Leopold Schumacher was a rising star who had already served as brigadier general in his twenties, and at the Battle of Settowicz, his artillery brigade opened a fatal gap in the left flank of the coalition forces and laid the foundation for eventual victory.

Born into a commoner family, the son of a shoemaker in the Duchy of Valstad, he was chosen for his intelligence and received a special scholarship from the Duke, and in recent wars he creatively deployed artillery together as an independent unit to fight in support of other arms.

Leopold's artillery tactics were known for their innovation and boldness, he liked to concentrate his howitzers in low-lying areas where the enemy could not see, and hardly suffered any counterattacks, and the artillerymen could easily calculate the trajectory in a safe environment, which greatly increased the hit rate of the shrapnel.

He himself preferred to fight on the front line, deploying the positions of the cannon extremely aggressively.

He did not like the other artillery officers to target the enemy, but focused entirely on the most vulnerable units, such as cavalry gathering a charge, or a dense queue of infantry. Under his command, it only takes a few precise salvos to inflict heavy casualties on those targets.

General Leopold's creativity seemed to be never-ending, and he had many bolder ideas to put into practice in the war, but due to the austerity of the Duchy's finances and the heavy losses of the two battles, it seemed that the implementation of these new ideas would be a long way off, and he himself was very worried about the future of the Duchy.

After the marriage of Princess Sarantos to the King of Merchants, the situation changed dramatically, and General Leopold saw a turning point.

Since the annexation of the Southern Free Trade Alliance to the Duchy of Valstad, a steady stream of money, manpower, and materials has poured in, and the mercenaries of the merchants have been transformed into regular armies and incorporated into the Principality's army.

The most critical improvement was in the field of handicrafts, where skilled craftsmen in the southern part of the peninsula led to a exponential increase in the production of important military supplies such as standard firearms, cold weapons, and military uniforms.

The Duchy of Valstad, which had been facing a financial crisis, suddenly became more affluent, and thanks to the large number of troops and the nickname 'Barracks in Time of Peace', thanks to this marriage, the number and quality of the Principality's army reached an unprecedented peak after the territory had almost doubled.

Due to the abundant supply of military horses, Leopold immediately made a request to his superiors for a large number of heavy mules and horses, which was quickly granted due to his fame and merit.

His plan was ambitious, and he wanted to create a new class of troops with his own ideas, the Mule and Horse Artillery. That is, a light cannon is towed by multiple mules and horses at the same time to achieve the purpose of rapid mobile deployment.

In the next military operation of the principality, this experimental new artillery is about to be put to the test.

The half-year truce between the principality and the coalition has finally come to an end, and the Duchy's army, fully recuperated and replenished, is poised to launch an assault on the territory of the Noble Alliance.

The Duchy of Valsta amassed seven armies on the border and besieged the fortress of Horanis, an important stronghold of the noble alliance, with a force of nearly 130,000 men. The coalition troops, who had been waiting for a long time, rushed to the vicinity in time to set up a defense outside the fortress.

September 1, 1703, early morning. With the roar of artillery on both sides, the Battle of Horanis officially began.

The campaign was commanded by Prince Orsengre, Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the Duchy of Valstad, flanked by Count Baptiste, Chief of the Army's General Staff, and Field Marshal Simon Gallieni, who had returned to battle after a break from his professorship.

Just last night, Marshal Simon looked very tired, according to the rumors of his attendants, the old marshal was tormented by nightmares, but when he went to the battlefield, he became energetic, and the familiar smell of gunpowder excites him.

Due to the stubborn posture of the coalition side, the pace of the battle was a little dull, and both sides suffered casualties, but neither could open the situation.

"Oh my God! Is that artillery unit crazy? Rushing in front of the infantry line, not afraid of being wiped out by the coalition cavalry? One of the generals shouted in surprise.

Marshal Simon stroked his beard proudly and said:

"Rest assured, this is my protégé, Brigadier General Leopold, who leads a new branch of the army, the Mule and Horse Artillery. I've approved his new tactics, and I've sent people to cover behind, so let's look forward to his performance. ”

Count Baptiste asked puzzledly, "That artillery is all equipped with six-pounder cannons, what can that poor firepower do?" Also, it's strange that so many horses were used to tow light artillery. ”

"Old friend, that's to improve mobility, he's going to take advantage of the terrain before the coalition forces and deploy those light cannons."

