Saturday, February 20, 2016

#2 Gunzburg, 1805

A letter describing the recent battle to General Mack of the Austrian forces:

Well, general, you may rest easy this day. This very evening, forces from Napoleon's Grand Armee attempted to take us in the flank and take the city of Gunzburg, which as you know would give them a secure crossing and force us to change our army's position.


The first shots were aimed at the elite troops of which I was personally in command, and while they weakened our numbers slightly, no major losses can be reported. After strategically repositioning into Gunzburg itself, I ordered my men to secure the two crossings on our flanks and repel any invading French forces. I was dismayed upon receiving a note that the town of Reisenburg on our right flank was already under French control and we were in danger that they might be reinforced soon. I took action and part of my division swept around toward that flank. My forward troops stopped the reinforcements in their tracks and forced them to flee. I did not choose to take the town at this time, sir, because French were also beginning to cross on my left flank.

I took command of an artillery division and directed their constant fire at the infantry trying to cross the swamps and the bridge at the flank. A large number of French had massed there, and soon after, two battalions had crossed and were assaulting my forces. With our cavalry, we cut off their retreat back across the bridge and opened fire on the now-trapped French. Commander Lefol was killed in the crossfire and what was left of the two French battalions surrendered.

My Austrians put an end to any major threat on the left flank.

With that threat gone, our attention turned again to the right flank, where more of the invaders under Delabasse were attempting to cross over. We stopped them again, and for the second time this night, a French commander was killed while retreating.

My men rallied and took back Reisenburg from the enemy. Part of our success was due to our grand battery that had been positioned on the hills overlooking the field and constantly inflicted casualties on the enemy. In a last, deseperate attempt, the Mahler's French center tried to take the bridge crossing straight into Gunzburg. My men were able to stand their ground, and the French morale finally broke. The battle was over! A glorious victory, sir, is all ours!

The French attack after I threaten to win the battle next turn by gaining a temporary victory banner for the towns.
The French strike, but my troops hold their ground!

Yours,
General Major d'Aspre

Historical Result: French victory
Today's Result: Austrian victory

Austria 7 – French 2

Total Banner Count
Third Coalition Forces: 12
Napoleon's Grand Armee: 4

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