The style of warfare in this world has gone seriously astray.
The Great Ming army favored carpet-bombing with artillery, and Napoleon, a distinguished graduate of the Great Ming Changshan Army Command Academy, also favored tactics of carpet-bombing with artillery.
Correspondingly, English officers, who had studied at the Great Ming National Defense University, also favored carpet-bombing with artillery.
As for Tojo Nijuhachi, who was previously in command of the English army, he took the principle of "it pains me to spend someone else's money on shelling" to the extreme, carrying the carpet-bombing tactic to its zenith.
Therefore, the combat modes of the French and English armies on the battlefield could not be said to be exactly the same, but rather indistinguishable – both sides would first bombard the enemy's positions with cannons, followed by infantry advancing to engage in close-range firing, a scene that was truly akin to a firing squad line-up.
Take the present situation, for instance. Both sides' artillery had engaged in round after round of mutual shelling. In just half an hour, the French artillery had unleashed several hundred, even nearly a thousand, shells onto the English army's positions, and in retaliation, the English artillery had also fired several hundred shells.
However, the number of shells fired by the English artillery was noticeably less than those fired by the French artillery, with a gap of over two hundred shells in between.
There was no helping this. After all, many of the shells stockpiled by the English army were mixed with sand, and Little George had fired off half of the normal ones last night, making the already scarce artillery shell reserves even more depleted.
More importantly, the French army, backed by all of France, could obtain an endless supply of reinforcements. However, due to Tojo Nijuhachi's desperate gambit tactic, the English army was now finding it difficult to obtain resupply, and the English artillerymen had to be more frugal.
As Tojo Nijuhachi had said: "In war, winning or losing is not important, but one must never concede in terms of morale."
And the current situation was that the morale of the English army was beginning to falter. Edward, who was in command of the English army, was becoming increasingly impatient: "Your Highness, is it not time to deploy that great killer you mentioned?"
Little George, however, calmly observed the French artillery positions, unconcerned about the reality of their dwindling shell reserves: "What's the hurry? Since it's called a great killer, how can it be used so casually? Rest assured, I will use it when the time is right."
Seeing Little George's composed demeanor, Edward grew even more anxious: "Our shell reserves are running low! Five hundred. We have at most five hundred usable shells left. After a few more volleys, our shell inventory will be completely depleted!"
Little George remained incredibly calm: "Yes, depleted. And then what?"
"And then?" Edward retorted in exasperation, "Then our infantry will lose the cover of the artillery, and those French frogs' artillery can bombard our positions with impunity! Your Highness, this is war; shell reserves are not unsold goods in a store!"
Little George suddenly sighed, reached out, and patted Edward on the shoulder, saying, "Hold your horses. I know the consequences of depleted shell reserves, but you must also remember, I am the Prince of Wales of England, and I am standing here."
Seeing Little George's confident demeanor, Edward felt somewhat reassured.
As Little George said, he was the Prince of Wales of England, the current heir to the throne. If the English army's positions were breached, Little George, as the Prince of Wales, would absolutely not escape unscathed.
However, upon further thought, Edward felt something was amiss.
As everyone knew, wars in Europe were practically like child's play. Nobles would lead the charge, and while fighting, they wouldn't forget to enjoy themselves. If captured, they would quickly surrender and continue to enjoy the treatment befitting their noble rank in the prisoner-of-war camp, then wait to be ransomed back.
From beginning to end, it was only the commoners who suffered and lost their lives, not the nobles.
This meant that even if this war was lost, Little George would still receive the treatment of the Prince of Wales in a POW camp, and he and Richard would also receive the treatment of viscounts. The rest of the noble officers would likely be in a similar situation.
But what about the armies composed of commoners?
When the English army had the advantage earlier, under Tojo Nijuhachi's command, they had engaged in plenty of plundering and atrocities. Napoleon, on the other hand, had repeatedly vowed to build pyramids of skulls from the English army!
If, if they truly lost this war, then while they could enjoy noble-level POW treatment, the English army would be doomed!
If the entire English army was wiped out in France, would King George III, that mad king, let them off lightly after they were ransomed back?
After all, Little George was the biological son of George III. Even if Little George's mother was Queen Charlotte, and even if she wanted to poison George III, it wouldn't change the father-son relationship between George III and Little George III.
Therefore, the best candidates to bear responsibility for this war would be himself and Richard, who was in charge of the navy!
Upon thinking this, Edward's expression grew even more somber, and his gaze towards Little George was filled with doubt: "I must remind you, Your Highness, this is war. If you cannot immediately reverse the current situation, I will, as the commander-in-chief of the army, order the troops to contract their defensive lines, and you, you must bear full responsibility for this war."
In just this short while, both sides' artillery had fired several more volleys at each other. The shells, with their sharp whistling sound, rained down on the enemy's positions like a swarm of locusts.
This meant that the remaining shell reserves of the English army had been further depleted, and the remaining shells were becoming fewer and fewer, even the roar of the cannons had become sparse.
Edward's expression shifted repeatedly, and he began to secretly ponder what posture would be most dignified for surrender.
Little George's face, no longer displaying his previous calm and composure, now showed a hint of seriousness: "Someone, prepare the great killer I brought. Have them form ranks and charge at those damned French frogs!"
The great killer that Little George produced was not something extraordinary; in fact, it could be considered a troop type that most European countries had basically abandoned.
Cavalry.
As is well known, warhorses were considered a national treasure in the age of cold weapons, and cavalry was the nightmare of infantry.
