I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1206 Battle of the Val River

The French built numerous ironworks and two large coal mines in the Walloon region, investing millions of pounds.

If the British army can break through the Brussels defenses, the French factories will be completely destroyed.

Sir Moore was envisioning a bright future, even believing he could invade Luxembourg if the French didn't react quickly enough. Luxembourg, too, held vast iron ore deposits.

Then came Verdun—the last fortress before Paris.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, the staff officer reported to Sir Moore: "General, the central army has completed its crossing of the river. Do you wish to go to the south bank to inspect the defenses?"

Thanks to the tireless work of Dutch laborers recruited from nearby areas, four rows of pontoon bridges were built across the Waal River. This made crossing the river extremely efficient.

Moore's gaze remained fixed on the map. He waved his hand and said, "Let Colonel Patrick take charge of the defense line."

Before he could finish speaking, a huge roar came from the other side of the river.

That's a 12-pounder!

Moore hurriedly picked up his binoculars and saw two white "lines" flanking his army from the east and west along the banks of the Waal River.

"Where...where did they come from?" He blinked hard, and when he looked again, the two French armies were even closer.

"Patrick!" Sir Moore shouted, "Have the hussars cover the right flank! You immediately go to the left flank and organize the defense!"

He grabbed the reins, jumped onto the saddle, and galloped towards the other side of the river.

But his captain of the guard quickly caught up and, along with several guards, blocked his way.

On the south bank, British troops were either lassoing horses or carrying ammunition.

Apart from one regiment that crossed the river in the morning and set up outposts, the other soldiers did not enter combat readiness at all.

Sending their general across the river in this situation would be tantamount to handing the victory to the French.

Sure enough, the British soldiers who had already crossed the river began to panic. Some turned and ran onto the pontoon bridge, intending to return to the north bank; some shouted to line up in place and prepare for defense; and many more stood there, stunned, waiting for orders.

But the officers were equally bewildered. Previous intelligence indicated that the French only had eight or nine thousand soldiers. Without the cooperation of the Dutch, who would have thought they would dare to travel so far to launch a surprise attack?
The French army's only three cannons continuously fired shells into the crowd on the riverbank. Because the British soldiers who had just crossed the river had not yet fully dispersed, almost every shell grazed more than ten bodies.

As shells continued to fall into the water, the surface of the water on the south side of the Vaal River quickly turned red.

Immediately afterwards, the French infantry column approached the eastern flank of the British position—which was actually quite chaotic, resembling a discounted vegetable market—and quickly deployed into a line, launching a volley at the British.

In situations where they were beating up an enemy who had little chance of fighting back, a well-organized line formation firing in unison was more lethal, so they did not use the skirmish tactics currently used by the French army.

On the other side, a hundred or so British hussars were still regrouping when they were scattered by a French ranger squad.

Subsequently, Gayal also commanded the Walloon local army to surround the British frontal defense forces.

Lefebvre watched through his binoculars as more and more British soldiers crowded the ferry crossing, vying to board the pontoon bridge. He turned to the messenger and said, "Have the artillery move to the shore and aim at the pontoon bridge and fire."

Ten minutes later, two 12-pounder cannons, under the cover of infantry, began bombarding the pontoon bridge.

There were seven or eight hundred British soldiers on the four bridges, and they were so frightened that they jumped into the river.

Those who hadn't yet reached the bridge lost all hope of escape and began to kneel and surrender.

The battle lasted just over an hour, and the 13,000 English troops on the south bank of the Waal River were completely routed. Sir Moore, who witnessed the entire battle from the north bank, was now deathly pale.

"General, the Sivorn Legion has set up its defenses," a lieutenant colonel whispered beside him. "You should also go to a safe place first."

Yes, the French army could reach the north bank of the Wahl River at any moment. Meanwhile, the morale of the British troops who hadn't crossed the river had completely collapsed, and they had absolutely no will to fight.

Lefebvre did not pursue them. His soldiers had been marching for nearly 30 hours straight, sleeping for less than 6 hours in between, and were now exhausted.

Moreover, the Flemish army had not yet caught up, and their logistical supplies were dozens of kilometers away.

As evening fell, Gayal brought Lefebvre the preliminary results of the battle: "Oh God, today was the most exhilarating battle of my life! Well, second only to the one I fought a few years ago with His Highness the Crown Prince."

"Look, we have captured more than 8700 enemy soldiers. We haven't counted all those killed or drowned yet, but there are at least 3000 of them."

"They also captured nearly 1500 warhorses, and an unknown number of muskets..."

As he spoke, he pursed his lips and said, "There aren't any cannons. The British cannons are still on the other side of the river."

Lefebvre smiled and comforted him.

Gayal then asked, “General, where do we go next? Utrecht or Amsterdam? The Dutch will surely welcome us like heroes.”

Lefebvre shook his head and said, "No, we must continue north."

"Yes, we need to catch up with the remnants of the British army first."

“Then leave that to the Flemish Legion; they’ll be more than enough to handle the demoralized British army, working in conjunction with the Dutch,” Lefebvre said. “And we’ll go to Groningen.”

Gayal's eyes widened instantly: "You...you don't mean to..."

“That’s right,” Lefebvre smiled and nodded, “we’re going to give the British a surprise.”

Groningen is the northernmost city in the Netherlands, adjacent to Emden in Prussia, and about 60 kilometers further east lies Hanover, the hometown of the British monarch.

Although Lefebvre only had eight or nine thousand men, his troops in Hanover were all near Baden, and the nearest Prussian army was along the Rhine. The entire northern part of Germany was extremely vulnerable.

The area between Groningen and Hanover is a vast plain with no natural defenses.

Lefebvre was confident he could throw Hanover into chaos, provided the Dutch provided adequate logistical support.

Moreover, even if the enemy reacts quickly enough, he can easily retreat to the Netherlands to defend, with almost no risk.

The next morning, as Lefebvre was sending his new operational plan to the General Staff, the reply from the General Staff approving his plan to raid the British forces on the Waal River also arrived at the same time.

……

Switzerland.

North of Bill Lake.

This is a rare arable area in Switzerland. The wheat has been harvested, but the winter wheat has not yet been sown, and the land stretches as far as the eye can see, a vast plain.

Looking at the listless Hanoverian soldiers, Huo Ce frowned and said to his staff, "Make these lazybones move faster. The French might get wind of this at any moment, and then we'll have to cross the Jura Mountains."

(End of this chapter)