A winter in Smolensk, a sixth coalition TL
- Thread starter Parmenion
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No, as in OTL the British haven't agreed to the ceasefire. TBH, I know embarrassingly little about the war of 1812, so I've just been avoiding it for the most part.
Part 43- Cry Havoc
Near Halle, September 24th, 1813
The oppressive heat of the German summer had finally begun to recede, and the quiet night was finally garnished with a refreshing chill. Napoleon's headquarters sat at the center of a sea of tents, all filled with soldiers enjoying their last peaceful nights sleep. Napoleon had summoned his corps commanders to receive their first orders. As usual, Napoleon had made them wait as he sequestered himself in his command tent with Berthier, as the officers gradually arrived to await their emperor. Davout and Oudinot sat off to one side, the former inspecting what was left of the latter's ear "I mean it still works." Oudinot mused "But god my wife won't be happy." Davout chuckled "If she complains, just ask if she'd have preferred you took in on your forehead." Both men laughed, as Bessières looked on grinning "You know." Oudinot told the cavalryman "Mortier's having a card game tonight, if you feel like your paycheck is large..." "Oh no no no..." Bessières politely waved him off "I'm in enough debt as it is."
A short time after all the generals had arrived, Berthier stepped out. "He's ready, gentlemen." he said dryly before returning inside himself, all the officers following him. Napoleon sag slouched by his desk, barely visible under a mound of papers and dispatches. After seeing the everyone was there, he stood "Well, there's been no word from Leipzig, and seeing as the ceasefire will expire in..." He checked his pocketwatch "54 minutes, I doubt we'll be getting another extension, my father in-law has no flair for the dramatic." Mortier let out a muffled chuckle "So, and I apologize for waiting for the literal eleventh hour, it's time to sort some things out. So, Maison, Poniatowski..." He gestured for them to approach, and they swiftly did "General Maison, for your exemplary Corps command, as well as over two decades of loyal service to France, I make you one of her Marshals, you've indisputably earned it." Napoleon then retrieved a small wooden box, and opened it for the general. He smiled, already knowing what was inside as he opened it, his marshal's baton "You have my eternal gratitude sire, I'll avail myself of this honor, I promise you that." "I have no doubt of that." The Emperor replied.
"Now, Poniatowski" "Sire" The Polish prince said quietly "As I told you months ago, I don-" "And I considered that, and I count the raised morale of Polish soldiers above your personal sentiments." The Pole scowled at him "If you refuse the marshalship of France, my people will see it as a slight for all time, not to mention I'll accept it as your resignation. So, Marshal Poniatowski, what will it be?" The prince glared at him "You can keep the baton, though I accept, sire." He gave a cursory bow, before stepping out, adding "Jebany dupek" under his breath.
"Anyway.." Napoleon moved on "Captain Wasowicz has it on good authority, that Blucher's moving East, while the Archduke pounces North." "An encirclement?" Ney suggested "Encirclement? No, no more of a large pincer I think." MacDonald nodded "Snatch the great cities of our flanks, flood Germany with Cossacks, and send us scurrying back across the Rhine." Napoleon laughed "He think's I'm Jourdan! That'll be the day. No, he takes me for a more 'sensible man', someone who won't see..." He ripped out a map of Germany, sprading it out for those assembled, and pointing to one of the largest names "Berlin, she's open, we can." Soult couldn't stay quiet any long "Open? Sire, Barclay, the Tsar" Napoleon rolled his eyes "Bernadotte. That could be 200,000 men-" "Against our 300,000. A decisive victory, then we stab Prussia in the heart. If that's not enough for peace then I'm not at fault for it."
"Ney." The marshal stepped forward "I want you to take 40,000 men, head towards Magdeburg. Try to shadow Blucher, you don't let him consolidate, you don't let him fall back on Berlin." Ney looked a bit daunted by that "Whatever you say sire, I'll leave in two hours." Napoleon nodded to signal his assent, and ney turned to leave "Everyone else will get their orders by daybreak, in the meantime see to your corps, France's fate will be decided in Germany in the next few weeks, act accordingly." The men assembled nodded, they knew well that a slaughter was coming...
Rattenfänger von Memphis
Donor
This is exciting, not knowing if Napoleon will be able to pull this daring maneuver off. Everything on the roll of the dice. I also like the way you humanize the Marshals, showing that they really are also flesh and blood men with everyday concerns. Plus, with the aid of my Microsoft Translator, I learned some Polish cussing words. Thanks Parmenion !
I question Napoleon's wisdom in giving Ney the assignment of shadowing a superior force, or really any assignment beyond "Find the enemy and attack until you run out of troops." Too bad Massena is cooling his heels at Marseilles.
Part 44- A Million man Race
As the Armistice of Lindenau was allowed to pass on September 25th, nearly a million soldiers began their various marches. While Napoleon with the main body of 240,000 men was forced to partially rely on wagon convoys to feed and supply his army, while Marshal Ney and two corps attempted to obstruct Blucher's Army of Silesia. While Napoleon had been able to reestablish his cavalry, Russian and Prussian light cavalry soon began to emulate the Cossacks, operating behind the French lines. Dispathes were stolen, supply carts robbed, and officers attacked. Marshal Oudinot and his small escort were even attacked, the marshal barely managing to escape with a lancehead stuck in his thigh.
As the Grande Armée worked it's way north, Bernadotte's new Army of the North along with the Army of Poland made a feint move south towards Dresden. Napoleon immediately recognized this as a ruse however, due to their slow rate of advance. The French were themselves slowed by bad weather, as frequent rainstorms turned poor roads to mud. At Anhalt on the 28th, Marshal Bessiéres and elements of the French Cavalry fought a massive and indecisive cavalry duel with the Coalition. With nearly 12,000 horsemen on each side, the battle of Anhalt was perhaps the largest cavalry battle in history. However with both sides infantry approaching, and neither wanting a main engagement, the cavalry of both sides broke off the engagement.
To the West, Ney had less success. With his detachment being barely a third the size of the Prussian army, he'd planned to circumvent Blucher and link up with Oudinot, but Blucher had expected that. Just South of Magdeburg on October 2nd, Blucher attacked Ney. The battle went well for the French at first, starting at 3pm, and with Ney forming a solid rearguard. But as dusk fell, a last minute Prussian cavalry charge shattered the French line. Chaos broke out in the rear, as German horsemen loyal to France were mistaken for the enemy and fired on. General Bertrand was mortally wounded, as Ney, who was busy personally leading the French cavalry, took little part in coordinating the retreat.
The battle of Magdeburg proved to be a serious debacle. The Prussians inflicted 12,000 casualties on the French, twice their own losses, while capturing 40 guns. Ney himself was wounded in the scalp, leading Napoleon to reprimand him with a simple message "My only criticism of the new Prussian army can be that they aim too high." While Ney did err, Blucher wasn't much better. Rather than either continuing the advance on Hamburg or doubling back to cover Berlin, he led the Prussians South to follow Ney. Napoleon recognized this, and had Ney fall back into the Harz mountains, hoping to play for time.
Barclay and Bernadotte had been hugging to Oder, trying to avoid detection by the French. While Napoleon knew neither their numbers nor locations, he was informed by spies of their presence between Cottbus and Frankfurt. He tried to out position himself between the two enemy armies and Berlin, but poor weather along with a brilliant cavalry screen by General Uvarov, allowed the Coalition to outmarch the French. The two Coalition armies took up a position in and around the town of Luckau, less than 50 miles from Berlin, daring Napoleon to attack, a challenge he'd happily answer...
As the Grande Armée worked it's way north, Bernadotte's new Army of the North along with the Army of Poland made a feint move south towards Dresden. Napoleon immediately recognized this as a ruse however, due to their slow rate of advance. The French were themselves slowed by bad weather, as frequent rainstorms turned poor roads to mud. At Anhalt on the 28th, Marshal Bessiéres and elements of the French Cavalry fought a massive and indecisive cavalry duel with the Coalition. With nearly 12,000 horsemen on each side, the battle of Anhalt was perhaps the largest cavalry battle in history. However with both sides infantry approaching, and neither wanting a main engagement, the cavalry of both sides broke off the engagement.
To the West, Ney had less success. With his detachment being barely a third the size of the Prussian army, he'd planned to circumvent Blucher and link up with Oudinot, but Blucher had expected that. Just South of Magdeburg on October 2nd, Blucher attacked Ney. The battle went well for the French at first, starting at 3pm, and with Ney forming a solid rearguard. But as dusk fell, a last minute Prussian cavalry charge shattered the French line. Chaos broke out in the rear, as German horsemen loyal to France were mistaken for the enemy and fired on. General Bertrand was mortally wounded, as Ney, who was busy personally leading the French cavalry, took little part in coordinating the retreat.
The battle of Magdeburg proved to be a serious debacle. The Prussians inflicted 12,000 casualties on the French, twice their own losses, while capturing 40 guns. Ney himself was wounded in the scalp, leading Napoleon to reprimand him with a simple message "My only criticism of the new Prussian army can be that they aim too high." While Ney did err, Blucher wasn't much better. Rather than either continuing the advance on Hamburg or doubling back to cover Berlin, he led the Prussians South to follow Ney. Napoleon recognized this, and had Ney fall back into the Harz mountains, hoping to play for time.
Barclay and Bernadotte had been hugging to Oder, trying to avoid detection by the French. While Napoleon knew neither their numbers nor locations, he was informed by spies of their presence between Cottbus and Frankfurt. He tried to out position himself between the two enemy armies and Berlin, but poor weather along with a brilliant cavalry screen by General Uvarov, allowed the Coalition to outmarch the French. The two Coalition armies took up a position in and around the town of Luckau, less than 50 miles from Berlin, daring Napoleon to attack, a challenge he'd happily answer...
I mean OTL the dude gave Oudinot of all people 60,000 men and told him to take Berlin, and had Murat holding his southern flank, he made some bad calls
Part 45- Stabbed in the Back
Dresden Royal Palace, October 4th
Despite the late hour, nobody in Dresden was asleep. Just a few miles to the South of the Saxon capital, nearly a quarter of a million men were preparing to storm it. The Garrison, along with their nominal French allies, was in the fight of their lives among the siege works and outlying villages. The ceaseless roar of Coalition and Imperial cannon wasn't unlike a never ending thunderclap, ominously rolling towards the city. While the fighting was still miles away, the air already reeked of powder smoke, a telling prelude of what the city awaited.
From the palace, Kind Frederick Augustus had a good view of the crowds fleeing North across the Elbe. A few officers shared the room with him, giving updates or awaiting orders, though many of them simply enjoyed the somber view with their king. "Your Majesty." A newly arrived, mud caked officer spoke "Strehlen has fallen, the great garden is being overrun, do you have any further orders?" The king took a long, deep breath "How long can we expect to hold the wall?" "Not longer than half an hour sir, their skirmishers outnumber our own at least a dozen to one, guard units among them." The king nodded "And is Marshal Saint Cyr still at the wall?" "He is sir." "Go fetch him at once then." The officer nodded and bounded out of the room.
The better part of an hour passed before the Marshal arrived, looking as frazzled as the Saxon officers. "Your Majesty, this really isn't a good time." He said curtly. The King nodded solemnly "I know, and forgive me for my lack of courtesy." He motioned to two of his life guards in the room, who promptly pointed their bayonets at Saint Cyr "The hell is this!?" He demanded "I'm afraid you'll have to be taken into custody sir." Saint Cyr shot the Saxon an indignant glare "On what charges?" "I lay no charges against you, but seeing as I've declared war on France, I believe you'll agree I have the right to take one of her Marshals prisoner." Saint Cyr now realized what was happening "You know you've doomed your kingdom, right? My Emperor doesn't take treachery well, and he'll make every effort to reduce Saxony to nothing more than an ugly word." The king stared into space for a long moment "Soldiers, please escort Marshal Saint Cyr to his accomodations, be sure to treat him as his rank dictates." The men nodded, and with a look of utter incredulity, he was led out.
The Saxon defection turned a bad military situation worse, as division sized holes soon appeared in the crumbling French line. As Saint Cyr was led down the streets of Dresden, absolute pandemonium had broken out. Civilians fled North, not even bothering to take what they could carry, criminals took advantage of the chaos, smashing in the doors of homes and shops, starting fires that added to the turmoil. Among all this, the Frenchmen was quickly whisked towards a local hotel, when suddenly one of his guards glanced down the street, shouting "Frösche! Frösche!"
The Marshal barely had time to register what was happening, before a rapid chorus of shots rang out, and his captors collapsed, smoke and blood spouting out of holes in their white uniforms. The men in blue soon came up to the Marshal, the captain leading them seemed stunned to have found his commander "Sir, the-" "No shit." Saint Cyr stopped him from stating the obvious "Well then sir, your orders?" "Well... I don't think it's prudent to stay here." He broadly gestured at his surroundings "Let's make for the Elbe, with luck we'll find more survivors, and a few of us just may see dawn! Let's move it boys!" The Marshal and his small command marched off to face the night...
Hmm, me thinks Saxony probably waited a little too long for the Coalitions taste to swap sides, unless he really makes up for it fighting against Nappie. Has Bavaria changed sides yet? if not, then I hope the austrians are out to liberate Tyrol from them, maybe cut them further down to size.
Maybe restore the Amiens borders with the Salzburg lands added to Austria.
