Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 414 056 Napoleon’s Speedy Road to Berlin (2) Battle of the Sauerkraut Patch

When Blücher made his deployment, Napoleon was in Weimar. After all, the Grand Duchy of Saxony-Weimar was also an in-law country of Russia. Before Russia officially joined the war, he did not take any action here to "provoke" Alexander.

In essence, Napoleon still wanted to deal with his enemies one by one, rather than all of them together.

As long as the British are across the English Channel and Britain remains hostile to France, this attempt to find allies across Europe to form an anti-French alliance will not stop.

But there are no suitable means to contain the British.

Of course, in order to solve this problem, we must first defeat the enemy in front of us before we can take the next stage of measures.

"The Prussians are moving. What are they going to do?"

"Your Majesty, it seems that their purpose is to move the entire army in front of us, rather than to have a battle."

"The Duke of Brunswick wants to bring the Prussian army to Berlin. He is now using Fabian tactics and will not fight us on a large scale. At the same time, he also wants to ensure that he still has a certain amount of power in his hands."

When he said this, Napoleon was still holding a chicken leg in his hand. He was finally able to eat chicken when he arrived in Weimar.

"Then, we can't let him get what he wants. Berthier, what are the current movements of the Prussian army, except for the regiment in Erfurt?"

"This morning, the Prussian vanguard has entered Krautheim, with a large number of hussars."

"What? Sauerkraut field? These Germans don't look that humorous, but this place is indeed suitable for the occasion. Germans, pickles... no more, we must block them now. The Prussian obviously hopes to use this village to cover his The main force retreated. At the same time, the idea of ​​leaving Lüscher's army in Erfurt to threaten our flank was very difficult, but it was difficult for the Prussians to execute it because their actions were too rigid."

"Your Majesty, how should we issue the order?"

"Instruct Soult and Augereau to march towards this pickle, and the Guards will follow. At the same time, Murat is asked to send out both the cuirassiers and dragoons. The cuirassiers are given to Nansuti to command, and the dragoons are sent out. The cavalry was commanded by Grouchy, and they were to intercept the Prussians on the east side of Sauerkraut. Then, Bernadotte was to move west, and Davout was to make a detour on the far west side.

"What about the enemies in Erfurt?"

"Just leave one division to keep an eye on them. We want these Prussians to know that there is no point in escaping. They can only fight us here!"

Napoleon moved very quickly. In fact, when he entered the city of Weimar, this idea had probably already been formed. Whether the Prussian army wanted to fight or run, they had to pass through this open terrain, and although this place was flat land , but there are also many forests, ponds and lakes, and not all places are suitable for the army to enter.

The Duke of Brunswick also sought medical treatment in a hurry, and his troops moved slower than the French. Except for Blücher and von Arnim of the reserve team who arrived at the scheduled area on time, only the Duke of Brunswick's The headquarters and a part of the army approached Krautheim.

At the same time, there is their King, His Majesty.

Frederick William III was now completely panicked. After a series of defeats, the Prussian army seemed to have hundreds of thousands of people who could be pulled out to confront the French before the war started, but now they quickly lost 40,000.

Moreover, he didn't know the situation on Louis Ferdinand's side. Only after returning to the headquarters through the liaison officer sent by the Duke of Brunswick did he know that the French army even had a unit crossing the Thuringian Mountains towards the Come to Erfurt.

In other words, there are two French troops behind them. No matter how you look at it, it is impossible not to run away at this time.

"Sir, what should we do now?"

The Duke of Brunswick was helpless when he saw him like this.

For the King of Prussia to command the army, it would be better for him to run back to Berlin.

But if something happens, it's best not to.

"Your Majesty, at this time, we need to assemble the troops. Blücher has entered Krautheim, and his advance division will ensure the safety of the entire legion's flanks. However, if the French attack, we will also We can only rely on this place to fight.”

"War on the plains?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. Right here, some of our officers were arrogant before the war and believed that the French were vulnerable. These comedians have now obviously brought our army to the edge of the cliff. We just You can find a way to retreat from here."

