Descending On France 1780
Chapter 145 - 138 Melee

Chapter 145: 138 Melee

Lazar Kano raised his telescope, observing while commenting, "Davout seems to be engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy."

Anning set down her champagne and stood up, taking the telescope from Vanni’s hand, and looked towards the mill atop the hill.

The flag of Davout’s First Brigade was flying amidst a haze of gunsmoke, appearing as if it presented a formidable defense single-handedly.

At this moment, large enemy contingents crossed the ridge line.

Anning put down the telescope and ordered the Artillery position not far from her: "Fire!"

Anning had arranged the cumbersome, difficult-to-maneuver Infantry Guns at the front of the battlefield and personally took command.

At the command, dozens of twelve-pounder Infantry Guns roared into action.

Due to the close distance, the accuracy of the cannonballs was startlingly good. Some that were shot too high flew just above the heads of the enemy, and after crossing the hill, they landed and hit the following troops.

The cannonballs that skimmed the ground became rolling spheres of death.

In an instant, hundreds were hit, their legs broken, falling to the ground and wailing like slaughtered pigs.

At this time, cannon fire erupted from the other side of the battlefield.

Anning turned her telescope, seeing Napoleon’s Cavalry Guns troops occupying a flanking position and firing at almost point-blank range at the enemy’s face.

Although Napoleon’s troops had six-pound, or even four-pound Cavalry Guns, at this distance the shotgun blast was extraordinarily effective.

The key was that he had also taken over the flanking position, making the killing effect even more exaggerated.

"Good job!" Anning shouted, "Well done, Napoleon!"

However, Lazar Kano was very worried: "That position makes him vulnerable to a cavalry charge."

Anning: "Don’t worry, trust our girls."

Anning’s cavalry had already been dispatched with one order only: to hold down the enemy’s Cavalry troops.

They hadn’t yet received word from their cavalry, meaning either they had not yet encountered the enemy Cavalry, or they were engaged in fierce combat.

Anning: "Now it’s our turn, bugler, sound the charge!"

Cano: "To sound the volley fire signal?"

"Yes, the volley fire signal." Anning was somewhat anxious. "Hurry, sound the signal!"

Cano gave the order and the bugler, who had been following Anning’s side, blew the trumpet.

The trumpet’s melody signified "all squads commence firing."

The Second Brigade closest to Anning was the first to execute the order: "Second row, rise!"

The troops crouched on the ground began to stand, forming the formation of one row crouching, second row standing.

"Raise guns and aim!"

The forest of bayonets uniformly pointed forward.

"Fire!"

Accompanied by the sequentially transmitted "fire" command, the firecracker-like rifle volleys echoed, with flames and smoke filling the entire field of vision.

**

At the same time, on the plains at the battlefield’s flank.

Anning’s Cavalry Commander Oliver was leading two thousand five hundred cavalry, lining up at the edge of a grove.

The most suitable plain for cavalry charges near the battlefield was right here; everywhere else either had too many small hedgerows obstructing vision or too many stone walls and wooden fences.

Therefore, Oliver had taken the cavalry to this place early on.

Christina, with her assistant Clarice, passed through the cavalry troops standing by and found Oliver: "Miss Oliver, is it alright for us to wait here? What if the enemy’s cavalry attacks from some other direction?"

Oliver shook her head: "Didn’t you hear what the General said? The enemy’s Chief of Staff Bertier is a by-the-book kind of person. If he’s in charge of the entire battle plan, he would arrange the cavalry here because this place is the most suitable for a cavalry charge."

No sooner had she finished speaking than the flag of the cuirassiers appeared in the front.

Oliver: "Look, our guests have arrived."

Christina also turned her head to look into the distance: "Look at the flags... They seem to be from the cuirassier regiments. Are you sure you want us to charge the cuirassiers?"

Oliver: "The orders we received are to hold the enemy’s cavalry, not to defeat them. Sisters! Men always think they’re better than us. Today, let us show them what we’re made of!"

The women knights shouted in unison.

Lady Oliver looked at Christina: "Shouldn’t you be returning to your command position?"

Christina saluted Oliver, turned her horse around, and sped back the way she came, her deputy Clarice closely following.

Oliver watched Christina return to her unit, then stood up on her horse and drew her long sword: "Sisters! Draw your swords! Let’s go!"

Behind Oliver, the bugler blew the melody for a charge.

Over forty women knights spurred their horses forward, their beautiful hair fluttering in the morning sun.

The momentum of the charging cavalry engulfed the entire plain.

**

Marquis Roland looked at the women knights charging towards him and snorted with contempt: "Hmph, these women actually dare to charge us! Sound the horn, full assault!"

His deputy interrupted him: "Wait a moment, our orders are to outflank the enemy from the side and rear. We shouldn’t waste our forces here..."

"Just a bunch of women!" Marquis Roland exclaimed angrily, "We’ll quickly cut them all down from their horses. Sound the horn, full assault!"

The bugler glanced at the deputy and raised his trumpet, blowing the tune that called for an assault.

Marquis Roland drew his horse sword and charged at the forefront!

The cuirassiers followed him, like a silvery hurricane sweeping across the fields.

The two forces collided in the middle of the plain.

The instance they met, the first casualties occurred.

Knights cut down from their steeds fell, their feet still caught in the stirrups, dragged wildly by their galloping warhorses.

The clashing of weapons and the screams of men erupted into a cacophony.

**

On Anning’s side, the smoke from the musketry nearly obscured the entire battlefield.

Anning couldn’t see the enemy and was becoming anxious.

Logically, after such heavy casualties were inflicted, the enemy should be close to breaking.

But he couldn’t see; he could only faintly hear the sounds of combat from Davout’s brigade.

The units near Anning were reloading in time with the drumbeat.

The troop was trained to reload at the rhythm of a set number of beats to a chant, each step set to a fixed tempo, completing one step for a certain number of drum hits.

Therefore, the well-trained troops, due to the uniform rhythm of reloading, even when firing at will, tended to be close to a volleys.

With the rhythm of the drums, most soldiers finished reloading at approximately the same time and fired in rapid succession.

Compared to the first volley, this round of firing was much looser, sounding like a series of continuously exploding firecrackers.

Anning looked towards the smoky front and thought that being able to fire without seeing the enemy was a hallmark of this era of rank musket fire.

After all, hitting with a flintlock was largely a matter of luck; as long as one aimed generally in the enemy’s direction, there was a chance of hitting.

Truly a matter of shooting wildly and hoping to hit a bird.

Anning: "We’ve fired two volleys already, and the enemy has not returned fire... Could it be that they have already retreated?"

Lazar Kano: "I can’t hear the sound of the military music either; they might have retreated. I suggest we cease fire and check the situation."

As soon as these words were spoken, Anning heard cheers coming from Davout’s direction.

Anning directly grabbed the reins and mounted the horse.

Cano: "Your Excellency General! You should not leave the command post! That way, the messenger soldiers can find you!"

Anning: "All I see is smoke and I can barely make anything out. As commander, I need to grasp the situation on the battlefield. I’ll be back shortly; wait here and handle the messages from the messenger soldiers!"

After speaking, Anning spurred his horse and charged forward.