Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Capítulo 1349: Chapter 1254: Heading to Berlin

Marshal Mellen Dorf shouted with all his might to the attendant: “Horse! Bring my horse!”

A moment later, he climbed onto the horse, panting heavily, gripping the reins tightly, and hurried towards the tent of William III.

However, his age was too advanced, and he dared not let the horse run, fearing he might fall off at any moment.

He anxiously waved to the officer beside him: “General Schmeidt, quickly go protect His Majesty’s retreat!”

“Yes, Marshal!”

It took Mellen Dorf more than ten minutes to finally reach the luxurious tent used by William III, only to find Brigadier Schmeidt standing dazedly in front of the tent.

He furrowed his brow, urged his horse forward, and shouted loudly: “What are you doing? Where is His Majesty?”

Schmeidt turned around, shook his head, and said: “His Majesty… is not here.”

Mellen Dorf was taken aback and shouted to the guards: “Quickly, find His Majesty!”

“No need.” Schmeidt raised his hand to stop the guards and then pointed to a few nearby Royal Guards, “His Majesty has already left.”

“Left?” Mellen Dorf looked at the Royal Guards in surprise, “Where did His Majesty go?”

Someone lowered their head and said: “His Majesty… heard there was a breach in the line and returned to Naumburg. We were ordered to pack his furniture here…”

Shock filled Mellen Dorf’s eyes, but he quickly nodded with a wry smile: “Very well. His Majesty’s safety is most important, this is good.”

He turned to the Order Officer and said: “Immediately summon the cavalry battalion to hold off the enemy’s cavalry…”

He then sighed once more, as if the day-long battle had exhausted his energy, and slowly sat down on the carpet in front of the tent: “Send a message to Naumburg for them to send someone to meet His Majesty.”

When Mula hurried to the location reported by the hot air balloon earlier, he found only an empty tent.

He furrowed his brow, dispatched dozens of Hussars to search around, and then pursued in the direction where the horse hoof prints were densest on the ground.

The news that the King had fled quickly spread among the Prussian soldiers.

Jesus as witness, Mellen Dorf had repeatedly ordered his subordinates to keep the news confidential, but some frontline officers, seeing the French Cavalry had breached the line, sent people to protect His Majesty, only to find those abandoned tents.

As high as the morale of the Prussian Army had been before, that’s how quickly it collapsed now.

To the point that when they began to scatter and flee, Ogero even thought it was a ploy by the enemy. He sent people to reconfirm there were no ambushes before ordering a pursuit.

At 5 PM, Ogero stood atop the bell tower of the Weimar Church, gazing north across the plain, and said to Marson beside him: “Let everyone rest well for a day. We need to march continuously for a week, and before we reach Berlin, I’m afraid we won’t have time to rest.

“Oh, did you send a report to the General Staff?”

“Yes, General, the liaison officer set out as soon as the battle ended.”

“Many people sacrificed today, they were the finest warriors of France.”

“Yes, General.”

“But we achieved victory.”

“A great victory, General.”

Next morning.

Mula, leading several hundred Hussars, reached the outskirts of Naumburg. Just as he was about to give up, he suddenly saw a row of farmhouses in the distance.

He signaled to the Captain beside him: “Eggerzelmang, send someone to inquire.”

Before long, Eggerzelmang returned with a few Hussars, saying to Eman: “Major, they said a troop of cavalry passed through here half an hour ago, heading towards Naumburg.”

Mula was overjoyed and waved to the soldiers: “Let’s pursue them!”

He asked Eggerzelmang: “They wouldn’t lie, would they?”

“No.” The latter laughed, “Those farmers thought we were Prussian Cavalry.”

“I should thank them.”

Yes, in this era, the styles of military uniforms from various countries were quite haphazard, and ordinary people couldn’t tell them apart.

Mula had more than 200 soldiers in the best condition follow him in a sprint and finally saw the bearskin hats worn by the cavalry ahead, three or four kilometers from Naumburg.

He immediately drew his horse saber and squeezed his legs tightly against the horse’s belly: “Prepare for battle!”

William III hung his head wearily, his body swaying with the gait of the horse, but in his mind, he was calculating when the Allied Forces’ reinforcements would reach Potsdam.

The attendant beside him suddenly shouted: “It’s the French!”

The King of Prussia was jolted awake, looking back and indeed seeing a row of white figures.

“Dregel, protect His Majesty,” an officer urged, “everyone else, block the enemy with me!”

William III quickly gathered his wits and frantically whipped his mount.

Not knowing how far they had run, gunfire erupted from behind, but soon it fell silent again.

He had never realized silence could be so despairing.

The sound of horse hooves got closer and closer. Although his mount was a good horse, his riding skills were far inferior to that of the elite French Hussars.

William III almost broke the whip, yet those white devils were getting closer and closer.

Dregel drew his sword and shouted but was struck in the face by a bullet as he turned.

“Stop!” came a shout from behind, “We will give you the honor befitting a monarch.”

William III sighed and nearly prepared to rein in his horse.

At that moment, emerging from the trees ahead was a troop of soldiers in gray-green uniforms. He was overjoyed and waved vigorously at them: “I’m here!”

Mula, at the head of the pursuit, frowned at those soldiers, presumably the garrison of Naumburg.

He raised his gun, pointing at William III’s back: “Stop immediately, or I will shoot!”

The latter paid no heed, instead swinging his whip even faster.

“Bang——”

The distance was somewhat far, obviously missing the target.

“Bang, bang——”

Mula fired off all remaining shots, suddenly seeing the Prussian King’s body sway, and he widened his eyes in excitement, but that damned horse was still galloping on.

The Prussian soldiers ahead had already begun raising their guns to shoot, forcing Mula to pull in his reins helplessly, signaling the soldiers to stop the pursuit, and then he took out binoculars from his bag.

He carefully searched William III’s body for that delightful bullet hole.

It wasn’t until he saw the King’s right hand staying on his thigh that he finally shook his head in disappointment.

…

30 kilometers east of Kassel.

The Duke of Brunswick urged his soldiers anxiously to quicken their pace; the French had disappeared for a day and a half. If things continued, he might completely lose track of them.

Suddenly, a few cavalrymen came towards him, and he immediately breathed a sigh of relief, thinking they must have discovered the enemy.

However, the hoarse voice of the Cavalry Lieutenant left him stunned, “Marshal, our vanguard has been attacked by the enemy!”