Before the thin and elongated line of infantry, Lieutenant Lefebvre wiped the sweat from his palms on the hem of his uniform as he watched the swarms of Albanian mercenaries in their earthy yellow short robes slowly approach like ants in the distance, his nerves on edge.
The second platoon commander whispered beside him, "Lieutenant, there appear to be three to four thousand of them..."
"I see them," Lefebvre replied with a calm face, already beginning to regret his actions. He had indeed managed to get behind the enemy lines, but his side only had 220 men.
Behind him, there was a gap of 1.5 meters between each infantryman, where normally it should only be 0.5 to 0.7 meters. There were only two ranks in front and behind. If the enemy launched a fierce attack, it would easily break through their line.
"Steady!" he glanced behind him and called out loudly to boost morale, "Grip your rifles. The enemy is nothing to be scared of!" In truth, his forehead was covered in cold sweat.
Soon, the earthy yellow "ant swarm" reached close proximity to the infantry line.
As Lefebvre shouted "Fire," the first rank of soldiers deployed their weapons, and bursts of flame and smoke erupted together.
Because the distance was somewhat great, only seven or eight Albanian mercenaries were felled by gunfire. However, the Albanians reacted as if stung by scorpions, instantly parting to the sides as if the slender French line of defense was a solid stone wall.
"Fire!"
When the second rank of French soldiers fired, the thousands of mercenaries who had originally surged forth began to panic, turning their heads in retreat.
Their morale had been utterly shattered. Like startled birds at the sound of gunfire, they had a knee-jerk reaction without even raising their heads to see the number of their foes.
Surprise flickered in Lefebvre's eyes as he called out louder, "Reload!"
"..."
"Fire!"
As the soldiers of the Guard Corps continued to fire, the Albanian forces grew even more chaotic, leading to a considerable amount of trampling.
A few thousand men were held back for nearly 20 minutes by just 200 soldiers; only a portion of the mercenaries managed to escape from the two flanks of the infantry line—Lefebvre had too few men, and the line's width was only enough to block one quarter of the flat road.
Finally, the first echelon of the police academy cadets appeared behind the Albanian army, who promptly shifted from sporadic fleeing to throwing down their weapons and begging for mercy on their knees.
Four hours later.
Joseph, Bertier, and other officers walked through the epicenter of the former battlefield, watching the soldiers carefully carry away the wounded or loudly berate groups of Albanian mercenary prisoners passing by.
The battle had proceeded much more smoothly than Joseph had anticipated—the Guard Corps and the police academy students had all displayed high morale and excellent combat skills. Of course, a major reason was that the enemy's forces were disjointed.
Otherwise, Bertier could only have waited for Murat's Corps to arrive and engage in a direct, forceful battle with the more than 20,000-strong army from Algiers.
Every now and then, soldiers saw them and "snap" stood to attention to salute, while Joseph frequently nodded in acknowledgment to the troops.
Bertier received a note from the staff officer, scanned it briefly, and turned to smile at Joseph, "Your Highness, we just received a message that we've captured over 3,000 more enemy troops on the western side. Among them seem to be several high-ranking officers."
"Oh? They actually caught up?"
Joseph was somewhat surprised. After the enemy routed, some fled north, while others retreated to the west. Bertier had ordered the cavalry to pursue north, thinking that the enemies on the west might escape.
"Two volunteer companies swiftly cut off to the west side of the enemy lines and blocked their retreat," Bertier remarked.
The staff officer by the side promptly outlined the course of the blocking battle on the west.
"Francois Lefebvre?" Joseph thought the name sounded familiar. He suddenly slapped his forehead—wasn't that the Duke of Danzig?
One of Napoleon's marshals, he had participated in major battles like those of Fleurus and Jena and had accompanied Napoleon on the Russian campaign, with distinguished service.
Joseph instantly remembered that Lefebvre came from a commoner background, having served in the French Guards. It seemed that during the last recruitment, Bertier had him join his ranks.
No wonder he fought so fiercely, holding back more than three thousand Albanian mercenaries with just two companies. Had he inadvertently stumbled upon a treasure?
He looked at Bertier, "Lieutenant Colonel, what do you intend to award Lieutenant Lefebvre for his actions?"𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎
The latter pondered, "He fought bravely and possesses commendable command ability; he has performed exceptionally well during previous drills.
