France's cheap troops

Yes, the Royal Guard Legion also place great importance on counter-reconnaissance.

A full third of the Hussars in the Royal Guard Legion were sent out to carry out reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance missions.

Joseph knew that the current combat quality of the Royal Guard Legion cavalry was not superior—cavalry was a very difficult branch of the military to train, and the Paris Police Academy students, after only a year and a half of study, could hardly be considered elite cavalry.

Therefore, the battle deployment of the Royal Guard Legion did not rely too much on cavalry, but rather made full use of their youth, tirelessness, and passion as scouts.

Such dense cavalry counter-reconnaissance made it difficult for Blücher's Hussars to get close enough to the Royal Guard Legion to determine the exact number of soldiers.

In reality, Blücher faced Royal Guard Legion of 13,000 men, far exceeding his expectations.

Joseph left the Moulins Legion in Luxembourg City as a precaution—of course, leaving the Moulins Legion was also to avoid scaring Prussia and leaving them with nothing to play with in the future.

After confirming the enemy's situation with the Hussars, Berthier showed a relaxed expression. "It seems the tough battle we planned won't happen. There are only about 5,000 enemy troops and 30 cannons around here."

Joseph looked through his Telescope at the enemy Infantry Line, recalling the Military Theory he had learned at the Police Academy, and said cautiously, "It looks like the Netherlands National Guard over there. We need to take this seriously."

Berthier said with some surprise, "Your Highness, if I remember correctly, less than one-fifth of the Southern Netherlands Army are regular soldiers; the rest are just civilians hastily assembled."

Joseph shook his head. "Please believe me, these hastily assembled troops are no easier to deal with the Prussian Army."

He was very familiar with the fervor of the Southern Netherlands Rebel Army throughout history, which even surpassed that of the French Great Revolution. These rebels, fueled by their fervor for the republic, caused considerable trouble for the old Europe powers.

"Yes, Your Highness," Berthier bowed slightly, "I will handle this carefully."

He turned and quickly discussed the matter with several other staff officers, then, referring to the previously prepared tactical plan, issued a series of orders to the Orderly Officer.

Soon, the Royal Guard Legion's Infantry Line opposite the Netherlands Army, numbering over 7,000, clearly taking the latter very seriously.

The French Army had already been spotted in the Southern Netherlands —at this distance, the opposing army was visible to the naked eye.

Commander Peter Delhi van General Witt Infantry Line, loudly rallying morale. "Citizens, this will be the last World War I before the founding of the great Republic of Southern Netherlands!"

"Of course, it was also World War I."

"As long as you hold off the brutal France here, General Blücher will be able to wipe out the Austrian Army!"

"At that time, no one will be able to stop the establishment of the Republic!"

"The free Netherlands will remember you forever!"

Long live the Republic!

The soldiers immediately joined in with excited shouts, "Long live the Republic!"

"Drive away the greedy King of Austria!"

Long live freedom and human rights!

These young faces were filled with fervor and Dreadnought. If someone told them that sacrificing their lives would lead to the establishment of the Republic of Southern Netherlands, they would immediately and without hesitation go to their deaths.

In their eyes, bullets and cannons were merely thorns on the road to freedom and human rights. Even if they pierced their hands and feet, that splash of blood would make the Republic even more vibrant and beautiful.

This is why they could withstand heavy casualties on the battlefield; even losing a quarter of their troops did not break their formation. This figure, however, was typically no more than 10% among the European Continent powers.

Of course, the France Royal Guard Legion should be able to match the level of the Netherlands, but no army has yet been able to inflict that level of casualties on them.

Just as General Witt was keeping a close eye on the approaching France Infantry Line and the Skirmishers that could appear at any moment, loudly urging his soldiers to remain calm, he heard his staff officer beside him anxiously remind him, "General, cavalry! France cavalry!"

General Witt quickly looked in the direction he was pointing through his Telescope and saw a large group of riders galloping out from behind the French Army formation through the dust.

He frowned and said, "Large cavalry units are not suitable for attacking Infantry Line in narrow areas."

The staff officer beside him immediately chimed in, "So, they must be aiming for the cannons on the hillside!"

Unlike the scenes often depicted in TV dramas where cavalrymen charge aggressively into Infantry ranks and wreak havoc, in actual combat, cavalrymen dared not launch a head-on attack on Infantry. The Infantry's bayonets, clustered together, effectively blocked their horses, while the cavalry would suffer heavy casualties from bullets during their approach and retreat. In addition, cavalrymen were extremely expensive, so even if they managed to kill one or two Infantry in a charge, it would be a huge loss.

Therefore, the cavalry's common tactics are always to use mobility to pull and find the weak points of the Infantry formation, or to take advantage of the slow change of Infantry formation to flank and attack.

However, when dealing with Artillery, cavalry have fewer concerns; they usually just charge forward and hack and slash indiscriminately until the enemy is defeated.

Artillery in this era was cumbersome and slow, with a very poor hit rate. Cavalry only needed to slightly adjust the angle of their charge, and the Artillery would have almost no way to retaliate.

Therefore, cavalry is the greatest nemesis of Artillery, without exception. Artillery Infantry, or they simply stay behind their own lines to fire.

Meanwhile, Blücher positioned his cannons on the hillsides on either side of the Infantry Line. While this would result in excellent firing accuracy, the lack of Infantry cover made them easy targets for cavalry.

General Witt turned to his Orderly Officer and shouted, "Quickly, order the cavalry to provide cover for the artillery! Also, request reinforcements from Major Hilde, and have his cavalry withdraw to assist in the defense."

"Yes, General!"

Soon, the few remaining cavalrymen of the Southern Netherlands Army marched out and headed towards the western hillside—the same hillside from which the France cavalry attacked. If they could get there in advance, they would gain a commanding position over the France cavalry.

Meanwhile, Prussia cavalry commander Hilde led six cavalry squadrons to cover the Artillery on their right flank.

When both cavalry units reached the Artillery positions, they finally breathed a long sigh of relief. Now they just waited to see how the cannons would blast apart the France Infantry Line!

However, to their surprise, the French Army cavalry, which kicked up a cloud of dust, did not charge toward either of the Prussia Artillery positions, but instead went straight to the front of the line Infantry.

General Witt lowered his Telescope, turned to his staff with amusement, and said, "Are the France cavalry so cheap that they're going to use them to charge our Infantry Line?"

"No, no! General, it's not!" the staff officer, still holding his Telescope, suddenly cried out, "Those aren't cavalry, they're Horse Artillery!"

General Witt frowned and looked more closely through his Telescope. Sure enough, he saw that behind those warhorses were more than a dozen cannons, which were being turned to point at the Netherlands Infantry Line.

What are they going to do?

General Witt was completely baffled. Were the France Artillery so cheap? They were so close to the Netherlands positions that they could fire at most ten shots, and by the time his cavalry charged over, the Dutch wouldn't be able to escape.