He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 474

(474) The Double-Headed Eagles of Masséna and Augereau Take Flight

The most crucial element in a large-scale army battle is the command system.

-Doo-doo-doo!

A battlefield where 300,000 allied troops clash with 700,000 enemy troops.

Even for the French Imperial Army, which had crushed the Holy Roman Empire, defeated the kingdom of Frederick the Great, and conquered Italy, Egypt, Syria, and even Nouvelle-France [French colonies in North America], this battlefield was unprecedented in scale.

That’s why Chief of Staff Berthier, who typically dispatched around 10 messengers, doubled their number.

In an era before wireless telegraphy, orders ultimately had to be communicated by people on horseback.

“Run! You must deliver these orders!”

“Too… many… contact lines!”

“That’s why the Chief of Staff sent 30 messengers!”

It was at that moment that old Captain Chauvin, serving as a messenger, widened his eyes and shouted.

“Ugh, cannonballs incoming!”

As his subordinate officer yelled, Chauvin turned his head and hurriedly leaped off his horse.

-Bang!

Messengers died, struck by 12-pound cannonballs.

A plain shrouded in smoke, where it was difficult to distinguish friend from foe.

Chauvin, bleeding amidst the corpses, barely surveyed his surroundings.

Even with 30 messengers dispatched separately, ensuring someone would get through, it seemed they had all been wiped out.

Chauvin, clutching the letter, muttered.

“The news… to the right wing… Ugh.”

Suddenly, he spotted soldiers in dark green uniforms running.

It was the uniform worn by the Russian Imperial Army since the time of Peter the Great.

Compared to the French soldiers, who predominantly wore blue uniforms due to the legacy of the French Revolution, it was easy to identify the enemy by their uniform color.

Just as Chauvin was about to hold his breath and bury himself among the corpses, an officer grabbed a messenger and shouted.

“Commander Tuchkov! This one seems to be a messenger!”

It was Karl Gustav von Baggovut, soon to be the deputy commander of the Russian Central Army Grenadier Brigade.

Of course, Chauvin didn’t know Baggovut, nor Nikolai Alexeyevich Tuchkov, the commander of the Russian Central Army Infantry.

However, since Russian generals often spoke French like nobles, he could understand what they were saying.

If he was discovered here, he would be killed or tortured immediately.

But Tuchkov actually snatched the letter from the dead messenger and let out a puzzled sound.

“What is this? This terrible handwriting?”

“Uh, can’t you recognize it?”

“Whatever it is, it must be telling us to fight.”

Tuchkov grumbled and shouted.

“Our Pavlovsky Grenadier Regiment has only one task! Break through the enemy lines!”

It seemed that Tuchkov did not recognize Napoleon’s notoriously bad handwriting.

As Chauvin held his breath, the Grenadier Regiment began to march again, crossing the ramparts.

Suddenly, gunfire erupted, directed at the grenadiers.

-Bang!

Slightly raising his head, Chauvin assessed the situation.

Oudinot’s division, which had been guarding the rear ranks, was forming a line and firing.

However, the Pavlovsky Grenadier Regiment, Tuchkov’s [Green Coat] infantry, did not stop.

“Do not retreat! Repel the invaders!”

“Who are the invaders! You are the traitors!”

“Ha, what does a foreigner know! It’s a hundred times better to be without a crazy emperor!”

Tuchkov shouted back at Oudinot’s cry, also in fluent French.

“All troops, bayonet charge!”

Amidst the gunfire, the order to charge was given.

Usually, soldiers would start by disobeying orders in this situation.

However, the Russian soldiers, thoroughly disciplined, advanced as ordered.

-Da-da-da!

Faced with soldiers charging at full speed with bayonets, Oudinot’s division soldiers were taken aback.

“T, these crazy bastards! They’re not backing down!”

“Reserves, we need reserves! Send a messenger!”

“At this rate, they might break through our center!”

Jean Rapp, Pierre Bruno, Philippe Paul.

All three were brave, young-generation generals belonging to the Emperor’s direct 1st Corps.

However, they were also a generation that had never experienced such a determined bayonet charge.

At that moment, Oudinot calmly shouted.

“Skirmishers, concentrate fire!”

The skirmishers scattered in the front all aimed their guns at the same time upon hearing the order.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Boarneh-style new breech-loading rifles were fired all at once.

