Wearing British clothes as a second-generation aristocrat

Chapter 102. The Battle of Cux 9

Chapter 102. The Battle of Cux 9

Time quickly came to August 25, 1804.

As the sun rises over the Elbe estuary, the gentle morning light pierces through the thin mist. A cool sea breeze sweeps across the Altinwald Heights, causing the two flags hanging high atop the hill to flutter in the wind: the Union Jack and the German Legion flag.

The British Navy made another trip to Cookes, delivering a batch of weapons, ammunition, and food to the German Army Corps. Colonel Charles also brought two pieces of news to Dugan.

First, it was news of the Fulton steamship's trial voyage that Dugan had asked him to inquire about.

Fulton’s steamships departed from Wapping Wharf and headed for Gravesend, a journey of 22 miles.

At the start of the experiment, the steamship's paddle wheels continued to turn on the water, propelling the ship forward smoothly without relying on sails. They arrived in Gravesend at 10:24 a.m. that day. The one-way journey took 4 hours and 24 minutes.

Then came the return voyage, with Fulton departing at 12:00 noon from Gravesend Pier back to London.

They arrived in London at 4:30 p.m. that day, and the return trip still took about 16 hours and 30 minutes.

Colonel Charles said, "Although your steamship doesn't need sails, isn't affected by wind or tides, and has good sailing stability, the test results show that it takes about a day less than a traditional sailing ship. At least I don't see a clear advantage. Mr. Dugan, it seems your investment prospects aren't optimistic!"

Dugan smiled, neither confirming nor denying.

After all, this is only the first unit, and it will continue to be improved.

However, Dugan still wrote a short message and asked Colonel Charles to deliver it to Fulton.

"Mr. Fulton, if you want to prove your invention has commercial value, then make it run faster and haul goods faster. After all, you're racing against time, and time is money."

Later, the phrase "time is money" was adopted as a golden rule by businessmen all over the world.

Next, Charles brought Dugan intelligence from the War Department.

Two weeks earlier, Napoleon had issued an order from Fontainebleau Palace to transfer 2 troops from the Dutch-occupied territories to reinforce the Hanover theater.

"Is 20,000 enough?" Dugan was quite confident as he showed Colonel Charles around the various construction projects he had been working on for the past two weeks.

After 14 days and nights of intensive work, the "Dugan Connaught Line," constructed with sloping breastworks, intersecting trenches, circular bunkers, pit obstacles, and new barbed wire, was completed.

The defensive fortifications, stretching for several kilometers, are nested in layers. The barbed wire produced in the workshop has completed its first round of laying, densely arranged along the front of the trenches, in the gaps between the pits, and in the blind spots of the positions.

Although most officers still scoffed at the barbed wire, they all carried out the installation step by step under Dugan's orders.

Dugan said confidently to Charles, "Colonel, our entire army has completed all pre-battle preparations. The King's soldiers are in high spirits. All they are waiting for is for the French to come and die."

Colonel Charles remained noncommittal, simply smiling politely before noticing a large sand table in the command post.

The sand table perfectly replicates all the terrain, villages, waterways, and fortresses around Cuxhaven, with clear markings and easy-to-understand features.

"Good luck, Brigadier General." Charles saluted Dugan.

Before Charles left, Dugan, acting on his behalf, asked Charles to pass a message to Fulton: after the river trials were successful, sea trials should begin as soon as possible. At the same time, Dugan also wanted Gris to come aboard the ship to London so that Gris could procure more barbed wire for him.

"General," Charles said, "I have another mission upon arriving in Cooks: to escort Major Ken back for a report."

"Ken?" Dugan asked, puzzled. "Why do you want him back?"

Colonel Charles said, "Don't you know? The heroic deeds you described in your report to the War Office, specifically Major Ken's, are now common knowledge in London."

It turns out that in the report that Dugan wrote to the War Department, he described Ken's deeds of being the first to rush onto the beach, how he fought bravely against the enemy, and how he continued to pursue the French even after being wounded, tearing through the French lines with a single Knox rifle, in a way that was seven parts truth and three parts exaggeration.

Army Secretary Pratt had a good personal relationship with the old man in the Rivers family, so he showed the report to him.

The old man of the Rivers family was so excited that tears streamed down his face. He thought to himself that his eldest son had finally brought honor to the family. So he went to the editor-in-chief of The Times.

With just a word from the editor-in-chief, the reporter cleverly and discreetly reported Ken's deeds in The Times, thus earning Major Ken Rivers the nickname "Kooks the Warrior".

So the old man from the Rivers family insisted on going back to London.

"Don't worry, Dugan, forget about the barbed wire," Ken assured him confidently. "When I get back to London, I'll make another trip to the Ordnance Department and get you anything good there."

"Okay, I believe you, our God of War Cooks!" Dugan hugged Ken with a wry smile.

The day after Ken left, news came from the front.

"Report! Baron Victor von Altyn, commander of the 2nd Hussars Regiment, has arrived!"

The German hussars dressed differently from the British and French cavalry. They wore dark blue Dorman jackets, black bearskin-trimmed pelisses, black fur cylindrical hats, and gold woven knots on their chests.

"Your Excellency, our troops conducted long-range reconnaissance deep into the west bank of the Weser River and discovered a large French force on the opposite bank of Lochsstadt yesterday evening. The enemy is well-organized, with at least three infantry battalions, an artillery battery, and supporting heavy troops, with an estimated number of over four thousand men, and the troops are still continuing to assemble eastward."

Colonel Deken analyzed, "Four thousand main force troops, equipped with a dedicated artillery company, this is not a small harassment force."

Dugan and his officers walked up to the sand table. Before Dugan could even point his baton to the southwest corner of Cookes, another announcement rang out from outside the command post.

"Lord John von Leyden, commander of the 3rd Hussars, has arrived!"

Immediately following behind, Baron Leyden, who was in charge of reconnaissance missions in the southeast direction, pushed open the door and entered.

Compared to the travel-worn Alten, Leiden was in slightly better condition. He quickly saluted and gave the intelligence that was completely opposite to that from the southwest: "General, everything is calm in the southeast. The two major French strongholds, Ningbao Fortress and Hanover City, are both under enemy control with their gates closed. There is no sign of any troops being deployed, assembled, or moved. The patrol forces on the perimeter are also maintaining their usual size, with nothing unusual."

All the officers instinctively looked at the sand table, their eyes focusing on the southeast and southwest entrances of Cookes Harbor.

"In that case, the main direction of the French attack should be along the Weser River in the southwest!" Harcourt immediately said.

Von Bock, however, said, "Could it be a feint by the French? Bernadotte sent a small force to create disturbances in the southwest, drawing our main force westward, so that our main force in the southeast could take advantage of the situation?"

In an instant, everyone's attention was once again focused on Dugen.

Dugan walked around the sand table once, and finally gently lowered his baton to the Locksstadt in the southwest corner of the sand table.

"You're all locals, can anyone tell me what's around Locksstadt?" Dugan asked. After a long period of scrutiny by the local Hanoverian officers, it was finally Baron Ernest Longwater who spoke first.

"Lochsstadt is surrounded by swamps and is part of the Wesermünde Hard Highlands, which consist of several interconnected Hard Highlands that together form a highland archipelago in the swampy area between the Weser and Elbe rivers."

Hard highlands are a unique landform feature of the North German Lowlands, referring to sandy or gravelly highlands formed by glacial till, which contrast sharply with the surrounding low-lying marshes and polder fields. These highlands have good drainage and were the primary site for settlements in the region in the early 19th century.

Baron Ernest Longwater stroked his chin and said, "What is there? There's nothing there but some peat."

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