#849 - Rout and retreat
Duke Brunswick's face turned even paler than the messenger's.
He stood there dumbfounded for a good two or three minutes before his brain finally seemed to accept the reality, and he turned dejectedly to his staff officer: "Order the Dönberg Legion to intercept the enemy north of Wirz; the rest of you turn north and retreat, withdrawing from Prüm back to Geldern."
Dönberg was the commander of the Bavarian army. He currently had over 11,000 soldiers, which should be enough to delay the French for a while.
However, Duke Brunswick had no idea that as early as two days prior, Masséna had ordered Saint-Hilaire to lead 7,000 soldiers to the Our River to set up defenses and cut off the Allied retreat.
[Note: The Our River, the Sauer River, and the Zel River are actually the upper, middle, and lower sections of the same river, with three different names. They are located in the Ardennes Plateau and on the northern and southern borders of Luxembourg and Trier respectively.]
......
North-central Ardennes Plateau.
Duke York looked at the long, narrow French defense line on the distant hillside and almost flew into a fit of impotent rage.
He had just received news of the attack on Trier and the defeat of Duke Brunswick, and there was nothing he could do.
His troops had been held near the Burgplatz peak for a full week.
The damned French, taking advantage of the high ground, consistently avoided direct confrontation, instead delaying him by constantly retreating their lines.
And he couldn't afford to delay any longer.
Once the French had completely defeated Duke Brunswick, they would mobilize their main forces to deal with him.
Duke York summoned the two Austrian generals, briefly explained the current situation, and then ordered with a grim face: "We can't continue to waste time here.
Order the troops to proceed east immediately and meet Duke Brunswick in the Sauer River area."
Count Clerfayt immediately said, "Your Highness, the top priority now is not to meet the Allied main force, but to return to Cologne as soon as possible to prevent the French forces in Trier from attacking there."
Duke York's heart tightened upon hearing this.
He had been so focused on reinforcing Duke Brunswick that he had forgotten that he himself could lose his retreat!
Now that Koblenz and Mainz had been captured by the French army, the Cologne crossing to the north was their only way to return to the east bank of the Rhine.
He took a deep breath, slammed his cane hard on the ground, and gritted his teeth: "We retreat to Cologne. Duke Brunswick will surely be able to retreat successfully."
Major General Gayard, commander of the Walloon Legion, noticed that the Allied artillery fire around him was weakening, and he couldn't help but feel a little surprised. He quickly ordered the cavalry to scout ahead.
Half an hour later, the rangers returned and reported to him: "General, the enemy seems to be retreating."
Gayard breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed that his mission had been successfully completed.
He turned to the adjutant beside him and said, "Let the soldiers rest in place, we should be able to return to Namur soon."
Brigadier General Contant, the second commander of the Walloon Legion, pondered slightly and leaned over to say: "General, according to the battle report sent by the headquarters yesterday, our army has launched a full-scale counterattack against the enemy on the Ardennes Plateau.
If I'm not mistaken, the British opposite us should be going to meet their main force."
Gayard nodded: "Very likely, so what?"
If he could turn the defense into a rout, then after the war, he would most likely be promoted to lieutenant general!
After discussing with Contant for a while, he ordered the Alpine Legion to leave 4,000 men to defend the position, and he led the Walloon Legion and the American volunteers to pursue the enemy.
Well, he knew that the Americans had no fighting power, just to guard against the possibility that if the enemy suddenly turned around to attack, they could be left behind as cannon fodder.
The rearguard left by Duke York had only about two thousand men, and Gayard quickly broke through.
Then the Walloon Legion closely pursued the Anglo-Austrian Allied forces.
Gayard quickly noticed the strangeness. The British seemed to be retreating very urgently. Twice he caught up with their baggage trains, but they preferred to abandon their logistics supplies rather than turn around and fight.
This only strengthened his determination to pursue.
Just, the British were running a bit fast...
He suddenly remembered the trick used by the crown prince when he was in Mechelen, and immediately summoned the American volunteer officers, ordering them to catch up with the British lightly armed on horseback, without engaging in combat, just constantly insulting them.
Gayard's method actually worked.
An officer commanding the rear of the British army couldn't bear it after hearing the Americans mocking them for "being beaten to tears by American farmers in North America."
He himself had participated in the American Revolutionary War. If the French army hadn't arrived at the time, he would have crushed those rabble from the North American colonies into part of the mud long ago!
He immediately ordered the rear army to turn around and line up to teach those foul-mouthed rabble a lesson.
Duke York was calculating the journey on the map, and he should be able to reach Cologne in another two and a half days.
At this moment, he suddenly heard gunfire from the south.
Soon, the messenger reported to him that Jones's Legion in the rear had suddenly stopped and was engaged in battle with the enemy.
Duke York was furious. He didn't even want the baggage train, just so as not to be entangled by the enemy. Jones, this idiot, actually took the initiative to seek battle!
He hesitated again and again, but in the end, he was reluctant to give up the 7,000 soldiers in the rear - he only had 15,000 British troops left, which was nearly half of his force.
But soon, Duke York regretted it.
Those Walloons were still avoiding direct confrontation with him as before, instead constantly flanking, obviously trying to hold them back.
After being entangled with the Walloon army near Düren for two days, Duke York once again received an urgent military report.
Duke Brunswick was surrounded by French troops in the Rhodeshausen area west of the Our River and was in imminent danger. At the same time, the French troops in the Rhineland had occupied Mainz and were turning north.
Duke York was instantly desperate and had no choice but to order the Austrian Legion to continue to deal with the Walloons - this might mean leaving behind tens of thousands of people - while he rushed to Cologne to defend it.
However, his messenger quickly returned and reported to him in a sweat: "Your Highness, Count Clerfayt has already led the Austrian Legion out of the battle and caused a huge gap in the left wing of our army."
