The young Napoleon tried his hand

Blücher immediately yanked on the reins, his eyes wide as he turned and asked, "Are you sure those aren't cavalry coming to harass us?"

"It's definitely not harassment, General."

The two Hussars exchanged a glance. "We see cannons, and at least three or four regiments of them."

Blücher felt a buzzing in his head; had all these France grown wings?

In an effort to speed things up, he ordered his soldiers to abandon a large amount of baggage, but the France had already caught up with them just as they finished breaking camp!

Well, little did he know that the Royal Guard Legion had almost no supplies other than cannonballs and Gunpowder. Even His Crown Prince didn't bring a bed, let alone the other officers.

An hour earlier, Joseph had routed the Netherlands Army, leaving only a regiment to clean up the battlefield and two companies to care for the wounded. The other soldiers, without even taking a break, immediately charged toward the main Prussia force.

Soon, other Hussars came to report the approaching French Army. Blücher had no choice but to order his entire army to form ranks and prepare to meet the enemy.

The Prussian Army, which had just entered marching formation, immediately halted and began to regroup. Meanwhile, the supply wagons hurriedly rushed to the rear. In an instant, nearly ten thousand soldiers were tangled together in chaos.

Just as Blücher had finished setting up three Infantry Line, the French Army cavalry appeared less than a kilometer away, with the Infantry following closely behind.

"Are the Artillery positions ready?" Blücher asked the staff officer beside him with a dark expression.

The latter asked a few more Messenger before turning around and saying, "General, the cannons are on their way to the high ground and should be in position in about half an hour."

"Tell them to go faster!" For some reason, Blücher always felt uneasy about this French Army, and only the cannons could give him some peace of mind.

"Yes, General!"

After a series of reconnaissance and probing by both Prussians and French, the Royal Guard Legion's Infantry Line had closed to within 500 paces of the Prussia.

Only then did Blücher finally obtain the detailed number of the French Army —11,000 men.

He frowned and silently prayed that as long as the Altman Legion and the Dietlinde Legion could return in time, they could still encircle the France!

"Give it another shot!" The commander of the Royal Guard Legion Artillery battalion pointed to the mound ahead and shouted to the soldiers who were helping the horses pull the cannons. "The Prussia have dispersed their forces; once we start firing, they will soon be routed!"

Nearly a thousand Artillery immediately erupted in a fervent shout, "Crush the Prussia!"

"The glory of victory belongs to us!"

"Let those bumpkins learn their lesson! Long live the Artillery!"

They truly triumphed in today's battle.

In past wars, Artillery was always secondary to Infantry. Even military textbooks stated that no matter how great the results the Artillery achieved, the battle would ultimately be ended by the Infantry.

Today's battle against the Southern Netherlands was almost entirely won by the Horse Artillery, which used their unpredictable close-range bombardment to break through the enemy's defenses.

The Infantry only went up to clean up the mess.

If it weren't for the fact that Blücher's cavalry was too numerous and the horses of the Royal Guard Legion Horse Artillery were too exhausted, they would have really wanted to repeat that scene on Blücher.

Just as the foremost cannon was about to be dragged up the mound, a lean Captain with a high nose in the ranks was surveying the surrounding terrain and occasionally using Telescope to observe the Prussian Army's deployment.

Suddenly, he put away his Telescope, strode up to the Artillery battalion commander, raised his hat in salute, and said, "Commander, I believe the most suitable Artillery position is not this mound."

Battalion Commander Lacoste frowned, remembering that the Crown Prince seemed quite interested in this young officer, and patiently explained to him, "This is the General Staff's deployment, Captain Bonaparte."

He gestured towards the faintly visible Prussian Army lines to the west. "This is an excellent firing position, as we can directly bombard the enemy Infantry Line, and there's no open ground around for cavalry to form ranks."

Napoleon pursed his lips, Courage, and pointed to a gentle slope further west. "My lord, I believe... that is the ideal Artillery position."

Major Lacoste paused slightly, raised his Telescope to look at the place he mentioned, and immediately smiled, "Captain, it is indeed closer to the enemy there, and the angle of fire is also good. But you probably didn't notice, there is a grove of trees a little to the left of that position between the Prussian Army and the enemy."

"When Prussia Infantry are under artillery fire, we will lose sight of them if they move even slightly in that direction."

"Yes!" Napoleon nodded vigorously, "That's precisely its advantage."

"Huh?" Lacoste blinked in surprise.

Napoleon took a breath and explained, "The more intense our bombardment, the more the enemy will want to move towards that thicket. Meanwhile, enemy troops further away won't be able to get there. This could very well tear apart their Infantry Line."

In real battlefields, the two armies usually fight over a large area, and it is common for Infantry Line to stretch for several kilometers.

Therefore, the soldiers in the line formation cannot see where their teammates who are a little further away are or what they are doing.

Even military officers would lose track of their own situation if communication was poor.

Lacoste looked again at the Artillery positions Napoleon had suggested and suddenly realized that what he said was very likely to happen.

After a moment's thought, he nodded and instructed the communications officer to report to the General Staff his intention to detach some artillery pieces to the new position. He then ordered Napo's Artillery Company turn around.

Ten minutes later, the roar of cannons heralded the start of the decisive battle—those were the cannons of the Royal Guard Legion.

The shells from 15 Six-Pound Cannon flew with a chilling whistling sound over the first Prussian Army Infantry Line, carving more than a dozen furrows into the lush green grass.

Blücher was startled again. Why were the France able to fire the first shot after coming all this way?

He frowned and ordered five cavalry squadrons and a battalion of Skirmishers to attack the French Army Artillery, and again urged his own Artillery to return fire as soon as possible.

Napoleon, meanwhile, commanded his company of five Six-Pound Cannon, quietly hiding in a large patch of weeds, waiting for his opportunity.

As a seasoned commander, Blücher was extremely cautious when fighting large-scale battles, using his experience to defuse the Royal Guard Legion' repeated attempts to harass and disrupt the enemy.

The Infantry Line of the Prussian and French armies inevitably drew closer, and amidst the War Drum and the shouts of officers, it was clear that the two sides were about to decide the victor based on their training and morale.

Just then, less than 400 paces from the right flank of the Prussian Army, a burst of fire suddenly erupted as five Six-Pound Cannon pierced the Prussian Army line formation with remarkable accuracy.

The Prussia Infantry, caught off guard by the surprise attack, immediately began to cry out in despair.

Napoleon saw the hit through his Telescope and a smile appeared on his lips—his ballistic calculations had always been among the best in the military academy, and at this distance, without correction, a single hit was not difficult for him.