Successive breakthroughs on the main front
The Prussia cavalry, having spotted the France Artillery attempting a stubborn resistance from afar, all wore mocking expressions and began to slowly accelerate from seventy or eighty paces away.
"Stay calm! Don't fire..."
Before Napoleon could finish speaking, a soldier nervously pulled the trigger—they were all Artillery, skilled in firing cannons, but completely inexperienced in engaging the enemy within 200 paces.
Others were also affected and fired their precious bullets in response. The scattered fire, coupled with the great distance, did not cause any damage to the Prussia.
Napoleon felt bitter inside, yet he still loudly encouraged his men:
"Don't be afraid, grip your gun tightly, point the bayonet at the people, not the horses!"
The Prussia cavalry charged to within forty paces, and upon seeing the gleaming bayonets, they skillfully flanked to the sides, skimming past the Artillery lines.
They didn't need to fight these "Infantry" to the death. They could simply use their speed to pull the France formation back and forth a few times, and then they could chase and kill them as easily as chasing a rabbit.
Napoleon frowned and ordered a turn, but there were cavalry on both sides, and no matter how they turned, they couldn't defend against them all.
His mind went blank for a moment; as an Artillery officer, he really wasn't good at this.
"Let's fight freely!" He brandished his sword, ready to engage a Prussia cavalryman in hand-to-hand combat, but suddenly remembered that as a Corsica, he had no reason to risk his life for the battle between France and Prussia!
You can surrender!
Just as he was struggling with this decision, the Prussia cavalry charged forward in formation.
Napoleon instinctively raised his sword to strike the foremost cavalryman, but then heard a burst of gunfire from behind the Prussia cavalry, followed by the rapid sound of galloping hooves.
The Prussia were clearly startled, and hastily abandoned their harmless Artillery, circled to the left, and regrouped in an open area.
Immediately, a hundred or so splendidly dressed cavalrymen on tall horses, not far away, dropped their short-barreled guns, drew their Saber, and attacked them.
"Reinforcements!" the Royal Guard Legion artillerymen shouted excitedly.
"We're saved!"
"Haha, now we don't have to die! Go! Teach those Prussia scum a lesson!"
"Thank God, you really heard my prayer!"
Napoleon looked at the cavalry with some surprise. He had heard the battalion commander mention that the Royal Guard Legion cavalry were on the east side to guard against Prussia cavalry. How could they have arrived to rescue them so quickly?
Caught off guard, the Prussia cavalry were scattered by the suddenly appearing cavalry and could only flee in disarray.
Napoleon's soldiers became even more excited, urging their cavalry to catch up and expand their gains.
However, the cavalry quickly turned back. When Napoleon saw the face of the leading officer, he was startled—it was the captain of the Crown Prince's Royal Guards, whom he had seen during his last audience.
Why would he come to save me?
Kexer reined in his horse a short distance from the Artillery Captain, dismounted, and waved to signal:
"Thank goodness we made it in time. Are you alright?"
Napoleon was taken aback, then realized the other person was asking him a question, and quickly raised his hat in a salute:
"Ah, I'm alright! Thank you so much. By the way, shouldn't you be guarding His Crown Prince?"
Kexer said irritably:
"It's all because of your Artillery Company. His Highness was worried that such a small force like yours would be in danger far from the main force, so he sent me to reinforce you."
Actually, he was initially reluctant to come to rescue Napoleon, since his duty was to protect the Crown Prince. However, the Crown Prince said that if he didn't go, he would ride off to rescue Captain Bonaparte himself.
Left with no other choice, he had to lead his Royal Guards to reinforce the small Artillery.
As Napoleon listened to the shouts of "Long live His Highness the Crown Prince" from the gunners around him, he once again bowed respectfully to Kexer.
"Thank you Crown Prince, he saved our lives."
"You tell him yourself," Kexer gestured towards the rear of the French Army. "Now I need to send you back first."
When Blücher noticed the conspicuous gap in his Infantry Line, he immediately broke out in a cold sweat. The main forces of the two armies were already very close; if the France attacked there now, it would mean the loss of his right flank.
He hastily dispatched four squadrons of Dragoons to plug the gap—despite their impressive name, Dragoons were actually a group of Infantry, mounted Infantry. They could use their horses to quickly reach their destination, then dismount and form ranks. In a hurry, they could also be used to repair gaps in line formations.
However, just as they reached the vicinity of their own Infantry Line, Blücher's worst fears came true.
The France attack Column broke through the line formation, their target clearly the breach!
Forming Infantry Line is an extremely tedious task. Although even a child can stand in formation, forming a straight Horizontal Formation several kilometers long requires constant coordination by a large number of officers and takes a great deal of time to complete.
The training level of the Prussia Infantry was clearly insufficient to quickly repair gaps in the line formation.
The five Royal Guard Legion suffered almost no attack— the Prussia, who should have been in front of them, had retreated to the bushes at the edge of the battlefield and had no time to return.
Thus, the five Column, without changing their formation, inserted themselves into the Prussia Infantry Line.
The latter immediately descended into chaos.
Most soldiers continued to advance according to the previous pace of the decisive battle, while those near the gap hurriedly raised their guns and fired at the French Army on their sides, and the entire line formation gradually turned into a diagonal line.
A few minutes later, the sound of the Royal Guard Legion ' drums could be heard 50 paces away.
As thousands of Percussion Cap Gun unleashed a volley, seventy or eighty Prussia Infantry Line immediately fell. When the disorganized Prussia began to return fire, less than a third of the soldiers participated in the volley—the others were either fighting the attacking French Army or too far away to be within effective firing range.
The Royal Guard Legion Infantry quickly reloaded, advanced another 10 paces, and then fired a second volley.
Berthier saw from afar that the enemy's right flank had collapsed and that the protruding left flank was being pushed back by the Royal Guard Legion. He immediately and decisively ordered the entire army to launch a bayonet charge.
After three short Bugle Call, the drummer immediately changed the rhythm and began beating the War Drum at the fastest tempo.
Under the command of their officers, the soldiers of the Royal Guard Legion lowered their rifles to waist height, bayonets pointing straight forward.
A few minutes later, the long Infantry Line charged toward the Prussia with shouts. The Prussians, already in disarray from the previous volleys, had no intention of engaging in battle and their officers led the way, running to the rear.
With overwhelming force, the Royal Guard Legion crossed the Prussia Infantry Line, leaving behind only corpses and trembling surrendered soldiers kneeling on the ground.
Before Blücher could issue the order for the second Infantry Line to prepare to meet the enemy, the first French Army Column to break through the breach rushed to the front of the Prussia second defensive line without stopping and quickly deployed into Horizontal Formation.
They then unleashed a volley of fire at the still bewildered Prussia soldiers.
Although they numbered only 500, the Prussia soldiers heard deafening shouts from the front and vaguely heard officers say that the line formation ahead had been breached. At this point, they assumed that the main force of the French Army had broken through.
The fear amplified the casualties to an extreme degree. When 500 Royal Guard Legion soldiers launched a second volley, the right flank of the Prussia Infantry Line, which had not suffered many casualties, collapsed.