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The Battle of Fleurus
Sporadic firing from cannon and skirmishers had already begun near the plateau of Fleurus, as French and Spanish batteries exchanged fire while the infantry positioned themselves on the field. Above the thunderous roar of cannon, the Spanish troops quickly moved into their linear formations, with pikemen and musketeers forming up in their tercios, waiting to receive the French attack.
Prince William and his staff immediately made their way to the Spanish headquarters, leaving their regiment behind as the men gratefully downed their packs and made way to the nearest stream, where companies of the Spanish infantry had rest. No love had been lost between the two peoples, and even as William was leaving, he heard the various shouts and curses of the soldiers as they jostled for the precious water.
Some Spaniards however, cheered at the sight of the prince, knowing full well the military reputation his noble house possessed. The young prince returned their salutes as he made his way past the colorful battleflags and guidons of the Spanish camp.
A small escort of Dutch dragoons accompanied the prince, along with his friend Bentinck and another soldier, Colonel Gordon, who held the position of commanding colonel in the Dutch brigade. He was an independent mercenary who had ran away from his home country to seek fame and excitement in Europe’s wars, having fought in Sweden, Poland and Germany, it was his skills that attracted the attention of Deputy Fagel, who contracted him into the army to act as William’s unofficial military advisor.
“Pretty little things aren’t they?” Bentinck said with undisguised contempt. “One would think they were on their way to a parade or a stroll in the park rather than a battle.”
“War is sweet ter them 'oo 'ave never tasted it they say.” Gordon replied rather bluntly, “it doesnae matter hoo bonnie they look. A pike frae them will skewer ye aw th' sam mah lord Bentinck.”
“I…suppose you are right.” Bentinck said, although secretly he hadn’t the slightest clue of what the Scot just said.
William however, focused on the Spanish staff officer up ahead, an elegantly dressed man who took the reins as the Prince dismounted.
“Excuse me, but can you direct me to General La Cuenta?”
The officer nodded politely. “Si señor, he is right over there.” The man pointed to a tent in the middle of the whole field, the only tent. Why did they even need tents? William thought, they had been on the march the whole day, there was no time to set up camp.
The sergeant at the tent saluted the officers, then bent low and whispered into the flaps of the tent. Within seconds, the General emerged, dressed in a splendid yellow uniform of gold braid and silk. Yet the finery and softness ended there, William saw a tall well built man, with the hard grim face of a veteran who took no excuses.
“Yes, Colonel…..Prince William was it? What do you want sir?” La Cuenta said this rather impatiently, as though William had interrupted something terribly important by requesting the General’s presence.
William began respectfully. “Sir, General Waldeck sends his regards. I’ve come to report that the Dutch regiments have reached the field and he wishes to discuss the deployment of our armi-.”
“Good! Very good colonel. Have your men fall in on my right flank, you will be the reserve. The damn Frenchies are acting up in my center and right, a few more muskets will see them off.” La Cuenta said rather hastily and impatiently.
“But I think it would be wise if you were to discuss with General Waldeck first, he is due in the camp within the hou-“
“Listen Colonel, you do not give orders to me here, I outrank you, and I may have considered General Waldeck’s imput if he had not taken his sweet time in getting here. Now form up your men Colonel, a battle is upon us and we don’t have time to waste with such trivialities. I will not risk my men’s lives just because you Dutch bastards can’t get it together!”
“Yes General, but it is my understanding that we are allies and that we must work together. I know as a Colonel I cannot suggest you how to run the battle, but General Waldeck is of equal rank and his opinion should be taken into account before we commit our forces.” William said tersely.
“I would have considered that an option, had your men arrived a day earlier.” La Cuenta said the last words harshly, which William knew at least were justified, the Dutch government was guilty of sloth in this regard, having taken so long to mobilize their army.
“I will know what to do when the time comes! Whether or not General Waldeck is here or not. Now to your regiments, my orders will come soon.” La Cuenta proclaimed loudly.
William was about to say more, but La Cuenta turned around and walked away. Just when the prince was about to protest, Gordon pulled on his arm.
“We best be headin’ back mah Prince.” Gordon said calmly with a smirk, to the amazement of Bentinck and the Prince, but William understood Gordon’s point, there was nothing they could do.
“But what do we do now?” Bentinck asked.
“Sit back an' watch, ye main learn somethin' from thes.” The old soldier said with a smile.
***
The French army had split into four parallel columns, each consisting of five brigades. Turenne watched quietly as the men filed into the woods, marching in lines resembling long snakes. They were to form in the face of the Spanish lines, which the French were already bombarding with their cannon.
They marched leisurely, even as shells screamed through the forest, knowing full well that any haste would upset the delicate balance of the formation Turenne had so carefully prepared.
