Chapter 1: The Battle of Blenheim
The Alliance Falls in Blenheim
The Triple French Attack Deciding the Battle of Blenheim
The Triple French Attack Deciding the Battle of Blenheim
In the midst of the battle, Clérambault remains calm about the persistent attacks on Blenheim, and does not dispatch the reserve battalions. With this, Cutts proceeds with the third attack on the village and is repelled again by the French, with the british suffering more casualties and being forced to retreat to re-order.
Meanwhile in Lutzingen, the attack by Prinz Eugen of Savoy's troops was also repelled, with many casualties included, the french and bavarians were exhausted and could not take advantage, but Marshal Marsin sees the opportunity and asks Tallard to send the reserve battalions to pursue victory against the imperial troops, Camille sends the reserves, which are able to surround the already panicked imperial troops trying to cross the Nebel. With Eugen trying to organize the troops to perhaps resist the attack, the defection had already taken the field, and after fighting with his troops for as long as possible, the prince is forced to surrender to the Marshal.
Later, the Duke of Marlborough crosses the Nebel and begins his advance, going as far as is convenient, the elite cavalry Gens d'Armes charges against the british, and to everyone's surprise, was repelled. Duc de Tallard soon realizes that the situation is complicated, and asks Marshal Marsin for reinforcements, the same delivers the reserve battalions to Camille immediately, and with the imperial army being no more, the Marshal orders the franco-bavarian troops to cross the Nebel to attack the british flank by attacking the dutch column of Prince of Holstein-Beck in conjunction with the franco-irish troops in the village of Oberglauheim, quickly crushing the column. At that moment the Duke noticed the absence of Prinz Eugen, and began to organize an urgent withdrawal.
At this time, the troops under Clérambault in Blenheim attacked Cutts' troops, using their numerical superiority to force back the british left flank. At the same time, Marsin's troops were reaching the Duke of Marlborough's right flank maneuvering to completely surround the troops. Tallard ordered for his part a total attack in the center, the triple attack besides exposing the Duke's troops to a great firepower, forced his troops to retreat with the Nebel in his back. John Churchill orders a total withdrawal of the troops, which forces him to sacrifice even more troops to allow the rest to cross the Nebel.
During the retreat, Churchill and his troops would be harassed by the bavarian cavalry, yielding even more casualties to the british. By the end of the day, the french would have won one of the most important victories in the history, and probably of their millennium. Suffering 7.821 casualties between dead and wounded, against 36.723 of the Great Alliance, not to mention the capture of Prinz Eugen of Savoy, and besides that, now the road to Vienna was open.
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