Chapter 123: Battle Of The Century

In the recent history of the Bulgar Continent, there has not been a united continent in more than 200 years. The last fractured kingdom fell slightly over 200 years ago. Since then there had been no one remotely close to uniting the continent. Well at least until Victor Luxenberg. He stood at the precipice of achieving this ultimate feat. This battle against the Fontaine Faction would be the decider on whether or not Victor achieves this.

Both armies stood at a standstill, neither one making a move. It was almost like they were playing a game of chicken, waiting to see who would make the first move. As minutes turned to an hour, tensions were rising, and the swelling heat of the morning sun was beating down on both armies.

Victor turned to Field Marshal Schwarzenberg and gave the order for the cannons to fire. He had enough of waiting around, now was the time for this war to conclude. The only way this war ends is with the crushing defeat of the Fontaine Faction hear.

Promptly, the artillerymen began to load and fire their cannons at the Fontaine artillery. The sound of 750 cannons firing in unison rang throughout the area. It was like a thunderous choir singing, each boom sounding like an individual person.

Scrambling to return fire, the Fontaine artillerymen remained calm and exchanged their own bellows from their 500 cannons. Each side braced for impact, hoping to weather the storm of cannon balls. Men and metal were thrown everywhere. Devastating was the impact from each sides' volley. In spite of the destruction, both armies stood ready to move at a notice.

The Fontaine Army's infantrymen remained steadfast, even though a few of them were caught in the crossfire of the duelling cannons. Whereas the Luxenberg infantrymen were exuding confidence, their expression's hardened but composed. They believed in their superior ability and with that belief, they were ready to prove why they were leagues above their enemy.

Although the Fontaine artillery was valiantly exchanging blows with an experienced Luxenberg battery, they were slowly feeling the tide of battle turn against them. Simply put, they were outgunned, if it was an even contest, many could see the Fontaine cannons coming out on top but that was not the reality of the situation.

Cannon totals on both sides began to dwindle, each army losing 200 guns. Victor was not pleased to sustain such losses early on, yet was not surprised at this outcome. Sensing that his cannons were seizing the advantage, Victor thought that it was time to use his Congreve rockets. They were already prepared and awaiting orders to fire.

Before Victor gave them the signal, he ordered his infantry to begin its push towards the enemy lines. It was time to seize the momentum. Orders were relayed to each of the 3 sections. There was no complaint for these orders, many of Victor's commanders believed that now was the time to apply the pressure, especially when the enemy cannons were tied up dealing with his cannons.

Marshal Soult trotted his horse in front of his infantrymen. He then addressed his men, who were soon to march into the jaws of death. "Soldiers! We stand on the cusp of achieving a monumental feat in this continent's history. All that stands in our way is this army before us. They have not seen real combat, they have no bled as we have."

"It was us that fought against the Maldenberg Army. It was us that toppled the Grand Duchy of Maximillian. Now it is time to complete the trifecta. Raise your muskets and brandish your bayonets, let us show them the true power of the Luxenberg Army!"

Soult's speech inspired his soldiers, they let out cheers as they began to march towards the enemy. In the other sections, both Field Marshal Schwarzenberg and Marshal Lannes delivered speeches before the troops advanced. Now all 3 sections were marching towards the Fontaine Army's position.

As the infantry began their march, the Luxenberg cannons began to hold their fire. They had done their job excellently, now it was time to unleash the rockets upon the enemy soldiers, more specifically, the artillerymen. 

Victor realised that he needed to continuously suppress the enemy cannons or too many of his infantrymen would die before seeing initial combat. As such, he changed his rockets' target to the Fontaine artillerymen.

The screeching spears were launched high into the air, it wails causing the enemy to panic. When these flying spears exploded above the cannons, all of the artillerymen were filled with a sense of terror. As 3 volleys of 20 rockets were fired, the Fontaine artillery was decimated. They could not withstand the explosive and devastating power of the Congreve rockets.

While the cannons were being dealt with, the infantrymen were beginning their combat. As the Luxenberg infantry advanced closer, the Fontaine infantry promptly loaded and aimed their muskets towards them. It was important for them to not only their own, but inflict a high number of casualties. If they could achieve this, then they could lure out the enemy cavalry before their own had to be deployed.

The Luxenberg infantry were soon faced with a wall of brown muskets aimed at them. Many infantrymen in the front ranks showed no fear, their faces ferocious, awaiting to unleash that ferocity upon the enemy in front of them. 

Once the first few ranks of Luxenberg infantrymen came into range, the Fontaine infantrymen fired upon them. A hail storm of musket balls began killing Luxenberg infantrymen by the hundreds. The initial volley from all 3 sections killed over 15,000 infantry and left many more wounded.

Bodies dropped like flies and blood squirted out all over the place. Wails of wounded soldiers could be heard a mile away and the smell of gunpowder was prevalent. Victor held firm as watched from the rear, he trusted that his infantry would be successful and force their way through their defences.

His faith was not misplaced, for the Luxenberg infantrymen retaliated in a devastating manner.