Chapter 360: Divide, Encircle, Decisive Battle!
The French were supposed to be heading towards Ghent, so how did they suddenly appear on the eastern outskirts of Brussels? Carl II was so furious he nearly snapped his riding whip in half. Frustrated, he sent another regiment to reinforce the unit that had been ambushed and dispatched a large number of hussars to scout ahead, fearing that his main force might also be ambushed.
After Major Masson's raid on the Dutch forces, he received orders from the Prince to head back to Antwerp. He circled around the western side of Waterloo, maneuvering to the north of the Dutch forces. Due to the earlier attack, General Bronckhorst, still on edge, ordered his troops to march cautiously, maintaining a defensive formation. While Masson's forces had already completed a large loop and were scouting the Dutch position, the Dutch army had only managed to advance about 8 kilometers.
To the northwest of Brussels, near a small village about 20 kilometers from Antwerp, the Imperial Guard was resting. They had been on a forced march for two days, covering nearly 60 kilometers. Based on Carl II's pace, it would take him about another day and a half to reach this area.
In reality, if Joseph had wanted to launch a full-scale assault on Antwerp, the city could have fallen to the French forces before the Hanoverian army arrived. However, that would have been perceived as helping Austria suppress the rebellion, which was not the outcome he desired.
Inside the central officer's tent within the Imperial Guard camp, Berthier drew the final circle on the map and wrote a note beside it. He put down his pencil and let out a long breath. The information from the various hussar units had finally been compiled. Joseph looked at the long, snake-like line formed by the circles of various sizes on the map and couldn't help but smile in satisfaction.
"We have at least three positions where we can execute an encirclement," he said, pointing to several spots on the map. "But this will spread our forces thin."
Given the 18th-century communication methods, once a unit was sent out, it would have to rely heavily on the initiative of its commanding officer. But with the current depth of senior officers in the Imperial Guard, Joseph found it difficult to feel confident.
"Yes, Your Highness," Berthier nodded, thinking for a moment before pointing to the southeast of Antwerp, where Carl II's main force was located. "The Hanoverian artillery and infantry are clearly out of sync, and about three regiments are spread out northeast of Brussels.
"Perhaps… we can strike between their rear guard and this dispersed regiment, while sending out assault troops to block their main force in the northwest. This way, the distance between our two encircling units won't be too far, allowing for easier command and mutual support."
Joseph studied the enemy positions on the map and nodded in agreement. While he had advanced tactical concepts from the future, when it came to the actual deployment of forces, professionals like Berthier, who had spent over a decade immersed in military service, were indispensable.
He quickly summoned all the staff officers and the regimental commanders, and using Berthier's plan as a foundation, they swiftly drafted a detailed battle strategy.
After resting for half a day, the Imperial Guard resumed their forced march. But this was nothing new for them. During their time at the military academy, they frequently engaged in week-long exercises, and their annual end-of-year maneuvers often lasted for more than two weeks, involving this kind of intense marching almost continuously.
Speed was the key to executing the encirclement and flanking maneuvers! Even if another commander on the European continent had studied these tactics, they would have been frustrated to realize that their forces simply couldn't keep up. From gathering the troops to their physical endurance and morale, the demands of such high-intensity maneuver warfare were beyond their capacity.
If your army couldn't move faster than the enemy, you couldn't disrupt their formations and exploit any weaknesses.
By midday the next day, the Imperial Guard had force-marched 30 kilometers to reach the southeast of Antwerp. Meanwhile, Carl II was still plodding along, aiming to fortify Antwerp in preparation for a French siege.
After resting for two hours, the Imperial Guard launched a full-scale attack on the scattered Hanoverian forces. The main force quickly struck from the northwest, cutting off the regiment Carl II had sent to reinforce the Dutch from his main force.
It was only then that Carl II realized with horror that more than 10,000 French soldiers were now less than 6 kilometers from his position, while his own forces were spread out over a distance of more than 5 kilometers.
"Damn it! Where did these Frenchmen come from, the ground?!" He wiped the sweat from his brow with the lace cuff of his sleeve, trying to stay calm. Pointing to a tall officer, he shouted, "Lieutenant Colonel Schmidt, take the dragoons to the village of Aughin and set up a defensive line. Do not retreat without my order!"
"Yes, Marshal!" Lieutenant Colonel Schmidt turned away, his face instantly clouded with dread. He knew that with just under two regiments of dragoons, hastily assembled, there was no way they could stand against the French main force. It was clear he was being ordered to sacrifice his men to delay the French advance.
Carl II then ordered two infantry regiments to secure the rear supply trains and artillery, while the rest of the troops were instructed to regroup around him. With approximately 16,000 men still under his command, Carl II believed that if he could form a proper battle line, he could still fight the French.
The Southern Netherlands army in Brussels was expected to reinforce them by the next afternoon. By then, he might even be able to counterattack the French forces.
However, the battlefield situation did not unfold as Carl II had imagined. The Imperial Guard's horse artillery and the dragoons protecting them took just over an hour to penetrate the nearly 2-kilometer gap between the Hanoverian main force and their rear artillery.
Following Napoleon's suggestion, the artillery quickly set up positions on the northern hills, while the dragoons formed infantry lines in the woods below. Meanwhile, the main force of the Imperial Guard launched a fierce assault on the three dispersed Hanoverian regiments.
With their overwhelming numerical superiority, the French infantry attacked in column formation from the front while cavalry flanked from both sides.
Just an hour earlier, these Hanoverian soldiers had been in a marching formation. They were only informed by Carl II's messengers that they were about to engage in a decisive battle. Carl II's orders were to regroup with the main force and abandon the Dutch.
But before they could reorganize, the French columns appeared in their sights. The French soldiers quickly formed line formations and, even before they fired a single volley, the sheer terror of their approach caused the Hanoverian troops to break and flee.
(End of Chapter)
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