I Became A Genius Of The French Royal Family [EN]: Chapter 284

No matter how well-trained and motivated soldiers are, some things are fundamentally impossible.

Because they had completely dismissed the possibility of enemy cavalry flanking them, they hadn’t even bothered to form a proper defensive formation.

They scrambled to create a defensive line, but the unit collapsed miserably, caught completely off guard.

Neither patriotic fervor nor the desire to avoid defeat by their arch-rivals, the Habsburgs, could save them.

“Ugh! The 7th Brigade has been breached!”

“6th Brigade! Fill the gap left by the 7th!”

“You’re telling us to go die there! Why don’t you go yourself!”

Ta-tat-tat!

“Ugh, ugh!”

“Save me!”

“General! General! This isn’t what we were told!”

“Why is the French army here?!”

Bang!

“No, no! I want to live!”

The most crucial element in battle is morale.

A unit with shattered morale can instantly devolve into a disorganized rabble, regardless of its size.

Fear spreads like a relentless disease.

Even units that hadn’t yet taken casualties began to witness soldiers discarding their weapons and deserting.

The situation wasn’t decided solely by the French cavalry’s strength.

Even ordinary soldiers can assess the situation for themselves.

The French army’s presence here meant that the Anglo-Russian allied forces had either been defeated or, at the very least, had abandoned the front lines.

This implied they would face not only the Holy Roman Empire but also the main body of the French army.

“Heeek! The French are coming!”

“What the hell are the British and Russian bastards doing?!”

“No! If we break formation now, the battle line won’t hold! Hold your ground!”

Despite the officers’ desperate attempts to maintain control, they couldn’t stem the legion’s collapse.

In particular, the Holy Roman Empire’s forces, emboldened by the French arrival, pressed so hard that maintaining the front line became futile.

“…Damn it. We have to retreat, minimizing our losses…”

The word ‘victory’ had long vanished from Blücher’s mind.

He pondered how to save as many of his men as possible, but he was already in a situation where even retreat seemed impossible.

Only one option remained.

“Surrender! I surrender! Raise the white flag! We will concede the battle and surrender unconditionally, so cease fighting in accordance with international law!”

“Yes? G-General! But…”

“What else can we do? We’ve done our best.”

If they lost this battle, Prussia’s future would be even grimmer, but what choice did they have?

Continuing to fight would only cost the lives of innocent soldiers, without changing the outcome.

He could only resent the British, who had once again betrayed their allies and fled.

As soon as the general issued the order, the Prussian soldiers dropped their weapons as if they had been waiting for it, raising both hands to signal their intention to surrender.

Seeing this, the French cavalry ceased their one-sided assault and sheathed their weapons.

“To the general of the Prussian army! You have fought bravely against the invincible French army. We respect your decision to admit defeat and promise to abide by international law! First, hand over all your weapons as proof of surrender!”

“…I understand. Thank you for your generous decision.”

The Prussian army, accepting disarmament, willingly surrendered all their weapons to the French and Holy Roman Empire forces.

It was an unexpected triumph, not only holding the Prussian army in check but utterly destroying them.

Watching this with satisfaction, General Karl approached the French cavalry and expressed his gratitude.

“Thank you for your timely support. Thanks to you, we were able to achieve a great victory. Marshal Murat’s reputation is truly well-deserved. Haha!”

“It’s all thanks to your country’s valiant fight. But I didn’t expect the battle to end so easily. I hurried to catch up with their cavalry, but how did we arrive first? Did we get separated on the way…?”

“Didn’t you see their cavalry? You couldn’t have avoided encountering them on the way… I thought you had defeated the enemy cavalry with Marshal Murat’s brilliant command and joined us.”

“If that were the case, we couldn’t have arrived so quickly.”

Were they cursed? Or had the allied forces suffered an unforeseen disaster?

“They got lost… No, that’s impossible…”

“Murat, I think we’ve been tricked.”

Unlike the simple Murat, Bessières, with his calm and rational judgment, immediately understood the situation.

“They never intended to send troops to help Prussia in the first place. They were clearly trying to divert our attention here and escape themselves. I’ll send a message to the main force immediately.”

“…What?”

“Surely that can’t be…”

Unlike Murat and Karl, whose eyes widened in disbelief, Bessières immediately scribbled a letter and handed it to a cavalry officer.

“If that weren’t the case, we wouldn’t have missed seeing the enemy troops on our way here. They pretended to come here to lure our troops. Most of their troops are probably circling around to the northeast to escape.”

“What? Are they crazy…?”

To use over 100,000 allied troops as bait for their own escape was a strategy that Murat couldn’t comprehend.

