Napoleon in 1812

Chapter 63

11. Operation Sickle – 1

“Jordans’s Corps, which was staying in the city of León (a Spanish city north of Portugal), has moved south. As they advanced toward Portugal, they captured Fort Ponferrada, but Count Amarante (the commander of the Portuguese Division) stopped them once. Guerrilla troops reported that they turned their horses north.”

“Commander! The troops of Louis-Gabriel Suchet who were in Valencia have captured the port of Almería and the city of Murcia, and are surrounding Fort Albacete! The Parliament of Seville and the King of Spain (Fernando VII) have formally called for reinforcements!”

“André Masséna is on his way to Madrid. And he has quite a few siege cannons. As you know, the walls and fortifications protecting Madrid have already been badly damaged when we retook the city… At this rate, Madrid is in danger.”

There was a series of urgent and negative breaking news arriving simultaneously.

The Allied command, stationed south of the Arlanzón River, was in such a cold silence that even a drop of sweat could be heard. It was difficult to read any expression on Arthur Wellesley’s face, as he was stiffer than ever before.

He eventually sighed and said.

“Was this what the French Emperor was after? Somehow… for the past few days, I’ve had this strange feeling that his troops were dragging time, rather than actually searching for weak points.”

“Commander…”

“Unfortunately, we were hung up in the field and forgot the whole big picture. Well, that’s how efficient their psychological warfare was.”

Wellesley stood up and pulled out a dagger from under his coat. And he relentlessly tore apart the map showing Burgos and the Arlanzón River. Wellesley’s attendants placed a map of the entire Iberian Peninsula on top of it.

Arthur Wellesley’s act now seemed to declare that the entire peninsula was a stage for the coalition forces to play on.

“Dear British, Spanish and Portuguese officers. We’re at a disadvantage. In the past, capturing Burgos was to separate the enemy corps scattered on the peninsula and defeat them individually, but now it’s no longer possible. First of all, we’ll have to gather our defenses, step back to the mainland and wait for the support of the Kingdom (England).”

Arthur Wellesley was not someone to be frustrated or despaired after falling into an enemy trap or being in an unfavorable situation. There had been a time when it was harder and harder to fight against the Maratha alliance in India. But in the end, he was able to stand here now because he had overcome all those difficulties.

“We must give up Madrid.”

“Commander!”

“How can you say that… You want to give them a city with a population of 200,000?”

“I don’t mean to ignore the Spanish symbol. However, Madrid can be recaptured whenever we take back the advantage in the Peninsula War. I have to make the right judgment from a grand perspective.”

Arthur Wellesley suppressed the Spanish generals’ anger with a cold voice.

The most important place among the various regions of the peninsula where the fights were taking place, was Seville, where the Spanish Provisional Government was established and where Fernando VII lived. If this place was captured, Spain would have virtually no choice but to withdraw from the war, or even surrender. He gave up Madrid to protect Seville. Wellesley made a natural choice.

“Let’s go back to the Allied operations before 1812. We’re going to thoroughly defend key points, operate wide range of guerrilla units, and attack the rear and supply lines of the French. There’s no need to be disappointed that we’re now at a disadvantage in this war. If we go back in time and drive those French into a fight that we can do well, that will be enough.”

The suffering of the Spanish people who fell under French occupation would never be small. But Arthur Wellesley tried to look only at the final victory of the Peninsular War, that would be more beneficial to their future.

“If our troops retreat, the belligerent Napoleon will follow us.”

“Definitely.”

Major General Rowland Hill added this last word.

Currently, the Allies had a perfect defense and formation along the Arlanzón River. The reason why the French did not attack them recklessly was because their defense was so solid. But Napoleon would not miss the gap if the Allies were forced back because of the situation on the mainland.

“But we can’t attack the French first…”

It was already hard to stop the French from attacking, but crossing the river? And then facing the French elite, commanded by Napoleon? The generals shivered just by imagining it.

“Then it’s simple. Shouldn’t we retreat to Seville while preventing the French troops from pursuing us?”

Arthur Wellesley grabbed his baton with burning eyes.

“Go back to your respective positions. Tomorrow morning, we will leave this place. Of course they can’t just let us go. But I have something in mind to counter them.”

Everyone nodded at Arthur Wellesley’s conviction. They were people who had directly experienced how great a commander Wellesley was. He also had the highest position, so if he made such a statement, everyone believed him. He was such a man.

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On the day Napoleon was last training with his soldiers, his secretary brought some news. It was the moment Napoleon had been waiting for, hiding his nervousness. The Corps of Louis-Gabriel Suchet, who was staying in Valencia, captured the port of Almería and the city of Murcia.

The importance of the two places was obvious, because the simple fact that the French Imperial Army occupied the port caused hysteria in Britain. The British Navy’s current grand strategy was to block and monitor all the coasts occupied by France and its satellite countries.

