Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Just as Huo Ce spoke, the marching column beside him suddenly came to a halt.

Frowning in annoyance, he said, "Damn it, what's the problem now?"

A courier hurried over on horseback from the front, loudly reporting, "General, French Army has been spotted on the south bank of the Aile River. Our engineering camp has been attacked."

"French people?" Huo Ce exclaimed in shock, "How could there be French people here?"

"Well... the engineering camp says the enemy might be over ten thousand strong."

Huo Ce was somewhat bewildered.

When he left Zurich, he hadn't heard of France deploying troops to Switzerland, yet in less than five days, the French Army appeared in the heartlands of Switzerland?!

France and Switzerland are separated by the Jura Mountain; to circumvent the south side of the mountain to reach Lausanne at Switzerland's southern tip, then head north near Bill, the entire journey would take at least half a month.

What he didn't know was that as early as the third day after Austria declared war, Massena had begun leading the troops across the Jura Mountain according to the battle plan through Roches Pass.

Though the pass was narrow, Massena had ample time. After reaching the southern foot of the mountain in about 20 days, he waited here for half a month in the cold until news of the allied forces invading Switzerland arrived.

Huo Ce quickly regained calm relying on his professional officer's composure, began to execute battle deployments, and then personally went to the tributary of the Aile River to check the enemy situation.

Even from a distance from the river, the rumbling of cannon was already audible.

The adjutant beside him hurriedly said, "General, Hussars report that there are about 13,000 French Army on the opposite bank, but they have at least 15 cannons deployed. They should be here to stop us from advancing to Lausanne."

Huo Ce climbed onto a mound and saw through his telescope the well-arranged artillery positions on the southern side of the Aile River.

"The French people do indeed react very quickly." He curled his lips into a mocking smile, "But look at their carefully arranged defense line and random artillery fire; it's obvious they're very nervous, thinking I might attack the river at any time.

"But they're wrong."

He gestured to the order officer, "Order the Fogel Group to feign an attack here, everyone else to quickly head downstream tomorrow morning, bypass the river from there and then attack the French people's flank."

"Yes, General!"

On the south bank of the Aile River.

Listening to the continuous artillery explosions around, Gassen finally couldn't help but complain to Massena, "General, the Austrians are still beyond the range; we shouldn't waste precious ammunition."

Massena nodded blandly, "But this shows we're seriously defending."

Gassen was about to say more, but a Hussars cavalry captain nearby reined in his horse and said, "General, after repeated confirmation, no other enemy troops are within 12 kilometers around."

"Good." Massena stood up from the small wooden bench and said to Udino, "You can have the soldiers start preparing. Oh, supper two hours early, open more cans, there's a lot for them to be busy with later."

At 4:00 PM, in the camp of the French Army's third infantry division, a sergeant distributed the warm bread he had just received from the battlefield dining car to the soldiers.

On a piece of dried grassland, the honorary representative reached out to touch the can in the hot water with an excited expression: "The temperature is just right, everyone, get to it!"

The soldiers immediately scrambled to pull out the cans, prying them open with bayonets, a tempting aroma of fish meat instantly permeating the air.

The cans contained braised tuna, with soup ingredients personally prepared by the Imperial Chef of the Palace of Versailles, the taste absolutely impeccable.

The crowd immediately began to gorge themselves, demolishing more than half the baguette — which was over 60 centimeters long — in less than 10 minutes.

At 5:00 PM, the nearly ten thousand soldiers of the well-fed third infantry division promptly completed their formation on the riverbank, brimming with vigor.

The mobile Sharp signal car began to issue a series of orders, all the companies almost simultaneously sprang into action.

A regiment of soldiers took temporary wooden rafts to quickly reach the opposite shore and establish a beachhead position, while others waded through the water holding guns and boots.

October is exactly the dry season in Switzerland, the deepest part of this tributary of the Aile River barely reaching waist-deep for soldiers.

At that moment, the soldiers of the allied forces on the north bank were idly setting up their camps, waiting for dinner.

When the patrolling Hanoverian Light Cavalry issued a warning of enemy attack, already half of the troops of the French Army's third infantry division had reached the opposite bank.

The Austrian Army's camp was instantly filled with shrill bugle sounds, soldiers mostly bewilderedly scurried about, with officers' rebukes resounding continuously.

Even when the French raiding party's drum sounded, the Hanoverian soldiers still couldn't arrange themselves into a decent defensive formation.

Then, Udino personally led a scattered soldier cluster of 4,000 soldiers to launch a fierce assault on the Austrian Army's right wing.

The third infantry division, as one of the most elite troops of the French Army, boasted shooting skills unrivaled in all of Europe.

With the help of rifled guns, the first volley of thousands of Minié balls caused casualties ranging from three to four hundred among the enemy.

Afterwards, the French soldiers skillfully sought out nearby cover, beginning to load behind it, rendering the allied forces' sporadic counterattacks entirely ineffective.

Soon, the French soldiers simultaneously emerged from behind the cover, moving forward a dozen steps in unison before raising their guns for another shot.

Just like that, after merely four rounds of shooting, the westernmost Hanoverian Army collapsed completely due to massive casualties.

Over a thousand surviving soldiers fled along the riverbank in horror, screaming and scattering, crashing into the allied soldiers behind who were still clueless about the situation.

However, dense gunfire soon echoed, prompting more soldiers to join the ranks of rout.

"We've been surrounded by the French people!"

"Run quickly, we've been ambushed!"

"There are tens of thousands of French people; we're doomed…"

All kinds of chaotic shouting filled most of the Austrian Army's camp, coupled with the darkening sky, which further deepened the soldiers' panic.

Within 20 minutes, Huo Ce received five to six different reports, some saying French people charged down from the northern hill, some claiming the enemy numbered three to four thousand.

Huo Ce dispatched three batches of officers in succession but never managed to stabilize the defensive line.

Finally, upon faintly hearing gunshots, he was forced to order a retreat towards the nearest Solturn Town.

No rear guard was established because he could no longer find any organized regiment.

Just then, the sunset fully disappeared beneath the horizon.

The allied forces' routed soldiers were running around aimlessly like headless flies, with countless trampled, fallen, drowned casualties.

The wailing and screams persisted until midnight, before gradually dying down.

The next morning, when Massena arrived at the north bank, the first sight was soldiers continuously escorting a large group of prisoners past, at least three to four thousand — these poor fellows had fled the whole night, but due to dim lighting, ended up roaming within two kilometers around. In daylight, they were captured by the French Cavalry.