novelSusiti Chapter 98. The Battle of Cux 5
Chapter 98. The Battle of Cux 5
Chapter 98. The Battle of Cux 5
"Cooks? An Englishman?" Bernardo Silva took the letter from Gérard's hand and glanced at it briefly.
Dumonteaux thought to himself: The British, relying on their fleet, have landed a powerful attack on Cuxhaven. With the port lost, a fatal gap has been torn in the North Sea coastal defense line. The enemy can reinforce their troops at any time and advance deep into the Hanover interior.
Bernardot casually placed the letter on the desk, got up and walked to the wall where a map of the entire territory of Hanover was hanging, his gaze falling on the location of Cuxhaven.
"Tens of thousands of British men?"
Bernardo Silva, a seasoned commander, was well aware of the true strength of the troops he commanded.
Currently, he has an army of 8000 men under his command throughout the entire Hanover territory.
The regular French army numbered only 4000 men, scattered across more than a dozen fortresses and towns, including Hammerne, Ningburg, Stade, and Bremen, with only about a hundred men in each location, making them extremely vulnerable to being defeated one by one by the enemy.
Even if they were assembled, 4000 French troops would be no match for 10000 British troops.
As for the remaining four thousand Hanoverian servants who joined the army, there was even less hope of them joining.
Most of these soldiers were local civilians forcibly conscripted or coerced into service by the French army, or were surrendered Hanoverian soldiers.
Originally, this group harbored deep resentment towards the French who occupied their country, and their loyalty was extremely low.
They might be fine for maintaining local order, but if it really comes to a direct battle, these servants who joined the army would most likely defect on the spot, or even launch a surprise attack on the French positions.
Bernardo Silva did not hesitate any longer. He went straight back to his desk, picked up his pen, and began to write a letter requesting help.
The letter was very straightforward: 10,000 British troops had landed at Cuxhaven, Hanover's servants were not trustworthy, and the current forces were insufficient to defend Hanover. Finally, the letter implored His Majesty the Emperor to allocate the main field army to support Hanover.
The letter was short. After it was written, it was put into an envelope, sealed with wax, and Bernardo Silva stamped it with his marshal's seal. He then ordered messengers to travel day and night, changing horses in rotation, to Paris as quickly as possible to deliver the letter of appeal directly to His Majesty Napoleon.
However, even if you ride horses in a relay, traveling day and night, it would still take 5 to 6 days to get from Hanover to Paris.
The messenger, whose mind and body were on the verge of collapse, finally arrived in Paris on the fifth day.
The Palace of Fontainebleau was bustling with activity, both inside and out. Servants, tailors, nobles, and officials moved about, all focused on the upcoming coronation ceremony.
It is June now, and there are still about six months until the ceremony in which Napoleon is formally crowned Emperor of France (in December).
Deep within the palace, in the royal dressing room, the curtains were carefully drawn back, allowing warm, soft sunlight to stream in and illuminate the luxurious furnishings.
Several artisans from the finest tailoring workshops in Paris were carefully surrounding a man, holding their breath and not daring to make the slightest mistake.
In the center of the room, Napoleon stood silently.
He wore a white silk blouse as an inner garment, and over it was the imperial robe that had cost countless amounts of gold and silver and was made by the top Parisian artisans, specially for the coronation ceremony.
On the deep blue brocade fabric, intricate laurel branches and eagle emblems are embroidered with gold thread, and the edges are inlaid with fine pearls and silver lace, exuding a noble and majestic aura.
The basic design of the imperial robe has been finalized, with only a few minor adjustments needed to the shoulder lines and collar position.
The head tailor, holding a fine needle and silver thread, tiptoed and carefully fitted the collar to fit Napoleon's profile and neck, adjusting the size of the neckline.
The entire fitting room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone deliberately held their breath, afraid of disturbing the first ruler, whose temperament was unpredictable.
Just then, hurried footsteps came from outside the door, and the Grand Eunuch Michel Diroc strode in, clutching a letter tightly in his hand.
Michel Duroc, the Grand Steward of the Palace, is currently one of Napoleon's most trusted confidants.
He was the chief official in charge of all audiences, confidential documents, and the emperor's schedule at Fontainebleau Palace. He also oversaw court etiquette and the imperial retinue.
Access control and confidential communications.
All urgent military secrets from high-ranking military and political officials were first handed over to Dilock, who would then verify the messenger's identity, open the letter, register it, and determine its urgency.
If it was an ordinary official document, it would be forwarded to the Secretariat by the Emperor's private secretary, Claude François de Meneval, and then presented to Napoleon.
However, for urgent requests for assistance from generals like Bernadotte, Diocletian had the authority to present them directly to Napoleon without going through intermediaries.
Even so, Duroc still had to deliver the letter to Napoleon's bodyguard, Louis Constantine.
Michel whispered a few words to Louis, who raised an eyebrow, immediately took the letter, and strode over to Napoleon's side.
"Your Majesty, urgent military intelligence from Hanova."
Napoleon was looking directly at the mirror, examining the design of his imperial robes, when he heard the words "urgent military situation." He instinctively turned around abruptly, wanting to ask for details.
