Another round of cannon fire from the distance made Semiz shudder; he saw that the French Army's line formations were already fully deployed, while his own side was still in disarray, assembling their ranks. His heart immediately tightened.
The Guard Corps were inherently superior in military discipline compared to the Albanians, and they had been prepared for the assault since dawn, so their speed in forming up was naturally much faster than the mercenaries who were still on the march. In the era of flintlock guns, whoever finished forming up first essentially held an absolute advantage.
At that moment, the scouts that Semiz had sent out finally returned—he was a seasoned veteran on the battlefield, capable of executing basic maneuvers like dispatching cavalry to scout at the first encounter with the enemy.
The leading cavalryman, still at a distance, reported loudly to him, "Pasha, the enemy numbers around 4,000, with possibly a few hundred more in reserve."
