Chapter 322: The French-Speaking Austrian Army

Chapter 322: The French-Speaking Austrian Army

Bischoff, a Junker noble who had fought in the War of the Bavarian Succession, had solid military training. Though he scoffed at the Austrians' foolish advance, he still cautiously inspected his own infantry line before ordering his skirmishers to go ahead and disrupt the enemy's formation, with the infantry line following closely behind.

The distance between the two infantry lines quickly shrank to just over 300 paces. Bischoff noticed that the Austrian formation was becoming increasingly disorganized—the southern side was moving noticeably slower than the northern side, and there was a sluggish section in the middle as well, causing the whole line to bend into a zigzag shape.

"Reál's elite troops must have been wiped out already," Bischoff muttered as he lowered his telescope. He then instructed his messenger, "Send in the second line as well. We need to break the Austrians before Colonel Altmann can send in the cavalry to encircle them."

"Yes, Colonel!"

Soon, the infantry line that Bischoff had held in reserve began to move, advancing toward the enemy to the beat of the drums. Meanwhile, the Prussian skirmishers at the front began to exchange fire with the Austrian soldiers.

Nearly a hundred skirmishers, using the cover of the rocks on the northern side of the battlefield, edged closer to the Austrian infantry line. After a few shots, they managed to throw the already chaotic Austrian formation into even greater disarray.

Reál was forced to order a halt to re-form his troops, just as the Prussian infantry line advanced to within 100 paces.

Bischoff, watching the battle unfold like a general collecting easy victories, raised two fingers and waved them toward the enemy, saying to his messenger, "Order a full assault..."

But before he could finish his sentence, several columns of soldiers suddenly broke away from the disorganized Austrian line.

He frowned and raised his telescope again, noting that these columns were advancing with remarkable speed and precision.

The northernmost column, after taking a volley from his skirmishers, quickly changed formation. The "Austrian" soldiers displayed exceptional discipline, taking less than half a minute to shift from a column into a simple line formation. Under the command of their officers, they unleashed a volley of musket fire at the skirmishers hiding among the rocks.

Bischoff felt that something was off about the sound of the gunfire, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. All he saw was that his skirmishers seemed stunned, forgetting to even return fire.

"Useless fools!" Bischoff was too far away to fully appreciate the terrifying speed and precision of the "Austrians," but the Prussian skirmishers on the front lines, standing just 40 paces away, felt an overwhelming sense of dread.

The pressure was so intense it made their spines tingle.

The skirmish commander was the first to react, shouting orders for his men to spread out and return fire.

On the short Austrian line, the "Austrian" soldiers quickly reloaded their muskets. Even though a few were hit by the Prussian skirmishers, the rest continued their work as if nothing had happened, maintaining their speed.

Within just 16 or 17 seconds, the Austrian line was ready for another volley.

"Prepare to fire!" the command rang out in French.

Then came another thunderous volley, with 70 muskets firing in unison.

Eight Prussian soldiers were felled by the lead balls, two of them rolling lifelessly down the slope. Considering this was the era of smoothbore muskets, such accuracy was astonishing.

As the "Austrian" infantry line advanced another ten or so paces under the guidance of their flag bearer, the Prussian skirmishers began to retreat in fear.

The skirmish commander struggled to keep his men in line, managing to hold only a dozen or so close to him. Reluctantly, he ordered his entire unit to fall back to the flanks. This is why skirmishers required higher levels of training—without the structure of a formation, soldiers had to rely heavily on their own initiative, which could lead to disobedience, especially in stressful situations.

It wasn't until the skirmish commander was out of the enemy's range that he suddenly realized something: the officer leading the enemy seemed to be giving commands in French.

Back on the battlefield, Bischoff's other soldiers were beginning to feel the same sense of dread.

The "Austrians," who were speaking French, were advancing rapidly. The Prussian infantry line had barely managed two volleys when the enemy columns closed to within 60 paces. The two central columns then turned to form a line, while the other four columns spread out to the flanks.

After the Prussians fired their fourth volley, a straight infantry line appeared in front of them.

Then came the command in French: "Aim!"

"Fire!"

A barrage of gunfire followed, accompanied by a blaze of muzzle flashes, but unlike the typical smoky volley from flintlocks, the smoke from the gunfire was light and thin. The Prussian line erupted in blood and gore as dozens of men were cut down by the volley.

Blood and body parts splattered onto the Prussian soldiers, sending a shiver through their ranks. But the officers' shouts soon brought them back to their senses, "Get moving! Reload! If you don't want to die, move faster, you fools!"

The soldiers snapped out of their daze. Although their minds were blank, their hands automatically began loading their muskets, standing them on end and reaching for their powder.

Prussian soldiers were known for their speed in firing volleys. During the time of Frederick the Great, it was said that they could fire one more round per minute than the infantry of any other nation. Though military training had relaxed somewhat under William II, the emphasis on firing speed had become even more intense—there were even cases where soldiers skipped loading the ball to speed up their rate of fire.

However, this time, most of the Prussian soldiers were still pouring powder into their barrels when they heard the French commands: "Ready!"

"Aim!"

The Prussians were stunned.

How could the enemy reload so quickly? Both sides had started reloading after the last volley at the same time, but while they still had two steps to complete, the enemy was already ready to fire!

"Fire!"

With the command, another storm of lead balls and the accompanying thunder of musketry crashed into the Prussian line, leaving a trail of screams and cries of pain along the two-kilometer front.

The Prussians who had just completed reloading were thrown off rhythm once more. It took them another ten seconds or so before they managed to lift their muskets again, spurred on by the officers' shouts. Meanwhile, the enemy was nearly ready for another volley.

After a few exchanges, the Prussians' confidence began to crumble—how could the Austrians, who were always slower, be suppressing them so completely in firing speed? The Prussian soldiers, who had always prided themselves on their rapid rate of fire, were devastated.

What they didn't know was that the "Austrians" were actually using percussion cap muskets, which had three fewer steps in the loading process compared to the flintlocks the Prussians were using, and they had undergone far more intensive training.

(End of Chapter)

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