Life of Being a Crown Prince in France - Chapter 1348 - 1254: The Valor of Ogero
Chapter 1348: Chapter 1254: The Valor of Ogero
East of Weimar, hundreds of French skirmishers were engaging in sporadic harassing fire.
The Prussians on the opposite side also realized it was not the main battleground and lazily fired back.
The Prussian cannons on the nearby heights didn’t even bother to glance this way, keeping their sights on the main French Army forces attacking the frontal defenses.
At half past two in the afternoon, the French skirmishers seemed bored and suddenly retreated to both sides.
The Prussian soldiers defending the left flank were about to breathe a sigh of relief, when they vaguely saw a large cluster of white figures in the distance.
Just a few minutes later, accompanied by the dense sound of drums and footsteps, the French Army columns had already charged to within more than 200 steps from the Prussian defense line.
The Prussian officers hastily ordered their soldiers to maintain formation and prepare to shoot.
Ogero was not on horseback but personally followed a line of columns, jogging against the enemy.
Soon, the sound of Prussian gunfire rang out.
The concentrated volley swept across, with some in the front line of the French column falling after being hit. However, immediately someone from behind stepped up, and all the officers’ orders and the soldiers’ steps remained as precise as a clock.
The Prussians only had the opportunity for four volleys, then dozens of columns had reached within 50 steps of them.
Ogero raised his sword and loudly commanded: “Shift to line formation!”
The rhythm of the drums changed accordingly, and nearly 3,000 soldiers turned expertly, standing in position in less than half a minute.
Yes, the soldiers in these two regiments Ogero chose were mostly graduates from the Paris Military Technology School, with nearly half participating in the Luxembourg campaign years ago. They were considered the absolute elite of the French Army.
Ogero pointed forward with his sword and shouted: “Prepare—”
The officers of each company immediately repeated his order. The French soldiers, who had shifted to a line formation, promptly raised their guns in unison.
“Aim—”
“Fire—”
A dense burst of fire flashed by, and the Prussian defense line instantly became uneven. The fierce firepower startled the rear soldiers, making them hesitant to move forward to fill in positions.
Ogero used the line volley tactic, which was more prone to casualties, to maximize firepower and create a breach for Murat.
After enduring a round of Prussian counterfire, Ogero charged forward first by ten steps, and the entire French line immediately stepped over the fallen bodies of their comrades to follow.
“Fire—”
With the second close-range volley from the French line, hundreds of Prussian soldiers were instantly toppled by Minie bullets. The Prussian Commander at the front had no choice but to order the second rank infantry line to move up.
Only then did the Prussian artillery finally react, hastily turning their guns toward their left wing.
After the Prussian infantry line’s volley, Ogero stepped forward a few more, only to suddenly hear the distant roar of artillery.
Two soldiers beside him were hit by a black shadow, and most of their bodies disappeared instantly.
Ogero’s guard was shocked, rushing to pin him to the ground.
“Let go of me, that’s an order!” Ogero struggled to get up and vigorously waved to the soldiers on both sides, loudly saying, “In the Name of the Crown Prince! Defeat the enemy!”
This was a slogan that could ignite the veterans of the entire Guard Corps.
The entire line followed Ogero forward, rushing to within less than 30 steps of the Prussian defense line, completely ignoring the gunfire flying everywhere and shouting “In the Name of the Crown Prince,” firing in unison.
The second Prussian infantry line, newly positioned, wasn’t even stable before being forced back.
In such concentrated and precise firepower, even the “King’s Majesty’s inspiration” was rendered ineffective.
Ogero immediately noticed a breach more than ten meters wide in the Prussian defense line and pointed there, saying: “Here! Follow me, firepower divide!”
The so-called “firepower division” meant concentrating forces in a narrow area to prevent the enemy’s rear from quickly assembling. Ogero’s goal from the start was to create an opportunity for cavalry to cut in.
A few minutes later, Ogero led over 400 soldiers, forming a six-rank formation in front of the breach in the enemy’s infantry line, using a two-by-two continuous firing method to maximize firepower and widen the breach.
Yet the overly concentrated formation also became the best target for enemy artillery, with three or four shells whistling over almost immediately.
The French array was hit by two of the iron balls, with more than a dozen men instantly torn to pieces.
“Everyone hold on!” Ogero shouted with bloodshot eyes, then turned to the Order Officer and said, “Let Murat take action!”
“Yes, Commander!”
Behind them, a Shapu signal vehicle sent a series of commands southwest, and a few minutes later, Murat appeared nearby from Ogero with nearly a thousand cavalry.
Ogero glanced at the breach in the Prussian defense line, now some sixty or seventy meters wide, and shouted to the officer by his side: “Spread to both sides. Maintain cover fire!”
Immediately, the French multi-layer line turned to both sides, opening up the position directly in front of the breach.
Over 300 French Chest Armor Cavalry, wearing long-brimmed iron helmets with red plumes and shiny steel armor adorned with brass, charged through the infantry, swinging their horse sabers and cutting into the enemy line.
Behind them were 600 Hussars, wearing tube-shaped hats and uniforms with “rib bones buttons,” hanging their horse sabers on the saddle side, holding Joseph 1797 revolvers in their hands.
The Prussian officers immediately noticed this cavalry unit, desperately ordering their soldiers to fire at them.
But there were few Prussian soldiers near the breach, and most of the fired bullets hit the 3mm thick steel breastplates in front, leaving only small pits.
The Chest Armor Cavalry whistled through the breach, followed by the Hussars who fired back at the enemy infantry with their revolvers.
The continuous and dense gunfire swiftly forced the remaining resisting Prussian forces into retreat.
Murat, realizing there was no third line of enemy troops ahead, relaxed inwardly—the fact was, William III had brought only over 14,000 men to Weimar, and they were all committed to the defensive line due to the fierce offensive by Ogero Army Corps. The previously unengaged left wing had no reserve army.
Murat quickly identified a direction with his horse saber pointed towards the southern suburbs of Weimar: “Maintain formation, follow me!”
On the heights to the north, the Prussian Commander-in-chief Marshal Mellendorf turned pale as he saw the surging French cavalry through his telescope.
He now had no reserves available, the cavalry units tangled with the French on the right, leaving less than half an hour for the French cavalry to charge and overrun his command center.
He then noticed the French seemed not to be heading directly toward him.
Could it be the French hadn’t found the command center’s location?
He looked up at the hot air balloon hovering in the sky in the distance, his pupils suddenly narrowing, turning to look at the distant tents: “No, they’re heading for His Majesty!”
