Actually, Andre had seriously underestimated the "rashness" of these young people.
Out of the more than 1,200 police academy cadets' 30 large wagons, 22 were for servicing the artillery, including dragging cannons and transporting ammunition.
As for logistics and baggage, they had cut down on almost everything that could be spared!
Each soldier's backpack contained 11 pounds of dry bread, 3.5 pounds of semi-dried meat, and 4 pounds of oats for the horses, along with two bags of wine. That was all the provisions they carried.
It was only close to noon that the Mulan Regiment finally finished preparations to transition from encampment to marching, and the large force began to move slowly.
This was after Andre, having heard his younger brother's "intelligence" the day before, had preemptively ordered the officers to leave all the bulky luggage like wardrobes and dining tables behind.
In fact, for an old-style army, their speed was already considered very fast.
But everything is relative.
At this point, the police academy cadets had already covered nearly 10 kilometers.
By 6 p.m., Murat's Army began to set up camp and prepare dinner.
An hour later, the cadets stopped by a small stream 16 kilometers away, set up sentries, and, after building campfires, heated up the dry food they had carried with them.
At 8:15 p.m., the cadets gathered around the campfires, spread blankets on the grass, and under the stars, they fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning at dawn, they ate a simple breakfast and almost immediately set off again.
Meanwhile, Murat's Army was still frantically packing up tents and loading wagons. Occasionally, there were officers quietly complaining for having slept poorly without their mattresses.
Andre could no longer see the trace of his opponents, but from the marks on the ground, it was clear the police academy cadets had long passed by this location.
After 3 p.m., two scouts with dark circles under their eyes ped back to the Mulan Regiment––Andre's curiosity about how the cadets were solving their provisions problem had caused him to urgently send out scouts the night before to investigate.
"So, you're saying they carried more than 15 pounds of food?" Andre looked surprised at the scouts, "With weapons, ammunition, and bedding, doesn't that make for nearly 35 pounds of weight?"
"It seems so, sir."
"They're like monsters..." Andre smacked his lips, carrying so much luggage and still able to move so fast?!
He then immediately thought of another question, "Wait, even if the soldiers carried dry food, what about their horses?"
Normally, people think that an army's provisions mainly consist of food for humans, but in reality, the bulk of logistic and baggage supplies are fodder for the horses.
Warhorses consume a great deal of energy during warfare and cannot graze like farm horses, which would require them to eat continuously for several hours to get enough nutrition from grass, a luxury of time the army cannot afford.
Moreover, it's very difficult to guarantee grass availability along the march.
Therefore, the army's warhorses mainly rely on logistics transport of hay and concentrated fodder like oats for sustenance. This consumption far exceeds the quantity of food humans need.
Human soldiers can barely get by carrying about a dozen pounds of dry food; surely you cannot expect horses to carry hundreds of pounds of fodder, right?
The two scouts looked at each other and answered, "Sir, they did bring some concentrated fodder, but mainly they feed the horses at nearby farms."
"They even obtained half of the firewood from local farmers. Oh, and they also replenished some wine."
Andre's eyes widened as he exclaimed loudly, "That's cheating!"
He immediately summoned the orderly officer and sent him to catch up to the police academy cadets, to present his strongest protest on his behalf.
Another day later, the orderly officer returned, bringing with him an instructor from the police academy.
After meeting Andre, the instructor politely explained, "Respected Lieutenant Colonel, we operated strictly in accordance with the standard supply regulations, it wasn't cheating at all."
Andre almost laughed with anger, "Are you saying that pillaging from the local farmers is a standard supply regulation?"
"No, you might be mistaken," the instructor said hastily, "Our foraging officers paid for it, even above the market price."
What he didn't mention was that if it weren't for a widespread shortage of grain, the supply regulations would require soldiers to requisition food locally.
Andre waved his hand dismissively, "That's cheating! If a war broke out, would your troops also move without supply wagons, relying entirely on purchasing from local farmers?"
The instructor nodded earnestly, "That's exactly right. However, we also hunt game sometimes as a supplement..."
"Ridiculous! How can such provisions be reliable? What if there are no local farmers nearby?"
"Such a situation is unlikely, sir. Across the whole of Europe, where can you not find a village to requisition provisions? Besides, soldiers always carry emergency rations."
