I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 323 The Guide to the Netherlands

With advanced weapons, extremely high training, and high morale support, the Guards Corps pretending to be Austrians will definitely gain a very significant advantage over the Prussian soldiers when it comes to shooting!

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In this way, Bischoff, who was holding a telescope on the high ground behind, watched more than 800 "Austrians" smash his infantry line of nearly 1,000 people...

The opponent still rushed up in column. During this period, his side took the lead in firing two rounds, but he still could not withstand the rapid and intensive firepower.

Soon, Bischoff's face became even more ugly.

Because he was too confident before, he pressed the second infantry line too high. At this time, the first group retreated and plunged into the rear line, causing chaos in the rear line.

It is impossible for the line infantry tactics of this era to "stud" all the soldiers into an infantry line. Instead, it is divided into several fronts - usually three fronts, with three rows of soldiers in each infantry line. This is the most stable combat mode nowadays. In an advantageous situation or a life-threatening situation, it may be reduced to two fronts, front and back, in order to put more soldiers in each front.

This arrangement is so that if an accident occurs to the front infantry line, the following line can immediately push forward, and the defeated infantry can regroup behind them. This would prevent a single breakdown in the infantry line—sometimes caused by an officer falling out of love or drinking too much the day before—to cause the entire battle to collapse.

Lieutenant Colonel Altmann, who was watching the battle from a distance, saw that Bischoff's regiment was unable to withstand the situation, and hurriedly ordered the reserve team to go up to respond. He was secretly glad that the reserve team was still left, and sent someone to ask the cavalry for help.

Lefebvre also saw in his telescope the scene of the Guards Corps' brave assault and defeating the Prussian infantry line that outnumbered him, and he smiled at the corner of his mouth. But he immediately looked at the Leo Legion behind him and shook his head secretly.

Even though our side had gained a huge advantage more than a hundred steps away, the Austrians, who were frightened by Blücher, still shrank their heads and did not appear to step forward to expand the results.

Just after the Guards Corps began to fire two or three volleys at the second line of Prussian infantry, Lefebvre saw another Prussian infantry coming from behind for reinforcements.

After some weighing, he ordered the forward guard infantry to be called back.

He couldn't tell whether the Prussians had any reserves. If so, he was too deep into the army at a disadvantage and might be surrounded by the opponent's cavalry tactics - his own cavalry had been exhausted by the previous rapid attack. With a lot of physical strength, it is very likely that he will not be able to catch up with the enemy cavalry.

The order given to him by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is to hold on here until noon tomorrow.

Before that, he must not lose too many troops.

Moreover, the main force of the Prussians may appear at any time. It will be an extremely difficult and fierce battle, and he must be prepared at any time.

When Altmann saw that the "Austrians" did not pursue the victory, he was relieved. He quickly ordered Bischof to retreat, gathered his soldiers and set up defenses, and only stared at the enemy on the opposite slope from a distance.

In this way, dusk fell more than an hour later, and both sides gathered up and camped.

Blücher received the news from the front that Altmann's attack was unfavorable, and couldn't help but wonder, why did Leo suddenly become so good at fighting?

It must have been Altmann's command error!

He came to a conclusion in his mind and was about to go back and scold the lieutenant colonel severely, then frowned and looked at the sky, but he had to temporarily suppress his anger and wait for dawn.

At the same time, the main force of the Guards Corps, which was 10 kilometers away, was still moving forward quickly under the last ray of sunset.

Since they have been outside the reconnaissance range of the Prussian hussars, Blücher has not yet discovered this army of more than 10,000 people.

But Joseph knew that if he continued to move forward, he might encounter the Prussians at any time.

It wasn't until it was completely dark that the Guards camped near a flat woodland. Joseph and the staff officers lit up lamps and discussed the battle plan in the tent until late at night - because there was new intelligence ahead. After sending it back, tactics must be adjusted accordingly. This is one of the advantages of the staff command system. Even if the top commander wants to be lazy, the staff will drag him to "work overtime".

"Your Highness, since Lefebvre has gained the advantage," Berthier suggested, looking at the narrow Prussian marching column on the map, "we can definitely fight more aggressively."

He pointed to the east side of the town of Wensele, "You can send a group of cavalry to attack the enemy's rear, and the rest of the troops will insert themselves into the waist of the Prussian army.

"Although the losses of Lefebvre's army may be relatively large, I believe that he will be able to block Blücher's path to the west. We can complete the pincer attack on the main force of Prussia with him!"

Joseph pressed the hand that pointed at the map and said with a smile: "Your Majesty General, we don't have to rush to annihilate the Prussian army.

“Even when Blucher made a mistake, we had to take the initiative to let him go.

"Actually, I have sent people to get in touch with Henry Onk, who is here to 'release water'."

Henry Unk is the conservative leader of the Southern Netherlands Rebellion. He is currently being squeezed out by the liberal Van de Noort because of his different opinions on the future path of the Southern Netherlands. He has almost fallen out of power. core.

Berthier didn’t dwell on the word “let go”—His Royal Highness often used strange words, and he was used to it—looked at Joseph in surprise and asked:

“Your Highness, why did you let the Prussians go? Are you worried about the political impact?”

Joseph put on a mysterious expression and deliberately lowered his voice:

“If Blücher’s Corps is gone, we will have no reason to enter the Southern Netherlands. He is our ‘guide’.”

“Ah?”

Joseph ignored the doubts on the Chief of Staff’s face, turned around and greeted the staff:

“Our primary goal is to recapture Luxembourg, and the losses of Lefebvre’s Corps must be kept to a minimum.

“Based on this direction, let’s discuss the details of the combat deployment.”

“Yes, Your Highness. "

…

The next morning, Blücher personally rode his horse through the camp, urging the soldiers to move out as soon as possible. He was now very worried that Bischof would not be able to stop Leo after his defeat.

After nearly an hour, the Prussian army finally packed up the tents, drove the carriages to the road and lined them up neatly, and then began to move slowly with the sound of drums.

Blücher looked at the sun that had not yet risen completely, and was quite satisfied with the speed. If nothing unexpected happened, the main force would be able to start attacking Leo around three o'clock this afternoon.

What he didn't know was that Joseph had led the Guards Corps to set out for more than 40 minutes at this time - the Guards Corps, which had no tents and camped in the open air, began to march almost as soon as it was light enough to see things, and the baggage vehicles were less than half of the Prussians.