“Gentlemen, this wood is a blessing to us.” Turenne said succinctly as he collapsed his telescope. “If our movements are right, the enemy flanks shall be enveloped before they realize it. What is the word on De Lancey’s brigade?”
“They are wheeling around to attack the Spanish right as we speak, with La Fare’s regiments assaulting the center.” An aide offered helpfully.
So the Spanish commander was content to sit there and watch? Very well then, Turenne thought, his mind already working on his next moves as though the field was an imaginary chessboard. The Spanish would not move, had not even sent out the necessary scouts to assess his position. Fine, that would be his mistake, and we shall make him pay.
The Marshall snapped his fingers, summoning his various aides. As they gathered, Turenne took out a scrap piece of paper, scribbling down a various set of instructions.
“Give Generals De Lancey and La Fare my compliments, and have them assault the Allied right and centre at their earliest convenience.” Two aides saluted, galloping into the thick trees as Turenne turned to one of his aide de camps.
“Captain René, I shall entrust this to you.” He thrust the paper toward the officer. “Tell General Léfebvre to extend our right flanks, he is to proceed with all haste for Fleurus. I shall assume personal command when his troops are in place.”
“At once Mon Général” The aide removed his hat, making a sweeping motion to the ground before running to his mount.
Meanwhile in the distance, the low thunder quickly turned into a thunderous roar, as thousands of muskets joined the fray.
***
The battle had joined in earnest, with thousands of French soldiers exploding from the woods in their neat formations, drums beating, with the proud fleur-de-lis fluttering in the wind.
“En joué!” Dozens of French officers raised their swords, followed by the rippling sounds of thousands of muskets as the French presented arms in three ranks. The Spanish Tercios braced themselves, with pikemen making way for the musketeers in their ranks as they hastily lit the fuses on their matchlocks.
“FIRE!” The swords swept down.
In one thunderous roar, all three ranks exploded into a sleet of flame, sending dozens of Spaniards screaming to the ground within seconds.
“Take it boys!” La Cuenta yelled furiously as he walked behind the line. “Do not let them see you run. You are Tercios! So stand tall and show those frogs what you’re made up!”
The Spanish replied with their own volley, which was a pathetic whimper compared to the sounds of thousands of Frenchmen mechanically reloading their muskets.
“Here it comes boys! Stand tall!”
Another blossom of smoke erupted from the French lines sending ripples throughout the Tercios as the pikemen lay utterly helpless in formation. The entire Spanish line seemed to edge back like a wounded animal.
“Reload!” The Spanish musketeers had finally managed to form their own line, and the pikemen took heart at the thousands of comrades who had taken the front lines with a gun.
“Fire!” The Spanish line quickly became engulfed in a flash of light and smoke, and all along the French line, men toppled to the ground like ninepins, while the survivors slowly, meticulously began reloading. The French, despite their coolness, were taking damage since the Spanish had the high ground, not only that, but the Spanish artillery took a terrible toll on the French as shells exploded near their lines, leaving bloodied craters and heaps of dead men.
Suddenly the drums stopped, and the French stopped advancing, instead, they shuffled backwards, firing into the Spanish as they withdrew back to the woods.
“Cowards!” La Cuenta shouted at them from the top of the hill. “Come back and die like men you boy lovers!” The nearest Spanish roared with laughter and joined in the jeers as cheers erupted throughout the Spanish lines.
A small lull in the shooting followed, as the French lines retraced their steps, leaving their dead at the foot of the hill.
Suddenly, the quietness ended, and the ground began shaking once more, but not from cannon, this time, it was from something different.
Hooves. Thousands of them.
“Cavalry!” Someone shouted, and the Tercio pikemen quickly worked to get into formation.
They came in columns, dozens of Squadrons magnificently equipped in their shining armor and decorated with their plumed helmets and guidons. All eyes were on them now, as though the enemy was taken aback by the glory and pageantry of their enemy.
“Prepare to receive cavalry!” The Pikemen ran to the head of the line now, planting their poles onto the ground so that their pikeheads were tipped at an angle. No horsemen in the world would dare charge that.
Yet they came on, slowly at the trot, and to the Spanish soldiers’ surprise, did not finish the charge, but rather, took out their pistols and began firing into the now exposed pikemen. Each squadron wheeled outwards as the column near the Spanish line, firing their pistols before finally turning back to the French. They had forced the Spanish to expose their pikemen and drawback their muskets, and now they were paying the price. Hundreds of pikemen fell screaming, while the musketeers clumsily pushed their comrades to get to the front of the formation, realizing the French would not charge.
