Descending On France 1780
Chapter 176 - 169 quicklime and women, that is the reason for the defeat of the Austrian army

Chapter 176: 169 quicklime and women, that is the reason for the defeat of the Austrian army

The Austrian army began their attack.

Although Austria has a tradition of using light infantry, the Austrian light infantry are elite troops of the Austrian army, now mainly stationed at the Rhein battlefront.

Boliue did not have many light infantry units at hand, let alone elite air rifle hunters.

But no one saw this as a problem.

Austria’s line infantry, in neat formation, advanced to the rhythm of the drums towards the French army’s lines at the bottom of the hill.

At this moment, suddenly someone in the first column of the Austrian troops shouted, "Look, what is that?"

The soldiers, who were already wearing grim expressions, were startled by the shout, and they quickly became agitated: "Isn’t that a woman?"

"Dressed in skirts!"

"It might not be a woman, it’s said that the UK’s Scottish Highland regiments also wear skirts, and they are sturdier than you!"

"The devil, do the Scottish Highland regiments have such big pectoral muscles?"

The officers shouted angrily: "Shut up, shut up! Do not be deceived by the French army’s cunning ruse!"

No sooner had they spoken than the ladies scattered among the shrubs opened fire.

Several men fell in the ranks immediately.

However, due to the poor accuracy of the flintlocks, the damage caused by the girls’ shooting was no more bothersome than an itch to the well-trained line infantry.

Officers loudly maintained order: "Those from the back ranks fill in to the front, maintain formation, follow the drumbeat!"

While they were speaking, the ladies in the brush fired again.

Suddenly, the drumbeat stopped.

It turned out that the drummer following this rank had been hit by a bullet.

Suddenly, the marching cadence of the entire rank fell into disarray.

The officers shouted, "Don’t panic! March to the drumbeat of the rank beside us!"

Then an officer fell clutching his neck.

In the ranks, a Sergeant yelled, "The Lieutenant has been hit! Send him to the rear! Follow my command!"

Someone shouted, "The enemy is targeting our drummers and officers!"

The Sergeant: "Don’t panic! You all know how accurate your muskets are! Keep moving forward!"

A Sergeant shouted, "Let’s stop and shoot at the enemy!"

The Sergeant: "No orders! Our duty is to keep advancing! It’s just the harassment of skirmishers. Our target is the enemy’s line infantry formation ahead!"

No sooner had they spoken, the drummer in the adjacent rank was hit.

Luckily, the drum sound played by the musicians at the battalion headquarters was louder, and since the musicians of the headquarters were positioned at the very back of the thick ranks, they were less likely to be sniped by skirmishers.

Unlike the drummers in the ranks, who only had one person in front as cover, being unlucky meant getting shot.

At this time, each of the Austrian ranks being shot at by the female soldiers was trying hard to maintain its marching posture.

The continuous casualties were like mosquito bites; although not fatal, they were extremely annoying.

The key was that there were many enemy skirmishers, it seemed like all the bushes in front and on the sides were filled with skirt-wearing, big-breasted skirmishers, with flashes of gunfire and smoke everywhere.

The scene was like a person without insect repellent, standing in the wild surrounded and attacked by hundreds and thousands of mosquitoes.

Not fatal, but it had a huge impact on morale.

And with so many people shooting, aiming at officers and drummers, there would always be a few lucky hits.

Each volley of shots would always hit a few officers.

The key point was that the skirmishers carrying out the harassment were female soldiers, something General Frost had not anticipated, which, in turn, further demoralized the enemy.

The distance from the slope to the front of the French Army’s line was not long, just over four hundred meters. Yet, the well-trained Austrian troops managed to advance in a skewed and disheveled formation.

By the time they arrived in front of the French Army, the Austrians were already thoroughly irritated.

It was at this moment that the French line infantry opened fire.

A neat volley formed a wall of white smoke, and the first row of Austrian troops collapsed instantly, shattering their morale.

Marshal Boliue, watching from the high ground, cursed: "It seems the French skirmishers are quite effective at harassing our front line. But the second row is our fully organized troops!"

Boliue was right. After the first row dispersed, the second row stopped in front of the French, and from Boliue’s position, the commands of the officers could be heard: "Raise your guns! Fire!"

The smoke from the volley formed a smoke barrier in front of the Austrian troops.

Boliue: "Good, charge, bayonet charge!"

The charge command was given, and the second row of the Austrian army rushed towards the French.

Then it was like waves crashing against the rocks, retreating rapidly.

Boliue cursed: "How could we not even break through the French’s first line!"

Compaore: "Should we fire several more volleys in front of the French line now? To inflict enough casualties before charging..."

Boliue: "You want my troops to exchange fire in the open with an enemy occupying cover?"

Compaore shut his mouth.

Anning was also watching his "tactics" take effect with satisfaction.

He said to Bertier, "See! Because of the ladies’ harassment, the enemy’s first wave of attack was dissolved just like that! They didn’t even reach our second line of defense!"

Bertier: "We can’t be sure it was because of the female soldiers... Maybe the Austrian troops are just weaker..."

Anning shook his head.

Although the enemy’s first wave of attack had been resolved, there were still over a dozen enemy lines arranged on the hillside.

It was not a time to rejoice. Anning, looking at the enemy lined up on the hillside, suddenly had an excellent idea.

He ran over to his artillery unit and ordered: "Prepare lime bombs!"

The Artillery Sergeant asked with confusion, "Lime bombs? Didn’t you and Captain Napoleon say that lime bombs are ineffective due to the unpredictable timing of the fuses?"

"Yes, but the situation is different now."

Anning raised his hand and grabbed the regimental flag next to the artillery position: "Look, the wind is like this! There’s a light north wind. Understand?"

Sergeant: "I don’t understand."

"You don’t need to understand, just follow my order and load the lime bombs! Set the fuses to the longest!"

His orders were swiftly carried out.

"All cannons, aim at the slope!" Anning ordered while he himself aimed a cannon, then he took a torch and lit the touchhole.

The cannon roared, and the shell flew towards the enemy descending the slope.

The slope directly in front of Diego’s high ground was very steep, and the enemy formations were densely packed on it.

Anning’s shell landed directly on the muddy ground at the front of the slope.

Then, as the fuse burned down, the shell exploded, turning into a cloud of lime on the hillside.

Anning pointed to the lime cloud and said: "Look! Now that it’s a north wind, because of the steep slope, the lime cloud will linger on the hillside! The enemy troops will have to charge through this lime cloud!"

As Anning finished speaking, the other cannons also fired.

Soon, a whole line of lime dust clouds formed on the hillside.

The Austrian army kept crashing into the lime.

Anning: "Keep firing! Ensure the entire slope is engulfed in lime clouds, delaying the enemy’s attack!"

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