Napoleonic tabletop wargaming
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Russians on the left, British in the center, and Swedes to right. I, myself, am Austrian. What a beautiful international army that has come together to stop the French.
Battle of Plau am See
Situation May 15, 1813
The Battle oh Havelberg ended in a French victory which was not complete as the Coalition forces could withdraw at dawn unhindered by French forces.
In spite of Napoleon´s clear orders to march towards the Baltic coast Davout decided to send his troops back to Hamburg to keep the Danes in check.
One part of the French (Arrighi and XI. Corps) followed Walmoden, the Swedish and British to the North while Eugène took the Eastern road to Berlin pursuing the retreating Prussians. Walmoden with his rather small mixed bag made a stand at Plau am See, nearly 30 km south of Rostock and had some hope to get reinforcements there coming from Stralsund. On the northern edge of the village of Plau an old island castle named Burg Kutin (or Quetzin in slavic language) was quickly refurbished and garnished with some artillery. Walmoden also fortified part of the area to bring the slowly moving French to a halt.
On May 15th the French made contact with the enemy and a battle followed. At first, Napoleon was furious of Davout´s insubordination, but eventually accepted his three-fold plan (Danes, Berlin, Baltic coast).
Will this battle and the split of the French forces have been the right decision?
