Chapter 454: The "Immortality Potion"
Maurice instinctively rubbed his eyes, but when he looked again, he could see the white line of troops clearly, revealing at least seven or eight thousand soldiers!
The Saxon soldiers, who had been complacently fighting an easy battle, were suddenly terrified. As the officers on the front lines began shouting orders to stop and regroup, they saw dozens of horses pulling cannons rapidly to their front flank, setting up just 200 paces away.
Within minutes, seven 6-pounder cannons roared to life, sending iron balls tearing through the Saxon ranks, leaving behind a gruesome trail of severed limbs and scattered bodies.
The Saxons, who had been fighting lazily just moments before, were now completely disoriented. The sheer shock of having cannons firing point-blank into their ranks was too much.
Before the Saxon cavalry could respond, the 6-pounders were swiftly remounted onto their carriages and wheeled around to the other side of the Saxon infantry.
This hit-and-run artillery barrage completely disrupted the Saxons. The soldiers who had been hit scattered to minimize casualties, while officers in other parts of the line frantically tried to pull their troops together into a cohesive formation to face the advancing French infantry.
After about 20 minutes of chaos, the Imperial Guard's infantry line had closed to within 100 paces of the Saxon positions, while the Saxon formation was still a mess.
In an era where battles were decided by the precision of firing lines, a disorganized formation facing a well-ordered line was at a severe disadvantage.
The Imperial Guard fired the first volley at a range of 65 paces. While this was a bit far, given the disarray in the enemy's ranks, it was a tactical move to further disrupt any attempt at organization.
The muskets used by the Imperial Guard had a longer range, capable of causing significant damage even at 80 paces, though with lower accuracy.
As expected, the Saxon soldiers, once attacked, instinctively fired back. But with their officers still struggling to restore order after the artillery barrage, there was little discipline in their firing.
Their disorganized shots did little damage, and those that did hit were mostly stopped by the bulletproof plates worn by the Imperial Guard.
As more and more Saxons fell and the French line continued to advance, a panic began to spread among the Saxon soldiers.
One of them suddenly cried out, "The potion is real! They can't be killed!"
His shout triggered a wave of fear:
"My God, that potion is real!"
"How are we supposed to fight that?"
"No! We can't win this, we're doomed..."
It turned out that when Dreysson's forces had returned to the Prussian camp, they had shared terrifying stories of a miraculous French potion that could instantly heal gunshot wounds. According to them, any French soldier hit by a bullet would simply swallow this potion and be back on their feet within a minute.
At the time, the Saxon soldiers had laughed at the Prussians, thinking they were just making excuses for their defeat. But now, they believed every word.
After another volley, the Saxon soldiers began to flee, even some lower-ranking officers joined the rout—they had seen with their own eyes French soldiers who had been shot get back up again. How could they possibly fight against that?
In reality, in most line battles, significant casualties were inflicted when the lines were within 40 paces of each other. But because of the longer range and the perceived "invulnerability" of the Imperial Guard, the Saxons were psychologically shattered. As the French line advanced to within 30 paces, the Saxon soldiers' hands shook so badly that when their casualties began to mount, their morale completely collapsed.
The French artillerymen, riding on horseback, only added to the chaos with their close-range barrages.
Just like Dreysson's army before them, the collapse of the first line of Saxon infantry quickly spread to the second. The third line followed suit after only a brief exchange of fire.
In just 40 minutes, the three lines of Saxon infantry, over 13,000 men, were fleeing for their lives to the north.
Berthier watched the retreating Saxons spread across the hills and sighed in frustration. Most of the cavalry had been sent to cover the Austrian retreat, and he only had six cavalry companies left to guard the flanks of his infantry. There were no horsemen left to give chase.
The Imperial Guard rested for an hour before resuming their advance northward.
Now, they stood in the middle of the breach in the Austrian line, effectively cutting off the Prussian forces that had penetrated into Austrian territory.
Duke Brunswick soon received news that the Saxons had been attacked, and he frowned over his map.
Though he wasn't sure where this French force had come from, based on Maurice's report, it seemed there were only about 10,000 of them. He could easily block them by reallocating some of his forces.
He turned to his aide and said, "Order General Andreas to go to the breach and stop those Frenchmen."
After a moment's thought, he added, "Send the August regiment as well."
Together, these two regiments had over 16,000 soldiers, nearly 18,000 when including the supporting cavalry. He was confident that his superior numbers would be enough to handle the situation.
Berthier soon received word that two Prussian regiments were on their way. He was close to completely sealing the breach in the Austrian line, but he didn't hesitate to give the order:
"Have the entire force regroup on the southwestern slope and prepare to meet the enemy."
One of his aides hesitated and asked, "General, if we do that, we'll have to abandon the breach we just closed."
Berthier clapped him on the shoulder and said, "The Prince told me never to forget our strategic objective. We're here to destroy the Prussian main force, not just help Marshal Laessig regain his line."
The aide snapped to attention. "Yes, General!"
When Andreas and the August regiments arrived at the breach, the French troops who had attacked the Saxons were nowhere to be found.
The scene that played out next was a repeat of what had happened to the Saxons:
French artillery suddenly appeared, firing point-blank, followed by a line of French infantry quickly advancing from the right.
These Prussian soldiers had also heard the stories of the "immortality potion." After exchanging a few volleys with the French and witnessing it for themselves, they too were overcome with fear.
By 4 p.m., the battle was over. Andreas managed to organize an orderly retreat to the north, but the August regiment was completely routed.
Berthier didn't order a pursuit. Instead, he had his troops return to the breach in the Austrian line, where they set up artillery and blocked all roads.
By this time, the Prussian troops that had penetrated into Austrian territory were completely cut off.
(Chapter ends)
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