"Your Highness, he can receive the Medal for Bravery and be promoted to captain."
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According to the system of war merits set up by Joseph, the awards were ranked as follows: the Golden Irish Medal, the Medal for Bravery, and the Medal for Bravery for lower accomplishments. These required specific acts of valor, such as the Golden Irish, which required a major role in a particular battle, influencing the outcome.
The Medal for Bravery was awarded for significant influence on the results of the battle, and even the Medal for Bravery required significant contributions to parts of a battle.
This system was far ahead of its time!
In the armies of Europe at the time, even if there were medals, they would only be awarded to noble lords. But in the Crown Prince's Guard, even if you came from a beggar's background, even if you were just a menial soldier, as long as you contributed to the war, you would receive the corresponding military honors.
At the same time, each level of honor came with specific rewards and privileges. Acts of valor were immediately rewarded: money was given, promotions were made, even families could benefit.
Under such a merit system, which soldier wouldn't fight actively? How could morale not be high?
Joseph pondered for a moment and then said, "I think Lefevre can be exceptionally promoted to major. The Guard Corps is now short of talent, and we need to give more opportunities to officers with potential."
What he said was also the truth. Because the Guard Corps initially restricted its recruitment to commoners and lesser nobles, there was a notable shortage of mid-to-high ranking officers—during this era in France, only the wealthier nobility could afford the military academy education which led to high-ranking officer positions.
Without money or connections, even if one entered the military academy, they could only study less popular courses like surveying or engineering, where promotion would be extremely slow.
For this reason, in the Guard Corps, many lieutenants had to serve as company commanders, simply due to a severe shortage of captains.
Most importantly, Joseph was certain that Lefevre was absolutely capable of fulfilling the position of a major. He was a marshal personally tested through a series of wars by Napoleon himself!
Bertier immediately nodded with a smile, "I shall follow Your Highness's orders."
In the Guard Corps, the Crown Prince's orders held absolute authority, without question. Of course, Joseph would never presumptuously give commands, as this was the foundation of his position and livelihood.
A staff officer by the side said with a smile, "Now Captain Dawu's brilliance might be overshadowed."
Bertier also revealed a smile, "He is still young. Having someone outperform him might inspire him to grow even faster."
The future Marshal Dawu had just turned 18 years old, less than half a year out of the military academy. He first distinguished himself in maneuvers, was promoted to lieutenant and became an infantry company commander.
Today in battle, he bravely took the lead, charging at the forefront against the enemy's concentrated fire, spearheading the bayonet charge that scattered the enemy's formation, and was promoted to captain.
Joseph sighed internally, those marshals under Napoleon were indeed formidable, providing them with the slightest opportunity was all it took for them to shine.
In the afternoon, the Guard Corps had mostly finished clearing the battlefield, and Joseph personally presided over the funeral rites for the fallen soldiers. Of course, the specific religious procedures were conducted by the accompanying priest.
The Guard Corps and the cadets sacrificed a total of 89 men and had 70 seriously wounded.
Although this number of casualties was not large, it was certainly possible to reduce it even further, given the one-sided nature of today's battle.𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶
Of course, this was their first time in actual combat. Joseph believed that as their combat experience accumulated, they would perform better and better in the future.
Watching the careful handling of the bodies and the Crown Prince paying his respects to each, a new sentiment arose in the hearts of the soldiers of the Guard Corps.
Previously, their feelings towards the Crown Prince were more gratitude and reliance, but after his joining them on the battlefield and fighting shoulder to shoulder, they now held love and reverence.
At 5 p.m. the next day, the Guard Corps, which had been resting in place, finally awaited the belated arrival of Murat's Corps.
They were half a day later than the scheduled time.
In the officers' tent, Andre apologized to Joseph with a look of self-reproach, "Your Highness, I am truly sorry for being late."
Joseph gestured for him to sit down and asked, "Did you encounter some trouble?"
Andre nodded awkwardly, "Your Highness, after leaving Tunis City, our wine supplies were not brought in. Dysentery broke out on a large scale the next day."
He glanced outside the tent, "In fact, only about 2,600 members of Murat's Corps arrived. The rest remained on the road due to serious illness."
