Surrounded by a large number of red-clad Swiss Guards, the French Army’s battlefield command post.
Joseph silently noted down a series of commands from Bertier, perhaps before long, he himself would have to give similar orders.
Seeing the orderly officer hasten away, Joseph picked up his previous battlefield notes, compared them, confirmed the positions of the artillery, and lifted his binoculars to look over.
Through the lens of the binoculars, there appeared two breastworks about ten meters wide on a small hill a kilometer away. At this moment, five 8-pound cannons lay silently behind them, the gun crews apparently not yet ordered to action.
According to the “Grand Battery” tactics brought by Joseph, all of the heavy artillery brought by the Guard Corps were now concentrated at this artillery position.
At this time, European armies commonly integrated cannons into infantry battalions for use. The gun carriages were positioned near the infantry emplacements. During combat, a cannon would be placed every few hundred meters. Although this allowed the infliction of casualties over a wider area, it nonetheless only served as a support for the infantry.
Napoleon’s “Grand Battery” tactic, however, was to concentrate all cannons together, under the command of the Corps Commander, to bombard a single target with maximum firepower in order to quickly crush it.
Better to break one of his fingers than to wound his ten. Once the enemy position subjected to the focused bombardment collapsed, it would become the breach through which the French could tear open their lines. The effect was far better than the slow attrition of the enemy’s front.
About half a minute later, Joseph finally saw the captain of the artillery company receive the command, flagging the signal flags for ready to fire.
The target location had already been determined. Each cannon’s gun captain loudly urged the soldiers, and soon one after another, they had completed their preparations for firing, standing erect beside the cannon waiting for the order.
The battery captain turned his head and said something, the flagman immediately flying the flag signal for free-fire. Several cannons immediately spewed forth raging flames, the barrels recoiling sharply. The artillery position was instantly enshrouded in thick smoke.
After a few seconds, the thunderous sound of the cannon fire finally reached Joseph’s ears from afar.
As he adjusted his binoculars, he saw on the opposite side, at a lower position, the Albanian mercenaries’ formation northward seemed like a wheat field trampled by wild buffalo, suddenly flattening a small section, faint bloodstains visible on the ground.
That was a scene from two or three kilometers away, and a “small section” in a military formation often meant as many as twenty to thirty people.
Mainly, the mercenaries, who were busy forming ranks, stood too densely, and the Guard’s artillery was fortunate, as their initial ranging shot had hit the target directly, causing significant casualties.
Bertier, standing by his side, had obviously seen this effect as well and murmured softly, “Nice shooting.”
Less than a minute later, five cannons roared again.
This was far from the scene of simultaneous fire from countless cannons often depicted in movies and dramas. The Guard Corps, which contained more than 4,000 men, only brought six cannons, one of which was a four-pounder from the reserve.
Given the logistical capability for field operations at the time, this was the highest proportion of cannons that could be carried by a unit while ensuring firepower. In fact, the most important factor affecting artillery firepower was the amount of ammunition.
As long as continuous output from the cannons could be maintained, the damage inflicted by five 8-pound cannons would already be quite terrifying. And even if more cannons were brought, if the ammunition was swiftly exhausted, then the cannons would be nothing more than iron lumps.
With the carrying capacity for one additional cannon, it would still be better to bring an extra hundred or so rounds of ammunition.
The 8-pound iron balls whistled through the air and plowed into the Albanian troops, carving out several long gashes of blood.
The mercenaries still forming ranks nearby immediately fell into chaos—no matter how the officers shouted and cursed, the soldiers either just ran around in all directions or stood frozen in place with fear. The left wing of the whole Albanian Army was suddenly missing a chunk.
Suddenly, Joseph heard the sound of bagpipes, organs, and violins that had been playing continuously near his ear fade a little—such was the field of battle in this era. From the start of the fight, music from around the battlefield had never stopped, like being in a grand yet somewhat rudimentary concert.
Suddenly, the drum sounds became clearer, and the fast-moving columns of infantry came to an abrupt halt in their tracks, spreading out to both sides.
From each company, two officers stepped out to pull a rope twenty to thirty meters long as straight as possible. The soldiers then aligned themselves behind this rope. Instantly, the entire line straightened out.
A few minutes later, a three-rank deep infantry line spanning seven to eight hundred meters appeared in front of the Albanian mercenaries’ position. From Joseph’s perspective, it looked as if a giant had scored a white slash across the pale yellow wasteland.
At the same time, two infantry companies appeared on the north side, taking up skirmish formation and closely watching the gap blasted open by the artillery in the enemy’s line, beginning to slowly advance.
The Albanian commander, Semiz, watching through his binoculars the impeccably dressed white uniforms, tight breeches, and three-cornered hats, was already covered in cold sweat, murmuring incessantly, “The French, how could this be? This is impossible…”
According to intelligence he had received, the French Army was still in Tunis City three days ago. This intel had been repeatedly confirmed by Albanian spies and remnants of the Tunisian Guard; there could be no mistake.
But where had these French soldiers come from before him?
It couldn’t possibly be that they had marched from Tunis City to Annaba in just three days, could it?!
In his understanding, that was indeed impossible, but for the Guard, which trained daily in weighted cross-country, it was still far from the limit.