He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 410

(410) Napoleon Stands as the Sole Victor

Silence blankets the surroundings, as if the war has ended.

-Thud, thud.

It’s hard to believe that just moments ago, the sound of cannons was deafening.

Eugene cautiously removed the earmuffs he had been wearing to protect his hearing.

He still couldn’t hear any cannon fire or gunshots.

Conversely, the shouts of people and the sounds of marching were still audible, signaling that the battle was not over.

Looking around, Eugene affirmed,

“We’ve won.”

Then, Lasalle, who was following beside Eugene, whistled and retorted,

“Not yet, Your Highness.”

“The entire enemy army is retreating.”

“The Prussian army alone is moving south. Oh, I think there’s a lake over there.”

Lasalle, with his keen eyesight, raised his telescope and tilted his head, observing the southern front.

“The climate is really strange. Is it already frozen?”

Austerlitz was now entering a lull in the pursuit phase of the battle.

First, Napoleon broke through the center and routed the Austrian army stationed on the northern left flank.

Then, he drove the entire army to attempt to seize the central highlands.

After a fierce battle ensued, the Prussian army attempted a counterattack, but Eugene’s arrival delayed them.

Eventually, Augereau arrived, effectively ending the battle.

Since then, the Allied forces have scattered and fled.

However, Eugene had a memory that came to mind at Lasalle’s words.

Suddenly, Eugene hurriedly turned around.

“Duroc!”

Duroc, originally an artillery commander but serving as Eugene’s chief bodyguard, saluted.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“It’s my father’s order. Any regiment of the Horse Artillery will do. Convey my orders to the regimental commander and take command of the artillery and ride!”

“What is the target?”

Eugene smiled contentedly at Duroc, who didn’t ask why, and reiterated,

“The Satschan Lake. Don’t let a single one escape through there!”

Of course, no one but Eugene knew where the Satschan Lake was at this moment.

However, they could sense that he was pointing to the southern lake.

As he watched Duroc rush off to carry out the order, Chief Adjutant Ippolito, who had been blinking, was startled.

Eugene’s plan was forming in his mind.

“Wait, wouldn’t they all drown if that happens?”

So, Eugene had ordered this:

Take control of the artillery and move.

Occupy a position, whether it’s on the high ground or in a nearby area.

Next, fire at the lake.

Although it was November, the lake was frozen due to the unusual climate, and the Prussian army was running across it.

But what would happen if shells were fired?

Even if they didn’t hit, the ice would break.

Eugene replied with a cold expression,

“If we let the Prussian army remain here, the Empire will eventually be in danger.”

In an instant, a gunshot rang out beside Eugene.

-Bang!

It was a completely missed shot, but the shooting itself was a threat on the battlefield.

Eugene’s Imperial Guard rushed at the soldier who had fired the shot.

They were stragglers, deserters from the enemy army, wandering around the vicinity.

“Ugh, we’re going to be in danger first!”

“Counterattack! How dare the remnants of the defeated army fire a gun?”

“They’re Hungarian soldiers. Death is the only option if you don’t surrender! What are you going to do!”

As Lasalle, Ippolito, and Murat rushed in, the Hungarian soldiers bravely counterattacked with bayonets.

“For King Karl!”

However, they were up against those with breech-loading rifles.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

Eugene’s riflemen blew away the Hungarian cavalry with a volley of fire.

No matter how brave the soldiers, they were helpless against new weapons and collective tactics.

Watching the soldiers fall indifferently, Eugene opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry, but we can’t retreat because we’re at war. Farewell, warriors.”

Soon after, Eugene turned his horse and ordered,

“Let’s go, as Lasalle said, the war isn’t over yet!”

Because the enemy army was not completely neutralized yet.

***

Naturally, the first to witness the Prussian army’s retreat was Augereau’s 3rd Corps.

“The enemy is moving towards the lake!”

As Saint-Cyr, who was fighting the enemy at the vanguard, rushed to report, Augereau frowned.

“That’s not a maneuver; it’s a rout.”

“Are you going to leave them alone?”

“Verdier, we need to deal with the troops remaining on the northern heights and the western riverside first. Now is not the time to deal with the southern forces.”

Augereau replied to Chief of Staff Brigadier General Verdier, shaking his head.

Even if the enemy is retreating, recklessly moving positions could lead to a counterattack from the Hungarian army remaining in the highlands.

Augereau, who made a strategic decision calmly rather than vying for merit, suddenly tilted his head.

“By the way, is the lake really frozen, even though it’s not winter?”

The answer to this question could only be given by the adventurers who dared to cross the lake.

The Prussian army, once again under the command of Blücher, was running across the lake.

Suddenly, Blücher, who was running, turned to look at Commander-in-Chief Braunschweig, who was hesitating, and shouted.

“Hah, hah! It’s not breaking yet!”

“Is this even a viable operation? What if it breaks!”

“This is no time to be so leisurely, Duke of Braunschweig!”

Blücher gave Braunschweig a sharp rebuke and ordered,

“Move His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen first!”

Logically speaking, the King and Queen would be the first to die if the ice broke.

However, it seemed that it was not yet time for the Prussian King and Queen to die.

The Prussian King, Friedrich Wilhelm, who had safely crossed the lake, embraced the trembling Queen and said,

“Now, once all the soldiers have crossed, let’s move west.”

