I am the Crown Prince of France

Chapter 37: The Dutch-Prussian War

Five kilometers south of Amstelveen, the Prussian military camp was brightly lit. André was busy directing his soldiers to unload two cannons from horseback.

Because it was a light cavalry raid, they couldn't bring heavy artillery, so André had brought small one-pound cannons, each weighing less than 200 pounds and easily carried by a single horse.

They hadn't even brought proper mounts for the cannons. Instead, they dug shallow pits in the ground, propping the cannons at an angle, not really expecting to hit anything within the Prussian camp.

Loading the gunpowder and shot, they lit the fuses.

With two loud blasts, the Prussian camp descended into chaos.

By the time the Prussians had identified the direction of the attack and brought out over ten of their own cannons to return fire, André had already secured the one-pound cannons back onto the horses and was retreating under the cover of darkness towards Utrecht.

All night, Duke Brunswick, the Prussian commander, struggled to sleep soundly. He was baffled as to why the Dutch, who had been so thoroughly defeated, would suddenly provoke them.

At dawn the next day, he dispatched cavalry to search the surrounding area for enemy forces, and after confirming there were no ambushes, he ordered the army to resume its march towards Amsterdam.

Meanwhile, the Prussian vanguard had just encountered a surprise attack from the Dutch.

Although the Prussians hadn't expected the Dutch to go on the offensive, their soldiers, trained under Frederick II, responded with immediate and disciplined counterattacks.

The Dutch, predictably, didn't put up much of a fight—after losing about twenty men, they began to retreat in disarray.

The Prussian vanguard commander, Blücher, reacted quickly, leading his troops in pursuit, soon reaching the eastern shore of Lake Abcoude.

There, he found a long, extended line of Dutch troops in a formation known as a line infantry tactic—one of the most common strategies used by infantry in the 18th century. Soldiers stood in a straight line, usually three or four ranks deep, firing in volleys at the enemy.

Blücher smirked. Was this the Dutch plan? Lure him into a trap with retreating troops and then try to ambush him here?

"Hmph, you underestimate the discipline of Prussian soldiers!" He immediately ordered his troops to halt their pursuit and form their own line formation, with additional forces arranged in columns for an assault.

The Prussian soldiers moved quickly; in just twenty minutes, over 4,000 men had formed their lines.

Over 2,300 men made up a one-kilometer-long line directly facing the Dutch, with another 800 soldiers organized into dozens of columns, ready to charge. Nearly 200 cavalry waited on the flanks.

The sheer display of discipline and organization sent shivers down the spines of the Dutch troops.

A bugle call signaled the start of the Prussian advance, with the drums beating out a rapid tempo. The company commanders raised their swords and ordered the advance.

At the same time, a few four-pound cannons embedded within the Prussian lines began to fire.

As the Prussian soldiers steadily advanced to the drumbeat, closing the distance between the two forces, the Dutch troops—already under cannon fire—began to show signs of retreat. However, their officers quickly forced them back into line at sword-point.

When the two armies were about 100 meters apart, the Dutch line finally erupted in gunfire. The Prussians, however, seemed unfazed, as if the Dutch were merely setting off fireworks, and continued their steady march forward.

Prussian soldiers fell as they approached, but they didn't falter. When the distance between the two lines had closed to just 60 meters, the Prussian drumming ceased abruptly.

"Ready, aim—fire!"

At the officers' commands, the Prussian soldiers fired a coordinated volley, tearing holes in the Dutch line and sending panicked cries through their ranks.

As the exchange of gunfire continued, the stark contrast in military discipline became evident.

The Prussians could fire five rounds for every three that the Dutch managed, with the Prussians firing in unison while the Dutch fired sporadically, with some soldiers firing wildly without even aiming.

After over ten volleys, the battlefield was shrouded in smoke, and the Dutch began to fall back.

Seeing this, Blücher immediately ordered, "Advance in columns!"

"Yes, sir!"

With a unique drumbeat, the forty-some Prussian columns surged forward through the smoke, charging fearlessly at the Dutch line, while their main line also moved forward ten paces.

Prussian soldiers fell as they advanced, but those in the rear ranks continued pressing forward. The Dutch line quickly broke, and their soldiers began to flee, only to be corralled by their officers and directed to the flanks to avoid the Prussian onslaught.

Observing the situation through his spyglass, Blücher pointed to the west. "Cavalry, pursue them."

"Yes, sir!"

His keen observation had revealed that while the Dutch eastern flank, led by Wolster, was relatively stable, the western flank was in disarray.

Blücher then continued advancing his main force, confident that by the day's end, Amstelveen would fall.

However, just as the Dutch troops had fully withdrawn from the front, a sudden barrage of cannon fire erupted from the Prussians' left flank.

Massive iron balls screamed through the air, tearing through the Prussian line with a spray of blood. One of the cannonballs rolled for over 40 meters, finally coming to a stop only after severing a commander's leg.

Blücher's eyes twitched; judging by the sound, there had to be at least a dozen cannons, and they were large caliber!

Having been forced to march quickly, Blücher had only brought five four-pound cannons with him. His forces were immediately overwhelmed by the incoming artillery barrage.

The momentum of the Prussian advance came to a halt. Blücher hesitated, glanced at the nearby town of Amstelveen, and gritted his teeth before ordering a half-battalion from the reserves to join the attack.

Two hours into the march of the Prussian main force, Duke Brunswick heard the sound of heavy cannon fire from the north. He frowned slightly—it couldn't have been Blücher's artillery; he only had five cannons with him, not enough to cause such a racket.

That meant the Dutch must have artillery?

But their artillery had been destroyed two weeks ago. Even if they had managed to acquire new cannons, they wouldn't have the trained artillerymen to operate them.

Artillerymen were the hardest soldiers to train; without years of practice and a strong grasp of mathematics, they might fire dozens of shots without hitting anything.

As Duke Brunswick pondered this, a messenger arrived in haste, reporting that a large force of Dutch cavalry had appeared near Utrecht.

The Duke's heart skipped a beat. Utrecht was his main supply base, the source of food and ammunition for the front lines. It could not be allowed to fall.

What were the Dutch up to?

With the experience of a seasoned commander, Brunswick quickly dismissed his concerns and sneered. He had the advantage in numbers—there was no need to play by the enemy's rules.

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