Chapter 324: France's Cheap Troops
Chapter 325 France’s cheap troops
Yes, the Guards Corps also attaches great importance to counter-reconnaissance.
Fully one-third of the hussars of the Guards Corps were dispersed for reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance missions.
Joseph knew that the current combat quality of the cavalry in the Guards Corps was not superior - cavalry is a very difficult branch to train. After only one and a half years of study, the Paris police academy students can hardly be called elite cavalry.
Therefore, the combat deployment of the Guards does not rely much on cavalry, but more on taking advantage of their youth, tirelessness and passion, and using them as scouts.
Such intensive cavalry counter-reconnaissance made it difficult for Blücher's hussars to get close enough to the Guards Corps, making it impossible to obtain an accurate number of soldiers.
In fact, Blücher faced 13,000 Guardsmen, far exceeding his expectations.
This is because Joseph left the Mullan Army in Luxembourg City for stability. Of course, leaving the Mullan Army was also a factor so as not to scare Prussia and have nothing to play with in the future.
After confirming the situation of the enemy troops with the hussars, Berthier showed a relaxed expression: "It seems that the tough battle we planned will not happen. There are only more than 5,000 enemy troops and 30 cannons nearby."
Joseph looked at the enemy infantry line in the telescope, recalling the military theory class he studied at the police academy, but said cautiously: "The one on the opposite side seems to be the Netherlands National Guard. We have to take it seriously."
Berthier was a little surprised and said: "Your Highness, if I remember correctly, there are less than one-fifth of the regular soldiers in the Southern Netherlands Army, and the rest are just improvised citizens."
Joseph shook his head: "Please believe me, these 'makeshift' armies are no easier to deal with than the Prussian army."
He is very familiar with the fanaticism of the Southern Netherlands rebels in history, which even surpasses the French Grand Order. Relying on their enthusiasm for the Republic, these rebels caused a lot of trouble to the established European powers.
"Yes, Your Highness." Berthier bowed slightly, "I will deal with it carefully."
He turned around and had a quick chat with several other staff officers, then referred to the tactical plan he had made before, and issued a series of orders to the herald.
Soon, the infantry line of the Guards Corps appeared opposite the Dutch Army. There were more than 7,000 people, and they definitely took the latter very seriously.
The French army has already been discovered in the Southern Netherlands - from this distance, the opposite army can be seen with the naked eye.
The commander, General Peter Rodriguez van Wit, rode past the infantry line and shouted to encourage morale: "Citizens, this will be the last battle before the founding of the great Republic of Southern Netherlands!
“Of course, it was also a very tough battle.
“As long as you block the brutal French here, General Blücher can wipe out the Austrian army!
"At that time, no one can stop the founding of the Republic!
"The free Netherlands will always remember you!
"Long live the Republic!"
The soldiers immediately shouted excitedly, "Long live the Republic!"
"Get rid of the greedy King of Austria!"
"Long live freedom and human rights!"
These young faces are full of enthusiasm and fearlessness. If someone had told them that by sacrificing their lives they would establish the Republic of the Southern Netherlands, they would have died without hesitation.
In their eyes, bullets and cannons are just thorns on the road to freedom and human rights. Even if they prick their hands and feet, the blood can make the Republic more vivid and beautiful.
This is why they can withstand so many casualties on the battlefield that even a quarter of them can't collapse their formation. Among the European powers, this number usually does not exceed 10%.
Of course, the French Guards Corps should also be able to reach the level of the Dutch, but currently no army can inflict this proportion of casualties on them.
Just as General Witt was staring closely at the approaching French infantry lines and the skirmishers that might appear at any time, loudly urging the soldiers to stay calm, he heard the staff officer on the side remind him anxiously: "General, Cavalry! It’s French cavalry!”
General Witte hurriedly used his telescope to look in the direction he was pointing, and saw a large group of horsemen running out from behind the French army's formation under the smoke and dust.
He frowned and said, "A large group of cavalry is not suitable for attacking infantry lines in a narrow area."
The staff officer on the side immediately responded: "So, they should be heading for the cannon on the hillside!"
Different from the scenes that often appear in TV dramas where the cavalry rushes into the infantry queue and kills all directions, in actual battles, the cavalry does not dare to launch a frontal attack on the infantry - the infantry's bayonets are densely packed together, which can Effectively blocking the horses, the cavalry will take a lot of bullets as they approach and leave. In addition, cavalry is extremely expensive. Even if one or two infantrymen can be killed by charging forward, it is still a huge loss.
Therefore, the commonly used tactics of the cavalry are always to use their maneuverability to pull and find the weak points of the infantry formation, or to take advantage of the slow formation change of the infantry to attack on the flanks.
However, when dealing with artillery, the cavalry didn't have so much to worry about. They usually just charged forward and slashed indiscriminately, and that was it.
The artillery of this era was heavy and slow, and its hit rate was very poor. The cavalry only needed to slightly adjust the angle of the charge, and the artillery had almost no way to fight back.
So cavalry is the biggest enemy of artillery, no doubt about it. Artillery will also be protected by infantry, or directly stay behind their own army to shoot.
At this time, Blücher deployed the cannons on the hillsides on both sides of the infantry line. Although the shooting effect will be very good, it lacks the cover of infantry and is easily targeted by cavalry.
General Witte turned to the messenger and shouted: "Quick, order the cavalry to cover the cannon! Also ask Major Hilde for help and let his cavalry withdraw to assist in defense."
"Yes, General!"
Soon, the few cavalry of the Southern Netherlands Army came out and rushed to the hillside on the west side - the French cavalry attacked from the west. If they could get there in advance, they could form a dominant position against the French cavalry.
At the same time, Hilde, the commander of the Prussian cavalry, also led 6 cavalry squadrons to cover the artillery on their right wing.
When the two cavalry teams arrived in front of the artillery position, they finally breathed a sigh of relief. Now they were just waiting to see how the cannons would smash the French infantry lines!
However, to their surprise, the French cavalry that raised a cloud of dust did not rush towards the Prussian artillery positions on either side, but came straight to the front of the line infantry.
General Witte put down the telescope and turned to the staff officer with some amusement: "Is the French cavalry so cheap that they are actually using it to charge our infantry lines?"
"No, no! General, no!" The staff officer who was still holding the telescope suddenly shouted, "That's not cavalry, but cavalry artillery!"
General Witte frowned and looked carefully again with the telescope. Sure enough, he saw that there were more than a dozen cannons behind the war horses, turning the muzzles to point at the Dutch infantry lines.
"What are they going to do?"
General Witte was confused. Is the French artillery so cheap? So close to the Dutch positions, at most they can fire a dozen cannons, and when their own cavalry rushes over, they can't even run away.
