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Chapter 1251: Eastern Front Campaign

Extensive thickets in southern Saxony concealed the French soldiers, and conveniently, Austrian cavalry also disliked scouting in such terrain.

Moreau's original plan was that if any infiltrating unit were discovered, they would immediately open fire to create a commotion, drawing the enemy's attention and thus helping the other flank complete its infiltration.

However, French luck held out this time; both divisions successfully maneuvered to the north side of Wurmser's legion, effectively behind them.

An hour and a half later, a Hussar excitedly reported to Moreau: "General, there has been no engagement along Wurmser's defense line."

This meant the infiltrating units had remained undetected by the enemy.

"Excellent. Keep a close watch on enemy movements." Moreau smiled and nodded, then turned to Ney. "Have everyone prepare for the attack."

That afternoon, after Wurmser confirmed that Archduke Charles's main forces had departed Bamberg, he was about to order his own legion to move south when a staff officer hurried over, announcing anxiously: "General, news from Kronach Town reports tens of thousands of French troops are besieging it."

Wurmser was instantly stunned.

Kronach was more than 20 kilometers north of Bayreuth. How had the French bypassed him to get there?

Soon after Öchiko's departure, Moreau's main forces launched a fierce assault on the Prince of Hechingen.

Upon receiving the news, Wurmser immediately directed his entire army to converge on the left flank and ordered the Hechingen Legion to hold its ground.

He felt no panic; rather, he was somewhat relieved. He had previously been unable to pinpoint the location of the French main force, leaving him to passively set up his defenses.

Now that the French army had actively revealed itself, he only needed to hold them off for two days, and Archduke Charles's main forces would arrive.

However, early the next morning, the Prince of Hechingen reported to him that the French had retreated.

Wurmser dared not be careless. He still ordered his entire army to heighten their vigilance and dispatched a large contingent of cavalry to the Weiden direction to search for traces of the French – his guess was that Moreau's Legion had likely used the attack to press his defenses, then seized the opportunity to slip northward along the eastern Šumava Mountains.

But his Hussars consistently reported no sign of the French army.

Indeed, after launching a feint attack on Wurmser's left flank, Moreau immediately led his troops to bypass Bayreuth from the south, circling west via Pegnitz.

This was already Bavarian territory, so he had no need to worry about anyone reporting his movements to the Coalition Forces.

By eleven o'clock the next morning, he had reached Königshofen Village, 45 kilometers from the Hechingen Legion – a small hamlet situated between Bamberg and Bayreuth.

Under the command of the high-altitude reconnaissance battalion's officers, the hot air balloon deployment vehicle quickly extended two extremely long support poles and laid the balloon flat.

Then, flames more than half a meter long shot out from the top of the kerosene tank, while the nearby steam-driven inflation pump continuously directed the flames toward the bottom of the hot air balloon.

At present, France's kerosene refining technology was still primitive, resulting in very high costs; a single tank of kerosene could cost hundreds of francs.

However, during wartime, any expense was justified if it reduced time. Thus, the main legions' high-altitude reconnaissance battalions were almost all equipped with kerosene for heating.

In just 42 minutes, a light blue hot air balloon began to ascend into the sky.

A moment later, the reconnaissance battalion officer in the balloon's gondola operated a signal rod, similar to a Chappe signal tower, sending a series of signals to the ground.

The staff officer took the translated message from the ground reception team and turned to Moreau. "General, just as you predicted, enemy forces have been spotted 3 kilometers to the northeast, approximately 26,000 strong."

Moreau judged that after being ambushed, Wurmser would most likely request aid from the main Coalition forces, and this was precisely the reinforcement force he was targeting.

Archduke Charles, however, had no idea that the French forces, who had attacked Wurmser's left flank more than 40 kilometers away yesterday, would suddenly appear between him and Wurmser's legion this morning.

Moreau immediately reined his horse and led his troops toward the target.

A special cavalry unit detached from the main force according to the predetermined battle plan, galloping at extreme speed toward the Austrian reinforcements.

This "cavalry" unit numbered around 4,000 men but only rode 2,000 horses. To reduce the burden on the mounts, all soldiers were of short stature, and their weight was strictly controlled to be under 60 kilograms.

Indeed, these were the newly added Voltigeur troops, a result of France's Second Military Reform.

They required only a small number of warhorses to achieve mobility speeds close to that of cavalry, making them ideal for rapid interception and flanking assaults.

Three Voltigeur battalions circled around to a point one kilometer east of the Austrian reinforcements before dismounting and forming ranks. By then, their mounts were so exhausted they could barely stand, but Voltigeurs did not rely on horses for combat, allowing them to maximize their horses' endurance.

Baron Degenfeld, the Austrian commander tasked with reinforcing Wurmser, was still urging his soldiers to pick up the pace when a Hussar suddenly returned with a report: "General, an enemy defense line has been spotted ahead, roughly four to five thousand strong."

Baron Degenfeld suddenly felt a pounding headache.

He had heard Chief of Staff Weuroser mention at the Coalition Forces' war council a few days prior that French troops had been spotted all over central Germany recently; he never expected them to have come all the way here.

Fortunately, there were only a few thousand of them; crushing them quickly would suffice.

But their arrival at Bayreuth would be delayed. He sighed, ordering the vanguard to immediately assault the French defense line, then dispatched Hussars to circle around their left flank.

Half an hour later, the Austrian artillery began to roar.

As Baron Degenfeld fretted about not reaching Bayreuth before nightfall, he sensed something was off about the sound of the cannons.

He turned his head, frowning. 'Why is there artillery fire from the side and rear?'

He suddenly jolted, yelling to a nearby staff officer: "Enemy attack!"

On the French side, the hot air balloon had ascended again, ready to provide ranging corrections for their own artillery.

The Austrian rear guard was caught completely off guard by the shells whistling in from behind. In just five or six minutes, two to three hundred bodies already littered the ground.

By the time Degenfeld's order to turn and defend reached them, the Austrian officers were already unable to control their soldiers, who were scattering in every direction.

Moreau left the Austrian army no time to react. Ney and Nansouty immediately commanded two charging columns, swiftly attacking the enemy from the west and south, accompanied by the roar of cannons.

The Austrian army's combat strength was already far inferior to that of the French, and now, assaulted by Moreau's superior forces, they began to crumble almost immediately upon engagement.