“Since our unit, with the best mobility, came down here to fight, it will be difficult for the remaining units to catch up with them, even if they pursue diligently. It’s an absurd method, but it must be seen as the best tactic for ensuring their own safety.”

“Ah… I see. Their purpose from the beginning was to lure us here?”

Murat let out a hollow laugh and turned his gaze to the Prussian army, now prisoners.

Regardless of what they said, the British and Russian armies had successfully escaped with minimal losses.

In that respect, they were probably congratulating themselves on the success of their operation.

It was an incomprehensible situation, but this was war.

Murat vowed once again that he would never, ever aspire to the position of commander-in-chief of an army, no matter what.

Not that they would ever let him anyway.

※※※

“There are no enemy troops pursuing us.”

“The enemy probably didn’t expect us to retreat so quickly. It was certainly a brilliant strategy.”

The first stage of the retreat operation was a success.

Henry Paget accepted Kutuzov’s praise without false modesty.

“They probably realized our intentions by now, but it’s too late. Even if they chase us with all their might, they won’t gain anything and will be busy cleaning up in Prussia.”

Paget had come to this unpleasant land and fought against the French army, and in the process, he had gained confidence.

The enemy commander, André Masséna, was clearly an excellent commander.

Kutuzov was one thing, but Masséna clearly possessed superior qualities.

It wasn’t just that he had good weapons, but the way he managed his corps was something Paget couldn’t match.

On the other hand, Kutuzov had the ability, but the Russian army’s overall level was so low that they could never withstand the French.

Unless the French made a serious blunder and advanced deep into the Russian mainland, they wouldn’t be of much help.

In that respect, this war had been quite revealing.

‘Wellesley told me not to expect much from the Russian army… I don’t think they’re *that* bad, but it’s true that we overestimated them.’

The British Empire harbored a growing concern that Russia would become a superpower, threatening their global dominance.

Therefore, there had been increasing criticism in Parliament that too much had been conceded to Russia in this war.

Defeating France was desirable, but if Russia rose to take its place, it would be a case of ‘boiling the soup and giving it to the dog’ [a saying meaning to work hard for someone else’s benefit].

So, various plans had been discussed to subtly increase the damage inflicted on Russia during the war.

But seeing them in person, they weren’t at that level.

The land was ridiculously vast, but the reality was that there wasn’t much usable land, and their technology was unimpressive.

No matter how they analyzed it, Russia wasn’t a true threat to the British Empire.

‘The French are the only real threat. If we can bring them down, world hegemony will be ours.’

When he returned home, there would be those who would criticize him for saying this deployment was pointless, but he had already prepared his rebuttals.

It was regrettable that allied soldiers had shed their blood, but even that had been mitigated with minimal losses.

It didn’t matter if they abandoned Prussia, as it would become a mere shell of a country anyway.

“By the way, what are you going to tell the Tsar when you return to Russia?”

“…Are you worried that I’ll advise him to make a truce with France?”

“To be honest, yes. We believe that as long as your country remains in this war, we have a good chance of winning.”

“Even if we try to withdraw now, the Tsar won’t listen.”

Kutuzov wanted to advise the Tsar to simply withdraw from the war.

Russia’s involvement was ultimately due to the Tsar’s ambition.

England had promised them the Primorsky Territory [a region in the Russian Far East], but that would be worthless if they lost the war.

And after fighting directly this time, he doubted whether they could truly win against the French.

England was confident they could buy time because of their naval dominance, but how could they be so sure?

It was widely known that the French Navy had been investing in steamships earlier than the British.

With both sides currently avoiding full-scale naval battles, it was impossible to know who was stronger, but what if the British lost when they finally clashed?

Then there would be no escape.

Defending by relying on the natural environment was only a temporary solution, and if England was defeated by France, Russia would be completely isolated.

From then on, France wouldn’t even need to attack Russia.

An economic blockade would be enough to force them to raise the white flag.

“General, it’s too late to withdraw from the war now. Even if the Tsar proposes a truce, do you think the French will accept it?”

“……”

“We’re already in the same boat, so we have no choice but to see it through to the end. Don’t you realize that?”

“…I suppose so. After all, once we’ve started, they won’t let us withdraw so easily.”

Having ‘mounted the tiger’ [a saying meaning to start something that is difficult to stop], they had no choice but to continue.

Henry Paget reached out and shook hands with Kutuzov, who was nodding with a bitter expression.

“It’s almost time to say goodbye, so I’ll bid you farewell in advance. I hope you return to Russia safely.”

“There should still be more time. Do you have other plans?”

“Yes. Just in case, I’m thinking of taking a look at the ports of Prussia. It would be annoying if France used Prussia as a base to interfere with our trade.”

These guys… were serious.

Kutuzov gave up trying to understand. He just wanted to return to his homeland, Russia, as soon as possible.

End