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Chapter 1211: The Military Technology Gap

Baron von Werneck was suddenly overjoyed.

The French were in such a hurry to attack that they hadn't even bothered to dress their lines properly. Although his own men had formed up in haste, they had at least managed to establish a solid infantry line.

As long as he made no tactical blunders, this French assault was nothing more than a gift to his military record!

He immediately began barking out a series of composed orders. "Hussar battalion, disperse the enemy artillery at once!

"Horse artillery, deploy by the thicket on the southern side. Strike the enemy's left flank!

"Reserve corps, shift south..."

Even after several officers hurried off to execute his commands, Werneck still felt uneasy. He took his personal guard and galloped toward the front lines to oversee the infantry engagement himself.

Ten minutes later, the "loose" French offensive formation had closed to within two hundred paces of the Austrian vanguard.

Werneck still hadn't noticed that while the French formation appeared disorganized, the seven or eight thousand soldiers were maintaining a perfectly synchronized pace. The spacing between the men remained almost constant as they moved.

The Austrian horse artillery had also reached their designated positions. The soldiers scrambled to unhitch the teams, preparing to open fire.

Following Archduke Charles's military reforms, Austria had established its own French-style horse artillery units. While their mobility couldn't quite match their French counterparts, they were still several times faster than standard artillery, capable of appearing suddenly at critical points to deliver devastating strikes.

However, at that exact moment, a force of six or seven hundred French Hussars emerged from the river valley to the southeast, barely three kilometers away.

In reality, the French hot air balloons drifting high above had spotted the Austrian horse artillery the moment they began their southward maneuver. The open terrain of the Po River plain was a dream come true for high-altitude reconnaissance battalions.

Moreau had immediately detached four Hussar companies to intercept them.

The Austrian Hussars shielding the artillery reacted quickly. They adjusted their formation and charged to meet the French cavalry head-on.

As the two cavalry units were about to collide, they both followed the standard tactical procedure, veering to their respective right to pass each other in a flanking maneuver.

Simultaneously, both sides drew their firearms and fired at the passing enemy.

Hitting a target while galloping at full tilt was notoriously difficult, but it was better than nothing; the sound of gunfire alone served as a powerful deterrent.

A flurry of muzzle flashes erupted, and amidst the drifting gunsmoke, several men from both sides were knocked from their saddles.

The Austrian Hussars began holstering their carbines, preparing to wheel around and regroup further ahead. However, they quickly noticed that the Frenchmen were still holding their weapons. After a brief, rhythmic manipulation of the firearms, the cracks of gunshots rang out once more.

As several more Austrian riders screamed and tumbled from their horses, the French cavalrymen cocked their hammers, clicked their cylinders, and fired yet another volley.

After six consecutive rounds of fire, the French finally tucked their weapons away with satisfaction.

The actual casualties weren't immense—only about twenty men had been hit—but the psychological blow of being shot at without the ability to return fire was devastating to morale. The Austrian cavalrymen stared back with eyes full of terror.

Nearly half of the French Hussars were now equipped with the Joseph 1797 Model Revolver. Because the manufacturing process was so complex, production had only reached this level so far.

Although its effective range was relatively short, the rifled barrel ensured a flat trajectory. Its lethal distance wasn't much shorter than that of a standard short-barreled flintlock musket.

When it came to rate of fire, however, it absolutely crushed the traditional carbine.

Both cavalry units turned their horses simultaneously in the distance. The Austrians were visibly dazed by the exchange. It wasn't until the French Hussars drew their sabers and charged toward the artillery battery that the Austrians frantically began to regroup.

On the main battlefield, the French skirmisher swarm unleashed their first volley at a distance of one hundred and thirty paces.

Werneck shook his head dismissively. He thought this French unit must be composed of raw recruits—not only was their formation a mess, but they were also wasting ammunition by firing far too early.

But when he saw a massive swathe of his own infantry line collapse like dry grass caught in a gale, his jaw dropped in shock.

'How can they have such high accuracy from this distance?!'

Then, the French troops actually halted and began reloading on the spot. With such a range advantage, only a fool would fail to exploit it.

When their second volley claimed another seven or eight hundred Austrian lives, Werneck dared not hesitate any longer. He turned to his messenger and roared, "Advance the whole army fifty paces!"

His center was equipped with over three thousand Wind Rifles. Once they were within range, they could rely on their overwhelming rate of fire to shatter the French!

Drums rolled across the Austrian lines. Though the soldiers were surprised that they were being ordered to go on the offensive during a defensive engagement, they executed the command with grim determination.

The standard march rate for an infantry line was seventy paces per minute. This forced the Austrians to endure two more volleys. The left flank, already under constant bombardment from the French cannons, was showing signs of imminent collapse.

Werneck clenched his fists white, his eyes fixed on his left flank. It was only when he heard his officers raise their sabers and command the men to fire that he let out a shallow breath of relief.

At least the soldiers had held their ground and hadn't broken.

Now, it was time for their counterattack!

But at that moment, the French soldiers suddenly scrambled for nearby cover, some even dropping flat to the ground.

The air rifle pellets hissed and whizzed overhead, yet they barely struck anyone.

Werneck froze. 'This... why does this look like skirmisher tactics?'

'Nearly ten thousand skirmishers?!'

'Are the French joking?!'

A moment later, the French soldiers finished reloading and popped up from behind their cover, unleashing a dense wall of muzzle flashes.

The French horse artillery happened to complete a volley at the same time. Under the combined weight of Minié balls and cannon fire, Werneck's left flank finally snapped.

Werneck couldn't wrap his head around how a numerically superior infantry line could lose a firefight to a bunch of skirmishers.

In standard warfare, skirmishers were only used for harassment. Once the opposing infantry line began their volleys, skirmishers were supposed to retreat and leave the field to their own main infantry lines.

Werneck looked toward the French rear. Their actual infantry line was pathetic—only two thin ranks with wide gaps between them, clearly not intended for a decisive confrontation.

He grit his teeth and spoke in a low, heavy voice to his messenger. "Order a general frontal assault! Tear them apart with cold steel!"

Because skirmishers stood in loose positions with large gaps between them, they rarely had the staying power to withstand a massed bayonet charge from an infantry line.

Werneck decided to gamble everything on this charge.

Savary, the commander of Moreau's vanguard, heard the rapid beat of the enemy drums. He frowned slightly. Were the Austrians actually going to charge?

He made a snap judgment and turned to his messenger. "Order the men to maintain free fire."

According to standard doctrine, when faced with an enemy's close-range charge, skirmishers should fall back behind the main line and reform into ranks.

However, the Austrians had already suffered catastrophic casualties in the exchange. Savary believed that before the enemy could even close the distance for bayonet combat, they would be utterly annihilated.

Soon, over thirteen thousand Austrian soldiers leveled their bayonets and surged forward with a deafening roar, charging toward the French skirmisher swarm.