However, in the age of firearms, warhorses were no longer well-suited to the changes on the battlefield. The flashes of gunfire, the explosions, and even the smell of gunpowder would affect the state of the warhorses.
Although this state could be resolved through adaptive training, each additional adaptive training for a warhorse meant additional expenditure. A few adaptive trainings combined would require an astronomical amount of funding.
This caused much consternation for the impoverished European countries.
Compared to warhorses that could not go into battle without adaptive training, and even if forced onto the battlefield, had to be meticulously cared for, and were difficult to replace in case of casualties, the cost of training infantry was much smaller.
One could simply conscript some soldiers, equip each with a rifle and a few bullets, provide simple training, and they could be sent into battle. They would not be missed when consumed, and replacements were readily available.
Coupled with the fact that Great Ming's artillery, firearms, and ammunition were all excellent and inexpensive...
With the superposition of these factors, it naturally led to the gradual elimination of cavalry by many European countries.
Now, for Little George to suddenly produce a unit of organized cavalry had an impact on the battlefield that could truly be described as extraordinary, a phenomenon beyond compare.
The first to suffer were the French infantry responsible for protecting the artillery. On the battlefield, even under enemy artillery fire, the infantry positions had to extend forward to provide protection for their own artillery.
However, without the support of heavy machine guns or other sustained rapid-fire heavy firepower, and without deeply dug trenches for cover, infantry relying on volley fire tactics could not withstand a cavalry charge!
With Little George's command, this cavalry unit, composed entirely of purebred horses, roared towards the French artillery positions.
Edward and Richard were dumbfounded – a cavalry unit composed of three hundred purebred horses? This was a troop type that had been tacitly phased out!
Napoleon and Joseph Bonaparte, the commander-in-chief of the French artillery, were equally stunned.
Initially, Joseph Bonaparte was not very concerned about the suddenly appearing English cavalry. He simply gave a perfunctory order to the French artillery: "Another two volleys, let those rose beef warhorses trample those damned rose beef!"
And the French artillerymen faithfully executed Joseph Bonaparte's order.
When the English cavalry began their charge, the French artillery opened fire on them.
Concurrently, the infantry responsible for guarding the artillery positions stepped forward, disregarding range and firing accuracy, and strictly adhering to the three-stage firing requirement.
However, the English cavalry responded swiftly. As the French artillery began to fire, the English cavalry dispersed their formations. Most of the shells fired by the French artillery were rendered useless. Although the French artillery possessed the most cannons among European countries, on a battlefield engaged in direct confrontation, a large number of cannons could not be fully deployed and had to be arranged in echelons. The firing rate and kill radius of cannons were a nightmare for infantry, but for cavalry, it was slightly less so.
What made Joseph Bonaparte even more vexed was that the English warhorses seemed completely unaffected by the booming of the cannons and the explosions of the shells, the flashes of fire.
"This is not normal!"
Joseph Bonaparte grabbed the collar of a nearby officer and shook the innocent officer violently: "No warhorse is unafraid of loud noises and fire! Those damned rose beef could not have trained such formidable cavalry!"
In contrast, Napoleon saw things more clearly – those knights were deliberately maneuvering their warhorses to avoid areas with heavy smoke!
In other words, the English cavalry opposite them was not entirely indifferent to the battlefield environment; they were simply indifferent to the flashes of fire and the explosions!
In just a moment, Napoleon recalled several stories he had heard in the tea houses of Great Ming.
Warhorses or war elephants feared the sound of explosions, so block their ears or even deafen them. They feared flashes of fire, so blindfold them.
More importantly, the English cavalry opposite them were not like the traditional "tin can" heavy cavalry of Europe, but more like the legendary "Scourge of God," lightly armored, maximizing their speed advantage – light cavalry!
Especially since the English cavalry unit opposite them was composed of purebred horses. While purebred horses were not very strong in terms of endurance, they were known for their speed and charge impact. Particularly on battlefields with shorter intervals, the lethality of purebred horses was infinitely amplified!
Upon thinking of this, Napoleon's expression could not help but turn somber.
On the English army's positions, Little George's face showed a hint of joy: "This method really works!"
Edward, standing beside Little George, was taken aback and asked, "What method are you talking about, Your Highness?"
Little George burst into laughter and pointed at the cavalry that had already charged close to the French artillery positions: "Block the warhorses' ears and blindfold their eyes. If they can't hear or see, they naturally won't fear the explosions and fire. As long as they deliberately avoid areas with heavy smoke, they will still be the nightmare of infantry!"
Edward looked at Richard with a bewildered expression, only to find that the latter's face was equally filled with bewilderment. Little George, though the Prince of Wales, was enfeoffed by George III, not by conquering Wales himself!
In fact, Little George's military capabilities were far from excellent; they didn't even reach the level of an ordinary officer!
So, could this fellow have come up with such a miraculous method to solve the problem of cavalry's unsuitability for the battlefield?
Of course, whether this miraculous method was Little George's own idea or told to him by someone else was not really important. What was important was that as the cavalry brought by Little George charged the French artillery positions and began their slaughter, Edward no longer needed to consider what posture would be more dignified for surrender!
Richard, standing beside him, had already begun to consider what posture would be more dignified for accepting Napoleon's surrender!
However, what Edward and Richard did not expect was that Little George's smile quickly vanished, and his face once again became solemn: "After the French frogs' artillery positions are in disarray, immediately send people to collect their cannons and shells, and then... send someone to see Napoleon and tell him I want to negotiate."