Sunday 21 April 2024

Wismar Campaign – Day 8


Campaign Map


Prussian army abandon Wismar
French win campaign

1st Prussian Army – retreat
2nd Prussian Army – retreat
3rd Prussian Army – retreat

3rd French Army – occupy Wismar
1st French Army – occupy Schwerin
2nd French Army – occupy Ludwigslust

Comments

For those of you who read the post on Day 7, this might seem an unexpected and abrupt end to the Wismar campaign. Looking at the photograph at the end of the battle of Wismar it might seem that the Prussians held a strong position. They had lost the battle because they failed to hold two of the three game objectives, namely the inn in the centre and the hill on the right. However they did hold the third objective, the woods on the left. They also held the city of Wismar.

However not quite so obvious from the photograph is that the Prussians had lost all three of their corps artillery, either captured or abandoned. And although they had won two cavalry melee, they were still outnumbered three to two in cavalry brigades.

By far the most serious problem was their lack of artillery.

Without artillery, or cavalry superiority, it is almost impossible to win a game. If Blucher had decided to fight a second day at Wismar there was nothing he could do to stop the French deploying all three of their corps artillery at short range of the city. Firing three guns each move they would only need 4 or more for a hit on the garrison. Their cavalry could easily keep the weaker Prussian away from the guns. Their infantry could wait out of range for the garrison to be whittled down.

So it is not surprising that Blucher ordered Third Army to abandon the city and retreat with the loss of the capitol there was no point in First Army holding Schwerin. Second Army had already abandoned Ludwigslust.

The French won the campaign.

2 comments:

  1. Thistlebarrow,

    I seem to have missed the last battle report so had to go back to read it after I’d read this one.

    The Prussian decision makes lots of sense in the circumstance although I suspect it might have stuck in the Marshal Vorwart’s throat to make it. Live to fight another day … and it’s not as if Wismar is part of Prussia, is it?

    A thoroughly interesting campaign. Where will your next one be?

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Bob

    Great to hear from you

    I have been following your blog and did not really think you would have time to catch up on other blogs. Hope this has distracted you from your problems, if only for a short time.

    I am in the midst of refining the 1813 campaign, yet again. Every few months I seem to get the urge to tinker with it. I try really hard to resist anything which would have too much affect, because a campaign which has run for 15 years must be doing something right.

    The next campaign phase will be in southern Spain - my favourite. Lots of poor quality Spanish regular troops, plus masses of militia/guerrilla brigades causing havoc to the French lines of communications.

    My latest "tinker" is to the maps, caused by preparing an update for the start of the new phase.

    Still, it keeps me out of trouble!!

    Get well soon

    best regards

    Paul

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