He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 499

(499) The Six Days’ Campaign of Glory Unfolds

It was truly a series of breakthroughs.

“Go, break through the enemy lines! Isolate the enemy and bombard them again!”

Lan roared, taking the lead.

Cavalrymen from Gascony, southern France, rode Austrian and Prussian horses.

The warhorses, which should have been ridden by those who killed Frenchmen, snorted.

The place where the cavalry charged was where the Habsburg soldiers, the original owners of the horses, were.

In an instant, the Imperial Guard cavalry was about to break through the enemy lines.

– Bang!

The moment a shell exploded right in front of them, Lan quickly turned, his valiant charge rendered useless, and shouted.

“Retreat, retreat! The enemy artillery is coming again!”

Like a flock of geese, the triangular cavalry formation quickly swiveled.

It was usually an attack formation called a linear formation, but now it was unfolding in a fleeing form.

However, none of the fleeing cavalrymen were ashamed.

As many as 50 cannons were deployed on the flanks, constantly firing.

It was a scale similar to the entire artillery that the French army had mobilized during the Italian campaign in the past.

Once within the artillery range, no cavalry would be left.

Seeing this from afar, the commander of the 2nd Corps, Masséna, frowned.

“I can’t believe it. The enemy shells aren’t even exploding shells.”

“Most of our cannons are Russian-made, and so are the shells, so we hardly have any exploding shells, Marshal Masséna.”

“Then why can’t we break through the enemy lines? It wasn’t this bad in Russia.”

The chief of staff of the 2nd Corps, Serboni, tilted his head.

“Could it be that the remnants of the Russian army have joined them?”

Masséna stared at Serboni with a dumbfounded expression, and Serboni scratched his head sheepishly.

“That was a foolish thought.”

“If that were the case, it would have been even more difficult, right? Because they would have started suicide attacks.”

“Maybe they are preparing for it. No, this battle itself might be a suicide war.”

Of course, there were Russian generals who had deserted from the Battle of Borodino, including Kutuzov and Bennigsen.

Moreover, although the Grande Armée [Grand Army] did not yet know, Kutuzov had even joined the Prussian army.

However, there was naturally no meaningful level of Russian army joining them.

If that were the case, as Masséna said, an advance combining charge and bombardment would have unfolded.

The anti-French alliance had twice as many troops as the French army.

If they came out with a human wave tactic, an uncontrollable war situation might have occurred.

However, it was still a war of attrition.

Masséna frowned.

“If we continue like this, we will lose.”

“Yes? Why is that? It’s evenly matched, isn’t it?”

“The enemy is fighting on their own land, right? They have free access to shells and gunpowder. Do we? Even if our army becomes disadvantaged in Russia, will we be resupplied? What about Warsaw or Bohemia?”

Masséna replied with a serious face to Suchet, the deputy commander, who was blankly asking beside him.

The Grande Armée generals were not worried about supplies at all.

This was because they had friendly nations in the rear: Poland, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire.

However, Masséna thought the opposite.

They were all forces that had surrendered after seeing the Grande Armée repeatedly winning.

In particular, Russia and the Ottoman Empire had even fought wars with France.

If they saw even a slight gap, they could turn their backs at any time.

Moreover, gunpowder was not a military supply that could be poured out like water, like England.

“In the end, if we go to a war of attrition, we will definitely lose. Karl really brought a suicidal strategy.”

Just consuming supplies alone puts the French army at an extreme disadvantage.

All of this is the aftermath of the Russian campaign.

In any case, after the great war in Russia, there was no way for the large army to return home quickly.

But if it was going to be like this, shouldn’t Napoleon or Eugene have been sent home first?

Of course, both had to remain in Russia to divide the Russian Empire.

The authority of Napoleon and the strategy of Eugene combined to make the great project of dividing the empire a success.

However, seeing the war of attrition before his eyes, Masséna began to regret it.

Suddenly, Suchet, as if thinking the same thing, frowned and muttered.

“We should have conquered Prussia.”