“West? What about Berlin?”

“We should consider the road blocked. But Hungary should still be safe. So, let’s reorganize the army there, receive support from England, and counterattack.”

King Wilhelm clenched his fist and said, as if vowing to himself,

“If the army is intact, we can still fight. Napoleon taught me that!”

In fact, it wasn’t entirely wrong.

Because in the original history, Napoleon tried to fight to the end, leading the army even when Paris was threatened.

However, Wilhelm was not Napoleon, and he did not consider the artillery aimed at this lake.

-Swoosh.

Wilhelm’s eyes widened as he spotted something flying from afar.

“Uh, uh, uh?”

But no matter how old-fashioned the cannonballs were, it was impossible for a person to dodge them when they saw them.

-Bang!

Of course, Satschan Lake was quite large, and the shells were not fired after particularly precise measurements.

Therefore, no soldiers were killed by the shells.

However, all the soldiers on the frozen lake were terrified.

The next moment, the feared event occurred.

-Crack, crack, crack!

The ice began to crack.

However, most of the Prussian army had not yet left the ice.

Only a small number of soldiers had already left or had not yet entered.

“What! The ice is breaking!”

“Sa, sa, save me! Glug!”

“Damn it, who said to come to the lake!”

Scharnhorst, who had escorted the King and left the ice first, blankly watched the breaking ice.

“The French bastards, how could they do such a thing!”

This situation was originally something that happened to the Russian army in the original history.

However, with Prussia participating instead, they unfortunately found themselves in the same predicament.

Of course, if they had surrendered in the first place, or retreated early like Austria, they might not have suffered.

In a sense, the tragedy occurred because the Prussian army was too brave.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

The shells indifferently split the ice.

The soldiers on the ice also fell into the water as if sinking.

The fact that the ice had not frozen deeply made the damage even greater.

In fact, the Battle of Austerlitz in the original history took place in December.

The sight of 50,000 soldiers floundering and sinking captivated everyone’s attention.

“No! The army of the Great King! Aaaah!”

Therefore, no one saw Blücher scream and collapse.

***

With the standard-bearer waving the flag, the Emperor headed to the center of the battlefield.

-Thud, thud, thud.

The sound of metal clashing against the hooves was deafening.

It was a sight that showed how fierce the battle had been around this Pratzen Heights [a strategically important elevated terrain].

On the other hand, there were surprisingly few corpses.

Most of the casualties occurred among the armies fleeing below Pratzen.

Suddenly, the sound of messengers rushing to report echoed loudly.

“Reporting! The Hungarian army has collapsed! Most are currently being repelled in attrition warfare and are retreating!”

“The Austrian army surrenders! There are no resisters!”

“The Prussian army, uh, d, drowned?”

Napoleon asked with a composed attitude.

“Not everyone could have drowned. What is the extent of our casualties?”

Neither Napoleon nor Eugene enjoyed massacres.

However, once they engaged in war, they both believed that the enemy had to be annihilated.

Because if the enemy was not completely defeated in war, it would be their own side that would die.

Suddenly, Lannes snatched the messenger’s report, who was unable to report properly, and shouted.

“Approximately 1,300 dead, 6,000 injured! Conversely, the enemy has approximately 73,000 dead, 50,000 captured, and the rest are missing!”

Listening to the voice reporting the complete victory, Napoleon raised his head.

“You’re a little late, Eugene.”

Eugene stared at Napoleon.

Eugene also knew about the battle fought here in the original history.

However, Napoleon had won in the same place even under adverse conditions.

Perhaps, despite the victory, he was even greater than in the original history, which had caused even more wars.

Silently looking at Napoleon, Eugene smiled and bowed his head.

“Congratulations on the victory, Your Majesty.”

“I did pretty well, like in Jena [referring to the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt], right?”

“On the contrary. It’s more than that; no, it’s an unprecedented victory.”

Indeed, Eugene spoke with all his heart.

“Today, Your Imperial Majesty has rewritten history.”

Why did Eugene say it was a greater victory than in the original history?

It was because he had defeated Prussia early on.

If Prussia had not been annihilated here, France would have had a knife behind its back that could be stabbed at any time.

Of course, Napoleon, who did not know the original history but had a strategic eye, chuckled and turned his head.

“So, Augereau. Do you agree?”

Augereau replied with a solemn face.

“Of course, Your Majesty. No one can deny that today’s victory is yours, and furthermore, it is a perfect victory.”

Napoleon rose from his seat.

The Marshals, the Emperor, and the generals gathered in this place lined up.

Also, the soldiers who had won the victory looked at the Emperor on the hill.

The Emperor, who had achieved a victory that France had never achieved before, opened his mouth.

“Good. Then. Marshals, and my generals and soldiers.”

The Emperor looked at everyone and shouted vigorously.

“I shout with joy that I have won with you. I will give 300 francs to all soldiers and 3 million francs to each general! I will also compensate the families of the dead with pensions!”

At that moment, cheers erupted at the unprecedented victory and reward.

“Vive la France! Vive l’Empereur! Vive Napoléon!” [Long live France! Long live the Emperor! Long live Napoleon!]

November 1, 1806.

It was the day Napoleon became the sole victor in Europe.

Austerlitz, on the legendary battlefield.