Chapter 938: Chapter 846: Great Victory
“Eastward?” Blucher frowned, “Have you forgotten that Trier is already occupied by the French?”
Scharnhorst hurriedly said, “General, the number of the French Army is limited, they must be rushing to Cologne to seize the crossing now.
The troops left behind should be concentrated in Trier City and Koblenz Fortress.
If we move fast enough, we have a chance to pass through Trier near Castelrain, through Palatinate, and withdraw back to the East Rhine from Manheim.”
Castelrain is a town between Trier City and Koblenz, and its terrain is flat and easy to traverse.
Blucher hesitated for a few seconds before signaling to the Order Officer: “Order the entire army to turn towards Castelrain.”
On the other side, when Saint Iler arrived at the Wuer River, he found that Blucher had already crossed.
In fact, it wasn’t his negligence, usually by the end of October the Wuer River wouldn’t freeze. It was this year’s extre weather that saved the Prussians.
Saint Iler had a brief discussion with the General Staff and unanimously believed that Blucher must have fled to Cologne— the only crossing controlled by the Allied Forces in the northern section of the Rhine River.
He imdiately sped north, but he never found any trace of the Prussian Army. Just as he began to doubt his judgnt, cavalry who had gone ahead returned with a report stating they found the British Army in Dylan, engaged in fierce battle with the Walloon Corps.
Beside the dense forest east of Dylan.
The Duke of York, maintaining the royal composure, watched the retreating line of the British Army through his telescope and asked the General beside him, “How long until the Prussians arrive?”
“According to the ssage from our officer, they will arrive before noon today.”
Even before the General’s words fell, the Duke of York noticed so movent in the formation of the French Army.
He smiled slightly, “What ti is it now?”
“Ten-thirty, Your Highness.”
“Obviously, General Blucher’s speed is much faster than your estimate.” The Duke of York said, “Order to prepare to cooperate with him in launching a counterattack against the French.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
However, the General had just turned around when a cavalryman rushed in panicked, shouting, “Your Highness, a large number of French troops appeared from the south, at least 15,000 n.”
The Duke of York turned pale, even the telescope in his hand dropped to the ground, “How, how are they the French…”
Before two in the afternoon, Saint Iler, with the support of the Walloon Corps, crushed the British front line. Tens of thousands of British “Lobster Soldiers” kneeled in the field, from a distance, it looked like a large maple forest in deep autumn.
However, Saint Iler soon received bad news— the Duke of York was not found among the captives. He must have fled to Cologne amidst the chaos.
Saint Iler imdiately led his troops to pursue northward, as seizing the Cologne crossing was originally one of his tasks.
But when he rushed tirelessly to Cologne, he found that the Austrian Army had already fortified there.
Facing the sturdy fortifications in a perilous position, Saint Iler had to let his soldiers rest in place, waiting for the Walloon Corps to catch up before attempting another attack.
The next day, before the Walloon Corps arrived, Surt’s troops reached him first.
After securing Mainz, Surt was also determined to secure Cologne, the last crossing in the northern section of the Rhine, and rushed over without pausing.
The combined forces, including the Walloon Corps, numbering over 30,000, began a fierce assault on the Cologne Fortress.
Three days later.
Bastogne.
Joseph was reading a battle report sent from Mainz when Eman entered, accompanied by a courier, and knocked on the door.
The Crown Prince’s aide smiled broadly, “Your Highness, Captain Vidal has brought trendous good news.”
Joseph rely gave the courier a smile, as he had received so much good news in recent days that he had developed a “resilience”: “Please tell which corps achieved a victory?”
Captain Vidal respectfully saluted, handed the report to Eman, and then proclaid loudly in an exaggerated tone:
“God bless France!
Your Highness, the main force of Ferdinand’s Corps has already surrendered. Colonel Massena has captured 20 senior Allied officers, including the Duke of Brunswick, and a total of 47,000 Prussian and Saxon soldiers for you.”
Joseph’s “resilience” instantly vanished. He punched the air excitedly and shouted, “Great! God bless France!”
The trusted aides inside and outside the room also heard this astounding report, throwing their hats high into the air and cheering, “Haha, we’ve won!”
“This war will soon be over!”
“Ending with our glorious victory!”
“God bless France!”
No wonder everyone was so excited, this critical victory signified that the main force of the Allied Forces on the West Rhine was thoroughly annihilated!
After this battle, the entire Rhineland would be fully controlled by France, leaving the Allied Forces powerless to reverse the situation.
Furthermore, the outco of this battle alone was enough to shock the European Continent.
From the onset of the French Army’s counterattack, nearly 70,000 Allied Forces were killed or captured.
Rember, in the eighteenth century, without advanced reconnaissance thods, it was easy for the defeated to break up and escape under the cover of night or terrain.
Being able to eliminate more than 60% of the enemy’s forces was extrely rare. The planning, execution, and progression of this battle would surely be included in military textbooks worldwide later.
Once everyone cald down, Captain Vidal bowed again to Joseph and said, “Your Highness, Colonel Massena hopes you can go to Rhodeshausen to preside over the surrender ceremony.”
Joseph pondered for a while, then nodded, “This is indeed necessary. Let’s set off imdiately.”
A victory of this magnitude warrants a grand surrender ceremony, not only to boost the morale of the troops but the entire France and showcase France’s strength to Europe to enhance its international influence.
Three days later, when Joseph arrived at Rhodeshausen, he did not see Massena.
———
There is a little more at the end, please refresh in ten minutes. My apologies.
Scharnhorst believed that although the Prussian Army was not as skilled as the French Army, they could concentrate sufficient force on key battlefields with good planning and execution. He planned to form three armies with hundreds of thousands of troops from the Anti-French Alliance, advance separately and strike together, ultimately surrounding and annihilating the main forces of the French Army. Although the goal was not achieved, it inflicted severe damage on Napoleon’s French Army during the Battle of Leipzig. The increasingly efficient Prussian Army dealt Napoleon the final blow at the last Battle of Waterloo.
Adherents to Scharnhorst’s military principles continued to explore how to execute decisive annihilation battles with the General Staff. Finally, in the 1870s, Prussia made perfect use of the widespread railway network to execute separation and unified strikes. With the successive defeats of the Austrian and French Armies, the Prussians possessed an “invincible” land force and beca the first choice for many erging countries looking to strengthen their states.
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