Chapter 36 Blood and Courage

"650?" Walster immediately protested, "That's all my cavalry, you have no right to mobilize them..."

Captain Dubois did not allow him to finish, but smiled and said: "Give me your cavalry, or you can face the Prussians alone.

"No, don't..." The commander-in-chief of the Dutch army waved his hand in frustration, "The cavalry is under your command. We cannot fight among ourselves at this time."

“Exactly the right decision!”

Dubois turned to the curly-haired French lieutenant and said: "Andre, act according to the original plan. How soon can you set off?"

Andre raised his hat and saluted: "Yes! My people have completed all preparations and are ready to leave at any time. However, the Dutch cavalry may still need some time."

Dubois nodded: "Now those people are under your command. Go and teach them how to improve their efficiency."

"yes!"

The cavalry lieutenant left, and Dubois looked at the Dutch officers in the military tent: "So, now everyone agrees to take the initiative to attack the Prussian forward?"

Everyone nodded silently.

"Very good, thank you all." Dubois came to the map and pointed to the location of the Sibera River. "Mr. Walster, please deploy the Hague Guards here."

The Dutch officer said with some dissatisfaction: "There are no Guards anymore. They are all the troops of the Provincial Federation Council."

Dubois nodded indifferently: "Okay, no matter what they are called, in short, they will mix with my artillery and wait for the Prussian forward here.

"The 'Freedom Corps' formed an array 200 meters to the south to accept the first wave of attacks from the Prussian army."

The so-called "Free Corps" is a militia group formed by the Dutch Patriot Party, and the Hague Guards are the elite troops of the original William V. The combat effectiveness of the two is self-evident. Of course, these Praetorian Guards also participated in the exile of William V, so there is no doubt about their loyalty to the United Provincial Congress.

A Dutch officer immediately objected: "You are letting the Free Corps be used as cannon fodder! Why don't the French go to the front?"

Walster raised his hand to stop him: "Captain Dubois is right. Without the veterans to hold the line back, the Free Corps will soon collapse in front of the Prussian army..."

Dubois said calmly: "The Free Corps don't have to fight to the death with the Prussians. After the battle, they just have to move to both sides. What I'm worried about is their level of training and whether they can complete their tactical arrangements without falling into chaos."

Volster suddenly puffed up his chest and said solemnly: "I will personally command the Freedom Corps."

Dubois nodded and continued: "From now on, let's do this..."

Under his pencil sketch, the area less than 5 kilometers wide between the Sibera River and Lake Abcaud on the map was already marked with Dutch and French troops.

…

South side of Amstelveen.

"Report!" A ranger came to Andre, circled the horse's reins, raised his hat and saluted, "The Prussian army was found 3 kilometers away on the east side, more than 4,000 people. Mainly infantry, but also a small amount of cavalry."

Andre nodded. This should be the Prussian forward. He immediately turned around and ordered: "Move the entire army 1 kilometer west, move quietly and slowly, and pay attention to the Prussian reconnaissance scouts."

"yes!"

Andre looked at his pocket watch, then took out the map to check. According to previous intelligence, the main force of the Prussian army was 15 kilometers away from here, just downstream of the Sibera River. At the current speed, they would be able to bypass them at noon tomorrow.

As he expected, at 2 pm the next day, the Rangers discovered a large Prussian convoy, but there were more than 3,000 Prussian troops protecting the convoy.

Andrei ordered the entire army to line up on the west side of the Sibera River, and then he noticed that his palms were full of sweat.

He had just graduated from the military academy less than two years ago. This was his first time actually commanding a battle. It was impossible not to be nervous. Originally he was just the deputy of this cavalry company, but the company commander contracted dysentery on the way to the Netherlands and returned to France for treatment. So he was ordered to become the commander of the cavalry company of French volunteers.

He looked at the plains and rivers in the distance, and suddenly became worried.

He is not afraid of confronting the Prussians, not to mention that it is just a harassment mission at the moment. Even if it is a decisive battle, he is confident that he will use his glorious blood and fearless courage to defeat the enemy!

five days.

Even if he died in battle, he firmly believed that his sword would lie between his body and the Prussian army.

What he was worried about was five days from now.

After French volunteers and Dutch troops held off the Prussians for five days, would the Prussians really retreat?

My uncle learned through internal connections that this action plan was formulated by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, a military plan of a thirteen-year-old boy...

Andre tried not to think too much. He was not afraid of death. Death on the battlefield was the fate of a soldier. What he was afraid of was a meaningless death. Especially since he came to the Netherlands as a "private person". If he failed to save the Patriot Party in the end, the military would not even admit that he had sacrificed his life for the country.

I hope that "son of the gods" is really as magical as everyone says.

After an unknown amount of time, the ranger's voice interrupted his thoughts, "Report, the Prussian army convoy is coming."

Andri's eyes flashed, he waved forward and shouted: "Attack!"

The French cavalry company was in the front, and the Dutch former Imperial Guard cavalry was in the rear, rushing towards the Prussian baggage train.

While the distance was still far away, sharp trumpets were heard from the Prussian army. A large number of infantry quickly gathered and formed a dense line formation with their backs on the convoy. Their muskets and bayonets pointed forward, ready to stand ready.

The smoke was billowing and the horses' hooves were rumbling. Andre could only see the densely packed Prussian soldiers from a distance, so he raised his Charleville 1728 short carbine and fired a shot towards the Prussian army.

The cavalry behind him also fired their guns, and there was a loud bang, and the battlefield was suddenly filled with smoke.

However, they were still 400 meters away from the Prussian army at this time, and the bullets could not cause any damage at all.

But the intensive gunfire still made the Prussian commander very nervous. The cavalry in front of him looked like there were nearly a thousand people, and I was afraid they were not the main force of the Dutch army.

Andre finished firing his gun, and immediately led his cavalry to turn sharply south, galloping past more than 300 meters in front of the Prussian army's formation.

The Prussian army waited for more than 20 minutes, but saw no enemy troops rushing up. They were cursing and preparing to close the team and continue on their way, when suddenly another large group of cavalry attacked from the side and rear, mixed with intensive gunfire.

The Prussian commander's face turned dark and he ordered to form a formation to attack, but the opponent's cavalry just circled in front of them and roared away again.

The Prussians had too few cavalry to protect the convoy and were unable to pursue it.

In this way, Andre commanded the cavalry to come and go, and came again, leaving the Prussians to form defensive formations. It was not until dark when the main force of the Prussian cavalry arrived for reinforcements that Andre finally gave up.

Andre let the troops rest in a dense forest for a few hours, and immediately sent an order to head north overnight, heading straight to the main Prussian assembly area.

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