The Bloody Fields of Kehl: A Single-Battle AAR

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The Bloody Fields of Kehl: A Single-Battle AAR (now with special guest Eochaid!)

Single battle mini-AARs, of course, usually go in the 'Fields of Glory' thread, so my apologies to Eochaid. But this one was just too darn good!

The story is this: in 1767, I (Prussia) declared war on an alliance which included France. One of my mighty armies moved into the province of Baden (where I was joined by a bunch of my Wurttemburger allies), which the French had previously captured. We were laying siege when BAM! An army of 110,000 Frenchmen under Marshall de Broglie smashed over into my force (less than half my foe's size). Miraculously, in a battle which was THIRTY-SIX DAYS LONG, my army ENTIRELY DESTROYED the French army which was TWICE MY ARMY'S SIZE!!!

I was going to put it in 'Fields of Glory'--but then thought, this was THE most epic EUII battle I had ever seen. This one deserves its own full length AAR. A single post can't capture its scope.

Enjoy.

 

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PROLOGUE: The Prussians

For decades, Prussia had been building its military might. Several excellent generals rose to command of massive armies which dominated all before them. Prussia had defeated Sweden and Austria at war--at the same time. Prussia was, except for Catherine the Great's Russia, the largest empire in the world.

In 1767, King Frederick II ("The Great") declared war on Hessen and her allies, The Palatinate and France. He was joined by Prussia's allies, Sweden and Wurttemburg.*

Hessen controlled the provinces of Hesse and Anhalt, The Palatinate controled Pfalz and Mainz, and France had recently acquired its first real German possession, the region called Baden.

That year, a Prussian army under General von Seydlitz moved into Baden and besieged the French garrison at Rastatt. An army from neighboring Wurttemburg joined him. Their force totaled 50,000 men.

The Battle of Kehl was about to begin.

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*After two wars with Sweden, Frederick sent gift after gift to ensure Sweden wouldn't attack again--and then decided to invite them to his alliance!

 

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PROLOGUE: The French

The French king received word of General von Seydlitz's invasion with dismay.

"Order Marshal de Broglie and his army to Rastatt immediately!"

It was a drastic measure. de Broglie's army was 110,000 men strong, and was the only large force France had.

 

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wow, what were the land techs of you and France?

 

[Amric]

Good queston....but this is very interesting.

 

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Quite a feat. I look forward to reading about it.

 

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Originally posted by calcsam
wow, what were the land techs of you and France?

Dunno, I'll check next time I play the game.

Hope this AAR lives up to your expectations...update as soon as it's written!

 

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Quite an accomplishment, it looks good, I'll have to read it. What scenario were you doing?

 

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PROLOGUE: The Two Armies Meet

The town of Kehl is a pretty little one nestled along the Rhine River near Strasbourg (just across the river) and Rastatt. It is surrounded by gently rolling hills used as farmland, overall in beautiful countryside.

Downriver from (or north of) the town is a bridge over the Rhine River. On a normal day, carts and people would be crossing this bridge freely, on the way to Strasbourg or on their way back. Sometimes, on market days, the bridge would be so full you’d have to wait to get across.

Not today. Today all traffic across the river as been stopped by order of the General. The bridge is guarded by a few pickets. Prussians. They must keep the enemy from crossing at all costs.

Behind the pickets, arranged scientifically over the hills and in the forest (for the Black Forest itself is not far from Kehl), is the army of General von Seydlitz. South of town are the regiments from Wurttemburg, which make up almost half the army. North of town are the Prussians. And across the river the enemy will appear any day now.

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Marshal de Broglie and his army were at that very moment in the French city of Nancy, a few miles away from Strasbourg. There the French army was enjoying the fruits of war. Drinking was frequent, and less pleasant expeditions rooted out vulnerable women… Overall the city was looted as if it was an enemy city, not the French place it was.

The Marshal was informed by the mayor that French troops would not be tolerated for a few more days. The army had to leave, now.

The Marshal was furious. He issued a proclamation to his troops: How dare you pillage the land and its people! This is the land of France, the country you serve, and surely you would not dare fight your own country? Any acts of vandalism or looting against the city are acts against the nation of France, and if caught you will be expelled from the army and your pay taken away! Even after he wrote the furious proclamation, de Broglie was still seething. How could they?

Still, he had to follow the mayor’s wishes. Marshal de Broglie left for Strasbourg with 50,000 of his men, and the rest were told to follow the instant he needed them. The Marshal wanted to find the enemy.

