The Crown Prince of France - Chapter 300

Chapter 300: Persistence and Collapse

Over ten thousand Dutch insurgents formed two narrow infantry lines on the gentle slope, each line arranged in three tightly packed ranks. From a distance, the formation appeared somewhat orderly.

However, their chaotic attire and the mismatched flintlock rifles in their hands betrayed their nature as a makeshift militia hastily assembled.

In truth, forming these infantry lines had taken the entire morning, with the Dutch commanders spending six grueling hours getting the soldiers into a semblance of formation—leaving them exhausted and cramping from the effort.

When the Dutch militiamen saw the dense Austrian ranks advancing in the distance, flanked by agile skirmishers swarming toward them like ants, their hands began trembling uncontrollably.

Behind them, over a thousand Prussian soldiers shouted repeatedly:
"Stay calm! Do nothing!"

In the Dutch ranks, priests murmured reminders to the soldiers beside them:
"Do not think of anything later; just reload as fast as you can. Focus on the drumbeats."

When the fastest Austrian skirmishers appeared just eighty paces ahead of the Dutch line, they ducked behind shrubs and rocks to fire at the South Netherlands insurgents.

Several bullets whistled through the air and struck the formation. Soldiers cried out in pain, collapsing to the ground and writhing in agony.

The Prussians behind them bellowed again:
"Do not move! Drag the dead aside! Stay in tight formation! Quickly!"

But the untrained Dutch militiamen seemed deaf to these orders, joining the wounded in panicked shouts or instinctively raising their rifles toward the distant Austrians.

As the Austrian main force drew closer, their skirmishers spread out to the flanks, clearing the front for the advancing formation.

Estimating the distance between the two infantry lines to be less than a hundred paces, the Prussian officers ordered the Dutch troops to reload their weapons.

Messengers on horseback relayed the reloading command while drummers began beating a specific rhythm. Following this cadence, the soldiers operated their weapons to achieve the highest possible reloading efficiency.

The Austrians continued their advance, closing to sixty paces, yet still showed no signs of stopping their fire.

The Dutch line could no longer hold its nerve. The overwhelming pressure of ten thousand soldiers bearing down on them blanked their minds, leaving only the urge to repel the enemy at any cost.

Scattered gunfire erupted across the line. Fearing that the ragtag troops would waste all their ammunition, the Prussian officers hastily ordered a volley.

Amidst the chaos, a haphazard volley rang out, lasting barely half a minute. Black smoke soon engulfed the Dutch positions, but the results were minimal—the Austrians maintained their orderly advance.

Finally, at fifty paces, the Austrian soldiers halted. Accompanied by a dense drumroll, they raised their flintlocks.

"Fire!"

At the Austrian commander’s order, the vast infantry line erupted in a storm of musket fire. The powerful volley tore hundreds of small gaps into the Dutch formation.

The Dutch priests shouted hoarsely:
"Do not fear! Reload! For your families, to drive out the Habsburg tyrants, hold your ground!"

It seemed their encouragement had an effect. Despite trembling hands and unsteady movements, the militiamen managed to reload, gritting their teeth and raising their weapons as they awaited the Prussian officers’ command.

...

On a distant hill, General Würmser frowned as he observed the battlefield through his telescope.

His fearless grenadiers had delivered over ten volleys against the Dutch forces, killing at least a thousand men, yet the enemy showed no signs of breaking.

Behind the Dutch infantry line, another line of soldiers had formed. Further back were presumably Prussian troops.

"These damned rebels! Why are they still standing?" he cursed under his breath. Just as he considered deploying more skirmishers to harass the enemy’s flanks, the sound of urgent hoofbeats approached.

Turning his head, he saw a scout gallop up, gasping for breath:
"General! The Prussians are flanking our right!"

Before Würmser could react, his adjutant rushed over with a telescope, exclaiming:
"General, there’s unrest among the left-flank cavalry—likely enemy troops appearing there!"

Würmser’s face darkened. The Prussians were not stationed behind the Dutch infantry lines. Brunswick had directed his main force to flank both sides!

He swung his baton forcefully and barked at the messenger:
"Order Schroeder to break through the enemy front at all costs and as fast as possible! Victory will be ours if we shatter their infantry lines!"

In the grand battles of this era, the front line was akin to a person’s midsection. Once breached, the commanding officer would be left exposed. Hampered by poor communications, a commander forced to move quickly to evade an attack risked losing contact with their messengers, rendering the army leaderless.

Furthermore, losing the front line left artillery and cavalry without secure space to regroup, effectively nullifying their combat capability.

Thus, a decisive victory at the front outweighed any losses on the flanks.

...

On the Austrian infantry’s right, the grenadiers advanced aggressively, enduring the Dutch gunfire as they pressed forward.

After sustaining heavy casualties, they finally tore open a breach on the left flank of the Dutch line.

The Austrian skirmishers, like sharks scenting blood, surged into the gap, targeting officers and drummers to sow further chaos.

Würmser clenched his fists in excitement as he saw the Dutch front line collapse. Yet his gaze quickly turned to the right flank, where the faint sound of Prussian cavalry hoofbeats grew louder.

The Austrian cavalry, already inferior to the Prussians, had been weakened further by earlier deployments to the left. They could not hold for long against the advancing Prussians.

Turning his telescope again, Würmser anxiously urged Schroeder to breach the second Dutch line as quickly as possible.

...

Meanwhile, Duke of Brunswick lowered his telescope, a relaxed expression on his face. He said to his messenger:
"Tell the Dutchmen they only need to hold for fifteen more minutes, and the Austrians will be driven from this land."

He had accurately gauged the speed of his main force, which should now be engaging the Austrian right.

Indeed, his cavalry was merely a diversion. The true strength lay in the 14,000 Prussian troops flanking the Austrians—a decisive move.

Through his interactions with the South Netherlands insurgents, Brunswick had developed a deep respect for their resilience.

Though their combat ability was dismal and their formations chaotic, their morale was extraordinary. Perhaps it was their pursuit of so-called freedom that made them willing to die to expel the Austrian emperor. The priests were especially fearless, seemingly eager for ascension, standing unshaken before any foe.

He concluded that while the Dutch militiamen could not defeat the Austrian army, they could effectively delay Würmser—a feat they might well achieve.

...

On the battlefield, the battered Dutch second line appeared on the verge of collapse, yet stubbornly held its ground.

Prussian overseers, themselves hit by stray bullets, began to waver. Still, the Dutch soldiers remained at their posts, trembling as they reloaded, clumsily firing at the Austrians. Even as their lives were taken by musket fire, their feet never moved.

Meanwhile, the Austrian right flank had been utterly crushed by the overwhelming strength of the Prussian army.

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