Murat's Corps, which came to Tunisia, numbered 3,000 men; thus, within four to five days, they had decreased by 13% due to dysentery!
Joseph frowned slightly; he knew that most of the population in Tunisia practiced Islam and did not usually consume alcohol, making wine hard to procure. This also confirmed his suspicions about the logistical support capabilities provided by the Tunisians.
Wine was an important military commodity at the time, one of the main reasons being that it killed most harmful bacteria during fermentation, making it the safest way for troops to replenish fluids.
After leaving Tunis City, without wine, Murat's Corps had to drink water at random in the wild. This was likely the cause of their widespread outbreak of dysentery.
Joseph consoled Andre for a while and instructed him to settle his troops first, as they might engage in battle tomorrow—according to the confessions of the captured Albanian mercenaries, the main force of the Algiers Guard was following them, just a dozen kilometers away, about a day's journey.
After Andre had left, Joseph suddenly thought of an issue and looked towards Bertier, "The wine supply for the Guard Corps hasn't been disrupted, has it?"
"No, Your Highness, just like Murat's Corps, after leaving Tunis City, we ran out of wine,"
"Oh? Then why hasn't the Guard Corps had an outbreak of dysentery?"
A staff officer beside them hurriedly replied with admiration, "Your Highness, this is all thanks to Doctor Pernelle. Previously, the corps suffered severe dysentery, but after he insisted on the soldiers drinking boiled water, things started to improve. He even saved this campaign."
Joseph blinked and asked, "Pernelle?"
Bertier quietly said, "That's Doctor Perna's male name."
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"Her?"
A short while later, Perna, clad in white military attire with her long hair bundled up under a tricorne, entered the officers' tent and paid her respects to Joseph and the others with a standard male salute.
Joseph lifted his hat slightly and curiously asked her, "How did you come up with the idea of having the Guard Corps drink hot water?"
Perna seriously responded, "Your Highness, it was you who taught me that."
"Me?"
"You once told my father that illness is caused by germs entering the human body. Later, in Bordeaux, you said to Mr. Venio that germs would die if left in hot water for half an hour."
The young female doctor took a deep breath and continued, "Previously, when some soldiers in the corps were afflicted with dysentery, I remembered this during their treatment, so I had them boil the water for half an hour before drinking it. Many gradually recovered their health, while those who disobeyed continued to suffer for over a month."
"Therefore, I was convinced your method was effective and insisted that all soldiers drink hot water."
Joseph, while appreciating the doctor's ability to extrapolate from his advice, couldn't help but smile wryly—you only needed to boil the water, not continue to heat it for half an hour.
However, he had to admit that she had done a great service. If 13% of the Guard Corps soldiers had contracted dysentery, the battle against the Albanian mercenaries would have been much tougher.
At the same time, Joseph felt some self-reproach; he should have disseminated such basic knowledge throughout the army in advance. Alas, it is often hardest to see what is right under one's nose.
He nodded to Perna in acknowledgment, "You've done very well, I think you even deserve a medal for this."
Perna quickly waved her hands in refusal, "I merely did what a doctor should do, Your Highness, you don't need to reward me like this. In fact, I am already very happy to be able to treat the soldiers in the corps."
Only then did Joseph remember that Perna was usually scorned by patients when treating them, with some even believing that a female doctor would bring bad luck.
The soldiers of the Guard Corps had not failed to notice her disguise, but since there were few army doctors to begin with and even fewer who could cure their diseases, they all pretended not to know. And just this was enough to make her exceedingly happy.
Suddenly, Joseph had an idea, "Doctor Perna, I would like to ask for your help in setting up a field hospital for the Guard Corps."
One must know that in this era, the vast majority of soldiers didn't die on the battlefield but rather due to the poor medical conditions after being wounded.
Though antibiotics had not yet been developed, having a clean and tidy medical environment and frequent sterilization of medical instruments could at least halve the chance of infection for the wounded soldiers.
And Perna, skilled in medicine, diligent, and eager to learn, was the best person for the job.
Moreover, she could then fully devote herself to her beloved medical career without having to be overly concerned about her gender.
"A field hospital?" Perna was completely unfamiliar with this new term.
"Yes!" Joseph nodded enthusiastically, "And the nursing profession, you can start that up as well."