Suddenly, a cacophony of sounds emerged from the Spanish right, as more fresh French troops burst out of the trees, laying a heavy fire on the Spanish flank.
It looked as though the Spanish flank would fail, and La Cuenta angrily shouted at his officers to do something, throwing around accusations of cowardice and treachery.
Before the Spanish line collapsed however, more troops emerged on the allied side, these ones dressed in their azure blue uniforms, marching smartly in line formation to rescue their allies from disaster.
It was the Dutch Guard.
***
General Waldeck, one of the Netherland’s most experience generals, had arrived on the field in time, but found that La Cuenta had neither paid him the courtesy of planning their strategy with him nor even inspecting his troops. Despite what William had told him however, he was not content to sit back and watch the battle lost.
Now he was leading his four thousand men, up against what could be the whole French army of thirty thousand. Yet his men knew that he was a professional to the core, and all expected that he would easily maintain his composure.
“We have turned the French flank sir.” William said excitedly as he watched his own regiment was marching straight into the fray.
“Colonel William, are your men engaged at the moment?” General Waldeck asked.
“We have forces to our front sir. My scouts have reported them to be the brigade of General De Lancey.”
”Excellent, and Colonel Jensen, have we anchored our right?” Waldeck said rather coolly, as though he were addressing the final piddling details of a dinner party.
Jensen nodded. “The Zeeland regiment has established contact with Colonel Reye’s Tercios, we are in touch with our allies sir.”
“What are our orders?” Prince William asked eagerly as the rest of the officers gathered around the men. Among them Captain Bentinck and Colonel Gordon
“Gentlemen, we have inconvenienced Marshal Turenne once today, let us do it again.” Waldeck nodded at his men, the signal to attack, and within minutes, the whole Dutch line rippled in cheers as men fixed bayonets, preparing to march into the storm.
It was far from over.
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Deamon Thank you 
as for the picture, that is Treize Kushrenada, best gundam wing character
canonized It was my pleasure Canonized!
nalivayko Thank you Nalivayko! I'm very glad to have you on board!
Eber Yes, although I may be a bit unfair on the Spanish when it comes to portraying arrogance in this story, i'll be sure to make it up to them later.
stnylan They are indeed
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Sorry all for the delay. But exam season is fast approaching and as such, my commitments are taking up most of my time.
as for the picture, that is Treize Kushrenada, best gundam wing character canonized It was my pleasure Canonized!
nalivayko Thank you Nalivayko! I'm very glad to have you on board!
Eber Yes, although I may be a bit unfair on the Spanish when it comes to portraying arrogance in this story, i'll be sure to make it up to them later.
stnylan They are indeed
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Sorry all for the delay. But exam season is fast approaching and as such, my commitments are taking up most of my time.
Nice swing in the battle. And excellent description of the ebb and flow. Great to see another update, TreizeV.
Ahh great to have you back , my dear Duke ! Ahh a wonderful battle and the poor immobile Tercios ! Let's see how the Dutch can mess up the Frenchies plans !
I finally stumbled upon your latest effort TreizeV. If it's half as good as your previous stories it's going to be great.
General Waldeck certainly isn't wasting any time it he? And as you wrote
"It was far from over."
But I guess we'll have to wait on those damn exams.
Joe
General Waldeck certainly isn't wasting any time it he?
And as you wrote"It was far from over."
But I guess we'll have to wait on those damn exams.
Joe
Nice battle description, damn you for stopping in the middle
Question: your battle description, does it match some game battle events (e.g. shock phase sees hundreds of Spanish casualties, i.e. your cavalry discharges the pistols in the AAR, etc) or is it all just poetic interpretation.
Ok, more predictions... as tempting as it is to declare victory for Dutch (Spanish are as good as lost without them), I'd still say that Turrene is going to win this one. French left will be forced to retreat, Spanish left will try to envelope French center only to be taken in flank by the French right (currently in reserve, judging from the image).
Which brings me to another question: army positions, are they based in any way on the actual game?
Question: your battle description, does it match some game battle events (e.g. shock phase sees hundreds of Spanish casualties, i.e. your cavalry discharges the pistols in the AAR, etc) or is it all just poetic interpretation.
Ok, more predictions... as tempting as it is to declare victory for Dutch (Spanish are as good as lost without them), I'd still say that Turrene is going to win this one. French left will be forced to retreat, Spanish left will try to envelope French center only to be taken in flank by the French right (currently in reserve, judging from the image).
Which brings me to another question: army positions, are they based in any way on the actual game?
I've always loved your battle accounts...though I love the high morale for the Dutch, I feel as though in the end; it will not matter. I could be completely wrong though (I hope so.)
As did I.Jaspume said:Damn!
I thought there'd been an update in this marvelous AAR.