Chapter 447: Encircling the Point for Reinforcement
Drissen was riding forward with the meandering marching team. From time to time he turned his head and said something to his staff, when he suddenly heard the faint roar of cannon coming from the side and ahead.
The entire Prussian army stopped immediately, and the soldiers looked around in panic.
Drison's face also darkened. He was very cautious along the way. Even though he was marching on Prussian territory, he still sent out a large number of cavalry for reconnaissance.
Before, all the hussars reported that nothing unusual was found in the front, so what was going on with the sound of artillery?
He quickly ordered his troops to close in on him and form defensive formations.
Then, he looked at the staff officer beside him and said loudly: "Leon, send someone to find out what happened!"
"Yes, General!"
Before his order could be conveyed, two messengers rushed over. After seeing him, they immediately reported anxiously: "General, our front line was attacked. Two of General Brecht's troops were attacked." The group has collapsed..."
"How is this possible?" Driesen frowned, "Who is attacking us?"
"Looks like he's French."
"Damn, where did they come from!" Driessen was puzzled. Logically speaking, the artillery must be prepared to ambush on its own path, but why did its own hussars not notice it?
Of course he didn't know that it was the cavalry artillery of the Guards Corps. They had been hiding 6 kilometers away. After discovering his troops, they quickly approached and then started shooting in front of them.
"How many people are there in the enemy army?"
"This is not clear yet. The shelling came too suddenly..."
After all, Driessen was an experienced commander. He calmed down quickly and then made a quick judgment.
If the enemy has artillery, it may be a large corps, so the enemy's attack must be delayed first.
He immediately ordered Fenn's army to set up a defense line on the spot to block the attack. Other troops gathered near the woods to the north.
Most of Fenn's legions were elite Prussian Guards, and they moved very quickly. After just over half an hour, they began to gather on the south side of the main force. The winding march of the Prussian army slowly moved north.
However, the French army that ambushed them obviously had no intention of giving them a chance.
Soon a hussar reported to Driesen that tens of thousands of French infantry appeared on the southwest side and were heading this way.
Cold sweat broke out on Driessen's forehead. His main force was at least three or four kilometers away from the front and rear. It would take at least three hours to gather together and complete the formation.
He immediately personally commanded the two grenadier regiments around him, and joined Fein to build and deploy a temporary defense line. And ordered Krokov to lead all 12 hussar squadrons to delay the French army at all costs and buy himself time.
On the high ground next to the Bull River, Joseph saw in his telescope nearly two thousand Prussian cavalry, rushing toward the infantry line of the Guards Corps.
He wasn't nervous at all. After two years of military study, he could see that the Prussian cavalry was not prepared at all. The formation was scattered and out of touch, so he launched an attack in a hurry.
It's basically suicide.
Don't think that because the cavalry is well equipped, fast, and has strong impact, it will definitely be able to crush the infantry. In fact, cavalry is not used for frontal decisive battles at all. Their advantage lies in using their mobility to quickly attack the enemy's weak points and then float away. But if you fight head-on with infantry, especially if you charge into a neat line of infantry, you really can't beat them unless the numbers are equal. Sure enough, when the Prussian cavalry rushed in front of the French infantry line, they were immediately hit by a volley of fire. More than 20 horses at the front screamed and fell over, and many cavalry behind them were tripped.
Then, the soldier who finished shooting placed his bayonet-mounted gun diagonally on the ground and squatted down at the same time. The soldiers in the back row raised their guns and fired, then raised their cap guns flat and pointed forward with their bayonets.
Then came the third volley...
When the Prussian cavalry rushed forward, they faced dense bayonets in three rows at the front and rear. They had no choice but to pull the reins of their horses, turn around, and separate on both sides.
It makes no sense for the cavalry in movies and TV shows to risk their lives by stabbing bayonets - even if you can overwhelm two or three infantry, someone will immediately fill the gap. The corpses of you and the horse will become a stumbling block for the teammates behind you, slowing down the impact of the entire team. The cavalry that stops running is the target of the infantry.
The infantry line of the Guards Corps was very long, and it was impossible for the Prussian hussars to complete the mission of outflanking the two flanks. Moreover, there are cavalry from the Guards Corps behind the infantry on standby to provide cover.
The Prussian cavalry had to circle and gather in the distance. Just this disorganized attack caused them to lose at least one squadron, that is, more than 150 people.
However, Driesen's order to Krokov was to desperately hold back the French army, so he had to raise his sword again and loudly order his men to charge towards the Guards Corps.
When this attack was carried out for the third time, the Prussian cavalry became timid due to the huge casualties, and hesitated and was reluctant to move forward.
In fact, these Junkers noble cavalry were already pretty good, but the troops with slightly worse morale had already begun to flee as early as the second charge.
Berthier once again suggested that the cavalry of the Guards Corps should be sent to meet them. Joseph looked at the shaky Prussian cavalry in the telescope and finally nodded in agreement.
Cavalry is the most lacking arm of the Guards Corps. Only the cavalry initially obtained from the Paris Guards had strong combat effectiveness, and most of those trained later could only serve as rangers. Therefore, Joseph was very careful when using it. A little casualty would make him feel distressed for a long time.
However, after several rounds of attrition, the Prussian cavalry at this time was difficult to even gather the team.
When 700 Guards regiment hussars suddenly appeared on their left, even though Krokov personally came up with his attendants, almost no one followed him.
Immediately, the Prussian cavalry was cut into two pieces from the middle. Most of them fled north, while others were fired upon by the catching up French infantry and soon abandoned their horses and surrendered.
The infantry lines on Driesen's side were still in disarray, and they saw some hussars escaping back.
He asked someone to bring a small group of broken soldiers to the front, and heard several people say in a panic:
"General, the enemy is only eight or nine hundred steps away from here."
"General Krokov? We don't know where he is."
"The enemy's defense is dense and the firepower is very fierce..."
Driessen's heart sank. He had tried his best to remedy the situation, but he couldn't even delay it for an hour... It seemed that the enemy army numbered at least thirty to forty thousand people.
Damn it, it took at least two days for such a large army to enter Oberon, and no one noticed it!
(End of chapter)