Albacete Campaign – Day 7

Campaign Map on 14 September 1813

The guerrilla actions have reversed the Spanish defeats

They have severely disrupted the whole French lines of supply

They have also captured the vital supply column.

                                                      

Giron orders the Spanish field army to hold their positions and resupply

Suchet orders his three corps to attack Molina

The French win the battle of Molina and the Spanish retreat south

Move 6 Battle of Molina

          

On the left the Italians attack the Spanish held hill

The Spanish infantry is posted out of sight behind the crest

The Italians suffer as they approach, and their cavalry rout

When the infantry reach the crest and Spanish infantry must test morale

All three Spanish infantry brigades fail and rout

The strongest French corps is in the centre.

They screen the village and move to engage 3^rd Spanish corps

Their artillery opens fire on the village and rout the garrison

Their cavalry charge and rout 2^nd corps artillery

On the right the Poles advance between the Spanish held hill and the village

The Spanish infantry are out of sight behind the crest of the hill

As the Poles advance between them and the village they retereat

The white stars on the map indicate brigades in rout

There are seven Spanish brigades and one French brigade

The French win the battle

Campaign Notes

 Suchet is faced with two desperate options

One he can retreat.   With his lines of supply is chaos he will face serious supply problems.   But he can re-establish his depots and supply services.   He will however have to abandon all of his achievements in the campaign to date.  

Two he can attack and hope to quickly defeat the main Spanish Army.  If he is successful he will suffer slight attrition problems, but will have won the campaign.   If he fails he runs the risk of losing his whole army.

He decides to attack.

The Spanish deploy their infantry on the reverse slopes of the two hills.

This protects them from the French artillery.

However they must test their morale when the enemy reach the crest

Each brigade rolls 1D6

Plus 1 for British or class A

Minus 1 for class C

Minus 1 for each casualty

1 – Rout

2 – Shaken

3 – Disordered

4/5/6 - OK

It will be noted that this type of deployment should not be attempted with poor troops

And is particularly risky if they also have casualties

In this case the Spanish gunners passed the test, but all three infantry brigades routed

This led directly to the Spanish losing the battle.

Albacete Campaign – Day 6

Campaign Map on 13 September 1813

Suchet has two major concerns

First his lines of supply are under attack, and his army is running short of supplies

Second he is facing the main Spanish army and his own is too widespread

He orders 15^th and 16^th corps to join him at Hellin

But each will leave one infantry brigade to garrison Riopar and Elda

Despite the danger of active guerrilla bands he must move his supplies

The main depot at Albacete is ordered to send 4 days supplies to Hellin

Giron also has resupply problems

The Spanish are always short of supplies

This makes it difficult for them to concentrate to fight

Although he outnumbers 7^th corps at Hellin, Giron delays an attack

He orders 3^rd and 4^th corps to join him south of Hellin

When his army is concentrated he will attack if the French do not do so first

5 militia (now guerrilla) brigade move towards Albacete

In doing so they find, and attack, the French supply column moving to Hellin.

They capture the supplies and the escort suffer 10% casualties

1 militia (now guerrilla) brigade continue their attack on Manzanares

They lose 30% casualties and are destroyed

3 militia (now guerrilla) brigade continue their attack on Almansa

The garrison hold, but lose 10% casualties.

Guerrilla out of supplies and retreat

Campaign Notes

Suchet is now aware that he is facing the concentrated Spanish army.

He is heavily outnumbered, and they clearly not going to attack him.

Reports arrive of guerrilla attacks on his rear bases

But worse of all he is running short of supplies

Despite the threat from the guerrillas he must move supplies south

He orders his main depot at Albacete to send a convoy to Hellin

He also orders15th and 16^th corps to join 7^th corps at Hellin

Each will leave one brigade at Riopar and Elda to collect supplies

His supply convoy is attacked and captured by a guerrilla brigade

To determine the outcome of the attack 1D6 is rolled

01       Guerrilla rout with 30% casualties

02       Guerrilla rout with 20% casualties

03       Guerrilla rout with 10% casualties

04       Guerrilla capture supplies, escort no casualties

05       Guerrilla capture supplies, escort 10% casualties

06       Guerrilla capture supplies, escort 20% casualties

The Spanish roll a dice and get a total of five

They have captured the convoy and routed the escort with 10% casualties

Suchet is now faced with two options – both bad

One he can retreat and abandon all the gains of his campaign to date

Two he can abandon his lines of supply and attack the much stronger Spanish army