Delrisen was riding forward with the winding column of troops, conversing with a staff officer from time to time, when he suddenly heard the distant rumble of cannons from ahead to the side.
The entire Prussian Army column immediately came to a halt, soldiers anxiously craning their necks to look around.
Delrisen's complexion also darkened. He had been extremely cautious all along the way, and even though he was marching on Prussian territory, he had still dispatched a large number of cavalry for reconnaissance.
Previously, all the hussars had reported that there was no abnormality ahead, so what was the meaning of this cannon fire?
He hurriedly ordered the troops to close ranks and form a defensive line.
Then he turned to the staff officer beside him and shouted, "Leon, send someone to find out what's happening!"
Before his order could be carried out, two couriers arrived in a rush, and as soon as they saw him, they promptly reported with urgency, "General, our vanguard has been attacked, General Bleichet's two regiments have been dispersed..."
"How could that be?" Delrisen frowned deeply. "Who is attacking us?"
"It seems to be the French people."
"Damn it, where did they come from!" Delrisen was at a loss, reasoning that the cannon must have been pre-set along the road to ambush him, but why had the hussars failed to detect it?
Of course, he didn't know that it was the Guard Corps' mounted artillery, which had previously been concealed six kilometers away and had quickly approached upon discovering his troops, then opened fire from the front and to their side.
"How many enemy troops are there?"
"This, we're not sure yet, the artillery strike was too sudden..."
Delrisen, being an experienced commander, quickly calmed down and promptly made a judgment.
If the enemy had artillery, it was likely a large troop contingent, so the first thing was to delay the enemy's attack.
He immediately ordered the Fein Corps to set up a defensive line on the spot to halt the enemy's advance, while the other units gathered near the woods to the north.
Most of the Fein Corps consisted of elite Prussian Guards, and their actions were very swift. In just over half an hour, they had begun to assemble to the south of the main force, while the winding marching column of the Prussian Army was slowly moving north.
However, the French Army ambushing them clearly didn't intend to give them a chance.
Soon a hussar reported to Delrisen that they had spotted tens of thousands of French infantry appearing to the southwest, heading in their direction.
Cold sweat broke out on Delrisen's forehead. His main corps was strung out over at least three or four kilometers, and it would take at least three hours to gather together and form up.
He immediately took personal command of the two grenadier regiments by his side, to meet with Fein and together construct a temporary defensive line. He ordered Krokow to lead all twelve hussar squadrons to hold off the French at all costs and buy time.
Atop the high ground beside the Bober River, Joseph observed through his binoculars nearly two thousand Prussian cavalrymen charging toward the Guard Corps' infantry line in a grand procession.
He, however, felt not the slightest bit nervous. After two years of military studies, he could see that the Prussian Cavalry was utterly unprepared, their formation was scattered, and there was a disjoint between the front and the rear, as they hastily launched their offensive.
This was essentially suicide.
Don't think that just because cavalry are well equipped, fast, and have a strong charge, they can necessarily crush infantry. In fact, cavalry are not intended for frontal engagements at all. Their advantage lies in using their mobility to quickly strike at the enemy's weak points and then swiftly retreat. But if they go head-to-head with infantry, especially charging at orderly infantry lines, they usually won't win unless their numbers are about equal.
Sure enough, when the Prussian Cavalry charged haphazardly at the French Army's infantry lines, they immediately faced a round of volley fire, with more than 20 horses in the front shrieking as they toppled, which in turn tripped up many of the cavalry behind them.
Then, the soldiers who had completed their shooting planted their bayoneted guns diagonally in the ground and crouched down. The soldiers in the row behind raised their guns to shoot, then held the caplock guns horizontally, pointing their bayonets forward.
Next came the third row's volley...
By the time the Prussian Cavalry got close, they were faced with three dense rows of bayonets, front and back. They had no choice but to pull on the reins to turn and scatter to both sides.
The depiction in movies and television of cavalry fearlessly charging into bayonets is meaningless. Even if you could take down two or three infantrymen, there would immediately be others to fill the gaps. Your and your horse's corpses would then become obstacles for your comrades behind, slowing down the entire team's charge. And stationary cavalry are just targets for the infantry.
The Guard Corps' infantry line was very long, and with just the handful of Prussian Hussars, it was completely impossible to flank and encircle them. Moreover, readily available were the Guard Corps' cavalry, awaiting to provide cover behind the infantry.
The Prussian Cavalry had no choice but to regroup at a distance after this disordered charge, a move that cost them at least one company—more than 150 men.
But Delrisen's orders to Krokow were to hold the French Army at all costs, so he had no choice but to draw his sword again, loudly ordering his men to charge the Guard Corps.
After such an assault for the third time, the Prussian Cavalry were extremely casualty-wary and hesitant, no longer eager to advance.
In fact, these Junker nobility cavalrymen had performed quite admirably; if it had been troops with even slightly poorer morale, they would have begun to rout by the second charge.
Bertier again suggested that the Guard Corps' cavalry go out to meet the attack. Joseph, seeing the faltering Prussian Cavalry through his telescope, finally nodded in agreement.
Cavalry was the kind of troops the Guard Corps lacked the most. Only the cavalry initially received from the Paris Guard had stronger combat capabilities; most of those trained later could barely serve as Cavalry Scouts. So Joseph was very cautious when deploying them, with even a little casualties causing him much distress.
However, after several rounds of depletion, even regrouping was a difficult task for the Prussian Cavalry at this point.
When 700 Hussars from the Guard Corps suddenly appeared on their left flank, Krokow personally led his attendants to meet them, but almost no one followed him.
Immediately, the Prussian Cavalry were split in two, with most fleeing north, while the others were swiftly overtaken by the French Army's infantry volleys and quickly surrendered their horses.
Delrisen's infantry lines were still in disarray when he saw some Hussars fleeing back.
He ordered a small group of these routed soldiers to be brought before him, and heard several of them panically say, "General, the enemy is only eight or nine hundred paces away."
"General Krokow? We don't know where he is."
"The enemy's defenses are dense, and their firepower is fierce..."
Delrisen's heart sank; he had done all he could to delay, yet hadn't even managed an hour... It appeared the enemy numbered at least thirty or forty thousand.
Dammit, such a large army had been in Oberon for at least two days, and yet no one had noticed!