I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 846 Another Genius' Story
The Duke of York was stunned where he stood.

Clefalt commanded more than 1 Austrian troops. If he withdrew, the French troops nearby would be stronger than his.

Especially after the long siege, the morale of the British soldiers was very low, and the formation was very irregular. If the Walloons launched an attack at this time, the situation would be precarious...

He did not dare to think any further and shouted to the herald: "Catch up with the Austrians and order them to come back immediately, otherwise I will sue them to the Holy Roman Emperor!

"Damn it! Haven't these cowards ever learned the word 'shame'?!"

An hour and a half later, the captain who had gone to deliver the message came back and said to the Duke of York with his head down: "Your Highness, Earl Clefat rejected your order. He said..."

"say what?!"

"He said that Cologne is more important than anyone else's life, including yours. He can't continue wasting time here because of our army's stupidity... ahem, because of our army's mistakes."

The Duke of York's face instantly turned blacker than a lump of coal.

He walked to the map, trying to find a way to escape from the gaps in the French army, but before he could find anything, he heard heavy gunfire coming from the northeast.

A moment later, a cavalryman came and reported: "Your Highness, the French launched an attack from the left wing of our army, with about 4 people."

If other generals with rich command experience saw the sudden withdrawal of the Clefat Legion, they might still suspect that this was a trap set by the coalition forces and become hesitant.

But Gaillard was a Walloon policeman, so he didn't think too much and immediately ordered his troops to rush in from the gap...

West bank of the Ur River.

Blucher frowned and turned around, and saw a large group of soldiers walking past him in panic. The officers around him didn't care about the formation at all, and just kept urging the soldiers to speed up.

He was about to reprimand those officers when the staff officer came running over in a hurry, not even bothering to salute, and said anxiously: "General, the Duke of Brunswick's troops were surrounded by Massena on the west side of Rodeshausen."

Blucher stood up suddenly in his stirrups as if stung by a scorpion, and waved to the herald not far away, "Arrange! Quick! Get these idiots to line up, and then turn south immediately to reinforce the Duke!"

He commanded the left wing of the coalition forces, which had more than 2 men. Because they were the farthest away from the battlefield, they retreated the fastest, so they had not been caught up by the French army in the past few days.

"Yes, General!"

The messenger was about to turn around, but Scharnhorst rode forward to stop him, then turned back to Blücher and whispered, "General, do you think we can defeat the French even if we rush to Rodshausen immediately?"

"Of course, I will send all those damn Frenchmen to hell..." Blücher was halfway through his shouting when he suddenly caught a glimpse of the coldness in the eyes of the corps staff. He immediately became depressed. "If we can seize the enemy's mistakes, we may still have a chance."

Scharnhorst said in a deep voice: "General, even if you break through the French encirclement and rescue the Duke, what will happen next?

“We will face the obstruction of the River Our.

“Even if we cross the Ur River, what next?

"Coblenz and Mainz have both fallen. We and the Duke will be blocked on the west bank of the Rhine!"

Blücher gripped the whip tightly, veins bulging on the back of his hand, but he couldn't utter a word.

Seeing this, Scharnhorst continued: “Our only chance is to go to Cologne immediately.

"This is also to protect the Duke's retreat back to the east bank of the Rhine."

Blücher knew he was right, but still shook his head and said, "No, we can't just watch the commander-in-chief of the front being surrounded!"

Scharnhorst sighed secretly and asked again: "General, did the Duke order you to reinforce him?"

"No." The Duke of Brunswick was surrounded by Massena's main force, and it was impossible for his herald to break through the siege and come.

"But……"

Blücher was about to say something else, but was interrupted by the corps staff: "Since the Duke did not send anyone, it is obvious that he meant for you to find a way to get out on your own."

As he was speaking, a cavalry captain came galloping over and said to Blücher: "General, we have found traces of the French army in the west, about two-thirds of a mile away."

He was talking about Puri, which is two-thirds of a mile, or less than 5 kilometers.

Scharnhorst said anxiously: "General, I will stay here to stop the French, and you lead the main force across the river as soon as possible. It will be too late if you hesitate any longer!"

Blücher finally stopped struggling, patted the corps staff hard, turned around and gathered the officers to prepare to cross the river.

Half past four in the afternoon.

Scharnhorst could already see the French flag through the telescope and he sighed heavily.

He came from a humble background, and even though he had incredible military talent, he had only ever achieved the rank of major. That was because he had saved the Duke of Brunswick in the Southern Netherlands, which was why he was promoted out of turn.

However, his military career, which had just begun to show some promise, would come to an end today.

He knew very well that with only the three or four thousand men left to him by Blücher, there was no chance of escape in the rearguard mission.

He was just about to check the defense line again when he saw Blücher's herald riding over with a wave of his hand, shouting excitedly: "Major Scharnhorst, retreat quickly, there's no need to cover your retreat!"

"Retreat? Why?"

"The Our River is frozen!"

Half an hour before dark, Scharnhorst led the rearguard troops to the Our River.

Then he saw cannons and carriages scattered everywhere, and even a number of war horses.

He realized instantly that the ice on the river was very thin and could not support anything too heavy.

By the time he crossed the river, night had fallen.

At dawn the next day, Blücher assembled his troops and was about to rush towards Cologne, but he saw the cavalry in charge of alert brought a second lieutenant in British uniform to him.

The Englishman handed him the letter from the Duke of York and said in broken German: "General, His Royal Highness Prince Frederick is being entangled by the French army in Dillon. Please go to reinforce him immediately."

"We are on our way to Cologne," said Blücher. "Go and tell the Duke of York that we will be there soon."

As soon as the British who came to ask for help left, Scharnhorst immediately said to him: "General, we can't go to Cologne."

"Ah? Tell me your reasons."

"Since French troops have appeared near Dillon, more enemies will arrive there soon. We may also be delayed."

"What should we do?" Blücher almost broke the whip in his hand and gritted his teeth, "Let's go back and meet the Duke of Brunswick!"

"No, no," Scharnhorst said hastily, "We should turn east immediately."

(End of this chapter)