Chapter 37: Chapter 37 The Dutch-Prussian War
5 km south of Amstelfen.
Outside the brightly lit Prussian army camp, Andre was directing the soldiers to remove the two gun barrels from the horseback.
Since it was a light cavalry attack, heavy cannons could not be carried. What Andre carried was a one-pound small cannon weighing less than 200 kilograms, which could be carried on the back of a horse.
He didn't even bring the gun mount, so he dug a hole in the ground and propped the gun barrel diagonally in the hole, without any hope of hitting the Prussian army.
Load gunpowder, load ammunition, and ignite.
With two bangs, chaos suddenly broke out in the Prussian camp.
When the Prussians finally figured out the direction of the enemy attack, they immediately mobilized more than ten cannons and began to fight back.
Andre had already strapped the one-pounder cannon back to his horse, and under the cover of night, headed south to Utrecht.
The Duke of Braunschweig, the commander-in-chief of the Prussian army, did not sleep well all night. He was very surprised as to why the Dutch, who had been beaten to the point of being unable to fight back, would take the initiative to provoke.
At dawn the next day, he sent his cavalry to search the area carefully to confirm that there was no enemy ambush, and then ordered to continue marching to Amsterdam.
However, at this moment, the Prussian forward troops were being attacked by the Dutch.
Although the Prussian army did not expect that the enemy would take the initiative to attack, the Prussian army trained by Frederick II had extremely high military quality and launched a counterattack almost immediately.
The Dutch were still as vulnerable as ever. After about twenty people died, they began to flee.
Blücher, the Prussian forward commander, reacted very quickly and immediately led his troops in pursuit, quickly arriving at the east bank of Lake Abcaud.
What appeared in front of him was a Dutch army line formation spanning several miles - this was the most common line infantry tactic used by infantry in the 18th century. All soldiers were one to three steps apart, and thousands of people lined up neatly. There are usually three or four rows of horizontal lines, standing straight and taking turns to shoot at the enemy with muskets.
Blücher sneered secretly, is this the purpose of the Dutch? Use the defeated army to lure me in and then snipe me here?
"Humph, you underestimate the quality of the Prussian soldiers!" He immediately issued an order, and the entire army stopped the pursuit and formed a line formation on the spot. There was also the Cambre Battalion and a company to attack in column.
The Prussian army moved very quickly. It took only 20 minutes for more than 4,000 soldiers to complete their formation.
More than 2,300 people formed a one-kilometer-long horizontal formation, facing the Dutch line. Behind them, 800 soldiers formed dozens of columns, ready to attack the enemy's line at any time.
In addition, there are nearly two hundred cavalry on standby on both wings.
Just the organizational discipline and action ability they showed sent shivers down the spines of the Dutch people on the opposite side.
As a burst of trumpets sounded, the Prussian army's military drum beat a rapid beat, and the commanders of each company waved forward almost at the same time, giving the order to attack.
At the same time, several 4-pound cannons sandwiched in the Prussian line began to roar.
As the Prussian soldiers continued to move forward following the beat of the drums, the infantry lines on both sides got closer and closer. On the Dutch side, under the attack of artillery shells, some people began to show signs of retreating, but they were quickly pushed back by officers with sabers. go back.
Until the two armies were about 100 meters apart, fire began to erupt from the Dutch line array, but the Prussians seemed to be setting off fireworks on the opposite side, still approaching in an orderly manner.
People kept falling in the Prussian formation, but they didn't even frown. When they were only 60 meters away from each other, the drumming on the Prussian side stopped suddenly.
"Raise the gun, aim - shoot!"
As the officers issued continuous orders, the Prussian soldiers fired a volley very skillfully. More than ten gaps suddenly appeared in the Dutch line array, and there were panic shouts everywhere.
When the two sides began to shoot at each other, the huge gap in their military literacy became apparent.
The Prussian army fired 5 times, and the Dutch army could only shoot 3 times. Moreover, the Prussian army moved neatly, and the entire line fired almost at the same time. However, the Dutch army was sparse, and there were even many soldiers who were nervous. Just shoot without aiming.
After the Prussians fired more than ten rounds, smoke covered the entire battlefield, and the Dutch began to retreat as a whole.
Upon seeing this, Blücher ordered without hesitation: "Attack in column!"
"yes!"
Following a burst of drum beats with a unique rhythm, more than 40 columns of the Prussian army rushed forward fearlessly in the light of fire. At the same time, their own line also moved ten steps forward.
More than a dozen of the charging Prussian soldiers fell down immediately, but they were in columns. The soldiers at the front blocked the bullets, while the teammates behind them were still trotting forward.
The Dutch infantry line was quickly dispersed, and the soldiers fled in panic. However, they were quickly restrained by officers and separated in an orderly manner toward the east and west sides to avoid the Prussian army's sharp edge.
Blücher observed with a telescope and pointed to the west: "Cavalry pursuit."
"yes!"
His observation was very keen. Walster was commanding on the east side, while the west side was obviously more chaotic.
Blücher himself commanded the large forces and continued to advance. At this speed, Amstelveen will be captured today.
However, just after all the Dutch soldiers left the frontal battlefield, rapid gunfire suddenly came from the front of the Prussian army.
Several huge iron balls passed through the Prussian line array with a scream, bringing out a bloody mist in mid-air. After one of the iron balls hit the ground, it rolled more than 40 meters and crushed a commander's arm. After the calf, he stopped.
Blucher's eyes suddenly jumped. Hearing the sound of the cannons, there were at least a dozen cannons, and the caliber should be quite large!
He marched in a hurry for several days, bringing only five 4-pound cannons, and was suppressed almost instantly by the artillery fire from the opposite side.
The momentum of the Prussian soldiers' attack suddenly stalled. Blücher hesitated, glanced at Amstelveen not far away, gritted his teeth and ordered one and a half battalions of the reserve to press forward...
The Duke of Brunswick, commanding the main force of the Prussian army, had just been walking for two hours when he heard intensive artillery fire from the north. He couldn't help but frown slightly - all his own artillery was here, and Blücher only had 5 cannons. There could be such a big movement.
In other words, is that a Dutch cannon?
But their artillery was wiped out half a month ago. Even if they could get the cannon, they still didn't have the artillery.
You know, artillery is the most difficult branch of arms to train. Without years of hard training and solid basic math skills, you may not be able to hit even one hit even if you fire dozens of shots.
While the Duke of Brunswick was wondering, a messenger rushed over, saying that a large number of Dutch cavalry had appeared near Utrecht.
The Duke of Brunswick felt nervous. Utrecht was his logistics base, and the food and baggage was transported to the front line from there every day. There was no room for loss.
What on earth do the Dutch want to do?
As an experienced commander, he quickly sneered and shook his head. He had an absolute advantage in strength, so why should he follow the enemy's lead?
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