I am the Crown Prince of France

Chapter 115: A Brand-New Tactic

Because the Princess of the Two Sicilies was visiting Paris, the French Guards, responsible for the city's defense, had to take on the duty of escorting her along the way. The commander of the French Guards, Bessonval, was the busiest of them all.

He had to ensure that all officers and soldiers were fully prepared for every step of the reception, the route security, and the escorting procedures before the princess's arrival. This was not something that could afford any mistakes, so he personally oversaw the troops, guiding them through the entire process repeatedly along the designated route to make sure everything went smoothly.

He also remembered that the Grand Duchess of Tuscany would be visiting soon after, which only made his headache worse.

The French Guards marched in three columns along a small road on the outskirts of Paris, moving quickly. Just as they were about to reach the designated reception point, a sudden, thunderous boom came from the southwest, causing the advancing troops to freeze like startled rabbits.

Bessonval frowned, instantly recognizing the sound as cannon fire.

"Cannon fire in this remote place?"

As if to confirm his suspicions, another boom echoed from the distance.

The soldiers of the French Guards quickly unslung their muskets, scanning the surroundings and preparing for a possible attack.

Bessonval gestured to the officer beside him, who immediately dispatched two hussars to scout in the direction of the cannon fire.

After about ten minutes, the riders returned, pulling up their horses and shouting, "Report! It's the Paris Police Academy conducting artillery training!"

"Paris Police Academy? Artillery training?" Bessonval struggled to connect these two concepts, confused. "Isn't the Paris Police Academy located in the Saint-Antoine district?"

"General, they said this is their training ground."

Bessonval narrowed his eyes. As the commander of the Paris defense forces, he wasn't even aware that there was a training ground equipped with cannons on the outskirts of the city!

In this era, information was so limited that it wasn't unheard of for two large armies to pass within a few kilometers of each other without realizing it. Since there were no threats around Paris, the French Guards didn't see the need to conduct regular reconnaissance in the area.

As a result, the Police Academy's training base had been in use for over a month and a half without their knowledge, until this chance encounter during the princess's reception rehearsal.

Bessonval thought for a moment, then instructed his officer, "Order the troops to rest here. We're going to take a look."

…

At the Paris Police Academy training base, Berthier watched in shock as nearly two hundred cadets, following the rhythm of the drum, formed a line infantry formation. A messenger on horseback shouted, "Maintain formation!" as he galloped past the ranks. On their left flank were two four-pound cannons.

Facing them, over a hundred cadets with white armbands seemed less disciplined, with only about two-thirds forming two thin lines while the rest were scattered in front of the formation, advancing toward the enemy.

Berthier, relying on his military instincts, shook his head at Dubois and said, "If the white team doesn't regroup, they're going to be overrun."

Dubois smiled and shook his head, "Alexandre, their formation is fine."

"Formation?" Berthier frowned. The white team had no formation at all; it was clear their officers had lost control of the troops…

Suddenly, he noticed something strange. Despite the apparent chaos, the white team's scattered cadets were maintaining a consistent pace, forming a sort of screen in front of the line infantry.

Then, the blue team's cannons roared. Of course, this was just a drill, so no actual cannonballs were fired.

Nearby, the evaluators quickly made their judgments. One of them said two numbers to his assistant, who then signaled the training ground to indicate that the cannon shot had passed through the white team's scattered formation, resulting in only two dead and four wounded.

"They're just walking into their deaths. I think they need more training," Berthier couldn't help but shake his head.

"Please, be patient and watch," Dubois calmly advised.

After two more cannon volleys from the blue team, the white team began to change.

The drumbeats suddenly quickened, and the cadets scattered in front of the white team's lines let out a battle cry:

"Charge!"

"Break through the enemy lines!"

"Don't be afraid, forward!"

The seemingly disorganized formation began to sprint, and the blue team responded with a volley from their flintlock muskets.

However, because the white team was so spread out, the volley inflicted minimal damage. More than three-quarters of the white team's cadets closed in to within thirty meters of the blue team's infantry lines.

"Hold your ground!" The white team's officer commanded, and dozens of cadets stopped in unison, raising their flintlocks.

"Fire!"

Smoke billowed from the scattered formation as they fired, causing seven or eight casualties in the blue team's ranks.

While the white team reloaded, the blue team fired another volley, killing or wounding nine more of the advancing white team.

As the white team's disorderly advance brought them into close combat with the blue team, the white team's main infantry line, which had been advancing steadily behind them, closed to within fifty meters of the blue team.

The scattered cadets of the white team then swiftly fell back and seamlessly merged into their own infantry line.

At this moment, the white team's line infantry raised their muskets. The blue team, having been disrupted by the earlier skirmish, was now in disarray.

"Fire!"

The white team's well-formed line fired a volley, further breaking the blue team's formation.

In line infantry combat, whoever maintained a better formation and synchronized their volleys would have the upper hand.

As the blue team continued to take hits from the white team's volleys, the gaps in their ranks widened until they were finally declared defeated by the evaluators after suffering one-third casualties.

Berthier turned to Dubois, his face full of disbelief—how could the disorganized white team have won? They even had fewer men than the blue team!

From his first day at military school, Berthier had been taught that "infantry lines must be kept orderly; if disarray occurs, cease firing and reform the line first."

He was certain the drill had been conducted fairly, without bias, but how did the chaotic white team win?

Dubois explained, "This is called 'skirmish tactics.' It was invented by His Highness the Prince."

"Skirmishers? That's impossible…" Berthier was bewildered. The Austrians used skirmishers, but that was for mountain combat. He had never heard of skirmishers breaking through a well-formed infantry line.

Watching the exercise from the front row, Joseph felt a bit embarrassed, thinking, "This was invented by Napoleon; I'm just copying it."

However, he still turned to Berthier with a fox-like grin and said, "Major Berthier, if you'd like to learn more about this tactic, you're welcome to visit the Paris Police Academy regularly. Oh, and there are many other new tactics here that might interest you."

…

As Bessonval approached the walls of the Paris Police Academy's training base, a few men in police uniforms stopped him. "This is a restricted training area for the academy. No entry allowed!"

One of Bessonval's officers rode forward and said proudly, "This is General Bessonval, commander of the French Guards. Who is in charge here? Have them come forward."

(End of Chapter)

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