Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Hahnmaier was stunned for a moment, until he saw the Ottoman insignia on the soldiers’ hats through his telescope, only then did he confirm they were not the French Army.

The uniforms were indeed too similar.

He hesitated for a moment, detached four squadrons to hold back the Turks’ infantry behind him, while he led the rest through a newly appeared gap.

However, just as he was slicing through the western lines of the Turkish Army like a hot knife through butter, almost close enough to see Mustafa’s golden sedan, two cavalrymen came riding up from behind, waving at him and shouting, “Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Koni requests you to retreat immediately. He can’t hold on much longer!”

Hahnmaier reined in his horse and turned, but the swirling dust obstructed his view.

He frowned slightly, those Ottoman soldiers in white numbered just over a thousand, yet they managed to defeat Koni’s four cavalry squadrons?

He hurriedly ordered the cavalry to turn back, and after a thousand steps, he indeed saw that the white infantry line had nearly sealed the earlier gap.

Just ten more minutes and he would have been encircled by the Turkish infantry…

Hahnmaier broke out in a cold sweat. He had participated in the Ottoman-Ao War years ago but had never seen the Ottoman Army this fierce.

He chose the right direction and managed to lead the hussars out just as the white-clad Turkish infantry were within two to three hundred steps.

But as for Lieutenant Colonel Koni’s men, over a hundred were caught in a formation of tens of thousands of Turkish infantry.

Just as Mustafa was at a loss, he suddenly noticed that the line to the left had stabilized, and through his telescope, he saw those soldiers in white uniforms.

“The Sixth Battalion of the New Army?”

He was overjoyed and quickly ordered the Topizis New Army to move north for defense while directing the main forces to fall back two kilometers south to reorganize for defense.

Little did he know, after having crushed the raiding Austrian forces on the west, the Yeniceri Guard blocked the New Army from pursuing to claim the credit themselves.

The New Army was irked and withdrew, only to encounter Archduke Karl’s sudden assault on their central forces.

More than a thousand of the Topizis New Army quickly turned to the northern lines under French command, engaging in a firefight with the approaching Austrian forces.

The lengthy Austrian infantry line suddenly halted its advance on the right.

In fact, the Ottoman New Army was not as organized nor as proficient at shooting. But many of these Austrians had fought in the Italian campaigns and had developed a psychological fear of the white uniforms, rendering them hesitant.

It was not until the Erdenburg Grenadier Battalion took over that the Topizis New Army was finally defeated.

But the brief delay allowed Mustafa’s main forces to disengage and retreat towards the Blom River in the south.

Archduke Karl was anxious, eager to pursue, but the hussars had just experienced chaos and had not yet regrouped.

In front of him, the weak Ottoman infantry still numbered twenty to thirty thousand; even just clearing them from the battlefield would take several hours.

Indeed, it was not until twilight that the last group of Turks finally surrendered.

Archduke Karl rode past a large group of prisoners, while a nearby aide reported the situation; “We captured more than 10,000 Ottomans. According to captured officers, over 50,000 enemies have retreated to the Blom River.”

Archduke Karl frowned slightly but wasn’t too worried, for after today’s defeat, the Ottomans would surely be demoralized.

This area was all open plains, very suitable for large-scale battles.

If they launched another fierce attack tomorrow, in just five or six days, they could wipe out the Ottoman forces completely.

He gestured to Genoa, “Instruct the soldiers to rest well tonight. We will attack at dawn tomorrow.”

“Yes, Marshal.” Genoa was about to turn away but suddenly remembered something, “Marshal, we may only have enough ammunition for half a day.”

“In fact, some rookies had already run out of ammo this afternoon.”

Archduke Karl’s heart skipped a beat.

He had managed to appear in Ispereh so quickly by abandoning most of the supplies, including ammunition.

According to his original plan, today’s raid should have been enough to crush the Ottoman main forces, leaving the rest to the hussars to pursue.

However, that unexpected elite group of Ottomans disrupted Hahnmaier’s pace, allowing tens of thousands of enemy troops to retreat successfully.

Now facing a frontal engagement, it certainly couldn’t be resolved in a single day.

If they waited for the supply camp to catch up here, the Ottomans might well fall back into Ispereh city, or even retreat directly to Terguist.

Then the war would drag on interminably.

He had full confidence in defeating the Ottomans, but he only had less than a month now.

At that moment, the voices of several soldiers chatting could be heard not far away, “Where did these damn infidels get the M1722?”

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Joao was born on May 13, 1767, during the reign of his grandfather and uncle, Jose I. He was the second son of Queen Maria I of Portugal and King Pedro III. When he was born, his parents were the Prince of Portugal and the Princess of Brazil, respectively. When Joao was ten, his mother ascended to the throne. His childhood and youth were uneventful; at that time, he was merely a Prince of Portugal, living in the shadow of his brother, the Prince of Brazil, the 14th Duke of Braganza, and the heir apparent, Jose. Folklore describes Joao as quite uneducated, but according to Jorge Pedreira-Costa, Joao received the same rigorous education as Jose. However, a French ambassador of the time used unfavorable terms to describe him, saying he was not only indecisive but also foolish. For historians, the records of his time are too vague to allow any accurate judgment. The specifics of his education are rarely known. He must have received education in religion, law, French, and etiquette, and might have learned history by reading the works of Duarte Nunez de Leon and Joao de Barros. In 1785, the third Marquis of Loureiro, Henrique de Meneses, arranged Joao’s marriage to Princess Carlota Joaquina, daughter of King Charles IV of Spain. Like her fiancé, Carlota Joaquina was an ordinary member of the royal family. Fearing the formation of a new Iberian Union, some in the Portuguese Court considered the union with a Spanish princess as disadvantageous. Before the marital agreement was finalized, Carlota Joaquina underwent four days of testing by the Portuguese ambassador. Because of the blood relation between Joao and Carlota Joaquina, and the fact that the bride was only ten at the time, a papal dispensation was required for this marriage. Once their marriage was approved, a grand engagement ceremony was held in the throne room of the Spanish Court, followed by a proxy wedding.

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