“If we had been caught from behind while doing that, it would have been even more disadvantageous, Suchet.”

“What Karl is showing now, no, what we saw in Russia, is that the grammar of war is changing. Marshal.”

Suchet waved his baton and gritted his teeth.

“It’s not tactics or strategies, but overwhelming firepower that determines the battlefield.”

Masséna widened his eyes and then narrowed them.

Suchet’s words certainly made sense.

Before the revolution, war revolved around fortresses.

At that time, what the army did was fire cannons, compete with rifles in lines, and consume gunpowder.

But after the revolution and Napoleon’s introduction of mobile warfare, the aspect of war changed.

War changed to the army destroying the enemy.

About 20 years after the aspect of war changed.

Now, starting with the Battle of Borodino in Russia, war is changing to a war of firepower.

“Augereau must return.”

“Yes? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“Now the Hanover Kingdom’s corps is a secondary problem. The real thing is that artillery.”

Suddenly, Masséna pointed his marshal’s baton at the enemy’s central axis, where 350 cannons were concentrated.

“But Augereau can definitely come back at times like this.”

If that were to happen, he could break Karl, who was holed up in a fortress-like position.

Even in an era where the paradigm of war is changing.

***

This is what Napoleon also thinks.

“Why is there no news from Augereau!”

Napoleon shouted, kicking a nearby friendly artillery battery.

Of course, Napoleon was the one who sent Augereau.

But Napoleon desperately wished Augereau was there at times like this.

Even if he couldn’t launch a surprise attack, Augereau, who was good at steadfast advances, would have broken through the position while sacrificing his own troops.

Even if other generals used the same tactics, they wouldn’t even reach the position.

Napoleon truly longed for Augereau, whom he usually mocked for being slow.

To Napoleon, who missed Augereau more than Josephine or his many lovers, Clausewitz, a staff officer from the General Staff, reported.

“Th, th, that is, this area is a plain. It is good for cavalry to carry out a pursuit. It has been confirmed that the enemy cavalry are ca, capturing and killing all of our messengers.”

“Send our cavalry to break through! Murat, Bessières! What are you doing!”

“Y, Your Majesty told the cavalry generals to be prepared for any eventuality. Are you going to ch, change your order?”

Napoleon glared at Clausewitz, who stammered at the end of every word, as if to kill him.

But Clausewitz shrank back, but did not answer that he would obediently follow the order.

What would happen if he threw the cavalry into the fire of that concentrated artillery?

It’s not for nothing that Lan is only hitting the outskirts as if he’s messing around.

In the end, Napoleon also gave up.

“Damn it! This is not the war I want. No, it’s not war at all! It’s just artillery play!”

In fact, even the generals of the firepower heyday in later original history would agree with that.

In any case, you can’t win a war just by firing cannons.

Karl will eventually have to move to determine the victory or defeat.

How can he make Karl move?

Berthier shook his head as he looked at the front from the side.

“Thousands of people have already died in that game. Your Majesty.”

“Is there any movement of Karl bypassing our rear? He could do that enough, right?”

“You want to counterattack, but there isn’t. Karl is very honest.”

Clausewitz also nodded.

“He is steadily killing o, our French troops with only firepower. Of course, the enemies are also dying.”

Just by Clausewitz calling France ‘our’, Napoleon can actually be said to have succeeded.

Because it is a symbol of the breaking of ‘one’ Germany that he tried so hard to prevent in original history.

But if he loses at Leipzig, that’s the end of it.

Rather, Napoleon’s Grande Armée may become a sacrifice, and a new Germany may be born.

Napoleon gritted his teeth and strode forward.

“This won’t do. We need other countermeasures. I have to take action.”

“Your Majesty, what are you talking about?”

“We have to focus the enemy’s attention. That way, the lines will be broken. Also, the enemy’s attention will be focused when I move!”

Suddenly, after stubbornly answering the Chief of Staff’s question, Napoleon shouted to his valet, Constant.

