The guide to the Netherlands

With advanced weaponry, extremely high training levels, and high morale, the Royal Guard Legion, disguised as Austria, would undoubtedly gain a significant advantage over Prussia soldiers in terms of marksmanship!

And so, from the high ground behind, holding Telescope, Bischoff watched helplessly as over 800 "Austria" routed his nearly 1,000- Infantry Line...

The enemy charged forward in Column, and although our side fired the first two volleys, we still couldn't withstand their rapid and intense firepower.

Soon, Bischoff's expression became even more unpleasant.

Because he had been too confident and pushed the second Infantry Line too high, the first unit retreated and plunged into the rear ranks, causing chaos in the rear.

In this era, line Infantry tactics could not involve deploying all soldiers in a single Infantry Line. Instead, they were divided into several lines—usually three lines, each Infantry Line three ranks of soldiers. This was the most stable combat formation at the time. In advantageous situations or desperate situations, the number of lines could be reduced to two, one in front and one behind, in order to cram more soldiers into each line.

This arrangement was designed so that if one Infantry Line encountered an emergency, the next line could immediately take its place, and the routed Infantry could regroup behind them. This prevented the collapse of an entire battle from being triggered by a single Infantry Line —sometimes caused by an officer's heartbreak or excessive drinking the previous day.

Seeing that Bischoff's regiment was about to be overwhelmed, Lieutenant Colonel Altman, who was watching from a distance, hurriedly ordered the reserve team to go up and provide support. He was secretly glad that he had left the reserve team behind and sent someone to ask the cavalry for help.

Lefebvre also saw through his Telescope the fierce charge of the Royal Guard Legion, which routed the Prussia Infantry Line that outnumbered him, and a smile crept onto his lips. But then he glanced at the Leo Legion lagging behind and shook his head inwardly.

Even though they had gained a huge advantage from over a hundred paces away, these Austria, who had been terrified by Blücher, remained timid and showed no sign of advancing to expand their gains.

Just as the Royal Guard Legion began firing two or three volleys at the second Prussia Infantry Line, Lefebvre saw more Prussia Infantry coming to reinforce them.

After a brief deliberation, he ordered the Infantry Royal Guard Legion be recalled.

He couldn't tell if the Prussia had any reserves. If they did, his inferior forces were going too deep and risking being surrounded by the enemy's cavalry rearguard tactics—his own cavalry had exhausted a lot of energy from the previous rapid attack and might not be able to catch up with the enemy cavalry.

His Crown Prince ordered him to stay here until noon tomorrow.

He must not lose too many troops before that.

Moreover, the main Prussia forces could appear at any time, which would be an extremely difficult and fierce battle, and he had to be prepared at any time.

When Altman saw that the "Austria" did not press their advantage, he breathed a sigh of relief and quickly ordered Bischoff to retreat and gather his soldiers to form a defensive position, keeping a close eye on the enemy on the opposite slope.

And so, more than an hour later, dusk fell, and both sides returned to their respective camps for the night.

Blücher received news from the front that Altman's attack was not going well, and he was very puzzled. How did Leo suddenly become so good at fighting?

It must have been a mistake by Altman in command!

He made up his mind and prepared to go back and give the Lieutenant Colonel a good scolding. Then he frowned and looked at the sky, but had no choice but to suppress his anger for the time being and wait for dawn.

Meanwhile, the Royal Guard Legion, 10 kilometers away, was still marching briskly under the last rays of the setting sun.

Because they had remained outside the reconnaissance range of the Prussia Hussars, Blücher had yet to discover this army of over ten thousand men.

However, Joseph knew that if he continued forward, he might encounter the Prussia at any time.

It wasn't until it was completely dark that the Royal Guard Legion set up camp near a flat woodland. Joseph and the officers of the General Staff lit lamps and discussed the battle plan in their tents until late at night—new intelligence had been sent back from the front, and the tactics needed to be adjusted accordingly. This is one of the advantages of the General Staff command system; even if the supreme commander wanted to slack off, the staff would drag him along to "work overtime."

"Your Highness, now that Lefebvre has gained the upper hand," Berthier suggested, looking at the long, narrow Prussia marching column on the map, "We could certainly fight more aggressively."

He pointed to the east side of Winceler Town, "We can send a cavalry unit to raid the enemy's rear, and the rest of the troops can insert themselves into the Prussian Army's flank."

"Although Lefebvre Legion may suffer heavy losses, I believe he will be able to block Blücher's westward advance. Then we can join forces with him to launch a pincer attack on the main Prussia force!"

Joseph, however, pressed down his hand that was pointing at the map and smiled, saying, "General, we don't need to rush to annihilate the Prussian Army."

Even when Blücher made a mistake, we had to let him leave.

"Actually, I've already sent someone to contact Henry Onck, who's the one they're using to 'release water' (i. e., facilitate)."

Henry Onck, the Conservatives leader of the Southern Netherlands Rebel Army, is now being sidelined by Liberals Van der Noot due to differing opinions on the future of the Southern Netherlands, and has almost fallen out of the core of power.

Berthier didn't dwell on the word "letting loose"—His Crown Prince often used strange words, he was used to it—and looked at Joseph with great surprise, asking:

"Your Highness, why did you let the Prussia go? Are you worried about the political repercussions?"

Joseph adopted a mysterious expression and deliberately lowered his voice:

"If Blücher Legion is gone, we'll have no reason to enter the Southern Netherlands. He's our ' Guide '."

"Ah?"

Joseph ignored the confusion on the Chief of Staff's face and turned to the staff officers, saying:

"Our primary objective is to retake Luxembourg, and the losses of the Lefebvre Legion must be kept to a minimum."

"Based on this direction, let's discuss the details of the operational deployment."

"Yes, Your Highness."

The following morning, Blücher personally rode through the Camp, urging the soldiers to break camp and set off as soon as possible. He was now very worried that Bischoff's defeat, he would not be able to stop Leo.

After nearly an hour, the Prussian Army finally packed up their tents, drove their Carriage to the road and lined them up neatly, and then began to move slowly to the sound of drums.

Blücher glanced at the sun, which was not yet fully risen, and was quite satisfied with the pace. If nothing unexpected happened, the main force would be able to launch an attack on Leo around 3 p. m. today.

What he didn't know was that Joseph had already led the Royal Guard Legion on their march for more than 40 minutes— the Royal Guard Legion, who had no tents and were camped in the open, began their march almost as soon as they could see, and their supply wagons were less than half the size of the Prussia'.