Yes, the Guard Corps also placed great emphasis on counter-reconnaissance.
Within the cavalry of the Guard Corps, a full third were dispersed to carry out reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance missions.
Joseph knew that at present, the combat quality of the cavalry of the Guard Corps was not advantageous—the cavalry is a very difficult branch to train, and students from the Paris Police Academy, having merely undergone a year and a half of study, could hardly be considered elite cavalry.
Therefore, the battle deployment of the Guard Corps did not rely too heavily on cavalry, but rather took advantage of their youth, tirelessness, and passion, utilizing them as scouts.
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This intensive use of cavalry for counter-reconnaissance made it very difficult for Blucher’s hussars to get close enough to the Guard Corps, and therefore impossible to ascertain an accurate number of soldiers.
In fact, the Guard Corps faced by Blucher numbered 13,000 men, far greater than he had anticipated.
That was after Joseph, for the sake of caution, had left Murat’s Corps in Luxembourg City—of course, leaving Murat’s Corps behind was also to avoid spooking the Prussian Army too much, lest there be no fun to be had in the future.
After Bertier had confirmed the enemy situation with the cavalry scouts, he revealed a relaxed expression, “It seems the tough fight we planned for won’t occur. There are only a bit over 5,000 enemy soldiers nearby, and 30 cannons.”
Joseph, looking at the enemy infantry lines through binoculars and recalling the military theory classes at the police academy, said cautiously, “It seems we are facing the Netherlands National Guard; we must take them seriously.”
Bertier was somewhat surprised, “Your Highness, if I’m not mistaken, only less than one-fifth of the South Netherlands Army consists of regular soldiers; the rest are hastily assembled citizens.”
Joseph shook his head, “Please trust me, these ‘hastily assembled’ troops are no easier to deal with than the Prussian Army.”
He knew very well the fervor of the historical South Netherlands insurgent army, which even exceeded that of the French during the Great Emancipation. Relying on their zeal for the republic, these insurgents had caused considerable trouble for the established powers of Europe.
“Yes, Your Highness,” Bertier bowed slightly, “I will handle this with caution.”
He turned and quickly discussed with several other staff officers, consulted the tactical plans they had previously made, and issued a series of orders to the orderly officer.
Soon, the infantry lines of the Guard Corps appeared opposite the Netherlands Army, numbering over 7,000 men; they were indeed taking the latter very seriously.
The South Netherlands side had already spotted the French Army— at this distance, the opposing army was visible to the naked eye.
The commander, General Peter Rodrigues van Witte, rode past the front of the infantry lines, loudly boosting morale: “Citizens, this will be the last battle before the grand establishment of the South Netherlands Republic!
“Of course, it is also a very tough battle.
“As long as you hold the line here against the brutal French, General Blucher will be able to annihilate the Austrian Army completely!
“After that, no one will be able to stop the establishment of the Republic!
“The freedom-loving Dutch will forever remember you!
“Long live the Republic!”
The soldiers immediately began shouting excitedly, “Long live the Republic!”
“Drive away the greedy Austrian King!”
“Long live freedom and human rights!”
These young faces were all filled with fanaticism and fearlessness. If someone told them that sacrificing their lives would lead to the establishment of the South Netherlands Republic, they would rush to their deaths without a moment’s hesitation.
In their eyes, bullets and cannons were but thorns on the road to liberty and human rights. Even if those thorns pierced their limbs, the spurting blood would only make the republic more radiant and beautiful.
This was why they could withstand heavy casualties on the battlefield; even losing a quarter of their forces could not cause their formation to collapse. In European powers, this number usually did not exceed 10%.
Of course, the French Guard Corps should be able to reach the Dutch level, but no army had yet inflicted such a casualty ratio upon them.
As General Witte stared intently at the steadily approaching French infantry lines and the skirmishers that might pop out at any moment, loudly reminding his soldiers to stay calm, he suddenly heard an urgent voice from a staff officer beside him: “General, cavalry! It’s French cavalry!”
General Witte quickly turned his telescope in the direction the officer was pointing, only to see a large group of horsemen emerging from the rear of the French formation amid billowing dust.
He frowned and said, “A large cavalry force is not suitable for attacking narrow infantry lines.”
The staff officer at his side immediately added, “Which is why they must be heading for the cannons on the hillside!”
Unlike the scenes often depicted in TV dramas where cavalry charges into infantry ranks, causing great slaughter, in actual combat, cavalry dare not attack infantry head-on—dense bayonets could effectively stop warhorses, and cavalrymen would take heavy losses from gunfire while approaching and departing. Moreover, cavalry was extremely expensive, so even if they managed to kill one or two infantrymen, it would be a great loss.
Therefore, cavalry tactics often involved using mobility to harass, looking for weak points in the infantry formation, or taking advantage of the slow reformation of the infantry to attack from the flanks.
However, when dealing with artillerymen, cavalry had fewer concerns; they would usually charge straight forward and hack wildly to finish the job.
In this era, artillerymen were cumbersome and slow-moving, with very poor accuracy. Cavalry only needed to adjust the angle of their charge slightly, and artillerymen barely stood a chance to retaliate.
Therefore, cavalry was the greatest nemesis of artillery; there wasn’t any other. Artillery units would always have infantry protection, or they would simply stay behind their own army lines and shoot.
However, at this moment, General Blucher had placed all his cannons on the hillsides flanking the infantry lines. Although the firing effect would be excellent, the lack of infantry cover made them vulnerable targets for cavalry.
General Witte turned his head and shouted to the orderly officer, “Quick, order our cavalry to cover the cannons! Also, call for reinforcements from Major Hilde, have his cavalry return to assist our defense.”
“Yes, General!”
Soon, all of the South Netherlands Army’s few cavalry units lined up, heading for the western hillside—the French cavalry had launched their charge from the west. If they could reach there in advance, they would be able to form a commanding position over the French cavalry.
Meanwhile, the Prussian Cavalry Commander, Major Hilde, also led six squadrons of cavalry to cover the artillery at the right flank.
When both groups of cavalry had reached the artillery positions, they all breathed a sigh of relief. Now, they just waited to see how their cannons would shatter the French infantry lines.
However, to their surprise, the cloud of dust kicked up by the French cavalry did not charge toward anyone’s side of the Prussian artillery positions but instead came straight to the front of the infantry lines.
General Witte put down his telescope and turned to the staff officer with a smile, “Could it be that French cavalry is so cheap that they intend to charge directly at our infantry lines?”
“No, no! General, it’s not!” the staff officer still holding his telescope suddenly shouted in surprise, “They are not cavalry, but mounted artillery!”
General Witte frowned, looked through his telescope again, and indeed saw that behind the horses were a dozen cannons being turned to face the Netherlands infantry lines.
“What are they planning to do?”
General Witte was puzzled; French artillery was so cheap? At such close range to the Dutch position, they could fire maybe a dozen rounds at most. Once his own cavalry charged, they wouldn’t have any chance to escape.