Merida Campaign – Battle of Adjucen

Start of game

 

13^th French army have orders to attack Adjucen

Three infantry and one cavalry brigades are detached

They have casualties to three brigades

 

1^st Spanish army have orders to defend Adjucen

One infantry brigade is garrison of Adjucen

Remainder of army are all present

They have casualties to four brigades 

 

13^th French Army – 9 infantry brigades, 2 cavalry brigade, 3 corps artillery

1^st Spanish Army – 12 infantry brigades, 2 cavalry brigade, 3 corps artillery

Battle of Adjucen – Move 8

The French concentrate on the Spanish centre, which they break

They also win the battle for the right flank

However on the left flank the Spanish hold firm

 

With the loss of their centre the Spanish commander orders a retreat to the town

There is not enough time for the French to reach and attack the town

Nor can the French catch up with the retreating Spanish army

 

The French lost 1 infantry casualty (400 men)

The Spanish lost 1 cavalry casualty (100 men)

Comments

By the end of move 8 the Spanish had lost two of their three corps artillery

They had also lost one of their two cavalry brigades

They decided to retreat before the French could reach them

This saved them heavy casualties, but it also robbed the French of a decisive victory

 

When the Spanish centre broke the French were too far from the town to take it

The Spanish corps on either flank were still strong, and could not be ignored

On the left the French managed to break the defenders

But on the right they were outnumbered and unable to attack

The French centre would have to swing to the right

This would take too much time with only 4 moves to go

 

In a real battle the French would have had time to redeploy

The two corps on the flanks would have had to either retreat or face defeat

However with an artificial 12 moves this does not work in a wargame

 

To overcome this problem I have strict campaign rules

If one side retreats on the table he must break contact in the campaign

This means that he must retreat to establish one map square between him and the enemy

In this particular game the French would occupy Adjucen by nightfall

The Spanish would have to retreat to the next town (three map squares to the west)

 

However Adjucen is the one of the three most westerly towns on the campaign map

If they retreat off the map the French will have won the campaign

This seems a little unfair, given that they have not suffered any casualties

 

As a compromise I will allow one Spanish corps to occupy the walled town of Adjucen

The other two corps must retreat off the map and will take no further part in the campaign

The French can lay siege to the town.

 

I don’t have siege rules, because each phase is too short for one

I would normally only allow it when a walled town is involved

The garrison would hold for as long as they have supplies

 

This compromise will prevent 13^th French army marching south

Were they to do so the remaining two Spanish armies would be crushed.

 

The fate of the campaign will be decided by the battles for Merida and Calamonte