Still difficult to fire in rapid succession, with gunpowder residue often remaining, and the barrel easily overheating, these were experimental firearms.

But they had the advantage of a faster rate of fire.

Nevertheless, even amidst the gunfire, the Russian army did not stop.

Oudinot, who had made a name for himself as a steadfast leader of charges, was speechless.

“Really, what kind of corpses are these guys made of?”

In an instant, cheers erupted from among the soldiers in green uniforms.

-Hurrah!

Chauvin started running as he watched the scene.

He had to deliver the orders to the right wing, Masséna’s corps.

***

However, even if the messenger doesn’t arrive, after nearly 20 years of war experience, certain things become clear.

“Oh dear, it seems all of His Majesty’s messengers have been killed. Marshal Masséna!”

Chief of Staff of the 3rd Corps, Serboni, shouted.

Masséna frowned.

In fact, cutting off enemy communication lines to sow confusion, then outmaneuvering them with high-speed maneuvers, was the forte of the French Imperial Army.

But in the Battle of Borodino, the French Empire was actually the one with broken communication lines.

Why?

Because they lacked prior experience operating such a large-scale army on such a vast battlefield.

Even at Austerlitz, Napoleon had only commanded an army of around 100,000.

So, mistakes were bound to occur on a battlefield where the size of the allied forces was three times larger and the battlefield was more than five times larger.

“Ha! We’re actually the ones who have been completely cut off!”

“What should we do, Your Excellency? If we continue like this, we’ll be defeated piecemeal!”

“Ridiculous. That would be a disgrace to the French Imperial Grande Armée! Serboni!”

Masséna glared at the enemy’s left wing in front of him, his eyes gleaming.

“Now, it’s time to demonstrate the capabilities of our marshals!”

Nikolai Borozdin and Bennigsen commanded the left wing of the Russian Imperial Army.

Although his command had been stripped, Alexander still needed every general he could get.

Naturally, he had no choice but to place Bennigsen on the left wing, which required a strong defense.

Although he didn’t know exactly who he was facing, Masséna realized that the enemy’s left wing was not to be underestimated.

Also, regardless of Napoleon’s orders, he believed that the decisive action had to be taken on the right wing.

Currently, the center was engaged in a fierce battle around the ramparts, and the French Imperial Army’s left wing, facing the enemy’s right wing, was relatively weak.

Although Augereau was there, Napoleon had never concentrated significant resources on the 3rd Corps.

But how could they break through the enemy’s left wing, which didn’t budge even after repeated offensives?

Masséna, deep in thought, summoned the deputy commander of the 2nd Corps.

“Suchet, can you summon Bessières?”

“Yes? No, why are you calling my friend from the Guard Cavalry? Our 2nd Corps also has cavalry.”

“Of course, it’s a characteristic of the corps system to be equipped with cavalry and artillery, allowing for independent operations.”

Masséna replied, twisting his lips.

“But it’s common knowledge that the real elites are in the Guard. Right now, the only cavalry commanders who can break through that gap are Lannes, Murat, and Bessières!”

The 2nd Corps cavalry was not particularly strong.

Especially since they were stationed in Spain, talent had been drained to Eugene’s Guard Cavalry, making it even weaker.

But Bessières was an available asset in the Central Army.

Although it was uncertain whether Napoleon would allow it, if the melee continued as it was, there was a high possibility that he would release at least Bessières.

Suchet nodded, calculating that point.

“Lannes has to protect His Majesty, and Murat will be used directly by His Majesty, so it’s only Bessières.”

“Good understanding. How about it, can you break through that chaotic situation and deliver the news?”

“Well, I have to do it if I’m told to. Isn’t that what the army is for?”

Suchet shouted, singling out a regiment.

“Grenadier Regiment, break through the flank!”

On a battlefield where messengers could not come and go easily,

it was a situation where they had to break through the front lines just to deliver the news.

Serboni wiped away his cold sweat as he watched Suchet lead the regiment in a column.

“The Russian Imperial Army is truly a formidable enemy. They seem worse than the Spanish [Guerrillas].”

“Serboni, that’s a mistake. The enemies haven’t launched any proper tactics yet.”

“But what could be a more formidable enemy than soldiers who are not afraid of death?”

Masséna snorted as he watched the soldiers charging even amidst the gunfire.

“There is. A general who is not afraid of the death of his soldiers. The enemy commander seems to be that kind of person.”

