Light Cavalry and a Proper Understanding

Augereau arrived at a location quite far from Napoleon's main force, and the amount of grain they had collected was rather limited. Augereau knew that he had to act quickly enough to prevent more nobles from burning the grain in the granaries. Therefore, he immediately divided his cavalry into groups of fifty men each, and, guided by guides, rushed towards several surrounding manors.

However, most of these estates had already seen the thick smoke rising from here, and some estates began to burn their own granaries. Several Austria soldiers were stationed in these estates, and their task was not to protect the estates, but to supervise the estate owners and burn the granaries if there was a danger of the French Army approaching.

However, not all Austrian soldiers remained loyal to their posts. Many, upon seeing the smoke, shouted to those guarding the manors, "Go burn the granaries!" and then immediately mounted their horses and fled. With them gone, who among the remaining people in the manors cared about burning the granaries? Those with closer ties to the nobles who had already fled into the city quickly followed the soldiers, leaving the task of burning the granaries to their subordinates.

But with everyone above gone, the people below, seeing the grain in the granary, immediately thought: before burning it, take some home for yourselves. After taking some, they understood even more clearly—what's the point of burning it? What good would it do? So, naturally, they stopped burning it.

In this way, Augereau quickly obtained a large amount of grain. He sent someone back to Napoleon to suggest that the army was too far from areas where it could easily collect grain, which was quite disadvantageous. It would be best to move the army here first, control all the nearby rural areas, obtain sufficient supplies, and leave Austria with enough trouble, even making it seem like he wanted to Italy Austria. Then see how the Austria reacted.

Napoleon convened a meeting of his other generals to discuss Augereau's opinions. In the end, Napoleon astutely pointed out:

"Austria actually has a huge weakness: it has too many ethnic groups, too many languages, and is full of internal contradictions. Even when there is nothing to do, it often experiences various rebellions. It is a country that has been forcibly put together and has no real cohesion. Their army is the most important, and almost the only, means of maintaining this country. So as long as we demonstrate the weakness of this army to the Austria people, the foundation of this country will continue to shake."

"How can we prove the weakness of the Austria army?" Napoleon continued. "A direct attack on those bastions will only expose our weaknesses. Instead, we must lure them out and make them fight us in the field. From now on, please forget about Vienna for the time being. Let us go to the Austria countryside, mobilize and arm the peasants there."

If the Austria have even a shred of political acumen, they'll understand they can't let us do this. I anticipate a series of small-scale cavalry and infantry battles to follow. This requires us to inflict continuous damage on the Austria in such engagements. Then the Austria will have no choice but to submit to us."

Napoleon's speech received widespread support from his generals, and the French Army began leaving their camp early the next morning. Archduke Karl immediately put all his soldiers on high alert, preparing to resist the French Army attack.

However, the French Army did not launch any offensive, but instead left the main road to Vienna and turned directly north.

"Your Highness, should we send the cavalry to give chase?" asked an officer named Fritz.

"Let the cavalry follow, but do not attack the enemy lightly," Archduke Karl replied. "Yes, take a thousand light cavalry and follow them."

So Fritz took a thousand light cavalrymen and followed.

Napoleon, of course, also noticed the thousand Austria cavalrymen. He said to Murat beside him, "I'll give you two hundred cavalrymen. Can you drive them back?"

Murat glanced at the Austria cavalry, pursed his lips, and said, "No problem."

After saying this, Murat led two hundred cavalrymen to the rear.

Murat halted with two hundred cavalrymen on a small hill. The Austria cavalry gradually approached. Karl did not order Fritz to attack the French Army first; frankly, the Austrians did not have the morale to attack tens of thousands of the French Army with only a thousand light cavalry. But there were only two hundred France cavalrymen in front of them, what was there to fear? Besides, if they did not drive these cavalrymen away first, how could they continue to follow the main French Army?

Fritz observed the French Army cavalry unit, a light cavalry unit like their own, equipped with sabers, pistols, and the like. He recalled what the defeated cavalrymen in previous battles had mentioned: the France pistols could fire in bursts without reloading, and could keep firing until the end of the world.

