France, Forward!

Dumouriez rode at the front, followed closely by Joseph and Napoleon, also on horseback, swords in hand, while the soldiers followed them, approaching the smoke-shrouded Jemappes.

Perhaps due to exhaustion, or perhaps due to the fog of battle, the Austria did not react immediately, which naturally pleased Dumouriez to lead his soldiers to advance further.

Gradually, the column entered the range of the Austrian artillery. Dumouriez shouted "Forward!" again and swung his sword forward several times. The soldiers began to advance in columns, while Dumouriez slowed his horse and gradually fell behind the ranks.

Joseph also slowed down and closed in, following Dumouriez. Their previous actions were merely to boost morale. Real warfare is not a duel between generals in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" or a duel between knights in chivalric novels. There's no reason for a commander to actually charge into battle.

Joseph reined in his horse, nodded to Dumouriez who had also reined in, then turned around and suddenly realized... Damn it! Where was Napoleon? Where did Napoleon go? Wasn't he just following behind? We hadn't even crossed the river, how could Napoleon have disappeared?

Joseph anxiously looked around, and suddenly he saw at the very front of the group a man on horseback, brandishing a gleaming saber and leading the group forward.

"Damn it, this chuunibyou!" Joseph cursed inwardly.

"Joseph, why did your brother rush ahead... I didn't realize he was so small, but he's really brave!" At that moment, Dumouriez also noticed that Napoleon had run ahead.

"Brave my ass! He's completely out of his mind!" Joseph cursed viciously. At the same time, he resolved in his heart that when he got back, he would definitely teach this brat a lesson and show him why flowers are so red!

By this time, the Austria had also begun to react, and Austria cannons began firing incessantly at the advancing French Army. The shells of this era were relatively slow, so much so that Joseph could see with the naked eye the tiny black dots slowly rising from the high ground, gradually ascending to a great height, seemingly pausing there, before suddenly accelerating and falling to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust, then bouncing back up like a little rabbit, hopping and skipping forward. One of the shells whistled past Joseph not far away, startling Joseph so much that he almost shrank back into his body.

"Napoleon is closer, so of course he's more dangerous, that damned bastard!" Joseph thought.

"I can't leave him alone in that place!" Joseph shouted to Dumouriez, then cracked his whip, spurred his horse, and chased after Napoleon.

"Ah, Joseph usually seems like a pedantic old scholar, I never knew he could be so brave," Dumouriez said, shaking his head. However, he didn't chase after him; as the head coach, he had to stay behind to oversee the overall situation.

Joseph, enraged, chased after Napoleon and grabbed his reins. "You bastard, are you out of your mind? I called you here just to show your face to the soldiers, and here you are! What are you doing running around for! Get back with me right now!"

Napoleon turned to Joseph with a strange expression and said, "Joseph, are you out of your mind? You're already here, and you're still going to turn back?"

Joseph was taken aback by these words, but he immediately understood Napoleon's meaning:

Dumouriez was just trying to boost morale, and he gradually fell behind. Most of the soldiers probably wouldn't notice, so it wouldn't be a problem if he eventually retreated to the back. But if Napoleon and Joseph turned back now, it would undermine morale.

"You damn bastard!" The more Joseph understood the situation, the angrier he became, because it meant he now had to go crazy with this brat!

"Hahaha..." Perhaps because he had successfully tricked his older brother, Napoleon became quite pleased with himself. That's how brats are—they just need a good beating.

"Joseph, you actually risked your life to come here for my safety. I'm so touched, really!" Just as Joseph was about to angrily lash out at Napoleon with his whip, Napoleon suddenly changed his expression and said this again.

"Pah! What good is your sentimentality! You're not a woman!" Joseph cursed, but he did put down the riding crop.

Just then, a shell flew over and hit a small column of soldiers not far away.

The shell struck the flag bearer at the front of the charge in the chest, shattering him to pieces. It then proceeded to impale a long line of men behind him, leaving them covered in blood. The flagpole in the flag bearer's hand was also broken in two; the flag flew high into the air before spinning and plummeting downwards.