At that moment, the head tailor was completely focused on sewing the collar close to Napoleon's right cheek. Napoleon's sudden turn caused the sharp needle to cut the skin below his cheek.
A trickle of crimson blood seeped out instantly, slowly sliding down his skin and dripping onto the snow-white imperial robe.
"Ugh!" The old tailor, who was over fifty years old, froze. The silver needle slipped from his hand and fell to the ground. His face turned ashen, his legs went weak, and he collapsed to his knees, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.
"Your Majesty! Forgive me! Please forgive my transgression!" The old tailor pressed his head against the cold ground, his terrified pleas filled with utter despair.
The other craftsmen in the room were all terrified and fell silent, lowering their heads and not daring to look directly at Napoleon.
Napoleon raised his finger and gently wiped away the drop of blood that had seeped from his cheek. His fingertip caressed the warm blood bead, his expression calm and composed, showing neither anger nor rebuke.
He glanced at the trembling old tailor kneeling on the ground, his voice calm and unreadable: "Get up, continue—"
"Thank you, Your Majesty the Emperor!" The old tailor felt as if he had been granted a pardon, but his back was already soaked with cold sweat. Although Napoleon did not punish him, the old tailor was still so frightened that his hands trembled and he was unable to work.
Seeing his condition, Napoleon had no choice but to tell the tailors to leave and come back tomorrow.
"Read it." Napoleon stretched out his arms, allowing his servants to help him remove his somewhat bulky imperial robes, and said this to his personal guards.
Louis Constant read succinctly: "On June 12, a British army of more than ten thousand men launched a surprise attack on Cuxhaven in Hanover. Marshal Bernadotte has requested aid and hopes that His Majesty will send reinforcements."
As soon as Napoleon reached out his hand, Louis quickly handed over the letter with both hands.
Napoleon glanced at it, and after a moment, he crumpled the letter into a ball and casually threw it into the trash can next to him.
The British chose an incredibly opportune moment to enter Hanover.
At this crucial time of his coronation as emperor, if the British army were allowed to occupy Cuxhaven and continue to seize Hanover, other countries would think that France was internally vulnerable, which would seriously damage the emperor's prestige and tarnish the sanctity of the coronation ceremony.
"Russians, Austrians, Prussians, Bavarians, Saxons, Swedes—countless eyes are watching me."
Napoleon muttered to himself, lost in thought for a moment.
"Bernadot didn't specify how many reinforcements he wanted—" Napoleon put his hands behind his back and began pacing around the hall.
He turned around and gave a deep order to the people waiting outside the door: "Tell Berthier to transfer at least 20000 Dutch and Bruges second-line troops to be commanded by Dessault and Dumontsau. The two of them will be under the command of Bernadotte. During the march, they are strictly prohibited from crossing Prussian territory and must not touch the main British force in Brunswick."
Marshal Berthier was the Minister of War and Chief of the General Staff. His job was to turn the Emperor’s verbal instructions into formal written military orders, then stamp them and send them by multiple messengers and fast horses to Marshal Marmont in Utrecht, Netherlands, as well as the Bruges Reserve, Dumonto, Bernadotte, and others.
At the same time, Berthier also needed to coordinate with the quartermaster general to allocate food, ammunition, vehicles, and amphibious bridges for engineers, and he had to report the progress to Napoleon throughout the process.
Then, Napoleon raised his voice and said to Diroc, "Reply to Bernadotte, and I will give him two infantry divisions and one cavalry brigade, and the authority to mobilize all the surrounding garrison resources. I have only one request: before my coronation ceremony officially begins, drive all the British troops that landed in Hanover back into the sea."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Dirock replied.
Napoleon raised his hand again and touched the tiny needle mark on his cheek that had not yet fully healed. The drop of blood had long since dried, leaving a negligible dark red mark.
Marshal Berthier was very efficient; he quickly drafted a plan according to Napoleon's wishes:
A full infantry division and a cavalry brigade, totaling approximately 12000 men, were transferred from Marshal Marmont in Utrecht.
A second-line infantry division, approximately 8000 men, was transferred from Marshal Davout in Bruges.
Finally, a caravan artillery company and an engineer detachment were transferred from the cavalry reserve in Compiègne.
In order not to provoke the Prussians too much, Berthier ordered his troops to enter Hanover via Utrecht and Groningen, and finally arrive in Hanover through Bremen.
Despite Marshal Berthier's high efficiency, in this era, it would have taken at least three days to assemble such an army.
After the assembly is completed, it takes about 10 days to walk from the Netherlands to Hanover.
In other words, Dugan, who is in Cooks, has at least two weeks to prepare.
In fact, that's exactly what Dugan did.
Three days after the British occupied Cux, the second wave of German troops landed at Cux.
This time, the cavalry unit's transport went smoothly, with fewer than 20 batches of mules and horses dying.
The light infantry did not find any trace of the French army during their reconnaissance along the line of Vanne, Neuinkirchen and Nordleida.
Now that Dugan had cavalry again, he boldly pushed his reconnaissance forward eastward to Fredenbeck and westward to Lochsstadt, almost into Bremen.
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