On June 26, Marshal de Broglie finally found General von Seydlitz, just north of Kehl, at the bridge.

 

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Chapter One coming soon.

Mr. President-I mean, Phalanx : Age of Enlightenment (1700)

 

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I- The Bridge over the Rhine

June 26, 1767

The bridge just downriver from (or north of) Kehl was as quiet as it had ever been. The pickets were bored; some were standing, some were sitting. Those who could whistle did; others looked down into the river, and only the ones on the Strasbourg end were looking out for enemies. One man near the middle was trying to shoot birds with his musket.

Then the man on the right side at the Strasbourg end* shouted “Look!” and pointed ahead. There his companion on the left side saw a flash of French uniform—which then disappeared. They strained their eyes until-

BANG! The man on the left went down, dead. The Battle of Kehl had begun. The pickets on the bridge ran up and began firing—their guns being pre-loaded. However, the French sniper had disappeared, so they soon stopped.

A French regiment appeared just minutes later and charged the bridge. The pickets stopped the men dead, but then the French brigade commander showed up and told his men to fix bayonets. The pickets had been out there long enough; they were tired and wanted to be relieved. They turned and fled, hoping to catch some rest back on their side of the river.

Marshal de Broglie had captured the bridge. Now for the real fight…

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*Strasbourg itself was about a mile away farther down the road, so the pickets weren’t really in the city itself

 

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Can't really wait for the rest of the story. This sounds very epic indeed!!

Have you actually done some light reserach, and found maps or the like over the area, or are you just making this up?? Not that there's anything wring with a healthy dose of lying to spice up an AAR.

 

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II- von Seydlitz Attacks

General von Seydlitz watched the French attack from atop the highest of the hills around Kehl. As French regiments began to cross the rver, he saw an opportunity.

"General!" he shouted, turning to the nearest subordinate commander (whose troops were close by, fortunately). "Tell your men to attack those French regiments--with ALL your force! Not just some of it! I want those enemies destroyed!"

He galloped to the artillery commander. "Set that bridge on fire. Use red-hot cannonballs, or whatever you've got."

Soon they were following his orders.

The French men were suddenly surrounded on three sides by devastating walls guns and bayonets. Then- "Fire!" The Prussians let loose a fearsome volley which cut down a good number of French men. The reply was less than enthusiastic. The stranded and ambushed regiments turned to flee.

But they never got to flee. The bridge over the Rhine was burning, and parts were crashing into the water. Still worse, General von Seydlitz showed up just then.

"There will be no prisoners!"

All the poor trapped French could do was cast aside their weapons, get down on the ground, and pray. Soon all of them were put in piles--piles of dead, waiting to be tipped into mass graves.

 

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Well, that was a pretty ghastly way to end a post, wasn't it?

BzAli- Actually, these I know for facts:
-Strasbourg IS across the river from Kehl
-The Black Forest IS just to the east
-There IS a bridge
-Nancy IS on the way to Strasbourg

Also, the commanders are taken from the game:
Marshal de Broglie=4/4/4/0
General von Seydlitz=4/1/6/0 (I think...)

The thing about rolling hills is fictional.

Calcsam- As for tech, I'm sorry, I'll have French and Prussian tech numbers up as soon as I can!

By the way, don't you think the General was pretty stupid to refuse to take prisoners? He could have gotten some valuable information...

 

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Nice piece of writing so far. I could almost feel that you were reporting on a real battle!

 

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Very nice, the details about the taking of the bridge add a lot of realism.

 

[Eochaid]

*Sobbing in a dark corner of the bAAR, Eochaid raises his hand and screams to God*

"Why Lord, why don't they use my Fields of Glory!"

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BTW, very nice AAR

 

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Originally posted by Eochaid "Why Lord, why don't they us my Fields of Glory!"

Huh?

By the way, thanks for all the comments, and I'm looking forward to the next installment as much as you are!

EDIT: OH! USE...not us...I get it!!

EDIT II: France land tech 42, Prussia 44.

 

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III- de Broglie's Miracle

That night Marshal de Broglie sent up engineers to repair the bridge. Armed with planks upon planks upon boards of wood, they filled in the holes and by sunlight it was safe to cross. This was remarkable--"A miracle!" the Marshal shouted--considering the bridge's horrible condition before.

That morning the Prussians woke up to find a French army right under their nose. Things were looking down.

 

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The next installment is most enjoyable if read while listening to Franz von Suppe's Light Cavalry Overture.

(I can't have given you a bigger hint on what's coming...)