A front line where [piecemeal commitment] was repeated was visible in Masséna’s sight.

Center, right wing, left wing.

All three lines were engaged in a melee with bayonet charges and cavalry charges by the 400,000-strong army.

Also, every time the charge was delayed, the enemy’s shelling continued.

The French Empire was on the verge of being caught up in a war of attrition.

“Indeed, how will you break through this? Augereau?”

It was as if Masséna was asking next to him when.

-Doo-doo-doo!

Suddenly, Masséna turned his gaze and climbed onto his horse.

“Good! Now, back up Bessières!”

Bessières’ Gascon cavalry began to attempt a breakthrough to the right wing.

It was also at that moment that Masséna’s 2nd Corps moved all at once.

***

Unlike the right wing, the left wing received a messenger, but that didn’t change anything either.

“To raise honor, you have made a difficult request.”

Augereau muttered bluntly.

In fact, he probably wanted to say that it was nonsense.

However, Augereau did not absolutely obey Napoleon, but he also did not absolutely resist like Bernadotte.

Knowing that, Napoleon sent this order, but still.

Suddenly, Augereau’s 3rd Corps Deputy Commander, Saint-Cyr, asked.

“Your Excellency, what will you do?”

“Saint-Cyr, it is difficult to advance now, and even more difficult to retreat. What did the Revolutionary Army do in times like these?”

“The Revolutionary Army? That is…”

Saint-Cyr widened his eyes.

Unlike Augereau, Saint-Cyr was a general who grew up on the Rhine front.

The Rhine Corps, unlike the Italian Corps created by Napoleon, was composed of staunch republican generals.

As such, they had been pushed out of the mainstream of the Grande Armée.

They were in a similar position to Bernadotte’s 6th Corps, which came on the Russian expedition but was mainly stationed in the rear.

Even Moreau’s 5th Corps did not participate in this battle at all, guarding the rear supply lines.

However, the spirit of the Revolutionary Army was even more thorough than the current mainstream Imperial Army, which was loyal to the Empire.

Suddenly, Saint-Cyr shouted.

“For the revolution, I will give my life!”

Augereau nodded bluntly.

“Yes, it is said that the cause of the revolution has already faded. But, didn’t they say in the parliament? Those [Ivans] are oppressed people who must be liberated.”

Russian Imperial Army soldiers approaching like living corpses according to orders.

But those whom the French call ‘Ivans’ [a common, sometimes derogatory, term for Russians] are all living, breathing human beings.

Right now, they are willing to die according to the orders of the Tsar and the Empire, but will they still be like that even if they lose the war?

Augereau truly believed in the resolution of the French Imperial Lower House, that is, the [War of Liberation].

The 3rd Corps officers were also fired up by Augereau’s words.

“Willingly, advance. Occupy the high ground!”

Augereau’s order was given, and each division of the 3rd Corps began to advance.

The cavalry rode on both flanks, and the artillery formed a line.

But above all, what overwhelmed the front was the advance of the line infantry.

-Step, step, step!

Chief of Staff Verdier narrowed his brow as he watched the blue uniforms cross the battlefield.

“At worst, we could be annihilated.”

“Surely, I wouldn’t just go with courage alone, would I?”

“Then, what do you believe in?”

Augereau replied with a still expressionless face.

“I believe in the new-style guns from the Pauli Arsenal.”

The Boarneh-style new-style guns were not just breech-loading rifles.

Unlike breech-loading weapons that were still in the testing phase and could not be distributed to the entire army, there were muzzle-loading muskets that were fired with percussion caps.

These weapons could be loaded and fired much faster than the Russian Imperial Army’s existing old-fashioned muskets.

Suddenly, the French Imperial Army’s left wing and the Russian Imperial Army’s right wing met north of Borodino.

Under the command of Saint-Cyr, the line infantry fired all at once.

-Kirik, bang!

As the preemptive gunfire was fired, the line infantry, consisting of three ranks, took turns firing.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound was like rapid fire, and in the thick gunpowder smoke, both sides fired at each other and died.

But the side that died even more was, of course, the Russian Imperial Army.

Suddenly, the infantry division commander of the 3rd Corps, Édouard Mortier, who had run to the front and returned, shouted.

“It’s done! The enemy’s lines are exposed to the fire net!”

“Keep shooting until the enemies collapse. Today is not the time to save ammunition.”

“Yes, Your Excellency. Huh?”