The decisive battle at Rochefort

"Send a report to Vienna: the Liège Rebellion has been quelled. 🐤🍟 💘💜" General Würmser wearily gestured to his advisor beside him, "His Majesty the Emperor must be getting impatient."

He then looked at the Austrian Army soldiers who were marching into Liège: "The two regiments that were in charge of the main attack today will stay behind to rest. The rest of you, set off immediately and must reach Waremme by tomorrow afternoon."

Waremme is a necessary stop on the way to South Brabant, about 40 kilometers away [Note 1].

Six days after entering Liège Province, the Austria army, which had been constantly harassed by the rebels, finally captured the city of Liège, achieving its first major victory since the start of the war.

However, General Würmser was far from happy, as progress was much slower than he had anticipated, and the Prussian Army had likely already reached the vicinity of Brussels.

In other words, his plan to besiege the Brabant Rebels and ambush the Prussia was no longer feasible.

Moreover, in today's battle against the rebels in Liège, he still failed to eliminate the main force of the rebels. About 3,000 rebels decisively abandoned the city and fled to Waremme. He killed or captured fewer than 800 rebels in Liège.

In addition, the situation on Longuen's side was also very bad—three days after losing contact with Muzil's Corps, he realized something was wrong and sent a Cavalry Company north to investigate. The cavalry finally returned yesterday, reporting that Muzil had not yet captured Longuen.

General Würmser mustered his spirits, thinking that as long as he could defeat the Prussia in Brabant, none of this mattered.

He took the reins from his attendant and was about to mount his horse when he suddenly saw scout cavalry galloping towards him, and he immediately frowned.

Because the cavalry came from the south, while the enemy should be in the north.

The scout spotted the Commander-in-Chief twenty meters away and immediately shouted, "Urgent! Rebels have been spotted in Rochefort, numbering at least 5,000!"

General Würmser's pupils contracted; how did those rebels end up in the south?

Rochefort is only two days' journey from Luxembourg, and Luxembourg is a necessary stopover point for supplies from both Austria and France.

If Luxembourg is attacked by rebels, its own logistical supplies will immediately be disrupted.

He looked anxiously toward Brabant, hesitated for a long time, and finally sighed deeply, saying to the Orderly Officer, "Assemble the entire army and march toward Rochefort. Oh, and have Colonel Muzil abandon Longuen and immediately go to Waremme to prevent the rebels from escaping back to Brabant."

"Yes, General!"

Just as the Austrian Army was grumbling about marching south, outside Namur, not far northwest of Rochefort, the Duke of Brunswick Prussian Army Commander-in-Chief, was riding past the endless Prussian Army ranks, waving and shouting, "Get your damned legs moving! If you reach Rochefort by tomorrow, glorious victory is yours!"

As a man over seventy years old, he is definitely a vigorous old man.

He had been galloping like this for nearly twenty minutes, constantly shouting to boost morale. Finally, he and his horse were exhausted and stopped, panting.

Marquis Blücher rode up from behind and handed the water jug to the Duke of Brunswick: "Marshal, please have some water. Rochefort just sent word that the Netherlands are ready; there are over 12,000 of them."

The latter tilted his head back and gulped down several mouthfuls of water, a smile flashing across his lips, "Where did that Lawyer named Van der Noot get so many people?"

"The Dutch people sent 200,000 gold shields and a considerable amount of weaponry. The Netherlands quickly armed a large number of their citizens."

200,000 Dutch Guilder is equivalent to 2.5 Livre, which shows the great support the Dutch people have for their fellow Dutchmen in the Netherlands.

Blücher hesitated for a moment, then said, "Marshal, is it really safe for us to abandon Brabant? The Austria are only three days' journey away."

The Duke of Brunswick flicked the reins and said calmly, "That old fellow Würmser never dares to take risks. Even if Brabant had no soldiers left, he wouldn't abandon Luxembourg to attack there."

Two days later, the Austrian Army arrived at the outskirts of Rochefort, and then General Würmser received a report from scouts that at least 20,000 Prussian Army and tens of thousands of Netherlands Rebels had been discovered to the South.

General Würmser's heart tightened immediately; the Prussia ' marching speed far exceeded his expectations. He had originally thought he would only be facing rebels, but he hadn't expected a decisive battle here.

Fortunately, his extensive experience in commanding large armies over the years ensured that he did not neglect reconnaissance, thus avoiding the predicament of being ambushed.

He immediately took out a map, pointed to a flat, open area to his side, and said to his staff officer in a deep voice, "Deploy the troops here immediately. Have Winkler take his Skirmisher Regiment to set up outposts first, and be wary of Prussia attack."

"Yes, General!"

However, just as the Austria began to form their ranks at the positions designated by Würmser, 15 cannons suddenly appeared at the forefront of the Prussian Army and began to bombard the Austrian Army fiercely.

The Winkler Legion, the elite of the Austrian Army, withstood the artillery fire and held its ground on the open front. Behind them, the line Infantry, inspired, began to quickly form ranks outside the enemy's artillery range.

The Prussia artillery fired 30 rounds, but because the Skirmishers led by Winkler were spread out, they only killed a little over 200 men. Meanwhile, the Prussian Army vanguard was unable to directly attack the main Austrian Army force due to the threat of the Austrian Skirmishers.

General Würmser finally saw his main force fully deployed and immediately ordered the Artillery to return fire— Winkler Legion was his trump card, and every death of one of them pained him deeply.

After exchanging fire for a while, Würmser finally noticed through his Telescope that the front of the Prussia position appeared to be a line formation of Netherlands Rebels.

He was overjoyed. The Duke of Brunswick had made such a basic mistake—entrusting the most important frontal battlefield with such an untrained amateur army. If they were breached, it would cause the entire Prussian Army to collapse!

Würmser decisively ordered the Orderly Officer, "Order Schroeder to immediately launch a full-scale attack on the enemy's lines! Have Berg's Grenadier push forward as well, and have the cavalry protect the flanks."

"Yes, General!"

[Note 1] In the 18th century, the Southern Netherlands, which later became the Brabant Region of Belgium, was divided into two large parts, North and South. North Brabant, including Brussels, was slightly larger and belonged to the Dutch region. South Brabant was smaller and belonged to the French region. North Brabant constituted the most prosperous core area of Southern Netherlands.

(End of this chapter)