Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Joseph was employing the very same tactic that the Duke of Wellington had historically devised—the reverse slope + thin red line tactic.

Oh, but now it should be renamed the thin white line tactic—since the French Army’s uniforms are white, and the naming rights for this strategy now belong to France.

In practice, the number of troops Joseph committed to the front didn’t even exceed 14,000, and the formation they deployed couldn’t truly be considered a proper battle line, at best resembling an extended line-up of horizontal columns.

Large groups of horizontal double-column formations, ranging from 100 to 150 meters deep, were staggered across the slopes at the crest.

There was a gap of about 10 meters between each group, allowing limited manpower to cover a significantly broad battlefield.

Count Karlcroit of Prussia believed that his attack maneuver had already exceeded the limits of the French defensive line, so he sought to flank them from the side, but in reality, even if his forces extended another 100 meters westward, there would still be French columns waiting there.

Moreover, adhering to the requirements of reverse slope tactics, each side of the columns had a detachment of scattered troops protecting them, with cavalry further positioned at strategic distances.

When it came to battlefield length, the commonly used infantry line formation combined with dispersed troop tactics felt like child’s play compared to the mighty “thin white line.”

As for firepower density, the Duke of Wellington had tested it repeatedly—on elevated terrain, a double-column horizontal formation proved enough, width across the battle line was the true key.

If your line is wider than the enemy’s, you can exert superior firepower density.

Had Joseph been more aggressive, at this moment he could have even had the flanks fold inward, surrounding the Anglo-German-Austrian Alliance Army.

Of course, the reverse slope + thin white line tactic also had significant shortcomings, most notably its demand for exceptionally well-trained soldiers.

The relative positioning of columns needed to be meticulously maintained. Facing enemy artillery and cavalry charges, the troops had to swiftly utilize the slope’s reverse side as cover and transform into dense four-row formations.

If the troops weren’t sufficiently trained, it wouldn’t even take an enemy attack; the formation could quickly devolve into chaos on its own.

Fortunately, the main French forces engaged at Mechelen were the Royal Fourth Infantry Division.

They possessed unparalleled training levels across the European Continent.

Although Joseph had originally planned three weeks for them to master the reverse slope + thin white line tactic, they managed to fully grasp it in less than half a month.

In truth, from the outset, the outcome of the Mechelen battle had been beyond doubt.

As Karlcroit’s forces on the west side collapsed, any hope lingering in the hearts of the British troops in the center vanished completely—their morale, already battered to the brink of collapse by the elevated French forces, now broke like a floodgate.

General Harris didn’t even put up a fight; he simply ordered the Austrian skirmishers to cover the retreat while allowing his soldiers to flee downhill.

Meanwhile, the sound of military drums erupted from the French left flank.

Mula rode his horse over the crest of the slope, drew his saber, and with an imposing wave shouted, “In the name of the Crown Prince! Follow me, charge ahead!”

Behind him, three squadrons of Hussars advanced in neat formation, shouting as they lunged at the disorganized British infantry.

Mula’s face still bore a sickly grayish-yellow hue from his recent recovery—he had suffered from severe dysentery and had only returned to the unit last week—but his spirit was thoroughly revitalized, his saber swinging wildly, blood spattering with every movement.

Due to the Duke of York deploying his forces across an exceptionally wide battle line, the Austrian skirmishers could only protect the western portion of the battlefield, spanning a few hundred meters. Mula’s cavalry freely swept through the flanks, mercilessly harvesting British lives.

In this way, fewer than 500 Hussars drove over 10,000 British infantry into a retreat spanning two kilometers.

It was not until British cavalry arrived to reinforce them that Mula, acting under Lefevre’s orders, pulled back to the high ground. After all, the French Army’s primary objective was to hold their ground, so pursuing too deeply wouldn’t be wise.

However, during those brief 20 minutes, British infantry casualties from French cavalry assaults and self-inflicted trampling had already exceeded a thousand.

The Duke of York, to his credit as an exceptional commander, promptly mobilized Count Cléfart’s Austrian Army to establish a defensive line at the high ground’s base and deployed his royal guard to stabilize most of the retreating troops.

After resting for two days, the Duke of York reorganized his forces and launched another assault on the French positions.

It wasn’t due to lacking options for bypassing the French defenses; in fact, the terrain of the Southern Netherlands was flat, allowing access to Brussels via Ghent or Dist.

But with Brussels under constant threat of being overrun by the French, he couldn’t afford to waste time rerouting and was forced to commit to all-out battle at the field chosen by Joseph.

This time, the Duke of York adjusted his strategy, concentrating all cavalry units on storming the French artillery positions while his own artillery seized an elevated segment along the slope’s eastern side to bombard the French defense line.

Simultaneously, British and Austrian infantry advanced under the cover of cannon fire, aiming for the crest of the slope.

As for the Prussians, their morale had been dismal since their defeat three days prior. They showed none of the unyielding spirit that characterized Frederick the Great’s era, leaving the Duke of York to assign them peripheral tasks like covering both flanks.

With the low bellow of horns echoing, over 2,400 British and Austrian cavalry charged from the slope’s eastern side toward the French artillery positions.

The French cannons immediately responded, sending accurate volleys that ripped through coalition cavalry ranks, tearing bodies and horses alike to shreds.

Yet under the Duke of York’s strict orders, the cavalry pressed onward despite the horrifying barrage.

Soon, the British cavalry commander caught sight of a thin line of white infantry ahead and felt a surge of excitement.

It was just as General Harris had described—the formation was a loose two-row arrangement, with no chance of standing up to his charge.

Simply breaking through those infantry lines, and the French artillery beyond would lie helplessly at their mercy!

But at that moment, the rhythm of the drums from the French positions abruptly shifted. Several infantry columns stationed before the artillery quickly reorganized, consolidating into a dense four-row formation.

Soldiers in the first two rows pointed their bayonets diagonally ahead, while those in the rear two rows raised their rifles to aim.

The entire reformation process took merely two to three minutes!

The coalition cavalry, confronted with this “hedgehog formation,” were forced to veer to both sides, only to find additional infantry columns protecting the flanks, positioned to create a flattened “U” shape.

Essentially, this was a variation of the hollow square formation, a staple taught at the Paris Police Academy as part of the infantry’s standard curriculum.

Given that the coalition cavalry had been climbing uphill, their speed had already diminished considerably by the time they reached the French defensive line, making the hollow square formation unnecessary; this labor-saving variant sufficed for resistance.

Indeed, the coalition cavalry, bypassing the main defensive line, found themselves slowed by further cannon fire and visibly worn down.

Just as their commander sought to regroup for another assault, over a thousand American soldiers clad in gray-blue uniforms and wielding the Star-Spangled Banner suddenly emerged on the eastern slope.

The Americans’ formation was ragged, they didn’t fire a single shot, but constantly hurled expletives at the coalition cavalry with unrelenting fervor.

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