we going to entrust the fate of the German people to Hungary, or rather, to the Habsburgs?”

“The fate of Prussia is the same.”

“Then, who will persuade Kaiser?”

At Blücher’s question, Scharnhorst said firmly.

“We have to drag him away by force. We have to give up Berlin anyway.”

The nation gives up here.

Only the army survives.

But if the army survives, the future of the garrison state of Prussia is not over.

In the end, Blücher, who faced the desperate situation, entered the barracks where the Kaiser was hiding.

“Cannons! Shells! Take cover!”

“Kaiser.”

“Oh, Blücher! My loyal marshal! You’ve brought a solution, haven’t you? Although a barrage is pouring down, we can deal with it, can’t we? With our brave Prussian army?”

The emperor, who was not yet crazy but was in a panic, asked urgently.

It was Blücher who would have usually uttered a more spirited sound.

But this time it was different.

“There is no solution.”

“What?”

“The Prussian army was organized assuming mobile warfare. The original plan was to block Napoleon’s cavalry and counterattack with the Prussian cavalry. But, they brought cannons.”

Blücher declared with a stern face.

“The French’s firepower offensive cannot be stopped by our current army.”

If they had assumed a firepower battle from the beginning, it might have been different.

If they had gathered about 200 cannons, even if it was a little short, and poured them out, they might have been able to damage the French artillery.

But the enemy struck first, the quantity is overwhelming, and in fact, they also have modern breech-loading cannons and bursting shells, so their firepower is superior.

Even so, Kaiser Wilhelm tried to refuse with a desperate face.

“No. Louise is in Berlin.”

“Give it up.”

“How do you know how Napoleon, that outrageous womanizer, will treat Louise!”

His wife might be violated.

It is an extremely realistic fear.

In fact, Napoleon is not such an outrageous man, but anyway, he is a lustful person, so it may not necessarily be an unfair assessment.

Anyway, that’s the Kaiser’s wife, not Blücher’s wife.

“Bring her along.”

Blücher winked at the guards, and the Kaiser was dragged out screaming.

“No! We have to stop that devil here!”

But the shells of the Grande Batterie were still overwhelming, so no one could stop them.