I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 324 The strong resilience of the Southern Netherlands rebels

At 10:30 in the morning, the Prussian Southern Netherlands commander Margrave Blücher received news from the forward that they had merged with the Altmann Army and saw the Austrian defense line.

Blücher was secretly happy. As long as Leo's Austrian army did not escape, his battle in Luxembourg would basically be over.

Just as he was about to order a full-scale attack on the Austrians, he saw several hussars running like crazy. From a distance, he shouted loudly: "Report! General, there are a large number of enemy troops more than half a mile to the south." , the number is unknown, but there are at least seven or eight thousand people!”

Blücher suddenly frowned, where did this enemy appear from? He dispersed the scouts 2 miles away, almost to the vicinity of Dikish Town, and never received any reports of signs of other troops.

Even the Austrian army defending Dikirch couldn't have walked so far in a long time and suddenly hit him in the face!

2 miles is almost equivalent to 15 kilometers away. With such a large reconnaissance range, he has been cautious enough, but he did not expect that he was facing a Guards Corps that was marching at an abnormal speed.

Another hussar then said: "General, judging from their uniforms, those should be French."

Blücher felt confused for a while, French? How can this be?

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He had just received a report from the intelligence department a few days ago, saying that the troops assembled by the French in Verdun were bound for Silesia. How come they were transferred to Luxembourg without warning?

He violently broke the riding crop in his hand and said fiercely in his heart: These fools from the intelligence department must report them in front of His Majesty the King after they return to Potsdam!

However, the damn French were very close at this time, and something had to be done.

After Blücher asked the scouts to mark the location where the French army was found, Blücher couldn't help but look a little ugly. In order to prevent Leo from escaping, he ordered the army to rush towards the Austrians at full speed, causing the soldiers to form a narrow east-west line. formation.

The location where the French army appeared was exactly in the middle of this long line!

If he continues to attack Leo's Austrian army, his waist will inevitably be hit hard by the French. Although one's own troops are superior, if the front and rear armies are cut off, they can easily be annihilated separately.

The staff officer on the side whispered: "General, we should temporarily put down the Austrians..."

Blücher glared at him and gritted his teeth: "We must not let Leo run away!"

Austria has been operating in Luxembourg for decades and has a very deep influence. If Leo and he go around in circles in the Luxembourg-Liège area, then his time to go to Silesia to join the war will be delayed again and again.

He glanced at the position of his own troops on the map, and suddenly his eyes lit up: "God bless, the Dutch army is right in front of the French at this time."

He looked at the staff officer: "They are a tough nut to crack!

"Send an order for the Backhaus Regiment to cooperate with Altmann to attack the Austrian army. The battle must be over before two o'clock in the afternoon!"

"Yes, General!" The herald immediately took notes quickly.

Blücher used the heel of his riding crop to point at a mountain pass area on the map: "Let the Dutch army set up defenses here and stop the French at all costs."

He pointed to the end of the current team: "Dietlinde's army immediately turned south. The Dutch only need to hold on until 3 o'clock in the afternoon at most, and they will be able to reach the French left flank from the west."

According to the previous performance of the Dutch Rebel Army in his battle with the Austrian Wilmser Army, these fanatical liberals are extremely resilient, especially the priests among them, who can survive with a broken hand. Continue to fight in the online formation for more than ten minutes!

At that time, less than 10,000 Dutch troops stood firmly in front of the main Austrian force and held out for nearly 5 hours. Until the Duke of Brunswick completed the deployment of troops and formed an encirclement against the Austrians, they did not collapse.

Although the Dutch Army currently only has 5,000 men, relying on the narrow terrain, it should be very possible to hold back 7 to 8,000 French troops for more than 4 hours.

Moreover, he will leave some cavalry and artillery to support them, making it easier than the last battle.

This is still the most conservative estimate. If Altmann can quickly defeat the Austrians, they can also encircle the French army from the east.

The staff officer on the side suggested: "General, should we send cavalry to harass the French to slow down their advance?"

Blücher nodded: "Ask Hilde to lead 6 cavalry squadrons to conduct raids."

At present, the quality of the Prussian army is far inferior to that of the era of Frederick the Great. The combat effectiveness of the cavalry, which is almost entirely composed of Junker nobles, can still be seen. In many cases, they can influence the situation of the Prussian army.

Blücher then deployed the artillery and the main dragoons, and the herald quickly conveyed his orders to each unit.

The Prussian army, which had originally formed a long and narrow marching column, responded immediately.

The 5,000 Dutch rebels in the middle of the queue formed a formation near the mountain pass to block the French army. The Backhaus Army at the front continued to advance, annihilating the Austrians as quickly as possible. Hilder's army, which was originally in the rear, turned 90 degrees and attacked the French left flank.

At the same time, Blücher placed all artillery on the hillsides on both sides of the Dutch army to prevent the French army from quickly breaking through the defense line. There were also 10 dragoon squadrons, about 1,500 people, ready to maneuver on the right wing of the French army at any time, waiting for the opportunity to enter the battlefield.

It can be said that his deployment was almost textbook-like and impeccable when his side had an advantage in manpower.

However, in the Prussian military textbooks, there was no such unit as the French Royal Guard.

Then his knowledge and experience would probably become a big pit.

…

At nearly 12 noon, the main force of the French Royal Guard had arrived less than two kilometers outside the mountain pass where Blücher deployed defenses.

It is called a mountain pass here, but it is actually quite wide. There is a flat area of ​​about 3 kilometers between the low mountains on both sides.

However, as long as the middle section is pinched, the two sides will be impassable-the enemy army can cut off the marching column with a diagonal horizontal column as long as it changes its formation slightly, and there will naturally be cavalry behind to harvest the troops that have left the main force.

Berthier saw the enemy infantry lines at the mountain pass through the telescope, and turned to Joseph and said, "Your Highness, it seems that the Prussians are very confident and are ready to attack Major Lefebvre while fighting a decisive battle with us."

There are two infantry lines in front, and an experienced commander can estimate that there are no more than 6,000 people at a glance.

This is obviously not Blücher's main force.

Then there is only one possibility, the Prussians have divided their forces.

Joseph smiled and nodded: "It means that their scouts did not grasp the exact number of our troops."