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Chapter 1224: Narrow Encounter

Northwest of Lake Lucerne, Suvorov was leading 50,000 Russian troops on a swift return along their original route.

In fact, he had disengaged from the Wädenswil battlefield by noon that day.

Indeed, two days prior, he had suspected that the French army might have more than one ambush point. He had also quickly noticed that the enemy chose a defensive stance when facing Rosenberg's assault of fewer than 30,000 men, leading him to immediately deduce that other French forces might be preparing to strike him.

Adhering to his philosophy of prioritizing offense, he promptly recalled his main forces and turned to face the rear.

Based on his experience, he surmised that the French would likely not deploy in Schwyz. That location was too close to Blücher, making it easy for Russian and Prussian forces to combine their strength.

Therefore, they were most likely approaching from the Volhynia direction.

He then attacked northwestward at maximum speed, hoping to swiftly crush the French forces while they were caught off guard.

He would then lead his army back to Wädenswil and slowly neutralize the French forces there.

If Blücher moved quickly enough to assist him from the flank, it might even be possible to annihilate all French forces in Switzerland.

Since they didn't have to wait for supplies, he ordered his soldiers to march another two kilometers before making camp to rest.

The next morning, Suvorov's grand army continued its march towards Volhynia.

By his estimation, it would take at least a full day for the French forces at Wädenswil to discover his movement and then relay the message to Volhynia.

Then, the French forces in Volhynia would begin their forced march, and by now, they should have covered about five versts, which was just under six kilometers.

Maintaining his current speed, he anticipated encountering the French army between noon and three o'clock that afternoon.

He could already picture the French, stunned and bewildered, upon seeing tens of thousands of troops suddenly appear before them.

However, at that very moment, a pale blue hot air balloon gently drifted into the northern sky.

Russian soldiers quickly spotted it, reported it to their officers, and the information was relayed, layer by layer, until it reached Suvorov.

Suvorov had heard about hot air balloons as a new military asset from Prussia. Though he hadn't delved into their specifics, he knew their presence signified enemy forces nearby.

He immediately ordered his troops to spread into a battle formation, while cavalry maneuvered to the flanks. As the Russian army hastily organized its ranks, a series of sharp shrieks abruptly tore through the sky. Then, more than a dozen black shadows plunged like harbingers of death among the Russian soldiers.

Instantly, blood and mangled flesh splattered, and shouts of alarm and screams of agony rose in succession.

Suvorov felt his mind reel in confusion. He could discern at least a dozen 12-pounder cannons firing at them—this was undeniably the main French force.

'But where did these men come from?'

He had previously reconnoitered the hills along the Reuss River repeatedly; there was no way he could have missed a large French contingent. So, the enemy must have set out from Volhynia at the very least.

'Even if they had been force-marching nonstop, there's no way they could have reached here by now!'

This location was a full 15 kilometers from Volhynia, and the French should have only learned of his arrival at Wädenswil near dusk yesterday.

'Unless they can fly, they couldn't possibly have covered this much ground in half a morning!'

Little did he know, the French army was heavily equipped with high-tech devices like the mobile Chappe Signal Vehicle.

And Switzerland's mountainous terrain was perfectly suited for signal tower communications.

Sérurier had previously set up two mobile signal vehicles on the hills south of Lake Zurich to facilitate communication with his right flank—a small hill southwest of Wädenswil had caused his right flank to be somewhat distant from the central army.

Consequently, after being attacked by Russian forces, Sérurier not only dispatched cavalry messengers but also had his communications specialists relay the message to the furthest signal vehicle.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, the signal vehicle's commander on the hill ordered the two horses pulling the signal vehicle to be unhitched. He then, acting as a cavalryman, rode towards Volhynia.

Their position at the time was outside the main battlefield, and they encountered no Russian reconnaissance cavalry along the way.

Thus, by pushing the horses to their absolute limits, the commander reached Volhynia just after three o'clock in the afternoon.

Masséna then immediately led his troops towards Wädenswil.

It was these nine kilometers, made possible by the mobile signal vehicle, that helped Masséna gain the crucial advantage.

After the 12-pounder cannons had roared for a spell, a slightly softer cannonade erupted from the Russian left flank—the 6-pounder cannons of the French horse artillery.

Suvorov desperately fought to regain his composure. After a rapid moment of thought, he issued a flurry of commands:

"Vistayev, immediately lead the reserve cavalry to find the enemy artillery and disperse them at all costs.

"Rosenberg's corps will outflank them from the Lake Zurich direction. If you don't find an opening, continue your retreat to Zurich.

"Vorotov's corps is to prepare for a frontal engagement...

"Gorchakov, circle around from the southern hills..."

His response was highly effective: he withdrew the vanguard corps that had been ambushed, sent the reserves to the front, and simultaneously attempted to spread out his forces. Since his own side was already in disarray, he aimed to disrupt the French formation as much as possible.

But he had forgotten that a hot air balloon above could observe everything in the vicinity.

After learning of the Russian movements, Masséna decisively ordered the concentration of superior forces for a direct frontal breakthrough.

At the same time, he detached Oudinot and Gazan, each leading 5,000 soldiers, to intercept the enemy forces scattering to the flanks.

Just over ten minutes later, a reinforced brigade of 5,000 soldiers, organized into hundreds of columns, charged fiercely towards the Russian defense line across a two-kilometer-wide front, screened by tens of thousands of skirmishers.

Vorotov himself shouted loudly in front of the infantry line, urging his soldiers to maintain formation.

However, a few volleys from the distant French rifles quickly tore numerous gaps in the Russian defense line, sending soldiers retreating in panic.

Then, the dense, dark columns surged forward.

A few Russian soldiers, not yet overwhelmed by panic, hastily raised their Flintlock Muskets and returned fire.

Scattered flashes of gunfire flickered across the gray infantry line, but the French infantry, now almost upon them, merely stumbled for a moment before continuing their rapid advance to the beat of drums.

Indeed, most Russian soldiers were still equipped with Flintlock Muskets, whose airtightness was a full tier below that of Percussion Cap Muskets. Even at a range of forty paces, they were utterly unable to penetrate the Bulletproof Inserts widely adopted by the French army.

Seeing the French columns beginning to deploy, Vorotov gritted his teeth and bellowed an order for a Bayonet Charge.

However, his command fell on deaf ears. Such was the nature of Russian warfare: in favorable conditions, they dared to charge cannons with bayonets, but when the tide turned against them, they dissolved into chaos, scarcely heeding their officers' commands.

Finally, the charging French soldiers completed their transformation into line formation and unleashed their first volley at a range of fifty paces.

Minié Balls flew precisely to their targets, and an instant later, a crimson mist billowed along the entire Russian infantry line.