Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

On the hill to the southwest of the Visio River.

Bajahaza observed the battlefield below and loudly instructed the courier:

“Send Hammer’s cavalry to block the gap on the left flank, quickly!

“Tell Lieutenant Colonel Ulrich he must hold on for another hour, don’t count on reinforcements.”

He put down the binoculars and looked at Archduke Karl beside him, sincerely sighing:

“These French people are truly brutal in battle. If you had followed my erroneous orders at that time, we would probably be in grave danger by now.”

The young officer next to him, with slightly curly hair and sunken cheeks, appearing somewhat listless, waved his hand and said:

“No, that was Marshal Alvinczi’s mistake; you were just following orders.

“Fortunately, everything is still salvageable. If the marshal’s reinforcements can arrive by noon the day after tomorrow, we can annihilate this French Army.”

Bajahaza sighed, not continuing the topic, but in his heart, he very much agreed with Archduke Karl’s words.

Alvinczi’s order to him was to stay as close to the central forces as possible to provide mutual support at any time.

But ever since leaving Venice, Archduke Karl repeatedly pointed out to him that the left flank corps was too withdrawn, leaving a huge gap towards the Visio River, which the French could likely exploit for an encircling maneuver.

However, he simply commanded Archduke Karl to follow the orders.

Fortunately, Archduke Karl stubbornly refused him and continued to march with his corps three kilometers to the east of his forces, dispatching cavalry along the Visio River for repeated reconnaissance.

As a Hungarian officer, Bajahaza really couldn’t do much about the Emperor’s own brother, and let him have his way.

Who would have thought that just yesterday morning, Archduke Karl indeed discovered a French Army crossing the river and immediately launched a decisive attack.

The Royal Moravina Corps led by Archduke Karl was one of the few elite units in this campaign to Northern Italy, catching the French off guard, with hundreds falling into the river and drowning.

However, the French Army numbered more than twenty thousand, while the Moravina Corps had only seven thousand soldiers, so the French eventually managed to complete the river crossing with difficulty.

And just then, upon receiving Archduke Karl’s message, Bajahaza also led his troops to rush over.

The situation was instantly reversed, and the French was forced back to the woods near the riverbank, and both sides reached a stalemate.

A rider pulled up his horse beside Bajahaza and shouted, “General, the French have organized two more regiments to launch an assault on the left flank, and General Mezger requests reinforcements.”

Bajahaza frowned, looking questioningly at Archduke Karl: “It seems, we’ll have to send the Moze Corps.”

The Moze Corps was his reserve; moving them would leave him no maneuverable units at all.

Carl Ludwig recalled the terrain to the south of the battlefield and asked the courier, “Isn’t there a patch of rocky beach where the French launched their assault?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Carl Ludwig nodded and said to Bajahaza, “General, I suggest we not use the reserves just yet. We should fully utilize the advantage of our cannons.”

He looked again at the order officer:

“Have the Moravina Corps artillery close in on the left flank, ignore the enemy’s position, just aim at that rocky patch and open fire.

“Also, order General Mezger to withdraw his troops and attack after the enemy crosses that rocky beach.”

The order officer glanced at Bajahaza and, seeing no objection from him, stood at attention and said, “Yes, Your Highness.”

…

On the French positions, Ogero personally commanded Murat’s Corps of 3,000 soldiers to charge against the Austrian Army.

He had no direct corps at hand — Napoleon’s side was the main attacking direction, taking all the elite units.

Therefore, Murat’s Corps was the most powerful unit Ogero had here.

Yes, he was very anxious now, determined to fight to the death here.

According to Napoleon’s orders, he should have attacked Alvinczi’s left flank this morning, but he was being firmly blocked here instead.

This could very likely lead to General Napoleon suffering a counterattack from superior enemy forces, resulting in massive casualties.

Ogero nodded to the commander of Murat’s Corps, Quasi-General Andre: “Begin. May Jesus protect you.”

In a moment, the rhythm of the drums began to quicken.

Murat’s Corps skirmishers rushed toward the enemy lines first.

However, the Austrians only engaged them briefly before starting to withdraw en masse.

Andre was not surprised by the Austrians’ cowardice and immediately raised his sword, loudly ordering the entire army to press forward.

However, Murat’s Corps had only advanced two to three hundred steps before encountering a large amount of broken stones underfoot, their speed instantly slowed down.

At the same time, from the high ground on the left front, the Austrian heavy artillery roared.

Shells fell on the rocky ground, instantly shooting debris everywhere. If not for the bullet-proof inserts equipped by Murat’s Corps, the flying stones alone could easily have killed them.

Andre looked at the not-too-distant Austrian lines; if they could just break through there, they could coordinate with Marmon’s Army to tear open the enemy’s defense to the north.

“Send the order, disperse formation, advance quickly!”

“Yes, General!”

Three thousand French soldiers fearlessly stepped onto the broken stones, but they couldn’t advance quickly — forget about running here, even walking slightly faster would result in twisted ankles.

Meanwhile, the Austrian artillery continued to rain shells.

Iron balls whistled through the ranks of the French soldiers, leaving trail lines of red mixed with numerous severed limbs.

Simultaneously, men were constantly being struck on the head by the debris, groaning as they tilted and collapsed to the ground.

Murat’s Corps had barely charged less than 200 steps and already suffered three to four hundred casualties; the rocky beach was strewn with blood and torn flesh.

Andre’s warhorse was also struck in the left eye by a piece of debris, neighing in pain as it shook its head and retreated.

Fire seemed to almost burst from Andre’s eyes as he gazed at the cannons amassed on the east bank of the Visio River; with those, they could suppress the Austrian artillery fire.

But now, they could only take the blows.

Indeed, when Archduke Karl suddenly launched his attack yesterday, Ogero’s Corps’ heavy artillery hadn’t yet crossed the river, and the pontoon bridge was destroyed by Austrian artillery fire.

Finally, the enormous casualties forced Andre to order a retreat.

Just then, hundreds of Austrian Hussars cut in between Murat’s Corps and Marmon’s Army.

Murat’s Corps was in the midst of retreat, and immediately fell into chaos.

It wasn’t until Ogero sent in the reserves for reinforcement that the situation barely stabilized; by this time, all the ground gained by the French left wing throughout the day was lost, and the entire army was pressed against a small clearing at the edge of the woods.

Night fell.

Both the French and Austrian sides were mired in anxiety.

Ogero’s Corps was counting the casualties, with the painful groans of the wounded spreading across the riverbank.

Meanwhile, Bajahaza received news that his own right flank corps had been utterly defeated by Napoleon.