Napoleon in 1812
Chapter 65: Operation Sickle - 3

The reedforest south of the ArlanzónRiverwas aterrain potentially advantageousfor the WellesleyCorps.

Thepresenceofreedsthat grew wellbeyond adult height waslimitingthe movement of troops. Because theFrench could not easilyenterthe area, the WellesleyCorpsconcentrated its firepoweronthe front and right sides, completely excludingthe leftside.

The leaders of the WellesleyCorpswere confidentofwinning, even if they had failedtocapture Fort Burgos forsome reasons. Their geographicaladvantage was large enoughtooffset the numericaladvantage of the French. Of course, Wellesley was notnegligent in defending thearea, and did notonly rely on the terrain of the reed forest.

A special unit was created to roamthe areabyselecting guerilla-experienced soldiers fromSpainand Portugal. Their formationconsisted of 14 battalions, to which Wellesley added a battalion of British light infantry to complete atotalof15 battalions.

“Ourgoal is to stop the Frenchfrom crossing theriverasmuch as possible. With thehelp of these reeds.”

BrigadierGeneral MiguelBlake, who hadled Spanishmilitiasinthe pastand had experience in guerrilla warfare, waschosen to leadthesedivision-levelforces. While crossing theArlanzón River and movingsouth, the Frenchwere forcedtoexpose their right flank.

The purposeofthe specialforces hiding in thereed forestwas to holdthe right wingofthe Napoleon Corps for as long as possible, while staging aguerrilla war against them. Brigadier General Blake set clear strategicgoalsfor his officers, but respected their individual judgment on the tactics and operations of the lower levels.

“…And I have to give a‘specialorder’ to the Lieutenant Coloneland his battalion.”

“You don’t have to say it. Our battalion members do not seeitasanact of dishonor.”

Brigadier General Blake nodded heavily at the sight of Lieutenant ColonelPeterwood, thecommander of the British light infantry battalion, who was tapping on his chest andsaying thathecoulddoanythingtowin the war. LieutenantColonel Peterwoodsaluted BrigadierGeneral Blake, led the members of his battalionand disappeared throughthe reedforest.

The Britishlightinfantrybattalion was theone added by Arthur Wellesley. Its soldiers were fromthe 95thInfantryRegiment. Theywere thebest British riflemen, armed with Baker rifles, and werewearing dark green coats insteadofthe red coats symbolizing theBritish army. There wasonly oneoptimal waytouse them.

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French troopswere crossing theArlanzón River and movingsouththrough temporarybridges. Despite theartillery shelling of the Alliedforces, they did notforget their disciplineand moderation, and were stepping forwardintime with the marching songs playedbydrummersand trumpeters.

As they watchedthe raging blue waves fillingtheirfrontview, the troops hiddeninthe reedforest swallowed their saliva. French andAllied infantry werefacing eachothersouthofthe Arlanzón River. The soldiers on bothsideswere nowabout500 yards away, and thedistancewas narrowing quickly.

“Fromthe 1st Battaliontothe 7th Battalion! Advance!”

“Forward!”

Itwas finallytime forthe specialforces to start aguerrilla war.

Appearing through the reed forest, they rantoward the right wing of the Frencharmy. The French soldiers, who werepreparing for a historic battle against the coalitioninfantry, weregreatly surprisedbythe sudden emergenceofspecial forces.

Their expressions were the ones thatBrigadier GeneralBlakehad hoped for.

“First row, aim!”

Thesame situationhad unfolded exactlyanhour ago. But this time, the offense and defense sides werereversed.

“Shoot!”

Tatatatatatata!

The gunsthat they wereholding were rifles, not muskets.

Created by modifying theKentuckyrifleused by Americansinthe American RevolutionaryWar, these Baker rifleshad ahit rateand range thatwouldoverwhelm ordinary muskets, and were among the best rifles in existence.

Their first shots collapsedthe French line. Thefacesofthe survivors showeddeep embarrassment.

“They’reriflemen! Don’t be scared, hold your bayonets! Forward!”

The rifle washeavier than the musketand slower to shoot. Riflemenwere no match forthe lineinfantryifthey meet in an openfield. The Frenchofficer of theunit, who knewthis, ordered theadvancementofthe soldiers in order to engage in a close fight.

But thiswas alsopart of BrigadierGeneral Blake’s expectations.

“Changeofline!”