"That being said, it is better to be cautious, Major Raphael, take your squadron of hussars and keep up with the artillery that is rushing forward to cover their flanks."

"Yes!"

General Leopold's mule-horse artillery unit fearlessly approached, stopping at a high ground about 600 meters from the Allied infantry line, where the gunners formed a position with alarming speed and began to rain six pounds of solid shells on the enemy.

Seeing that the accuracy of the shooting was not ideal, after a few rounds of volleys they continued to advance, and this time they advanced to a rather dangerous position, just over three hundred meters from the coalition infantry line!

"This is it! All dismount and start building positions! ”

As soon as General Leopold had given the order, the allied artillery had determined their position, and the artillery fire came from all directions, many artillery and horses were hit, some were broken in two by shells, and a cannon was destroyed along with the gun mount and the front car, the situation was dire, but the wounded gunners remained unmoved, and still gritted their teeth and held on to their gun positions.

General Leopold, who was targeting the coalition infantry line rather than artillery, decided to ignore the threat of artillery fire and ordered his men to fire in the most densely populated direction.

Such close shelling caused a large number of casualties among the coalition forces, and the opposing side soon sent three infantry battalions and two cavalry squadrons in an attempt to destroy the artillery position.

In the distance, Prince Orsengray patted his thigh and shouted, "This guy is really crazy! The results are already good, and they will be harvested if they are not good? It's over, no one can save them! ”

No matter how the tide of battle turned, General Leopold was able to face it calmly, and he commanded:

"Don't panic, switch to shotguns, aim at the coalition forces attacking from different directions, and wait for them to enter a hundred meters before firing!"

The artillerymen quickly removed the shotgun from the box, a metal canister filled with sharp shards that inflicted a terrifying lethal effect on nearby targets.

The allied infantry and cavalry attacked at the same time, and at the moment when they were in the best range, General Leopold shouted: "Fire!" Shoot continuously! ”

Countless sharp metal shards flew out of the cannon's muzzle and rained down on the dense coalition soldiers, who fell in pieces like harvested straw, their morale collapsed instantly, and the rest quickly fled.

Seeing that the morale of the coalition forces had been dealt a heavy blow, Prince Orsengre knew that the opportunity had come, and he decisively gave the order:

"Seventeenth Division, march towards the middle of the coalition forces, oh wait, just do it, everyone! The center and the left and right flanks, give me a full line to attack, without giving the other side a chance to breathe, and the cavalry reserves are mounted and assembled, ready to launch a pursuit! ”

The dreary battle escalated suddenly, and the Coalition Front began to tighten its defenses due to the powerful offensive of the Duchy Army, and the infantry and cavalry that had been sent out withdrew to their positions, no longer able to threaten the mule-horse artillery units that were approaching.

General Leopold shouted excitedly:

"Look, brothers, we're going to succeed! Mule and horse artillerymen, keep moving! ”

These inspired artillerymen advanced to a distance of only ninety meters from the Allied infantry line!

The distance was so close that you could even see each other's flags and faces. Many of the artillerymen were killed by the enemy's rifle fire, but they still insisted on deploying the cannon in the hail of bullets and firing immediately.

Shotguns rained down like a storm, sending a terrifying mist of blood through the dense coalition columns, with only twenty of the most casualty battalions left alive.

The coalition forces were forced to begin a slow retreat, seeking refuge in the rear of the fortress of Horanis.

At this time, the cuirassiers of the principality attacked from the flank, and the coalition infantry line was instantly disrupted, and the orderly retreat turned into a rout, and some coalition soldiers who had lost their will to fight did not care about maintaining their formation, and ran in the direction of the fortress on their own.

Field Marshal Simon Gallieni was full of pride, and his student Leopold was the greatest contributor to this victory, he not only created a new class of mule and horse artillery, but also successfully created a precedent for "cannon charge tactics", which is bound to leave a strong mark in the annals of military history.

Prince Orsengre sighed:

"We old guys are really outdated, the heroes of Valstad are rising, and I am amazed by these young talents, genius! What a genius! Not only wisdom, but also courage is admirable.

I will personally write the report and let the Duke award him a medal! ”