At half past ten in the morning, the Marquis of Blucher, commander of the Prussian forces in the Southern Netherlands, received a message from the vanguard. They had joined forces with the Alterman Corps and had sighted the Austrian defense lines.
Blucher was secretly delighted. As long as Leao’s Austrian forces hadn’t escaped, the battle in Luxembourg was essentially over for him.
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He was about to order a full-scale assault on the Austrians when he saw several hussars charging wildly towards him, shouting from a distance, “Report! General, a large number of enemy troops have appeared half a mile to the south, their numbers unclear, but at least seven to eight thousand!”
Blucher’s brow furrowed in an instant. Where had these enemy troops come from? He had dispatched scouts out to a range of 2 miles, nearly reaching the outskirts of Diekirch Town, and had received no reports of other military movements.
Even the Austrian forces defending Diekirch couldn’t have covered such a distance in just half a day to suddenly appear before him!
Two miles was almost equivalent to 15 kilometers—a considerable reconnaissance range. He had been cautious enough, yet he had not anticipated facing a Guard Corps with march speeds reaching abnormal levels.
Another hussar chimed in, “General, judging by their uniforms, they appear to be the French.”
Blucher felt a wave of confusion wash over him. The French? How could that be possible?
He had just received a report from the Intelligence Department a few days ago, stating that the French troops assembled at Verdun were to depart for Silesia—how had they switched to Luxembourg without any warning?
He gripped the riding crop in his hand tightly, thinking fiercely: Those imbeciles from the Intelligence Department, when I return to Potsdam, I will definitely report their incompetence to His Majesty the King!
However, by now, the damned French were already alarmingly close, and he needed to respond immediately.
After Blucher had the scout mark the position where the French Army was discovered, his expression turned decidedly grim—the troop movements he had ordered to prevent Leao’s escape had led his soldiers to form an elongated formation stretching from east to west.
And the French had appeared right in the middle of this long line!
If he continued to press the attack on Leao’s Austrian forces, his central position would undoubtedly be struck hard by the French. Although he had superior numbers, if his forces were cut into front and back segments, they could easily be annihilated separately.
A staff officer suggested softly, “General, we should temporarily lay off the Austrians…”
Blucher glared at him, grinding his teeth: “We cannot let Leao escape!”
The Austrians had been entrenched in Luxembourg for decades and had considerable influence there. If Leao were to run circles around him in the Luxembourg-Liege area, his departure to join the campaign in Silesia would be delayed again and again.
He glanced over the map, noting the position of his own forces, and then his eyes lit up. “God bless, the Netherlands Army is presently right in front of the French.”
He looked at his staff officer: “They are a tough bone to chew!
“Send orders for the Bachhaus Corps to support Alterman in a strong attack against the Austrian forces. The battle must be over by two o’clock in the afternoon!”
“Yes, General!” The orderly officer immediately began making notes on the side.
Blucher tapped a mountain pass area on the map with the handle of his riding crop. “Have the Netherlands Army set up defenses here and block the French at all costs.”
He then pointed to the current rear end of the line: “The Dietlinde Corps must immediately turn south. The Dutch need to hold out only until three o’clock in the afternoon; they will be able to reach the western side of the French left flank.”
Based on the performance of the South Netherlands Insurgent Army in their previous battles with him and the Austrian Wurmser Army, these impassioned advocates of liberty were extremely resilient. Particularly the priests among them could continue fighting in the ranks for over ten minutes even after losing a hand!
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At the time, it was less than 10,000 Dutch forces that staunchly blocked the Austrian main force, enduring for nearly five hours before the Duke of Brunswick completed the troop deployment, encircling the Austrians, and they did not collapse.
Currently, although the Netherlands Army only had 5,000 men, relying on the narrow terrain, it could potentially hold back 7 to 8 thousand of the French Army for over four hours.
Moreover, I would also leave some cavalry and artillery support for them, making the situation more relaxed than the last battle.
This is still the most conservative estimate. If Alterman could quickly defeat the Austrians, then we could also encircle the French Army from the east side.
An aide at the side suggested, “General, should we dispatch cavalry to harass the French people to slow down their advance?”
Blucher nodded, “Let Hilde take six squadrons of cavalry to raid them.”
Currently, the quality of the Prussian Army was far from what it was in the era of Frederick the Great, and only the fighting power of the cavalry, which was almost entirely composed of Junker Nobility, was noteworthy. Often, they could influence the situation of the Prussian Army significantly.
Subsequently, Blucher deployed the artillery and the main dragoon forces, with the orderly officer quickly relaying his orders to each unit.
The Prussian Army, originally arranged in a narrow, elongated marching column, immediately responded.
The 5,000 men of the South Netherlands Insurgent Army formed a defensive line near the mountain pass to block the French Army. The front’s Barkhausen Corps continued to advance, destroying the Austrians at the fastest speed. The Hilde Corps, which was originally at the rear, turned 90 degrees and headed straight for the left flank of the French Army.
At the same time, Blucher placed all the artillery on the slopes on both sides of the Dutch forces, carefully guarding against the French Army quickly breaking through the defense line. Additionally, around 1,500 men from ten dragoon squadrons were ready to maneuver on the right flank of the French Army, waiting for the right moment to engage.
One could say that, given the numerically superior position of his own forces, his deployment was almost flawlessly textbook.
However, French Royal Guard Corps like those in France had never appeared in Prussian military textbooks.
Therefore, his knowledge and experience might well become a major pitfall.
…
Close to noon, at 12 o’clock, the main forces of the French Royal Guard Corps had already arrived less than two kilometers outside the mountain pass where Blucher had set up his defense.
This location, called a mountain pass, was actually quite broad, with about three kilometers of flat land between the low hills on both sides.
However, as long as they took control of that middle segment, the sides would become impassable—the enemy could easily switch formations and cut off the marching column with a slanted formation, leaving cavalry to reap the scattered forces.
Bertier, looking through the binoculars at the enemy infantry line at the mountain pass, turned to Joseph and said, “Your Highness, it seems the Prussians are quite confident, preparing to do battle with us while also attacking Major Lefebvre.”
The front infantry line consisted of two rows, and an experienced commander could estimate at a glance that they did not exceed 6,000 men.
This clearly was not Blucher’s main force.
So, there was only one possibility: the Prussians had divided their forces.
Joseph nodded with a smile, “It indicates that their scouts have not obtained an accurate number of our troops.”
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