"This..." Andre was stunned.
Indeed, even in barren places like Switzerland or the southern part of Hungary, finding a village to sustain an army of several tens of thousands was not difficult.
This way, one could discard a large number of bulky and attack-prone logistic vehicles, rendering the army nimble and swift. No wonder the police academy's deployment and marching speed were so fast!
In fact, this was the local requisitioning logistics mode Joseph had copied from Napoleon.
Napoleon was able to conquer Europe with great success, and half of his success could be attributed to this unique logistics system.
As is well known, war, especially between major powers, hinges on logistics as one of the key factors determining victory or defeat. There's even an extreme saying that war is a contest of logistics.
Napoleon innovatively abandoned the large quantity of supply wagons favored by the European Nobility Army, prohibited officers from carrying bulky luxury items [Note 1], and even discarded tents, which were time-consuming and inconvenient to carry.
Food and drink depended entirely on the villages along the way, and in the event of heavy rain or snow, soldiers could also use the houses in the villages for shelter.
Compensation for used supplies could be made to the farmers at market prices. This method, even including the payment, would often cost much less than transporting supplies thousands of miles, while the compensation for the farmers would be much greater.
As for waging war abroad, the army's expenses might be even less.
Of course, this model sounds simple, but implementing it still requires a whole set of scientific operational modes.
For example, procurement officers need to have considerable professional knowledge, knowing where to find supplies and how to communicate with the farmers.
Ahead of the army's advance, people should be sent to notify the villages they would pass through to prepare supplies. This requires a very scientific calculation of the consumption of supplies.
How the collected supplies are to be quickly distributed to the units must also be considered.
And how to reallocate food via local administration in the villages that had their food requisitioned, to prevent situations where the farmers themselves don't have enough to eat.
Joseph only knew the basic principles from documentaries he had watched in his previous life; the specific rules for supply still needed officers to continuously perfect them through practice.
However, this logistical mechanism also had significant limitations. For example, Napoleon suffered greatly in Russia, which was barren and hostile, because he relied on local replenishment. Nevertheless, Joseph, as someone from a later era, naturally would also take proactive measures to avoid similar situations.
Andre had no choice but to let the police academy instructors go and gathered his officers, starting to contemplate if he should also adopt this local procurement logistics model for his own army.
This was one of the reasons Joseph had the Mulan Regiment come and conduct exercises with the police academy students. As a military force he could trust, he also hoped Andre could learn some advanced concepts from the police academy students to improve his troops' combat effectiveness.
Five days after leaving Tutsi Town, the police academy regiment arrived in Paris, swiftly "occupying" the high ground predetermined for the exercise, and then conducted detailed topographical mapping of the nearby terrain.
On the other hand, it took Andre a full four more days to pantingly catch up. The sight that greeted him was a defense position that had been firmly established by the "enemy" forces.
Still, Andre was an experienced veteran of battles and, facing an extremely disadvantaged situation, remained calm, gathering his officers to discuss tactics against the enemy.
At dawn the next day, the Murat's Corps assembled in front of the police academy's positions, forming three lines of infantry.
Bertier, watching from afar, put away his telescope and sighed somewhat regretfully to Dibowa beside him, "The students missed the best opportunity to attack."
The latter nodded, "Yes, Murat's Army had just made a forced march yesterday afternoon; they were at their most exhausted. If an assault had been launched then, they very well might have secured victory in one fell swoop."
Bertier said, "They still can't bear to give up the favorable terrain they hold. Although these young people are full of energy, they still lack real combat experience."
Soon, Andre ordered the frontline infantry to launch a strong assault. At the same time, three six-pound cannons from Murat's Corps roared from a slightly higher hill on the west side, covering the infantry's charge.
However, the police academy was well-prepared, and their artillery immediately returned fire. Because the police academy's cannons were positioned higher and included an eight-pound cannon, their range was greater, quickly suppressing the opposing artillery.
The distance between the two sides' infantry closed to within 100 paces, and the police academy's formation fired first in volleys—they held the high ground and their caplock guns had longer range, so taking the first shot was not a problem.
