Napoleon in 1812

Chapter 64

Operation Sickle – 2

A single French army against a coalition from Britain, Spain and Portugal, the Emperor of an Empire with unlimited power against a commander of coalition forces who was sensitive to internal and external political situations.

Obviously this was not an even fight. Arthur Wellesley was facing Napoleon with many penalties. Someone might say that it was a cowardly confrontation, not a fair fight. To them, Napoleon would answer like this.

So, what do you want me to do?

“A fair battlefield only exists in heaven. There’s nothing I can do for him even if there are complaints. Unfortunately, I feel better when I win by any means, whether it’s in politics or at war.”

Louis-Gabriel Suchet had sent a request to be allowed to perform operations.

He wanted to engage the coalition forces led by William Beresford (British Lieutenant General and Commander of the Portuguese army) who was trying to take back the city of Murcia. Although Suchet had been entrusted with a wide autonomy, he was sending a request to see if the situation had evolved in such a way that there would be a more intelligent way to move.

Napoleon marked his approval with the Emperor’s seal.

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Busy movements filled the encampment of Arthur Wellesley’s Corps early in the morning from 4 a.m.

The soldiers took out the poles and supports deeply embedded in the ground, removed tents and barracks, and were busy demolishing wooden bastions. Non-commissioned officers prepared for the long journey by feeding the horses with fodder, hay and water in advance.

During the night when the sun had yet to rise, they dismantled the camp, where they had stayed for nearly 20 days, and hurriedly prepared their retreat. The soldiers in the corps also reduced the number of torches and bonfires by less than half, fearing that they would be caught by French troops beyond the Arlanzón River.

It was difficult to distinguish objects and people in the dark, so there were mistakes and sounds of pain everywhere, but it could not be helped.

“The food squadrons carrying the heaviest loads must be at the forefront of the procession. If there are food carts in the background when the French hit our troops, we’ll have to fight a difficult battle.”

“The golden words of historical masters said not to put units carrying food and drinking water at the front. Of course, as Officer Oxlade said, the rear is also dangerous, so it would be better to put them in the middle of the army.”

“You’re putting the main force and the heavy squadron together? Where in the world is such an army? We should rather split up the troops!…”

The overall situation across the peninsula darkened, and now they had to unwillingly retreat from the battlefield against Napoleon’s Corps. As such, the atmosphere worsened, officers became sensitive and quarrels became frequent. The decision was ultimately up to the commander. Wellesley decided to deploy the food squadrons at the front.

But he compromised by placing them relatively close to the middle of the army so that they could quickly receive support if something unexpected were to happen.

The soldiers who were packing did not look very good either.

After the great victory of the Battle of Salamanca, the recapture of Madrid, the capital of Spain, and the capture of Fort Retiro without shedding blood, they had been seriously talking about the end of the Peninsula War. A lot of them were probably thinking about returning to their hometowns and reuniting with their families.

Since the atmosphere had changed after the failed capture of Fort Burgos, it was not incomprehensible that morale had bottomed out.

It was already 5:30 a.m. when the soldiers of the Wellesley Corps completed all preparations for the retreat.

Usually, the coalition forces would finish decamping within an hour in an orderly manner. However, this time, the progress was inevitably slowed because they did it secretly not to get caught by their enemy. At this point, Wellesley and the other leaders of the Corps felt a little relieved at the thought of being freed from the French pressure.

There was still about an hour left before dawn. No matter how aggressive the French were, they would not do something crazy like launching an offensive in the dark before dawn. Of course, the Allied had prepared a lot to stop them from going over the river, but… the best was to leave Burgos quickly without fighting.

As Napoleon’s troops on the other side of the river remained silent until the end, some coalition officers started to make jokes, saying they had been nervous for no reason.

Boom! Booom!! Boom!! Boom!!

The sudden sound of artillery fire from the other side of the Arlanzón River was enough to freeze all Allied soldiers. But did they not make preparations for the above situation in the first place?

The moment of embarrassment was short.

“Get started!”

“Yes, sir!”

At Wellesley’s command, the Allied soldiers put out the bonfires as planned and began to move the torches. As it was impossible to gain visibility in the dark, the shelling was naturally focused on shining objects. The coalition dispersed the artillery shots while hiding somewhere else. There were also other orders.

As soon as the shelling stopped, special forces from Spain and Portugal, made up of guerrilla-experienced militias, followed the officers and left the main unit.

They headed towards a reed forest west of the coalition camp.

“Stay in place until the order is given.”

They had to stop the French here if they wanted to prevent them from chasing after them. And the French would only come after the day became bright enough to be able to identify the soldiers.

Everyone thought so, and so did Arthur Wellesley.

“Th-the French have crossed the river! They’re coming!!”

However, Wellesley detected through his telescope a wave of French troops moving through the dark night. Swear words coming from the officers of the Corps hovered in the crowd. Were they really doing the crazy thing of attacking in the dark!?

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The French army crossed the river through temporary bridges built on the Arlanzón River, proudly stepped toward the enemy in the dark, singing their marching songs low. Artillery firing from both sides posed no threat to them. There was nothing less accurate than a cannon fired in the dark.

The problem was that they were also advancing to places where they could not see an inch ahead.

“Don’t argue with the Emperor’s orders! Do you still doubt His Majesty’s skills on the battlefield!?”

