#850 - Another genius story
Chapter 846: The Story of Another Genius
Duke of York was immediately stunned.
Clerfayt was commanding more than 14,000 Austrian troops. If he withdrew, the French forces nearby would outnumber his own.
Especially after the previous prolonged unsuccessful attacks, the morale of the British soldiers was very low, and their formation was very disorganized. If the Walloons launched an attack at this time, the situation would be precarious…
He didn't dare to think about it any further and roared at the messenger: "Catch up with the Austrians and order them to return immediately, or I will definitely complain to the Holy Roman Emperor!"
"Damn it! Haven't these cowards learned the word 'shame'?"
An hour and a half later, the captain who had gone to deliver the order returned and said to the Duke of York with his head lowered: "Your Highness, Count Clerfayt refused your order. He said…"
"Said what?!"
"He said that Cologne is more important than everyone, including your life. He cannot continue to waste time here because of our army's foolish… cough, because of our army's mistakes."
The Duke of York's face instantly turned as black as coal.
He walked to the map, trying to find a way to escape from the gaps in the French army, but before he could find anything, he heard dense gunfire coming from the northeast.
A moment later, cavalry came to report: "Your Highness, the French have launched an attack from our army's left flank, with about 4,000 men."
If it were other experienced commanders, seeing Clerfayt's army suddenly withdraw, they might suspect that it was a trap by the coalition forces and hesitate.
But Jaures, who came from the Walloon police, didn't think so much and immediately ordered his troops to rush up from the gap…
West bank of the Urft River.
Blücher frowned and turned his head, only to see a large number of soldiers walking past him in a panic. The surrounding officers didn't care about the formation at all, and just kept urging the soldiers to speed up.
He was about to reprimand those officers when the adjutant hurried over, not even bothering to salute, and said anxiously: "General, the Duke of Brunswick's troops are surrounded by Masséna west of Rodershausen."
Blücher jumped up as if stung by a scorpion, stomped on the stirrups, waved to the messenger not far away, and shouted: "Form up! Quickly! Get these idiots to form up, and then immediately turn south to reinforce the Duke!"
He was commanding the left-wing of the coalition forces, with more than 23,000 men. Because they were the furthest from the battlefield before, they retreated the fastest, so they had not been caught up by the French army in the past few days.
"Yes, General!"
The messenger was about to turn around when Scharnhorst rode forward and stopped him, then turned back to Blücher's side and whispered: "General, do you think that even if we rush to Rodershausen immediately, we will have the confidence to defeat the French?"
"Of course, I will send all the damn Frenchmen to hell…" Blücher roared halfway, but suddenly caught a glimpse of the coldness in the eyes of the corps adjutant, and his whole person suddenly became listless. "If we can seize the enemy's mistakes, perhaps there is still a chance."
Scharnhorst said in a deep voice: "General, even if you break through the French encirclement and rescue the Duke, what next?
"We will face the obstruction of the Urft River.
"Even if we cross the Urft River, what next?
"Koblenz and Mainz have both fallen. You and the Duke will be blocked on the west bank of the Rhine!"
Blücher clenched the horse whip tightly, the veins on the back of his hand bulging, but he couldn't say a word.
Seeing this, Scharnhorst continued: "Our only chance is to go to Cologne immediately.
"This is also to hold the retreat route back to the east bank of the Rhine for the Duke."
Blücher knew he was right, but still shook his head and said: "No, we can't just watch the commander of the army group be surrounded and do nothing!"
Scharnhorst sighed secretly and asked: "General, did the Duke order you to reinforce him?"
"No."
The Duke of Brunswick was surrounded by Masséna's main force, and his messenger could not possibly break through the encirclement to come.
"But…"
Blücher was about to say something more, but was interrupted by the corps adjutant: "Since the Duke didn't send anyone, his intention is obviously to let you find a way to escape on your own."
As he was speaking, a cavalry captain galloped over and said to Blücher: "General, French troops have been spotted to the west, about two-thirds of a league away."
He was talking about Prüm. Two-thirds of a league is less than 5 kilometers.
Half past four in the afternoon.
Scharnhorst could already see the French flags in the telescope, and sighed heavily.
He came from a humble background. Even though his military talent was amazing, he had only reached the rank of major so far. This was only because he had saved the Duke of Brunswick in the Southern Netherlands, which led to his being promoted out of turn.
No mistake, one first, one hair, one inside, one content, one in one look!
However, his military career, which was just starting to improve, was about to come to an end today.
He knew very well that with only the three or four thousand men that Blücher had left him, it was impossible to escape the rearguard mission.
He was about to go check the defense line again when Blücher's messenger came galloping over, waving his hand and shouting excitedly: "Major Scharnhorst, retreat quickly, no need to hold the rear!"
"Retreat? Why?"
"The Urft River has frozen over!"
Half an hour before dark, Scharnhorst led the rearguard to the Urft River.
Then he saw cannons and carriages thrown everywhere, and even many warhorses.
He immediately understood that the ice on the river was very thin and could not bear heavy objects.
By the time he crossed the river, night had fallen.
The next day, Blücher gathered his troops and was about to head towards Cologne when he saw the cavalry responsible for guarding bring a lieutenant dressed in a British army uniform to him.
The Englishman handed the Duke of York's letter to him and said in broken German: "General, His Royal Highness Prince Frederick is entangled by the French army in Düren. Please go to reinforce him immediately."
"We are about to go to Cologne," Blücher said. "Go tell the Duke of York that we will be there soon."
After the Englishman who came to ask for help left, Scharnhorst immediately said to him: "General, we can't go to Cologne."
"Ah? Tell me your reasons."
"Since French troops have appeared near Düren, more enemies will soon arrive there. We may also be held up."
"Then what should we do?" Blücher almost broke the horse whip in his hand, gritting his teeth and said, "Let's go back and join the Duke of Brunswick!"
"No, no," Scharnhorst quickly stopped him. "We should immediately turn east."
