Descending On France 1780
Chapter 280 - 273 The disintegration of the monarchy begins with their armies

Chapter 280: 273 The disintegration of the monarchy begins with their armies

Anning was quite surprised by the appearance of this cavalry.

Currently, the French Army is in dire shortage of cavalry—mainly horses, as most rural horse breeders are nobles, and many have good relations with the nobles, hence there are quite a few who directly turn to support the Royalists.

The cavalry of the French Army now consists of former cavalry who leaned towards the republic and then joined the National Guard. Newly formed cavalry units are virtually non-existent, and the existing units are non-renewable resources; once a horse dies, it’s one less horse.

The issue of the Revolutionary Army lacking cavalry wouldn’t be somewhat alleviated until around 1795, when the Jacobins implemented terror policies to eliminate obstacles to reforms such as land redistribution, and the economy began to recover, leading to subsidence of most rural rebellions and beginning horse supplies.

Of course, this was the historical situation, but now due to Anning’s intervention, the Revolutionary Army’s horse problem was somewhat alleviated, mainly because the South was relatively stable, additionally possessing Milan in Italy, which could gather horses from Italy.

As Anning pondered this, he watched an onslaught of cavalry, not knowing from where they had appeared, charging fiercely.

The Prussians collapsed directly, with the cavalry spreading throughout the mountains to chase and cut down the scattered Prussian troops.

Anning’s infantry troops, as if unwilling to be outdone by the cavalry, were also spreading throughout the mountains chasing the enemy.

In the midst of the chaotic scene, Anning noticed two cavalrymen, running towards him against the flow of those pursuing the enemy.

The leading cavalryman seemed like an officer, with the one behind him carrying a military flag.

It must be the regimental flag of this cavalry unit.

Upon reaching Anning, the leading officer saluted him: "Greetings to you, General Frost!"

Anning returned the salute: "Greetings to you. May I ask who you are?"

Officer: "My name is Michel Ney, acting regimental commander of this Cavalry Corps."

Upon hearing the name, Anning was secretly pleased, feeling the thrill of drawing an SSR in a random draw. If there was a chat group right now, he’d definitely post a screenshot of Ney’s expression in the chat: "Newbie drew this, is it any good?"

Anning: "Oh, Major Ney..."

"Um, I’m just a Captain. I’m commanding everyone as acting commander by the orders of the Ministry of War, they haven’t promoted my rank yet."

Anning: "Captain Ney, you did very well. To reward your military achievements today, you are now a Major, and I will have the Ministry of War send the official documents."

Ney saluted.

Anning continued giving instructions: "Although your regiment has just been in battle, there is no time for rest. I order you to immediately assemble your regiment and advance towards Verdun to search for the enemy’s Reconnaissance Cavalry. We must thoroughly block the enemy’s reconnaissance."

Ney: "I will take care of it immediately."

Having said that, he turned his horse around, kicked its belly, and the horse galloped away.

Anning turned to Bertier to give orders: "Have the troops stop chasing the scattered enemy, rest on site, eat dry food, and fill all their water canteens. Today we still need to continue the forced march."

Bertier: "Are we continuing to march?"

"Yes, since we don’t have time to set up camp anyway, instead of letting the soldiers sleep in the fields, we might as well march forcedly."

Bertier: "Actually, we have occupied the campsite which the enemy didn’t have time to retreat from; we could sleep there for a while and take a break to restore our strength."

Anning thought for a moment, reckoning that there’s an old saying that sharpening your axe won’t delay the work of cutting firewood. It would be beneficial to take the opportunity to restore the troop’s physical fitness.

Therefore, he modified the order: "Rest in place for five hours, and after five hours continue the march. We must be quick! Strike rapidly at the scattered enemies before they can react!"

**

Deep into the night, the coalition’s Command Department finally grasped the full picture of what had happened: Frost had led a group of the French Army charging fiercely.

Alvizi: "We should immediately gather our troops and completely crush Frost on the frontline battlefield. The French Army’s high morale is purely because of Frost’s personal prestige. Moreover, he is also having a negative impact on our troops, as common soldiers idolize him more and more. We must defeat him once and for all to break his myth."

Duke Brunswick: "I agree. Frost just crushed the Fourth Army, and from his use of column formations, it is evident that he probably intended to circumvent his own troops’ lack of training.

"Next, he should set up camp at the location of the Fourth Army, reorganize his troops that became completely disordered during the melee, and clean up the battlefield. We estimate we have one day to mobilize our forces."

Alvizi: "We estimate Frost’s troops to number between sixty and a hundred thousand. With one day to prepare, we can gather about a hundred thousand troops to deploy at this position."

Alvizi pointed on the map.

He looked confident: "Then we will pull out the troops besieging Verdun Fortress as a reserve. These reserves should join the battlefield later if the decisive battle is set for two days later, joining in the afternoon of the day of the battle.

"Just when the battle reaches the crucial point, whoever deploys their remaining troops to the battlefield last will win!"

Duke Brunswick nodded: "A well-reasoned plan. Let the staff start working on the maps; our troops have high training standards and are professionally strong. They should mobilize faster than the French Army!"

**

Anning: "The key to action is speed! Striking rapidly before the enemy can react! So we don’t have time to reorganize our disordered troops. Let everyone join nearby troops and obey the command of unfamiliar officers.

"After all, we’re all part of the Revolutionary Army, fighting for a common goal. We aren’t afraid of disorder; a shared belief in fighting for the revolution and the motherland will hold the entire army together!

"Also, the cumbersome procedures of setting up and breaking camp can also be spared, leaving this to the dedicated logistics team. The troops don’t need to handle setting up camp. If exhausted, they simply lie down and rest on the ground, I believe their high patriotic enthusiasm will help them overcome these minor difficulties!"

One significant reason the Kingdom Army needs to set up camp is to prevent soldiers from deserting overnight if they sleep in the fields.

After all, the army is essentially being forced by the Nobles to fight, not fighting for themselves.

Bertier: "It’s utterly against common sense."

"Accept the reality; times have changed. We can’t measure the current French Army by the old common sense, my Chief of Staff."

Anning paused, looking at other officers, as all the army’s brigadiers were now gathered in his command center.

"Gentlemen, this war is between a new type of army and an old one. This new army will have entirely new characteristics and should not be measured by the old army’s standards. I boldly predict they will exceed everyone’s expectations. Soon, nations across Europe will be forced to undertake military reforms like us. In the process of these reforms, the ideas of the great revolution will be passively exported to other countries!

"The dissolution of monarchy begins from their armies!"