This strategy of preventing even a single ship flying a tricolor flag from leaving the land was possible because of Britain’s naval power, but it was not without limitations. The more ports and coasts occupied by France, the more the British Navy had to do (such as blockade and surveillance). And therefore, the more inevitable the gap in power occurred.

The city of Murcia was also a key point that had been repeatedly taken by both sides during the Peninsula War. It was indeed a very important bridgehead to advance to the plains of La Mancha. If they managed to occupy these plains, then Seville, with Spain’s Provisional Government, was just around the corner.

Holding them would completely sever the link between the Spanish Provisional Government, Madrid, and their Allies in Burgos. In other words, Arthur Wellesley’s Corps, which was currently confronting Napoleon’s Corps, would no longer be able to continue the battle. If they lost the plains of La Mancha, then the war on the Iberian Peninsula was practically over.

“The Corps of Mortier and Jourdan launched an attack on the Portuguese border… Masséna’s Corps is preparing to recapture Madrid. If this were known, Arthur Wellesley and his allies would be as calm as a wild boar with its tail on fire.”

Napoleon recalled Arthur Wellesley, who was commanding his corps over the Arlanzón River. In fact, Napoleon did not stay still because he wanted to stay here. Any prolonged war would only lead to economic loss and waste of manpower

Napoleon knew that the fastest and surest way to end the long-standing Peninsula War was to defeat Arthur Wellesley’s Corps, the main force of the coalition. He had tried to explore it several times to make a gap in his own way, but there was really no room to squeeze in. The Allied forces along the Arlanzón River had a perfect defense. That was why Napoleon changed his strategy a little.

While Napoleon’s troops were holding Arthur Wellesley’s Corps, Suchet, Masséna and Jourdan led their respective armies to attack the mainland of Spain and Portugal. The entire Iberian Peninsula itself was a Spanish and Portuguese territory, but it was possible to deploy such numbers of soldiers to the front because France had more troops than the coalition.

France, of course, was also consuming a lot of power during the Peninsular War, but Spain and Portugal were consuming more than that, and Britain had no intention of sending more troops to mainland Europe from the beginning. Such an all-out attack on the mainland would be enough to panic the leaders of Wellesley’s Corps.

“And all of this is just a smokescreen for the decisive battle.”

Having more troops than the enemy meant that there were more cards available. There was a map of the Iberian Peninsula in front of him. Napoleon took a figurine representing André Masséna’s Corps on the map.

The troops were headed for Madrid from the city of Zaragoza. The figurine of Masséna’s Corps in Napoleon’s hand moved as well.

However, the figurine took a sharp turn on a decisive crossroad before Madrid. And went north. Their true destination was Burgos, just here.

‘The best thing a warden can do is a quick battle and then defend. I don’t think the above operation fall behind in comparison to that of Your Majesty.’

Napoleon remembered the dry and silent figure of a general who had started from a cabin messenger and had reached the position of marshal.

André Masséna’s ability was acknowledged by Napoleon Bonaparte himself, who was called the god of war and the conqueror of Europe, as well as by other marshals, even if he could say such arrogant words. Although the world was different and what the individuals had experienced and learned may have been different, Napoleon believed in Masséna’s power.

That was why he entrusted him with the key part of this operation.

“Even though he made me angry, not listening to me in the middle.”

Napoleon’s gaze on the figurine of Masséna’s Corps was cold.

The whole operation had been delayed because of André Masséna, sitting down in Zaragoza and making excuses not to move from there. Of course, there may have been some circumstances, but it took Napoleon time to suppress that wild horse-like temperament of him in the other world, so he could not help but doubt reasonably.

He did not think that the Nabot would have taken good care of his former comrades who were now his subordinates, his marshals.

Anyway, André Masséna’s Corps, who failed to win the argument, went out with his troops and turned around pretending to go to Madrid as planned. But in reality they were moving north at a tremendous speed, deceiving the eyes of the Allies. What would Arthur Wellesley and his officers look like when they notice that Masséna’s troops suddenly showed up behind their backs when they tried to retreat?

When they first heard Napoleon’s plan, the Chief of Staff Berthier, and the Marshals Perrin, Ney and Bessières were all shocked. They asked, full of excitement.

‘What are you going to name this grand operation?’

‘I didn’t think about it. Hmm… How about Operation Sickle?:[1]

Napoleon’s operation, which would be known as Operation Sickle, began.

(It’s not exactly accurate, but you can think of it as roughly how the corps moved.)

TL notes

[1] The name of the operation probably comes from the movements of Masséna’s Corps, going in one direction and then the other. During World War II, one of the German operations while invading France had been sometimes called Operation Sichelschnitt (Sickle Cut), the movements of the German troops were a bit similar. 

Here’s a map highlighting La Mancha, with the main cities occupied by the coalition and France: