An army is walking through the mountains and forests of the Ardennes!
This is a quite large and new-style army, consisting of infantry in white uniforms, cavalry in breastplates and helmets, artillerymen dragging 6-pound field guns, and baggage soldiers driving baggage vehicles, forming a marching column. Continuously. It's so vast that you can't even see it from head to tail, with tens of thousands of people and horses. The front army has approached La Roche, a small town located in the middle of the Ardennes Plateau, while the rear army has just left Sedan, a small border town in eastern France.
Prince Condé, who was supposed to attend the wedding of Charles II and Baroness Mancini at the Turin Palace in Savoy, was among this team. Riding an Arabian horse, wearing the white woolen uniform of the French New Army, a three-cornered hat on his head, and no protective armor.
Prince Condé was not the only one who was not wearing armor. The adjutants and staff following him, as well as all the officers and soldiers advancing on foot, were not equipped with protective armor, and were replaced by uniform white woolen military uniforms.
The armor coverage of this new French army trained by Prince Condé was very low. Only the heavy cavalry responsible for charging into the battle were equipped with breastplates and helmets. All others, including light cavalry and dragoons, were All are unarmored.
While the armor coverage rate was greatly reduced, the equipment rate of firearms was greatly increased. The ratio of fusiliers to pikemen was increased to 5:1, that is, only 5 fusiliers were matched with 1 pikeman. Moreover, this pikeman no longer belongs to an independent company of pikemen, but is mixed with the fusiliers to participate in the "queuing to kill".
The reason for this arrangement is that Prince Kong Dai discovered during the fierce Ming and Qing wars that when the smoke on the battlefield was too strong, the cavalry could rely on the cover of the smoke to maneuver on the battlefield, thereby achieving the effect of a surprise attack.
In this case, the fusiliers would have no time to seek the protection of the pikemen - if they had not been mixed! So they could only attach bayonets to their flintlock guns, form a phalanx, and resist desperately!
Of course, the desperate resistance of the fusiliers often worked, but what was the pikeman to do in this case?
Watching the fusiliers, who were paid less than them, fight bloody battles with the enemy's cavalry?
Therefore, Prince Condé once wanted to abolish the pikemen, but it was only because of Dureny's opposition that the pikemen were retained in the New French Army.
Another huge change brought by Prince Condé to the French New Army was the replacement of matchlocks with flintlock muskets - this was a very expensive change! But it's definitely worth the money, because in the Ming and Qing wars, the fusiliers were always able to defeat the matchlock troops.
The reason for significantly reducing the armor rate is to save limited military expenditures and spend them on replacing flintlock guns and sleeve bayonets...
After completing the evolution of equipment, the French Army infantry tactics also underwent a comprehensive upgrade. The dense four-column formation became the most basic fighting formation, while flintlock shooting and bayonet assault became the most common fighting methods used by infantry.
However, the evolution of equipment and tactics was not the biggest gain that Prince Kong Dai gained in the Ming and Qing wars... His biggest gain was that his battle organization level was greatly improved!
Before participating in the Ming and Qing wars, Prince Kong Dai had never commanded a battle to destroy the country, nor had he commanded a battle with more than 50,000 participants, nor had he commanded a long-distance mobile battle with a very vast battlefield.
At that time, Prince Kong Dai only knew how to use the terrain to arrange troops and use 20,000 people to defeat 30,000 people. I don’t know how to command all the French troops to win a war involving many European military powers!
And now, Prince Kong Dai already knows what to do!
He already knew that the cities and bastions of the Spanish Netherlands were completely vulnerable to the new explosive shells and parallel siege trenches!
So capturing cities and fortresses is not the key to France winning the war - the key to France winning the war is to force the Republic of the Netherlands to surrender as quickly as possible...
In order to achieve this strategic goal, the French army must invade the mainland of the United Provincial Republic of the Netherlands in the early stages of the war, and approach Amsterdam!
It is impossible to quickly rush to Amsterdam through the northern part of the Spanish Netherlands and the western part of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, which are full of bastions. The only way is to make a large detour and pass through the desolate and remote Ardennes Plateau. , entering the territory of the Archbishop of Cologne, which had been bought by France, and then passing through the territory of the Archbishop of Münster into the province of Gelderland in the United Provinces of the Netherlands.
That’s right, passing through the Ardennes! It was the same as the route that the German armored forces took to enter France in World War II... except the direction was reversed. This time, the French passed through the Ardennes Forest, and then borrowed the moral will of the two bishoprics to use lightning speed. Invading the Netherlands quickly and covertly!
According to calculations, this roundabout will take about 100 miles, which is about 800 miles. If we march 50 miles a day, it will take 16 days. If we can travel 80 miles, it will take 10 days.
And these 10-16 days are the critical time window that determines the fate of France and even Europe as a whole.
In order to buy as much time as possible, Louis XIV spent a huge sum of money to arrange an extremely luxurious Turin wedding for Charles II and Baroness Mancini.
Now all Europe thinks that Louis XIV and Prince Condé are in Turin, and the war will not break out for the time being... But in fact, both of them are already on the front line!
150,000 French new troops and nearly 20,000 French cavalry were divided into three groups. The Northern Route Army commanded by Viscount Durenne of Turenne, with a total of 60,000 people, attacked from Calais and Amiens and invaded the northern Spanish Netherlands - the purpose of this French army was to attract the Spanish Netherlands of Spanish troops and the attention of the Dutch.
King Louis XIV of France will personally lead an army of 40,000 to invade the area between the Principality of Lorraine and France-Comté, cut off the passage between the Principality of Lorraine and France-Comté, and at the same time prepare to launch an all-out attack on France. —Conté’s gesture, while intimidating the Principality of Lorraine to remain neutral.
The 70,000-strong army commanded by Prince Condé will pass through the densely forested Ardennes Plateau... France's national destiny depends on Prince Condé's journey!
If his 70,000-strong army can arrive at Amsterdam and The Hague before the Netherlands completes its mobilization, then the Dutch Grand Council will have no choice but to accept the arrangement of "France dominating Europe and the Netherlands dominating the sea" - this is not empty talk, the Dutch The fortresses in the west must be demolished and the gates forever opened to the French Army!
Of course, France will also ensure the land security of the Netherlands! If the Netherlands and England go to war again, France will side with the Netherlands...
Once the Netherlands surrenders, the Spanish Netherlands and France-Conté will not be in trouble, and they will have to be captured by France in a month or two at most.
If Austria wanted to join the war at that time, it would have played into France's hands. The French army going south from the Netherlands and north from France-Comté would just eat the Principality of Lorraine and Luxembourg. The era of France's dominance in Europe had truly arrived. !
Just when Prince Condé was thinking about how to fight Austria again after defeating the Netherlands, the sound of rapid horse hooves came from far and near from the front.
Prince Kong Dai looked up and saw a cavalryman rushing towards him and found the marching column where Prince Kong Dai was. One of the prince's adjutants rode forward, asked about the situation, and then turned back to Prince Kong Dai. From the front, he loudly reported: "Your Royal Highness, the vanguard troops have occupied La Roche Castle! The road to the Bishopric of Cologne is now clear!"
Thank God!
Prince Condé made the sign of the cross on his chest - the Spaniards placed a small number of garrison troops on the Ardennes Plateau, half of them in Bouillon on the border with France, and half in La Roche in the middle of the Ardennes Plateau.
Previously in Bouillon, the French army caught the Spanish by surprise with sneak attacks and night attacks, and captured the Spanish castle in one night. Now that Laroche succeeded easily, it showed that the Spaniards in the Spanish Netherlands were not ready for war at all.
Now let’s see how prepared the Dutch are?
