Chapter 355: Deep Behind Enemy Lines
Napoleon paused, surprised. He had encountered the "Outflanking and Interpenetration" tactic in officer training materials at the Paris Police Academy, but only in a superficial sense. He had no real grasp of how to actually employ it.
He looked at his regimental commander. "But if we ignore the Hanoverian army, once they link up with the Prussians, General Leo will likely struggle to hold them back."
Colonel Dumont nodded slightly. "Actually, I had the same concerns as you during the last General Staff meeting."
He then smiled. "But you must consider that the fundamental reason both the Hanoverians and Prussians can set foot in the Southern Netherlands is the Netherlandish rebellion. If Antwerp falls to us, the Netherlandish Rebels' assembly will collapse. Then, even if the Prussians defeat General Leo, what good will it do them? Occupy the Southern Netherlands directly? The Dutch and British would never agree to that."
Napoleon suddenly understood. "So, Karl II will definitely have to rescue Antwerp."
"Precisely. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that as long as our march is swifter than the Hanoverians', and we threaten Antwerp before they reach Liège, the Austrian army will be out of danger."
"However," Napoleon mused, "advancing deep into the Southern Netherlands to confront the enemy in the rebels' stronghold doesn't seem like a wise decision. Karl II could even cut off our supply lines and wait for us to surrender."
Colonel Dumont shook his riding crop. "Who said anything about a decisive battle at Antwerp? Your understanding of the 'Outflanking and Interpenetration' tactic is still not deep enough."
He paused, feeling a touch of embarrassment. In truth, he hadn't researched the tactic much himself. He had merely attended the General Staff meeting and heard the Crown Prince's explanation, which allowed him to instruct Napoleon by rote.
He suddenly stopped. The subsequent military deployment was top-secret, and Major Bonaparte's rank apparently didn't grant him access to such information yet.
"You'll find out soon enough. In any case, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is undoubtedly a tactical genius."
When it came to commanding an army in battle, Joseph, who had only attended military school for a year and a half, might not measure up to any field officer in the Guards Corps. Yet, his mind was filled with centuries of advanced tactical theory from later eras, along with a vast array of practical combat examples to draw upon.
Many tactical theories are like this: once explained, they're quite simple. Applied casually to the current battle situation, they can completely overwhelm an opponent unfamiliar with such tactics.
For instance, on the current European battlefield, generals primarily focused on how to deploy their formations frontally in the most optimal way and which angle of attack offered the greatest advantage. They rarely considered large-scale outflanking maneuvers.
Even a genius like Frederick the Great, at most, only engaged in maneuvering at the theater level, and that was already enough to crush his contemporaries.
What Joseph brought, however, was the theory of the "King of Outflanking and Interpenetration" from later Eastern eras — more than enough to give Karl II a real headache.
Of course, even in a direct confrontation with the Hanoverian army, Joseph believed the Guards Corps still had a significant chance of victory.
Although the Guards Corps could commit fewer than 14,000 troops to fight Karl II — two regiments had to be left with Leo, just in case Blücher broke through his lines, which would force Joseph to rush back to defend Luxembourg. Furthermore, soldiers from the Moulins Legion remained in Luxembourg to maintain order, and after accounting for previous combat casualties, only this number of soldiers remained — still, given the Guards Corps' training, morale, and equipment, they had a greater chance of winning against the 24,000 combined Hanoverian and Dutch forces.
However, clashing head-on with a numerically superior enemy would likely result in heavy casualties for the Guards Corps, something Joseph was unwilling to accept.
Furthermore, there were many favorable conditions for employing outflanking and interpenetration tactics in the Southern Netherlands.
For example, in the French-speaking regions of the Southern Netherlands, the French army was even more popular than the Brabant rebels, making it relatively easy to acquire logistical supplies.
Moreover, Austria had established deep roots during its decades of rule over the Southern Netherlands. Austrian officials were present throughout the region; even if they had been ousted, they could still provide Joseph with intelligence, supplies, and other forms of support.
Most critically, the Southern Netherlands contained too many strategically vital points that Prussia and Hanover absolutely had to protect, providing Joseph with numerous tactical opportunities.
...
North of Brussels. Inside the Southern Netherlands Parliament, a Liberal Party member, one of Vander Noot's deputies, pointed at Vonck, who sat in the front row, his face flushed with anger. "The large Hanoverian army is currently marching towards Liège! We should be coordinating with them to crush the Austrians once and for all! Instead, you've ordered our army to hide! This is our battle, a fight for the freedom and democracy of the Southern Netherlands, and you are destroying our nation's future!"
Vonck remained completely unmoved. His own faction's members deftly countered, "Freedom and the people only matter if they're alive first. Our troops are extremely fatigued after intense fighting. They will re-engage when the time is right."
The core Conservative Party members present had already been informed by Vonck that he had reached a secret agreement with the French: as long as the Southern Netherlands did not interfere in the war between France and Prussia, among other nations, France would support an independent Southern Netherlands after the conflict, demanding only the southern Namur Province.
Vonck had never believed that the weak Southern Netherlands could challenge Austria on its own. The remaining question was simply whether to align with Prussia or France.
To his knowledge, both Prussia and Britain supported the Netherlands' annexation of the Southern Netherlands.
In comparison, France's appetite, asking only for Namur, was far more modest. Moreover, a significant portion of the Conservative members hailed from the French-speaking regions and were more inclined to cooperate with France.
Upon learning of Vonck's agreement with France, some Conservative members even wished to mobilize forces from the southern regions to help France drive out the Prussians.
Just as the Liberal members prepared their rebuttal, an officer burst into the assembly hall like a startled bull, pushing past the guards on either side of the large doors.
Vander Noot frowned. 'The military has been acting increasingly out of line lately,' he thought.
He was about to voice his displeasure when he heard the officer exclaim in terror, "The main French force has already passed through eastern Brussels and is less than 10 miles from Antwerp!"
Ten miles is roughly 16 kilometers, a distance that would take only a day and a half of normal marching.
The entire Southern Netherlands Parliament hall fell into an immediate, stunned silence. After a full seven or eight seconds, Vander Noot suddenly cried out, "Quick! Send an urgent plea for help to His Excellency Karl II! His army shouldn't have gone far yet..."
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