Both sides' soldiers used rounds made of pine, which disintegrated upon the impact of the gunpowder and did not cause any harm, but the piercing explosive sounds and the smoke-filled sky still sent all the soldiers' adrenaline soaring as if they were on a real battlefield.
After advancing further, Murat's Corps also began to return fire. The gunshots became more intense, and person after person was judged "killed in action" and left the battlefield.
What surprised Andre greatly was that the young police academy students' shooting skills were no worse than his veterans' and, with the aid of the caplock gun, their firing rate was consistently two beats faster than his side.
As Murat's Corps continued to lose men, the frontline commanding officers finally could not hold out and issued the order to retreat.
In the police academy's positions, a blue flag bearing the Crown Prince's emblem immediately rose. Then the drummers and flag bearers of each company stepped forward three paces, and the urgent sound of the attack drums started up.
The military academy students' infantry immediately advanced.
The collapsing Mulan Army's speed of disintegration quickened. Before long, their second defensive line was exposed to the adversary.
The academy students promptly changed formation — the first line of infantry transformed into columns, and the second line took on the task of frontal firing.
As several squads of infantry charged within twenty paces of the Mulan Army, the latter could no longer hold and began to flee in disorder.
The drumbeat on the academy side quickened as well, and the second line of infantry, raising a battle cry, fixed bayonets and charged at the enemy.
The Mulan Army's last line of infantry had started retreating early and had already withdrawn to the flat lands below the high ground. Mere minutes later, as many as seven companies of the academy students reached them.
Curiously, the Mulan Army did not seem panicked but, led by their officers, routed the soldiers to both sides, while the last line of infantry delivered fierce fire.
Meanwhile, three cannons appeared on the flank of the Mulan Army, beginning to bombard the approaching academy students.
Clearly, these cannons had only feigned the inability to withstand the enemy's firepower and had stealthily moved to this position.
Andre smiled and gave a knowing glance to the orderly officer.
The latter immediately ran to the flag bearer and loudly conveyed the orders.
Minutes later, a squadron of Mulan Army cavalry emerged from behind the mounds on the eastern side of the battlefield, cutting directly into the academy students' infantry line that had pursued too deeply.
The Mulan Army's first two collapsed lines of infantry quickly reorganized and closed in from both sides.
It was then that the academy instructors realized it was a trap to lure the enemy in deep. Seeing a large group of infantry about to be encircled, they immediately committed the reserves and cavalry to the battlefield, preparing to use hand-to-hand combat to rescue the infantry.
Once the melee broke out, the exercise judges found it very difficult to carry out effective casualty assessments.
In the end, Colonel Bertier, concerned about the risk of accidents during close-combat, halted the skirmish between the two sides after half an hour.
By then, Murat's Corps had "lost" over 200 men. Although the academy students had been outmaneuvered, their prior shooting engagement had been to their advantage, and with their bravery in close combat not yielding an inch to the enemy, their "casualties" were actually slightly fewer.
After a day's rest, Bertier's Corps also arrived to join in the exercises. The practical drills, now with three parties, proceeded vigorously and would continue until the end of the month.
...
In the office of the Industrial Planning Bureau.
Joseph looked at the practical exercise report sent by Bertier and others, and nodded with a smile, "The cadets' military accomplishments are indeed commendable, but they still need more combat experience."
He then turned to Frient and said, "For the students who have performed outstandingly in the exercises, you can allow them to graduate early and join Bertier's Army, taking on the role of junior officers."
"Yes, Your Highness. Colonel Bertier and I also believe that some of them are in no way inferior to the officers of the nobility," the other replied.
As they were speaking, Eman knocked and entered, bowing to Joseph, "Your Highness, we just received news from Marseille. The King of Spain has sent you three ships' worth of grain. They docked at the port ten days ago."
[Note 1] In reality, in Napoleon's army, the personal belongings of officers were always the bane of the supply camp, and the problem was never fully resolved. Even Napoleon himself would bring a bathtub to the battlefield. However, compared to other traditional armies, Napoleon's officers were quite restrained.
[Note 2] Napoleon anticipated the difficulties of supply in Russia and had prepared much more logistics support than before. Nonetheless, he partially hoped for supplies from Russia itself. Unfortunately, the food and fodder gathered by the French Army in Russia were very limited, worsening the French Army's situation.