TheAllied specialforces moved in unison with his order. Soldierswith riflesfell back to load. And in thevacancy stood soldiers with musketswho had been waitingbehind them. The Frenchinfantrymen, who were approaching for a close-range firing battle, werehit hardbythe second round of shots of thespecial forcesthat hadfinishedaiming. Once again, theFrench linewas broken.

Brigadier General Blake, whowas watching all of this, putinthe lastmove.

The light infantry battalionappeared, dressedingreencoats.

“I take the onewith theepauletson.”

“ThenI take the onewith theshaggy beard.”

“Thefattest on theoutside is mine.”

There was a wordused in theBritish army to describe the shooting skillsofthe green coats.

‘Ghosts’

TheBritish soldiers, who weresaid to have the best averageshootingskills in the world, praised them likethis. Brigadier GeneralBlakeknew it, but he was able to confirmitagaintoday. Officers and non-commissioned officers werestruggling to recover the lines of theFrench unitthat washit by consecutive shots and panicked.

Theyjumped out of theranksand shouted, but those actions madethem easiertargets forthe green coats.

Tatatata! Tatata! Tata!

“Hold your position!”

“Re-regiment commander!”

Unlike lineinfantry, which typically required 60 to 70 yards to cause significant damage, Britishinfantrymenwere able to shoot bulletsinto theenemies’ chests from200 yards away. And 300 yardswas not a problemfor the green coats calledghosts, armed with Baker rifles. Targeting the officers andnon-commissioned officers wasa vicious and dishonorablemove that Britainhad learnedinthe American RevolutionaryWar. As such, theeffect was tremendous.

Asnearly halfofthosewho would commandand controlthem disappeared at once, thechaosofthe French troopsled to atotalcollapseoftheirunit. They scattered, unable to even speak of their cowardice. The specialbattalions, whichremoved oneentire French regiment like this, continued to shoot andharass other French troops, using their rifles’ rangeand accuracy.

Ifthey could notresist fighting, they steppeddown to thereed forestand responded with guerrilla warfare and irregularwarfare.

“Now!”

Tata! Tatata! Tata! Tata!

“Where aretheseguys… Ugh!”

“Argh!”

Due to the natureofthe reedforest, in which it wasimpossible to move together by battalion or regiment, the French troopschasing theAllied specialforces had no choicebut to be divided. The soldiers torn in front of the special forces with alot of experienceinguerrilla warfarewere nothing but prey. They hunted theFrench excitedly.

However, theywere so absorbed in hunting thatthey could notfigure out what was going on outside the reed forest.

===

As expected, Arthur Wellesley came up witha strategy to make the most of the terrain and to stop the Frencharmy’s advance. The most representative partofthis strategy wasthe formation of guerrillaunitsinthe reedforest. Napoleon didnot havemuch experience dealingwith guerrillaunits, but that did notmean he wasignorantofthesekindsoffights.

Hehad alreadypreparedhimself.

“There area lotofcomplaints from the officers, including the ones in charge, aboutmemorizing maps and directions thatwill only be usedonce andthen completely forgotten. I wonderhow yourMajesty will soothe this.”

“Oh, come on… My head hurts justdealing with the complaints and grumbles of theOld Guard. Areyou doing thistoo? Youmay havetomemorizeitonce andthen forgetit, but youshould remember the efforts of the explorerswho struggled through the reed forest fordays anddays to complete this map.”

Theofficerssmiled playfully andsaluted. The officers’ uniforms were surprisingly notblue, but had a yellow color close to gray. It wasNapoleon’s trump card to beatthe Allied special forces striding through the reed forest.

“We will not returntoYour Majesty until we killall the rats swarming in the reeds.”

“I wish you good luck, and will be waitingfor you with Champagne.”

With asmile, Napoleon sendoff the guards. Their uniforms had changed, buttherewas asymbol hangingonthe leftbreast thatproved who they were.

FrenchImperialGuard– 2ndGrenadier Regiment

French Imperial Guard – 2nd Chasseur Regiment

It was theemergence of the MiddleGuard, which was next to the OldGuardinthe French Imperial Army.

===

Theywere informed that anew French unit had been found in the reed forest. The officers of the battalions of the special forces, including Brigadier General Blake, hada grotesquesmile. The reed forest wastheirplayground. Noone was able to beattheirtroops, whohad light clothing, a specialized formation, and abundant experienceinguerrilla warfare.

“I’ll have to makethesefearlesspreyspay the price.”

“This time, my battalionwill go outfirst.”