The soldiers of the 4th Infantry Regiment under Louis Nicolas Davout were expressing doubts and complaints at the shouts of officers, but closed their mouths. It was not just because they were frightened by the officer’s voice. They once again recalled that the Emperor, who conquered Europe with numerous victories and achievements, was the one leading this operation.

Even the lowest-ranking soldiers had no doubt that Napoleon would create another myth in this battle. Napoleon was now giving the French soldiers that much faith and devotion.

The march of the 4th Infantry Regiment continued.

They walked, walked, and walked. It was a long walk to the point where it would not be strange for them to face coalition soldiers in their camp, but the officers leading them continued to walk.

After walking like that for a while, the officers ordered a halt.

“All troops, stop! To the right!”

Their march ended before dawn when the surroundings were still dark. Other regiments of the corps arrived behind the 4th Infantry Regiment. Officers kept track of the time through a pocket watch and rearranged the soldiers ranks.

Only the officers knew what was going to happen here. The tensed soldiers were waiting in position, swallowing their saliva. In the meantime, the artillery fire kept ringing.

How much time passed? The regiment commander opened his mouth.

“Now these coalition bastards are just in front of us.”

“The sun will rise in a little while. We will then engage. Don’t answer, just nod your head.”

The soldiers began to brighten up little by little and nodded as they looked at the regiment commander’s face. In that condition, another 15 to 20 minutes passed. The sky definitely brightened. And the overall composition of the units revealed by it was remarkable.

As the regiment commander said, there were coalition soldiers waiting nervously in front of the 4th Infantry Regiment and other French infantry units. But there was nothing in front of the coalition soldiers. That was right. The French troops, including the 4th Infantry Regiment, were now standing on the right side of the Allies!

“Advance! Move forward!”

In line with the march, the French soldiers wearing the uniforms of the Imperial Army advanced. The 4th Infantry Regiment also walked along. When they saw them, the coalition soldiers panicked and started to run. Even the officers could not control them well.

The soldiers walking bravely, gave strength their legs with a strange smile. They were the enemies hidden by darkness who suddenly appeared as the surroundings brightened. The fear in the eyes of the soldiers and the fact that they could strike the coalition made the French thrilled.

The French infantry, convinced of victory, moved forward without hesitation. And they took aim.

“Shoot!”

Tatatatatatatata!

The surroundings were not so bright because the sunrise had not yet begun. Musket’s hit rate was also lower than usual. However, they were still being hit in the side. The Allied officers tried to counterattack by turning the direction of some regiments and battalions, but the French were not ones to let them do.

“On your left! Aim for the men with the barbed flags! Shoot!”

Tatatatatata!

Disorganized troops who were concentrated there due to the reversal of the battle lines were the first target of their fire. The sun rose just in time in the east, giving the French soldiers a clear advantage because they were facing west. The clearly brightened view greatly increased the hit rate of the French infantry.

On the other hand, the coalition soldiers, who were firing back from the west and who were already struggling to reverse the battle lines under the French fire, suffered from the glare of the sun. The firing battle on the right wing of the coalition was conducted under the overwhelming dominance of the French forces.

Most of the soldiers who fell in the fight between infantry units were Allied soldiers.

Napoleon, who was watching all of this with a telescope, had already deployed batteries forward. He had given Davout 10,000 infantrymen to destroy the right side of the coalition, but it was difficult to deal a decisive blow with them. If the Allied forces turned their cannons around, Davout’s army would be wiped out in no time because it was only made of infantry soldiers.

He had to eventually protect them from this.

“The enemy cavalry has begun to move!”

“Send a signal to our cavalry commanders.”

Arthur Wellesley would surely attack Davout’s troops first and then make plans to deal with every enemy unit one by one. Napoleon was aiming at the moment when Wellesley moved his cavalry.

“Fire!”

“Fire the cannons!”

The French artillery battalion, which was deployed forward under the command of the artillery commanders, fired its cannons. So far, the cannons had only been fired as threats, but now they could aim precisely as the surroundings had brightened with the sunrise.

Their target was the British cavalry!

The shelling was concentrated on the cavalry that was getting prepared for battle, waiting for orders from the commander Arthur Wellesley. The hit rate itself was not that high, but because the cavalrymen were in a dense formation, the surroundings turned into a sea of blood as soon as they were hit. Napoleon could feel their surprise up to here.

Well, the coalition did not expect the French to shoot their cannons as soon as the sun rose, and fire at the cavalry far behind the infantry lines.

Any way, Napoleon carried out the tactics he had set up. All the cannons in the rear were brought forward to maximize the artillery firepower, and engineers built more bridges over the Arlanzón River so that the infantry could continue to advance.

By now Arthur Wellesley would have noticed the presence of the French cavalry. As a commander of his rank, he would know that the enemies would fight back against his cavalry with their own cavalry. Now Napoleon could leave the front side alone to some extent.

He turned his gaze toward the reed forest on the left side of the Allied forces. That was where the second battlefield was.

Positions on the battlefield, blue: French side, red: coalition side. The unit that moved right next to the Allied Forces is the detached unit led by Davout.

 

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TL notes

The French ambush in the dark reminded me of this lithography made by Auguste Raffet, although it’s illustrating the Italian expedition (1796). The title translates to ‘The enemy doesn’t suspect us to be here, it’s 7 p.m. we will surprise them tomorrow at 4 a.m.’