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Chapter 322: The French-Speaking Austrian Army

Bischoff, as a Junker noble who had participated in the War of the Bavarian Succession, possessed a solid military education.

Although he scorned the Austrians' foolish attack, he still cautiously inspected his own infantry lines before ordering the skirmishers to advance first, disrupt the enemy's formation, and then have the main infantry line follow.

The distance between the two infantry lines quickly closed to just over 200 meters. Bischoff noticed the Austrian formation growing increasingly disordered—the southern flank moved significantly slower than the northern, and there was also a slower-moving section in the middle, making the entire line appear jagged.

"'Leo's elite corps must have been wiped out indeed,'" he declared, lowering his telescope. He instructed the adjutant beside him, "'Order the second line to advance as well. We must completely crush the Austrians before Lieutenant Colonel Altmann can send cavalry to outflank them.'"

"'Yes, Commander!'"

Soon, the infantry line Bischoff had held in reserve also began to move, advancing towards the enemy to the beat of drums.

Simultaneously, the Prussian skirmisher company at the very front of the battlefield engaged the Austrian soldiers.

Nearly a hundred skirmishers, using the cover of the rocky outcrop on the northern flank of the battle line, crept close to the Austrian infantry formation. After firing a few shots at random, they managed to throw the already disorganized line formation into even greater disarray.

Leo was forced to order a halt, beginning to reform the lines where they stood.

Bischoff gazed with satisfaction at the battlefield situation, which seemed to promise an easy victory. He gestured towards the enemy with two fingers and told his adjutant, "'Begin a full-scale assault...'"

Before he could finish his sentence, several columns of soldiers suddenly burst out from within the distant, disordered Austrian infantry lines.

He frowned, raising his telescope once more. He saw that these columns were remarkably neat and advanced with incredible speed.

The northernmost column, after taking a round of fire from his skirmisher company, immediately changed formation.

Those "Austrians" were exceptionally well-trained; a column of seventy or eighty men transitioned into a simple line formation in less than half a minute. Then, under the command of their officers, they unleashed a concentrated volley at the skirmishers scattered among the rocks.

Bischoff felt there was something off about the sound of their gunfire, but for a moment, he couldn't quite grasp it. He could only watch as his own skirmisher company seemed to have been blindsided by a punch, frozen in place and forgetting to even retaliate.

"'Useless rabble!'"

From his distance, he didn't fully perceive the terrifying speed of the "Austrians'" formation change or their shooting accuracy, but the Prussian skirmishers on the front line saw it all clearly from less than 30 meters away.

The sheer pressure sent shivers down their spines!

The skirmisher captain was the first to react, shouting orders for his men to spread out to the flanks and return fire.

In the short infantry line opposite them, the "Austrians" began reloading with practiced efficiency. Although a few were hit by Prussian skirmishers, the others acted as if they hadn't noticed, their hands moving with undiminished speed.

In just sixteen or seventeen seconds, the commands "Ready!" and "Aim!" rang out from the infantry line.

Then came another thunderous roar as over seventy rifles fired a synchronized volley.

No fewer than eight Prussians were knocked down by the lead bullets, two of their bodies tumbling down the gentle slope. This was in the era of smoothbore muskets; such a high hit rate was terrifying!

As the "Austrian" infantry line advanced several meters, led by its color bearer, the skirmishers scattered among the rocks began to retreat in terror...

The skirmisher captain desperately tried to rein in his men, but only managed to stop a dozen or so near him. He had no choice but to reluctantly order the entire company to move to the outer flank of the main infantry line. This was precisely why skirmishers required higher training: lacking rigid formations, soldiers had significant autonomy, making them prone to insubordination and disregarding orders, whether facing favorable or unfavorable conditions.

It wasn't until the skirmisher captain had retreated beyond enemy firing range that he suddenly realized the opposing officers seemed to have been giving commands in French.

On the battlefield, the other soldiers of Bischoff's regiment soon experienced a similar dread.

Those French-speaking "Austrian" soldiers advanced with astonishing speed. The Prussian infantry line barely managed two volleys before the columns were already within 45 meters. The two central columns then turned sideways in place, while the other four columns fanned out on their flanks.

After the Prussians' fourth volley, a perfectly straight infantry line had already formed directly in front of them.

Then came the sharp, loud shouts in French: "'Aim!'"

"'Fire!'"

A dense burst of sound erupted, accompanied by flashes of light. Yet, unlike typical flintlock musket fire, there wasn't a sky full of smoke; only faint wisps of black smoke rose from the muzzles. Immediately, blood spattered within the Prussian infantry line, dozens of lives extinguished by that single volley.

Blood and severed limbs fell onto the Prussian soldiers and at their feet, sending shivers through everyone. But the officers' curses immediately pierced their ears, "'Get moving! Reload! Move faster if you don't want to get shot dead, you fools!'"

The soldiers instantly snapped to attention. Although their minds were blank, their hands reflexively began to set their flintlock muskets on the ground and retrieve their powder charges.

Prussian infantry's firing speed was renowned throughout Europe; during the era of Frederick the Great, they were even said to fire one more round per minute than other nations' infantry. After William II ascended to the throne, military training had somewhat relaxed, but the pursuit of firing speed became even more extreme—there were even instances where soldiers would load without a bullet to increase their rate of fire.

However, this time, while most Prussian soldiers were still in the process of pouring in their propellant, they heard French commands from the opposite side: "'Ready!'"

"'Aim!'"

The Prussians were dumbfounded.

'This is too fast,' they thought. 'Both sides just completed a volley and started reloading almost simultaneously. We still have two steps to go, and they're already about to fire?!'"

"'Fire!'"

Following the opposing officer's loud command, a storm of lead bullets, accompanied by a thunderous backdrop, swept towards the Prussian infantry line. Immediately, wails and screams echoed along the two-kilometer-long battlefront.

The Prussian soldiers, who had almost finished reloading, instantly had their rhythm broken. It took them another ten seconds, urged on by their officers' sharp commands, to finally raise their muskets.

Meanwhile, the enemy was already close to completing their next reload...

After several exchanges of fire, the Prussians' confidence began to crumble. Their shooting speed, which they had always prided themselves on, was being firmly suppressed by the Austrians. How could their confidence not shatter?

Of course, they didn't know that the "Austrians" opposite them were using percussion cap muskets, which required three fewer steps to load than their flintlock muskets, and their training was several times more intensive!