“Whatare you talking about? Of courseit’s ourturn!”

They weresoexcited, and showed their motivation. If thebattle continued like this, the first prize after thewar would be won by themen in the reed forest here. If they stood out in such aspecial battalion, theywouldsurely be rewarded, promoted andhonored by theAllied commandand the governments of each country. Thatwas why they weresoeagertofight.

Buttheirexpectations weresoon shattered.

Tatata! Tata! Tata! Tatatata!

The special battalionsengaged thefightagainst thenewlyfoundtroops. As they had been doing before, they thought theycouldwin the battlewhilesaving their strengths.

However…

Swish! Slash!

“Cough!”

“Ugh!”

“W-where didtheseguys come from!?”

Battalion members standing by to attack theFrench troops approached themseparately. But suddenly, they weresurrounded by Frenchsoldierswho appeared behind them. In their words, itwas atragedy.

The same was repeated among thecoalition specialforces who were scattered around.

“The messenger sent to the 3rdBattalion has still notcome back! Somethingseemstobegoingwrong!”

“We havealso lost communicationwith the8th Battalion. Itlookslike they’ve beentakendown.”

“Weannouncethe defeat of the11th Battalion! LieutenantCommander Jaros has died in battle!…”

It didnot takethem long to realizethat they werebeinghunted in reverse, withsimultaneous, blistering defeatsand ominousnews. The positions of hunterand preyhad beenreversed. WhenBrigadier GeneralBlakewas sweating in the unexpected situation, the light infantry battalion of the95th Infantry Regiment wasfacing their old enemy.

“…Ha! You musthave reallywanted to beatus! The Guardsare runningaround in suchpeasants’ uniforms withnosenseofpride!”

Lieutenant Colonel Peterwood, the commander of thelightinfantrybattalion, said so, smiling sadly. In front of Peterwoodand his troops, weregrenadiers andchasseurs in grayuniforms, waitingwith bayonets.

“Is this uniforma bigdeal forthe victoryand glory of the Empire? I wouldeven wear woman’sclothes! Hahaha!”

LieutenantColonel Temple, the highest rankamongthem, responded witha bigsmile. LieutenantColonel Peterwoodand the other soldiers prepared their bayonets forthe battle. But in fact, it was a pointless fight. The light infantry battalion wasa unit specialized in scouting and shooting. But theyhad to fight backinclosecombat againstthe Grenadiersand Chasseurs of theGuard? Theycouldneverwin.

“I have onequestionbefore the battle. How thehell could youlocate us so quickly?”

“Our great Emperor had long foreseen thatyour commanderwouldbeplaying trickshere. Hesent a search party ahead to prepare for it, looking forhiding places, marchroutes inside theforest, ambushable locations… We lookedinto everything. Thelocationinformationisall in our heads.”

“…”

“Thisgrey uniform, which is indistinguishable from the color of thereeds, is abonus. Thanks to it, your unit didn’t realize our existenceuntilthe end, right?”

“Ha… haha! Fromthe beginning, wehad our heads in themouthofa lion.”

To LieutenantColonel Peterwood, who tiltedhis headand smiled sadly, Lieutenant Colonel Temple made agenerousoffer.

“It’s rare to meeta unit thatcan stand shoulder to shoulder withthe Imperial Guard. I think of yourunit as oneofthem. I acknowledge thehonorofthe Green Coats, andI urge you to surrenderinhonor.”

“No way! Wouldyou accept an offer of surrenderifweswitchedour positions!? Our honor in defendingthe kingdomcomesfrom unbreakable pride andfaith!”

Lieutenant Colonel Temple nodded. His subordinate officers understood it as asign anddrew their swords.

“Long live the FrenchEmpire! Long livethe Emperor!!”

“Long livethe United Kingdom of Britain! God save the King!”

The twoarmies, each withtheirown shouts, rushed towardseach other. A close-quarters battlesplattered with blood and flesh engulfed thesurroundings. Redbloodsoaked the earth insidethe reedforest, under screams, shoutsand groans. Half an hour later, there wasnogreencoat still standing on both feet. LieutenantColonel Templeclosed the eyes of LieutenantColonel Peterwood, who haddied with ahole in hischest.

“Let’sgo! To celebrate thevictory of this battle!”

Themarchofthe Middle Guard through the reed forest wasnot over.

Here’s alithographymade by Henri GanierTanconvilleofsoldiersofthe Middle Guard:

Sorry not sorry forthis: