Chapter 446 - 360: The Mounted Artillery Shows Their Might Again

Chapter 446: Chapter 360: The Mounted Artillery Shows Their Might Again

The Guard Corps maintained a rigid formation, rapidly firing volleys of three ranks while continuously advancing forward.

Under this machine-like efficient and precise assault, the hastily-formed infantry lines of the Hanoverian Army were eventually cut into three sections.

On the one-kilometer wide battlefield, groups of Hanoverian soldiers would throw down their weapons and turn to flee every few minutes, despite the efforts of their officers to stop them.

Soon, even the officers began to run away.

As the infantry lines behind the Guard Corps had not yet pressed forward, the sound of the military drums changed, and they immediately altered their formation, enveloping the enemy from both sides.

Mula, from a distance, heard the disordered sounds of the enemy’s drums becoming sporadic and his heart leapt with excitement—that meant there was a problem in the enemy’s defenses.

Indeed, the command from the commander came—Cavalry Camp, form up, pursue the defeated enemy.

Mula spurred his horse vigorously, excitedly waving his hand and shouting, “Gentlemen, it’s our turn to take the field!”

Unlike the scenes often seen in modern TV series where cavalry, under intense enemy fire, recklessly plunge into the enemy lines and wreak havoc, in the long history of human warfare, the main tasks of cavalry have been harassing, containing, covering, and pursuit. Employing expensive cavalry in a frontal assault was only done if the enemy was confirmed weak, or if one’s own side was on the brink of collapse and had to make a desperate effort.

Therefore, Mula had previously circled the Hanoverians a few times without even drawing his saber.

Now, at last, there was an opportunity to earn some military glory!

In the last battle, he was promoted to sergeant for heroically breaking through the enemy lines. If he could kill a few more enemy soldiers this time, he might return as a commissioned officer!

Before long, one could see the red uniforms of the Hanoverian soldiers scattered across the ground. Mula’s Arab warhorse carried him like a wild bison charging into the red crowd…

To the north of Ogquenna village, a Cavalryman was reporting to Cavalry Artillery Barracks Commander Lacoste, “Two battalions of Hanoverian infantry have reached 2 kilometers to the northwest side.”

Lacoste looked towards his staff officer, smiling, “If they didn’t arrive soon, I was thinking of taking a nap.”

The staff officer smiled as well, “We’ve been waiting for over 40 minutes. The Hanoverians are indeed slow to move.”

Lacoste turned towards the distance, “Order everyone to adjust the cannon positions and give the enemy a painful reception! As long as we hold off the enemy reinforcements for three hours, our cavalry will be able to destroy their cannons and baggage.”

Yes, according to the General Staff’s plan, at that moment, half of the main cavalry force of the Guard Corps was lunging at the Hanoverian rear on the eastern side.

Soon, the cannons on the hills roared, and more than a dozen cannonballs whistled past the Hanoverian lines. However, due to the distance, only two hit the target.

Even so, the Hanoverians were struck with terror. They retreated several hundred meters quickly and sent scouts to carefully locate the positions of the French cannons before they hastily organized skirmish lines to charge at the artillery position.

However, they immediately encountered the infantry lines of the French Dragoons at the foot of the hills.

The progress of the skirmishers was halted by the infantry lines, and with cannonballs continuously “whizzing” by overhead, the Hanoverians’ first attempt at an assault was swiftly declared a failure.

Holding binoculars, Lacoste watched with satisfaction as the enemy retreated like the tide.

He had already held his position for over an hour, and at the current rate, three hours would soon pass.

Just then, a messenger ran up to him, raising his hat to salute, “Commander, Major Buonaparte has some tactical suggestions he would like to report to you.”

“Oh?” The Artillery Battalion Commander, who knew the young Corsican officer to have a very quick mind, nodded with some curiosity, “Please, go on.”

Half an hour later, the Hanoverians reorganized their ranks, this time forming a proper infantry line, ready for a head-on clash with the French Army.

However, the Hanoverian Light Cavalry in the distance suddenly sounded an urgent alarm.

The Hanoverian commander then saw through his telescope a squad of French Cavalry… no, they were dragging cannons, they must be Mounted Artillery, charging directly to his left flank and beginning to unload the cannons.

“Are these French mad?!”

His eyes twitched, and he immediately ordered skirmishers to eliminate those cannons—he had only brought two battalions of infantry to reinforce the rear and did not have enough cavalry to deal with the cannons.

But before the Hanoverian skirmishers could prepare, the French cannons had already completed a dozen volleys, hitched up, and galloped away.

The Hanoverian commander nearly shattered his teeth with rage, bellowing orders for the infantry line to initiate a frontal assault. The right flank once again reverberated with the alarm calls of the Hussars…

Southwest of Ogquenna village.

Joseph looked through his telescope at the red soldiers on the roofs of distant farmhouses and frowned.

The Hanoverians were clever, apparently anticipating that they couldn’t match the Guard Corps head-on, so they had only arrayed a few sparsely distributed infantry lines on either side of the village, while spreading nearly half their soldiers within the village itself, attempting to stall the French Army with street fighting.

The Guard Corps had just annihilated three isolated Hanoverian battalions and was promptly marching towards Charles II’s main force, now greatly fatigued.

In this exchange of strengths and weaknesses, a direct assault on this small village would likely lead to severe casualties.

Bertier, who was also aware of this issue, came over and suggested:

“Your Highness, perhaps we should bypass the village from the west side.”

Joseph hesitated, vividly recalling that a small river lay to the west of the village on the map he had seen earlier.

Therefore, taking a detour would mean not just walking a few extra kilometers but also wasting a lot of time crossing the river.

By doing this, Charles II may be able to gather his troops, turning a flanking maneuver into a direct confrontation. Although a large portion of the Hanoverian Army had already been taken out and the artillery lagged behind, the remaining forces still numbered over ten thousand men.

As for bypassing from the east side of the village… with the Hanoverian main force to the northwest, that would add over a dozen kilometers to their march, making it worse than crossing the river.

Just as Joseph and Bertier were weighing their options, they suddenly heard faint cannon fire from the north of Ogquenna village.

The two exchanged glances, both filled with confusion.

Although it was possible for the Hanoverian main corps to carry some cannons—since at that time in Europe most armies’ cannons were still attached to infantry units, meaning some light artillery would follow closely behind the infantry rather than being part of a unified rear transport—they wondered who the Hanoverians were shelling to the north? The Guard Corps was currently to the southwest of the village.

“Your Highness, something’s not right,” Bertier murmured, listening to the cannon fire, “There must be at least a dozen cannons. The enemy shouldn’t have so many.”

Twenty minutes later, several Hussars rushed in to resolve their confusion:

“Report! The Cavalry Artillery Barracks launched an attack on the enemy north of Ogquenna village!”