The Duke of Brunswick had made it very clear before that Hohenlohe should not rush into battle when encountering the French army. As a result, this guy lost 40,000 people in a day and a half, which indeed set a record for the defeat of the Prussian army.

Now, I can only bite the bullet and rush over.

However, for him, it seems to be a fate.

In the woodland near Krautheim, the French army quickly discovered the Prussian movements after advancing, so Soult ordered the troops to drag up the cannon, and then aimed it at the Prussian marching column ahead. , and started firing cannonballs.

When the Prussians were attacked by this round of artillery shells, most of the artillery shells fell into the woods behind them, damaging more trees than killing soldiers.

So the Prussian soldiers changed their formation, lined up in three rows, put down their backpacks, and started fighting with the French.

When the Duke of Brunswick saw this situation, he also knew that the courage of the soldiers at this moment was also the key to victory or defeat, so he led his staff to approach the Prussian column in front, hoping to inspire these soldiers to fight bravely.

At first, the Prussian soldiers were indeed encouraged when they saw the elderly commander-in-chief personally riding a horse and coming behind them, and the French attack was frustrated for a time.

Suchet and Gazan each commanded a division to launch an attack, but with little effect. Even the Prussian soldiers are now shooting more boldly, unlike the previous battles.

After all, now is the time to fight desperately. The soldiers are not afraid of death and dare to make correct shooting movements. Indeed, no unlucky person was shot in the head by his own people.

There are even Prussian soldiers who use their shoulders as gun racks for their comrades. Although they are deafened by the explosion of black gunpowder due to continuous shooting, they also improve the shooting efficiency of the soldiers in the back row.

In this way, no one is shot in the head, but the soldiers in the front row will suffer more.

But that was it. After the French pulled up the howitzers, they began to use these unreliable grenades to shoot at the Prussian crowd.

If the grenades didn't explode and hit, they would be treated as solid bullets; if they did, the lethality would be even greater.

It was at this time that the Duke of Brunswick was hit by the exploding shrapnel and fell off his horse.

After seeing the commander-in-chief fall, the Prussian army was in chaos.

Unfortunately, Scharnhorst was sent by the Duke of Brunswick to assist in commanding the battle in the 3rd Division. The staff officers left by the old duke himself did not have the ability to command, nor did they have the urgency of Moreau.

After the Duke of Brunswick fell, they just fulfilled their responsibilities and took the elderly commander-in-chief to a safe place in the rear.

When the nearby Prussian army saw this, the morale that had just been aroused had returned to normal, although it had not bottomed out.

At this time, the French army launched an attack again.

After Augereau's Seventh Army arrived, when Soult attacked the Prussian army west of the "sauerkraut field", he launched an attack on the village controlled by Blücher.

Blücher was a reckless man of a certain age, but he was also famous for not fearing death in battle. He actually rode a horse and led his hussars to launch an attack.

You know, this old man is 64 years old this year. Although his brain is not very bright, his personal strength and courage are there, and he caused Augereau a lot of trouble for a while.

This forced the French soldiers of the Seventh Army to form a hollow square formation. Those who did not have time to form a formation formed a smaller anti-cavalry formation, relying on each other to deal with these Prussian hussars rushing over.

Although Blücher's attack was a bit brainless, it also disrupted the rhythm of the French army.

Napoleon was on the mountain north of Weimar at this time and could see the situation ahead.

"It looks like the Prussians are desperate to escape from this 'sauerkraut farm' today, but it's okay. They are resisting here, and we don't need to go to Berlin to destroy them."

"Your Majesty, the cuirassiers have arrived at the battlefield, and General Nansouty is over there."

The adjutant who came back to report pointed to the northeast direction to Napoleon, but the distance was already very far, and it was not easy for Napoleon to see clearly here.

"Let Nansouty launch an attack, and Grouchy's dragoons are ready to go to the sauerkraut."

"Your Majesty, but there are Germans everywhere."