At that moment, a hand reached out, grasped the broken piece of the flagpole, and then raised the tricolor flag high again.

That was Napoleon's hand. He caught the falling banner, raised it high, then jumped off his horse, turned, and shouted to the other soldiers, who were stunned by the cannon fire. "France warriors, for the Fatherland, charge with me!"

Inspired by the short officer holding the military flag high, the soldiers shouted and followed him forward.

Joseph gritted his teeth, drew his saber, spurred his horse, and followed.

"Fool! Get off your horse! You're too conspicuous; you'll become a magnet for bullets!" Napoleon yelled as he pulled Joseph off his horse.

Joseph was slightly moved, but in an instant, his heart was filled with rage again. "You bastard, if it weren't for you, I'd be safely hiding in the back right now, living a very peaceful life... Damn it, I didn't even bring a gun, just this saber!"

Joseph could never have imagined that this scene with his mischievous brother would soon become the subject of a world-famous painting. When news of the victory reached Paris, the painter Jacques - Louis David (a friend of Armand and the author of "The Oath of the Horatii" and later "The Death of Marat") was deeply moved upon hearing of the Bonaparte brothers' heroic act and created a painting entitled "France, Onward."

In this painting, Jacques - Louis David broke free from the constraints of the Neoclassical style he represented, forging a completely new style. The background is a mix of iron-toned smoke and thick clouds. In the center of the painting, Napoleon, in full military uniform, raises the tricolor flag symbolizing the Republic high, his head half-turned, revealing a resolute profile, as if shouting to the soldiers behind him. At his feet lie the bodies of fallen soldiers. To his right and slightly behind, following closely behind, is Joseph, holding a saber and charging forward. Further away, soldiers in blue uniforms, wielding bayonets, are charging forward.

The fallen corpses, the fighting warriors, and Napoleon raising the France flag form a stable yet dynamic triangle. The tricolor flag, symbolizing liberty, equality, and fraternity, is located at the apex of the isosceles triangle. Most art histories compiled by later generations regard this painting as the precursor to Romanticism.

At this moment, Joseph didn't care whether his image would appear in the painting. In fact, he was extremely nervous and completely lacked the fearless demeanor depicted in the painting. However, their column did not become the target of concentrated fire. Because their column had just been hit by artillery fire, their advance speed lagged behind the other columns. This allowed the Austria to unleash more firepower on the other columns.

Napoleon's legs were short, so he wasn't very fast. As for Joseph, if he were running backwards, he could probably run as fast as a reporter from some place, but charging forward was out of the question. As he charged, Joseph kept looking around for cover that might be useful later, and also, he was ready to drag Napoleon behind cover at any moment. The other soldiers were all charging very fast, so the two of them gradually fell behind the ranks.

The other columns performed admirably, and by the time Joseph and Napoleon stormed the Austria lines, the Austria defenses had practically collapsed.

Napoleon, sword in hand, went around looking for an Austria to hack to the bone, but...

"Damn it, why are the Austria so fast? I can't even find a living person to chop up!" Napoleon complained, panting.

"That's because your legs are too short! For every step an Austria takes, you have to take two." Joseph, holding his knife, looked around to guard against any Austria that might suddenly appear from somewhere, while taking the opportunity to mock Napoleon to vent his anger.

Napoleon instinctively intended to retort, but seeing Joseph's ashen face and considering that this coward had actually come to the battlefield for his sake, he couldn't bring himself to say anything sarcastic. So he simply gave him a "heh."

In this battle, the French Army suffered over 600 dead and over 1,300 wounded, for a total loss of about 2,000 men. The Austria, on the other hand, suffered about 300 dead, over 500 wounded, and over 600 captured, for a total loss of about 1,500 men. If only the exchange ratio is considered, the Austria seem to have a slight advantage.

However, this was a defensive battle relying on terrain advantages and fortifications, while the France were mainly composed of poorly trained Volunteer Army. Even so, the Austria couldn't hold out for even a day against the France offensive. Without the advantage of terrain and fortifications, they would have been utterly defeated by the France. This battle actually demonstrated that even the poorly trained France Volunteer Army were capable of dealing with the Austria in various combat situations.