Fritz, of course, didn't believe such a fantastical explanation. He thought the so-called repeating pistol was probably just a double-barreled, or even triple-barreled, pistol the France had developed, allowing for two or three shots to be fired in quick succession. However, such a pistol would be too cumbersome and probably not very effective. Besides, with a thousand men against a maximum of two hundred, if they didn't dare to fire, how could they possibly fight in the future?

Thinking this, Fritz led his cavalry forward. Out of caution, Fritz sent all one thousand men instead of splitting his forces in two, with one half attacking the two hundred cavalry and the other continuing to track the main French Army. After all, the main French Army force was infantry, and it would only take a short while; they wouldn't go very far.

Seeing the Austria cavalry charging forward with sabers raised, Murat, not to be outdone, led his own cavalry in a charge. However, unlike the Austria light cavalry who held a saber high in their right hand and a pistol in their left, Murat's cavalrymen each carried a revolver in both hands.

The revolvers used by cavalrymen differed slightly from the civilian versions. First, they were larger, with longer barrels and cylinders, and they were rifled. In any case, revolvers were also single-loaded on the battlefield, and with the Minié Ball, loading wasn't much more complicated.

A longer cylinder can hold more propellant, and a longer rifled barrel with more propellant ensures a higher muzzle velocity and better trajectory. Compared to the single-shot, unrifled pistols used by Austria cavalry (which were not very accurate in gladiatorial combat when the two sides were only a few paces apart, and were only good for bluffing in cavalry warfare), the France cavalry's revolver was a true killing weapon.

When light cavalry charge, their formation is relatively loose, allowing each rider more freedom to control their horse. Murat charged at the forefront, and opposite him, an Austria brandishing a saber rushed straight at him. Murat pointed his revolver at the Austria cavalryman and fired two shots when they were only about three meters apart.

This tactic has been proven highly effective through numerous drills on the training grounds, but it's not recommended in cavalry manuals. This distance ensures the enemy's saber can't reach you, while remaining within the relatively precise firing range of a revolver. Firing two shots in quick succession also effectively increases the kill rate. However, achieving this is not easy; it requires an excellent judgment of both sides' speed and distance. A single misjudgment can be disastrous.

Therefore, the cavalry manual suggests that when charging, you can start firing at a distance of 15 meters. The first two shots should be aimed at the horses, and then you can shoot at the riders when you are closer. Since you have plenty of bullets, this method is safer.

The Austria cavalryman was hit by Murat and fell headlong from his horse. But Murat had no time to pay attention to him anymore, as another Austria cavalryman rushed towards him. Murat calmly assessed the distance between them, and just as the other man raised his saber high, he fired two shots at the Austria.

The two cavalry charged past each other. Fritz reined in his horse and turned around. He saw that there were at least a hundred dead men and a considerable number of dead horses on the battlefield, but looking at the other side, there seemed to be two hundred men.

This was, of course, an illusion. The French Army cavalry did suffer some losses, but in terms of sheer numbers, the Austria far outnumbered them. And he had actually seen the France firing their guns continuously.

"It felt like we were charging at lancers with sabers. And the kind where they always had a lance in hand, so they could stab someone and not even need to pull it out!" Fritz felt for the first time how terrifying the France cavalry truly were.

Murat organized his troops and charged towards Fritz and his men. Fritz had hesitated earlier, which caused him to miss his chance to escape, and now he had no choice but to bite the bullet and charge the France again.

Amidst a series of gunshots, Murat led his cavalry in another clash with the Austria cavalry. The area where the two sides met was littered with corpses. This time, Fritz did not stay to assess the outcome; instead, he turned and fled. Murat and his cavalry gave chase...

All were light cavalry, none significantly faster than the other. Fritz was fleeing directly, without even turning, while Murat had to turn back to pursue him, so Murat simply couldn't catch Fritz. However, Murat persisted relentlessly. His goal wasn't truly to catch up and annihilate these Austria cavalry—that was impossible, and Murat knew it well. His objective was actually quite simple: to use his far fewer cavalry to chase the much larger Austria cavalry all the way to the vicinity of their fortress, giving the observing Austria a realistic assessment of their own strength.