"It's not 'Germans', the place where the Prussians are stationed is called Krautheim, isn't that sauerkraut?"

"I see, Your Majesty, it's the Germans' sauerkraut heads!"

The cuirassiers commanded by Nansouty, and only his division immediately joined the battle.

For Blücher's hussars, it was still a bit difficult for them to deal with the cuirassiers, especially the French cuirassiers were well-equipped and had a strong impact.

In this way, Blücher had to take the hussars back to the north of the village and try to use infantry and artillery to deal with the approaching Nansouty.

Both sides were masters of cavalry, but Blücher deployed his infantry formation to fight because there was no hidden place around the village. Nansouty would not pay attention to him and just led the cuirassiers to bypass the Prussian army.

The Duke of Brunswick originally wanted Blücher, who was more determined to fight, to delay the French army, and then let the main force escape from the north of Krautheim.

However, the French army's detour exposed the retreating Prussian army to the French sabers, and the order of the marching column was soon in chaos.

Unlike the troops led by the Duke of Brunswick and Blücher who could still resist for a while, these Prussian troops were obviously demoralized, and many of them were captured by the French.

As for the gap opened by Nansouty, Napoleon was also very satisfied after receiving the report.

However, he still held the Guards in his hands. No matter how Bessières asked for battle, Napoleon would not move a battalion of Guards.

This also made the old Guards start to sit on the ground and complain again.

"Our young platoon leader, you don't let us go to the battle this time. We are already in the German's sauerkraut field, and you still want us to wait here. In my opinion, the Germans will definitely be chased by those little pups of the Prancers again."

"Don't talk about this first, you old man. When he comes over again, we will do the same as before and shout 'Long live the emperor' to him. If the platoon leader is happy, who knows, he will let us go up and fight the Germans!"

However, these "complaining soldiers" had a good idea, but Napoleon didn't intend to let them go at all, that is, to pull up the Guards Artillery and use 12-pound guns to bombard the Prussian positions.

Compared with ordinary artillery, the artillery of the Guards Artillery is obviously more accurate. After the Prussian army was "rewarded" with a barrage of shells, the frontal blocking of the French position also opened a gap.

In this way, the French army continued to attack, and the Prussians were obviously unable to resist.

When Davout came from the left wing and Murat's cavalry came from the right wing, the Prussian army was now unable to fight again, and they all fled to where they thought they could run.

Instead, it highlighted Blücher, who was still holding on to Krautheim. This old man was now desperately leading his men to resist there, but was left behind by the French army.

Strangely, when Soult and Augereau passed by here, they only sent part of their troops to continue to besiege Blücher, and did not want to annihilate him.

Napoleon's instructions were to destroy as many of the Prussian main forces as possible.

Therefore, only two infantry brigades were left to monitor Blücher, and his resistance could ensure that he would not be destroyed by the French army in the village.

When the sound of gunfire gradually moved north, Blücher realized that the situation was over.

At this moment, he decided to lead the remaining troops to break out.

It was because of his resistance that he fell behind the French army, which allowed him to return to the original route and break out to the west.

However, the fight with Davout on the road also made the remaining Prussian army lose another layer of skin.

In the end, Blücher only fled the battlefield with a few hussar squadrons, but he was lucky.

Because at this time, the Duke of Brunswick was seriously injured and left the battlefield, and the Prussian command system was completely paralyzed.

Frederick William III tried to take over the troops, but with his level, Prince Eugen of Württemberg, who had been protecting him, was also very helpless.

You know, this Prussian king, his level is not as good as Alexander.

At least Alexander also knew how to appoint a suitable general as commander-in-chief, and then find a chief of staff to organize the battle plan. If it weren't for Napoleon, his debut would be acceptable.

But what about the Prussian king? He is now in a panic, even very panicked, and can't command the army at all.

Finally, when they fled the battlefield, the Prussian army, which was the troops operating on the far left, barely found a way and rushed to Leipzig.

Most of the Prussian troops were defeated here, and the French army only had the task of capturing prisoners.