Part 46- 11th Hour
Luckau, October 6th, 1813
The small cottage that had been repurposed into the Coalition headquarters was packed. Two large army's staff and corps commanders, along with the entourage's of the Tsar and King of Prussia. "He's formed up about how you'd expect" General Barclay spoke "Waltersdorf for his left, Gossmar in the center, Frankendorf on his right." "I still say we should've started the attack today, there was ample time." Tsar Alexander interjected "Then was then, now is now" Bernadotte saved his fellow commander "And the latter has much more importance, on to tomarrow then?" Alexander nodded "Knowing him, he'll be spoiling for a fight, so I think we should expect an attack." For once, nobody could take issue with what he said
Barclay rolled with the Tsar's mood "We're certainly in good shape to precede him. This little hamlet on our left, uh... Freesdorf. We could set up quite the forward battery there, if we push out the French that is." Bernadotte smiled "I'm content to let Russia have that honor, in the meantime." He gestured to the Coalition right flank on their map "I can try to get a battery set up at Wittmannsdorf, assuming Bonaparte doesn't get the jump on me." Alexander made an agreeable noise, as he finished sizing up the map "It's a good enough plan to start with I'd say, we can work out the specifics on the field of honor!" The two army commmanders nodded, and without anyone needing to say a word, the whole group save the two monarchs slowly filed out.
"Something on your mind?" The Tsar asked Frederick in his native language "You remember Borodino... yes?" Alexander thought back to the terrible summer of the prior year "Of course! It took days for word to arrive on the results, I could eat, I couldn't sleep, it was terrible! I suppose you're in that position now, yes?" Frederick looked down "Yes... and I want to ask, what would you have done if Bonaparte triumphed, and you had to let him have Moscow?" The Russian scoffed "I would never permit my loss to be that Corsican dogs gain! I'd burn Moscow before I'd hand it over!" Frederick made sure the cottage was empty, as he sat and invited the tsar to join him.
"That's an easy promise to make now... but you weren't on the field at Borodino. I made the choice to surrender Berlin, rather than see my nation's soul burn, what does do to your perception of me?" "We're allies, I can't be entirely candid on that matter at present." His expression suddenly darkened "However, if you're suggesting what I suspect you are, forget it. I outrank you, King of Prussia, in every meaning of that term. I am the Tsar of Russia, I am the supreme leader of our alliance. Berlin's condition is no longer your consideration."
Frederick decided nothing would come from further discussing the matter, and stood and bowed as he began to exit "I'll let your brother have my guard units tomarrow, I'm sure he'll make good use of him." The Tsar nodded, his expression unchanged, and so the king left him to his ruminations...
Order of Battle at Luckau
Forces are listed from West to EastFrench forces: 195,000 men and 821 guns:
IV Corps: Soult
XII Corps: Reynier
XI Corps: Augereau
IX Corps: Wrede
X Corps: Maison
XVI Corps: Vandamme
II Corps: Souham
XIII Corps: Poniatowski
III Corps: Davout
I Cav Corps: Nansouty
II Cav Corps: Sułkowski
III Cav Corps: Caulaincourt
IV Cav Corps: Arrighi
In reserve:
I Young Guard Corps: MacDonald
II Young Guard Corps: Victor
Old Guard: Mortier
Coalition Forces
Army of the North: Bernadotte, 100,000 men and 530 guns
Prussian II Corps: BülowPrussian III Corps: Kleist
Swedish Army: Stedingk
I Russian Corps:Kapzevich
XII Russian Corps: Yermolov
III Russian Cav Corps: Korf
IV Russian Cav Corps: Vasilchikov
Army of Poland: Barclay, 115,000 men and 590 guns:
Corps-Group Bennigsen:
III Corps: Baggovout
II Corps: Tolstoy
V Cav Corps: Uvarov
IX Corps: Osten-Sacken
Corps-Group Wittgenstein
VI Corps: Tuchkov
VII Corps: Saint-Priest
VIII Corps: Dohturov
In reserve: Imperial Guard: Constantine
Cossacks: Platov
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Not sure Alexander would have ever spoken like that to another sovereign, even in private and even in a moment of serious stress. Alexander was not a particularly pleasant person but his manners were always good. I think he would have phrased it differently. Maybe: "My brother (or my friend), to allow the French into Berlin would be painful, but Prussia's fate, and the fate our alliance is in the survival of our army. That must come before all."
Fair point, I admit I sometimes overly dramatize character interactions, you can sorta consider it the HBO version of events, makes more sense that way
Yes, that definitely puts in a different light. Although I really dread HBO's depictions of Napoleonic warfare. I imagine masses of soldiers running at each other in lose formations to engage in acrobatic man to man combat. I know I should not expect anything approaching historical accuracy, but I just can't get over it. Ignore me, I am traumatized by Napoleon, and that was from the man who made the Duellists!
Oh I'm with you there, the only reason I got back to this series was the try and help salvage Napoleon's reputation (Damn you Ridley!)