“Prepare the Guards! Bring Marengo [Napoleon’s horse], Constant!”

“Good heavens, Your Majesty! That’s impossible!”

“Then, are we all going to die here?”

Napoleon glared at Masséna, who was trying to stop him, with blazing eyes and urged him.

“If our army is defeated at Leipzig, there is no future for the French Empire! Are you going to fight to the death and live, or are you just going to wait and die!”

Clearly, defeat does not only mean the end of Napoleon.

It is the end of the system itself called the French Empire.

The revolution has deteriorated, and it has become a monarchy again, and the soldiers who dreamed of revolution have become nobles and are here.

But even so, have they run this far to be defeated by the monarchy?

At that moment, Lan, who had just returned and was catching his breath, shouted.

“This crazy talk is exactly what our Emperor does! I’m going!”

“Lan, have you gone crazy too?”

“There’s no turning back anyway, Duke Masséna. I made my name as a grenadier [elite infantryman], and I will die as a grenadier!”

Again, Lan spurred his horse and shouted.

“What are you doing! His Imperial Majesty is going to die!”

Then the veterans of the Garde Impériale [Imperial Guard], the Imperial Guard, rushed out all at once.

“Let’s die with His Majesty!”

There is no set order, no discipline, no command.

The veterans run out with only familiar jogging.

But the ranks are truly systematic, befitting elite soldiers.

Soon, Napoleon, riding the famous horse Marengo, shouted.

“Masséna, I leave the rear to you!”

The marshals who were left behind were dumbfounded and looked at each other, and Masséna hurriedly ran out.

“I can’t believe it. Prepare the 5th and 6th Corps, the left wing! And deploy all the reserves! Tell Marmont to stop the bombardment for now!”

The Emperor has already charged anyway.

But not preparing for the follow-up?

The Emperor is about to die a dog’s death.

After finishing the urgent orders, Masséna looked at the Emperor who had run out and shouted.

“How can you not wait even 6 days! Your patience is running out. Our Emperor!”

6 days.

The time that has passed since the Battle of Leipzig began.

In the end, Napoleon moved before Karl.

***

Of course, Napoleon is not charging without a plan.

-Doo doo doo!

Murat watched the Emperor running at the head of the cavalry, gauging the situation.

Usually, mindless charges in Napoleon’s corps are Murat’s responsibility.

But suddenly the Emperor himself stepped up.

What is he thinking?

Murat carefully checked that Lan and Bessières were far away and asked.

“Your Majesty, are you really going to commit suicide?”

“Of course not. I’m going to bypass right in front of the enemy lines!”

“The enemy’s artillery range is up to that hill over there?”

Napoleon chuckled as he looked at the hill right in front of him.

“I’m going to turn right in front of it!”

Soon, Napoleon’s Imperial Guard cavalry turned at an acute angle and dug into the enemy lines.

-Tang! Tang! Tang!

The new Boarner-style rifles were fired from horseback, and the enemy scattered.

“It’s broken through!”

A gap, a very small gap.

The Allied forces did not even have time to fire their cannons due to the momentum of the Imperial Guard cavalry that suddenly poured out.

A surprise attack that the Allied forces had not even thought of had occurred.

Napoleon smiled triumphantly and ordered.

“Turn around! Huh?”

At that time, Napoleon’s Marengo stopped.

“What, why is there a Union Jack [British flag]?”

Leipzig is a plain area with few undulations.

-Flutter!

So you can see the horizon.

One flag fluttering beyond the horizon.

The Union Jack.

The symbol of England.

“Your Majesty, the English Hanover Regiment has arrived!”

Listening to Bessières’ urgent report, Napoleon burst into laughter.

“Truly, either I will die, or Europe will be in my hands! Murat! Charge!”

Now is the time when a charge is absolutely necessary.

The Grande Armée Imperial Guard Equites [cavalrymen].

The strongest mobile force that will burn the era of this last cavalry.

-Doo doo doo!

The Imperial Guard cavalry began to charge.