Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

The junior officers of the Royal Artillery Camp studied university-level mathematics courses in military school. Without the ability to calculate ballistic trajectories in under half a minute, they could forget about ever graduating.

Meanwhile, the artillery conducted live-fire drills at any cost. Their monthly training volume was equivalent to the British Army’s annual training.

The result of such over-expenditure was unparalleled precision shooting skills.

Previously, in the battles in the Southern Netherlands, the French Army had achieved victories too easily, leaving little room for the artillery to showcase their capabilities—success came even without their intervention.

Now, at last, they had the opportunity to display their full prowess.

Typically speaking, even for a 12-pound cannon, firing began only within 800 paces—roughly 400 meters—to ensure effective casualties.

This time, however, it was a defensive battle, allowing the Royal Artillery Camp to carefully select positions and measure firing parameters in advance. This was easier than even military school exams.

This preparation allowed them to fire at their limit range of 1.3 kilometers with exceptional accuracy—the artillery positions were atop high ground, making this range entirely reasonable. Howitzers could even reach targets 1.8 kilometers away, though such distances, involving arcing shots, held little practical use.

After being shelled, British officers initially suspected an ambush, hastily ordering their infantry line to halt and sending skirmishers to search the area. Only after confirming the cannon fire indeed came from the French Army’s positions did they resume advancing.

This delay left the Prussians on the flanking maneuver exposed.

The French artillery immediately turned their cannons toward the Prussian forces, subjecting them to precise and concentrated bombardment.

The Prussian Army quickly became disorganized, forcing the commander to order a retreat.

Thus, the Allied Forces’ attack on the first day concluded in haste. Without even clashing directly with the French soldiers, they lost nearly 400 men to the cannons.

The following day, the Duke of York adjusted his tactics, ordering his own artillery forward to use their numerical advantage to suppress the French forces—he had confirmed yesterday that the French Army had only 37 cannons, fewer than half of theirs.

However, the skill level of the British artillery was already worse by comparison, and firing uphill made the situation even tougher—their cannon fire could barely reach the edge of the French artillery positions.

Forced to take risks, they had to advance closer, halting roughly 900 paces from the French Army before their cannonballs could finally land near the opposing artillery.

But during their approach, they had already become the prime target of the French artillery.

After several rounds of precise volleys, the British artillery suffered severe casualties, retreating in chaos and even abandoning four cannons behind.

Still, their “fire-attraction” tactic inadvertently provided cover for their infantry.

The British infantry advanced steadily to the bottom of the slope, where the French cannons redirected their aim toward them.

The Duke of York decided to seize the opportunity, sending his trusted General Harris to personally oversee the frontline, instructing him to capture the high ground occupied by the French Army before nightfall.

Over 12,000 British infantry, supported by 3,000 Austrian skirmishers, braved the continuous cannon fire and steadily moved closer to the French defenses atop the slope.

The Prussian Infantry Brigade on the right flank also rushed forward.

They remained approximately 1.2 kilometers from the British center line, well outside the coverage of the French defensive position.

As long as the British could delay the French for 20 minutes, they could complete their flanking maneuver.

Soon, gunfire erupted in the center of the battlefield, marking the start of exchange fire between the British and French infantry.

To be fair, the Duke of York’s Red Army displayed commendable discipline. Despite enduring relentless cannon fire, they held their formations without collapsing, advancing over 800 paces to reach rifle range.

The French Army’s line did not appear densely packed, which bolstered Harris’s confidence. He urged his rear troops forward while peering westward.

However, the French Royal Infantry Division soon demonstrated to the British what it meant to face weapon superiority with their caplock guns.

The caplock guns surpassed the British flintlock guns in both reloading speed and firepower. Coupled with the downhill firing position, British soldiers dropped one after another, with corpses constantly rolling down the slope.

On the French side, injured soldiers withdrew to the slope’s reverse side and were immediately replaced, maintaining their firing capacity.

British soldiers began to feel as though an endless number of enemies were hidden on the unseen backside of the slope.

Finally, the heavy casualties exceeded even the resilience of the steadfast Red Army. Harris exhausted his reserves, and despite his shouting and cursing, the entire infantry line steadily retreated, nearing the brink of collapse.

At this moment, the sound of long horns echoed from the west. Harris was immediately elated—the Prussians had reached the designated position, signaling their offensive!

He brandished his sword and shouted, “Hold on a bit longer! General Karl Croit is about to smash the French left flank!”

1.2 kilometers away, Count Karl Croit’s vanguard was approaching the slope’s summit.

Leading the vanguard was Major Georg, who pointed excitedly toward the peak and shouted, “Seize that position! Then immediately turn east—we’re already outside the French defensive line…”

Before he could finish, the rhythmic sound of military drums rang out from the top of the slope, followed by a flag bearing a dolphin and golden fleur-de-lis entering his view.

Major Georg was instantly bewildered.

How was this possible?

On the central battlefield, they had deployed over 16,000 troops alongside his 6,000 soldiers, totaling 22,000 men—barely enough to form a 1.5-kilometer battlefront.

Even with such numbers, gaps between the center and right-wing were dangerous enough that they remained constantly vigilant against the possibility of French cavalry breaking through and splitting their forces.

It was understood that significant French defensive forces had been stationed on the left flank. After subtracting their cavalry, artillery, and reserves, the French Army could not have mobilized more than 15,000 troops directly on the front line.

Yet somehow, they managed to maintain a 1.2-kilometer-long battle line!

How was this possible?

However, the concentrated gunfire from the slope’s summit was undeniable proof that this was indeed happening.

Major Georg yanked on his reins and shouted commands for immediate reorganization, preparing to confront the enemy with a line formation.

But the Prussian troops had been rushing up the slope in haste, leaving their ranks scattered—over one-third of them continued climbing even as the rest tried to stop and regroup, turning the formation into complete chaos.

On the opposing side, the French infantry line began methodically executing volleys.

Dense gunfire struck the Prussian soldiers, and amidst the bursts of blood and screams, their already disordered ranks descended further into chaos.

Count Karl Croit was horrified. Just as he prepared to order the reserves to push forward, he saw the Georg Group ahead fleeing down the slope in a panicked rout, like a startled flock of sheep.

Confused, he raised his telescope to survey the slope’s summit and discovered the French defensive line consisted of merely two sparse rows of infantry, with considerable spacing between soldiers.

He realized at once: the French had used this loose battle line to cover the 1.2-kilometer-wide battlefield.

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