The Fox of France

Chapter 186: Invincible Defense (2)

Early the next morning, the Russo-Austrian coalition launched a tentative attack on the French positions, just as any historic day during the "History of France" show would dictate. Naturally, it began with artillery fire, the purpose of which was to destroy various obstacles in front of the enemy positions and inflict casualties on the enemy troops.

The artillery bombardment from the Russo-Austrian forces was no different. In front of the French positions, there were various wooden obstacles meant to impede the cavalry's advance. These became the prime targets for artillery fire. Additionally, the small earthworks the French had piled up in front of their trenches could also be bombarded with cannons, potentially causing casualties among the French troops.

However, this was merely a fantasy on the Russo-Austrian side. In reality, the French infantry had not yet entered the front-line trenches.

As the Russo-Austrian forces began their artillery preparations, there were no soldiers in the first trench. Infantry would not enter the trenches until the enemy initiated their attack.

General Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration watched the artillery fire ahead. Suddenly, a peculiar sight caught his eye: a massive gray sphere was ascending on the French side, with a basket-like object hanging below it.

"What is that? Alyosha, fetch me the telescope," Bagration called out.

His aide, Alyosha, handed him the telescope. Bagration extended the telescope and peered through it at the large gray sphere.

The enormous sphere appeared to be made of silk, with a basket hanging beneath it. Inside the basket were two individuals wearing French military uniforms, one of whom was holding a telescope and scanning their direction.

"Isn't that a hot air balloon?" a voice beside Bagration remarked.

Bagration lowered the telescope and turned to see Marshal Soult approaching. "Marshal, you're here too?"

"Yes, Pyotr," the old marshal said. "Remember the last time I mentioned the idea of using hot air balloons for battlefield reconnaissance? It seems the French have beaten us to it."

Hot air balloons had been first invented by the Montgolfier brothers in France in 1783. In November of that year, they achieved the world's first manned hot air balloon flight.

In historical accounts, Napoleon's army had been equipped with hot air balloons, but Napoleon had not favored them and eventually removed them from service. The main reasons were the complexity of launching and maintaining these balloons and their susceptibility to weather conditions. However, in this alternate timeline, Napoleon seemed to have a better opinion of these contraptions, mainly due to Joseph's improvements to make them more practical.

The French balloon took the Russo-Austrian coalition by surprise, but their amazement was limited to that. After all, this was Europe, and such devices might seem mysterious in some places, but in Europe, they were seen as an example of French technological innovation.

Despite their astonishment, the battle had to continue. After half a day of artillery preparation, the Russian forces began their attack on the French positions with a loose formation of skirmishers.

"Louis, you see how quickly the Russians are learning? Look at their skirmishers; they're quite impressive. At the very least, it's clear their morale is much higher than the Austrians," Napoleon commented to the officer standing beside him. "Hold their advance. It shouldn't be a problem for you, but I want to minimize revealing our army's lesser-known tactics. However, we can't afford unnecessary casualties. Is that clear?"

The officer next to Napoleon was Louis-Gabriel Suchet, who, just like in history, had known Napoleon for a long time. In Toulon, he had fought under Napoleon's command, and later, he accompanied Napoleon to Italy. The key difference in this alternate timeline was that Napoleon had not embarked on the Egyptian campaign, so Suchet had not made the mistake of aligning with Napoleon's enemies, leading to an extended period of estrangement. In this timeline, Suchet remained one of Napoleon's close friends.

"It should not be a problem," Suchet replied succinctly. "I won't reveal more than necessary, except for the net in front of us."

"Very well, I'm leaving this to you. I'll go check on the other side," Napoleon said before taking a few men and heading towards General Mureau's unit.

In their pre-battle arrangements, once Suchet thwarted the Russian advance, Mureau's cavalry would be ready to launch a counterattack if the Russian forces retreated chaotically.

Napoleon was not worried about whether Suchet could hold off the enemy's advance, and he was also not concerned about the performance of Mureau's cavalry after launching their attack. However, he had reservations about whether Mureau could make the right judgment of when and if to launch an attack, making a personal inspection necessary.

Shortly after Napoleon left Suchet's position, the Russian skirmishers entered the range of French rifles. French soldiers had already taken their positions in the trenches, ready to open fire on the approaching Russians.

Initially, not many Russians fell victim to the rifle fire, as even with Mini rifles, the accuracy at that distance was limited. However, as the Russians closed the gap, the French rifle fire became more accurate, and the number of fallen Russians increased.

Despite their comrades' wails, the Russians continued their advance. This level of casualties was insufficient to make this victorious army retreat. Then, they entered the French minefield.

The French had made advancements in their minefield technology as well. Joseph's innovations were primarily cost-saving measures. To save on materials, the new mines were considerably smaller. At one point, Joseph even experimented with unglazed pottery as a substitute for cast iron but abandoned the idea after realizing that the cost savings did not outweigh the losses during transport. Nevertheless, he managed to reduce the amount of cast iron used by two-thirds.

In addition to reducing the use of cast iron, the amount of explosives used was significantly lower. With advancements in explosive production technology, the variation in explosive power had diminished, and today, each landmine typically contained only a few grams of explosive material.

Joseph's rationale was, "Based on the data we obtained from Ireland and Poland, the probability of a landmine, even one with a significant amount of explosive, killing several enemy soldiers, is negligible on average. Therefore, except for specific uses, it's a waste to make landmines too powerful."

Napoleon argued that these mines had so little power that they couldn't even kill a single man. To which Joseph responded, "Why kill them? Maiming them by blowing off a foot should be enough. In any case, such wounded soldiers are unlikely to return to combat. But their injuries don't guarantee death, and the enemy can't just finish them off easily. We have to care for them, and other soldiers have to witness their suffering, which significantly affects morale. Napoleon, you've said that soldiers aren't really afraid of seeing their comrades' corpses; often, it fuels their desire for revenge. But it's best not to let them see wounded soldiers, as the psychological impact is even greater than seeing the dead."

Napoleon was convinced by this argument, but he joked privately to his subordinates, "Don't call these things 'Napoleon's potatoes.' They should be called 'Abagon's potatoes.' Yes, this thing is filled with the stench of Abagon."

The cost of these landmines was thus reduced by nearly half and, when considering the decreased weight and volume, transportation costs decreased even further. This was reflected on the battlefield in the form of a significant increase in the number and density of landmines.

As a result, Ivan's men soon stepped on these landmines. With a sound that was not much different from a gunshot, one of Ivan's soldiers fell to the ground, clutching his bloody leg and howling in pain. The low-power landmine had just blown off one of his feet.

Another Ivan fell victim to an explosion shortly after, and more followed as they advanced closer to the French trenches, either through French gunfire or landmine explosions. The sounds of agony multiplied.

The wails of their comrades were the most effective weapon to shatter their morale, but the Russians continued their advance. This was when they encountered what appeared to be a net-like obstacle in their path.