Chapter 1256: The Last Prussian Army
The Duke of Brunswick had been certain that the French army was on its way to attack Anhalt, yet here they were, appearing out of nowhere.
It must be Soult's contingent, left behind to delay them. He immediately made that deduction, turning to an officer beside him and ordering, "General Bohn, lead the Hussars to reinforce..."
Before he could even finish his sentence, a messenger galloped up, shouting from afar, "Marshal, over twenty thousand French troops are closing in on us from Witzenhausen!"
Witzenhausen lay four kilometers to the Prussian army's west, meaning they were now caught between two enemy forces.
A memory suddenly flashed in the Duke of Brunswick's mind, uncontrollable: the moment he had been captured in Luxembourg a few years prior.
He shook his head, forcefully banishing these unwelcome thoughts, then instructed the messenger, "Tell General Lichten to hold back the enemy with everything he has!"
Lichten commanded his vanguard.
The Duke of Brunswick then turned back to Bohn. "The Hussar regiment won't be reinforcing. We will make our decisive stand against the French here!"
The Prussian forces hadn't even fully transitioned from marching formation when Soult, leading the main force of the Second Army, appeared on their left flank.
Then, a Skirmisher Swarm, formed by tens of thousands of French soldiers, swiftly closed in, engaging in a furious exchange of fire with the hastily arranged Prussian infantry lines.
The Duke of Brunswick had heard rumors of a new formation the French employed on the North Italian battlefields, but he had always dismissed it as merely a testament to the French army's superior marksmanship. 'How could the scattered fire of skirmishers possibly compare to the dense volley of a line formation?' he had thought.
He remained convinced that by simply maximizing the density of his infantry lines, their firepower would be sufficient to overwhelm any Skirmishers.
However, the unfolding battle thoroughly shattered his confidence.
The volleys from the four-rank Prussian infantry lines seemed ferocious, but the French troops opposite, except during reloading, would crouch low among the withered grass, causing most of the Prussian bullets to whistle harmlessly into the air.
Yet the French army's seemingly sporadic and scattered firing inflicted a staggering number of effective casualties.
The firefight lasted barely fifteen minutes before the Duke of Brunswick was forced to deploy his reserves to plug the gaping holes torn in his infantry lines.
Just then, another messenger rushed forward, handed him an encrypted message, and said urgently, "Marshal, General Lichten implores you to send reinforcements immediately! He can't hold on much longer."
Though Brunswick's corps outnumbered Soult's by more than fourteen thousand men, the sudden ambush, coupled with their vastly inferior combat strength compared to the French, left them utterly helpless on both fronts.
The Duke of Brunswick's face had turned ashen. He hesitated for a few seconds before instructing the messenger, "Order the Hussar regiment to launch a flanking assault on the enemy."
"Let the Bozevirna Corps hold off the enemy, and the rest retreat towards Eisenach."
A cavalry charge against an intact enemy infantry formation was notoriously costly, but at this moment, the Duke of Brunswick could no longer afford such concerns. He had to draw the main French force's attention to create an opportunity for his main force to retreat and fortify Eisenach.
Ten minutes later, Bohn, leading nearly four thousand Hussars, surged from the woods on the southern flank, charging the French right wing.
Simultaneously, the main Prussian force began its rapid withdrawal.
At the French temporary command post, Soult soon received a report from the observation balloon, detailing the discovery of a large enemy cavalry force. His side's balloon deployment system was fully functional, allowing the balloon to swiftly ascend once the battle commenced.
Grouchy, standing nearby, immediately turned to Soult and stated, "General, I'll intercept them."
Soult, however, held him back. "Let the infantry handle it."
He only had just over 2,500 cavalrymen at his disposal, and clashing with a numerically superior enemy would undoubtedly result in heavy casualties.
Grouchy hastily reminded him, "But this will affect our frontal assault."
"It's fine," Soult replied with a slight smile. "General Lefebvre should be arriving soon."
The Chappe Signal Vehicle positioned behind the French Skirmisher Swarm swiftly relayed the orders to every company, and the four regiments on the right wing rapidly formed two hollow squares.
Bohn first endured several rounds of distant cannon fire, then beheld the disheartening square formations ahead.
He gritted his teeth, drew his Saber, and loudly commanded, "Launch a direct assault!"
As it turned out, the combat prowess of the Prussian Hussars was not significantly greater than that of the Mamluk Cavalry.
They circled the hollow squares, probing for opportunities, but consistently failed to achieve a breakthrough.
Meanwhile, the cannons and rifles within the squares steadily whittled away the lives of the Prussian cavalry.
In just over twenty minutes, the Prussian Hussar regiment had sustained casualties amounting to a third of its strength. The remaining soldiers, despite Bohn's furious shouts, stood their ground, unwilling to march to their deaths.
It was then that Grouchy charged in with his Cuirassiers.
But the Duke of Brunswick, thanks to the brief time Bohn had bought, had seized the opportunity to withdraw his main force from the battlefield.
What he didn't know, however, was that Lefebvre's Legion and several thousand "former Walloon Police" were waiting for him mere kilometers away.
...
Baden.
East of the French Karlsruhe defense line.
Prevedish looked back at the dolphin and iris banner not far away, his heart pounding with excitement.
He knew that at this very moment, the Crown Prince was watching him from beneath that banner.
Ever since the victory at Schnait Town, the new recruits of the Sixth and Seventh Army Groups had become utterly enamored with Bayonet Charges.
Even though the Crown Prince had repeatedly issued strict orders, forbidding close-quarters combat unless explicitly commanded by a brigade-level officer, it had proven impossible to fully curb their enthusiasm.
Recently, these new recruits' Bayonet Charges had indeed swiftly routed enemy attacks on several occasions, but they had also incurred very heavy casualties themselves.
This had led to a manpower shortage along the Baden defense line, especially after the Coalition Forces transferred a large number of troops from Freiburg.
This afternoon, Graham's corps launched a fierce assault on the eastern sector of the defense line, creating a breach over a hundred meters wide, and General Berthier could no longer immediately muster enough soldiers to seal it.
Thus, the Crown Prince ordered the Guard Grenadier Battalion to deploy into the fray.
Several kilometers away, at the French command headquarters, Grand Duke Karl Friedrich of Baden gripped the windowsill tightly with both hands, staring out into the distance.
Although he couldn't discern anything from his vantage point, his tense expression made it seem as though he were personally experiencing the brutal fighting.
Just an hour prior, the French Crown Prince had rushed to the front line with his personal guard. This alone signified the gravity of the situation.
For a fleeting moment, Karl Friedrich even questioned whether it had been a mistake to stake all his fortunes on France.
But then he recalled the countless miracles wrought by the Son of Divine Favor, and his gaze instantly firmed.
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