Back to the Surrey Hills: The Prussian retreat

OSHIROblog
Aug 16
3 min read

The Prussians are in full retreat! And the British have finally got together a force capable of routing them from our green and pleasant land...

The Prussians have holed up near the coast in the little hamlet of Fanny Hands Lane but the British have sent the Guards, regulars of the 31st and the naval brigade in to oust them finally. They have been supported by a new fangled walker on loan from Naval Headquarters. The Prussians have condensed all their troops in the village and it might be a tough prospect to get them out.

The British lined up with a strong left flank consisting of the Guards and naval brigade. The centre was held by the 31st and the naval brigade walker. The Prussians, aware of the strong British advance, held to the centre of the village and sent out skirmishers to probe the British lines.

Col. Lloyd, for some reason, had forgotten his speaking trumpet and wasn't able to get orders out to his troops clearly and so the British had a bit of a false start.

The Prussians, seemingly having better command and control than the British managed to rush up the main street and ensconce themselves behind the barricades they'd prepared earlier.

The 31st placed themselves behind a hedge at the end of the road and fierce firefight ensued with neither side giving or taking much in the way of casualties. It was certainly a fight of attrition.

The Guards, not really relying on Col Lloyd, made a push forward seeing that the Prussian jagers had come out of the village in force. Ably supported by some skirmishing light infantry, the Guards advanced, colours flying! The jagers really gave some withering fire but to no avail as the Guards dander was up.

The light infantry, seeing that the Guards could manage on their own started to move to the right flank where a situation was occurring.

The dastardly Hun, having taken out the walkers maxim with a Krupp 6pdr had sneakily sent a small force of regulars around the outskirts of the village to harass the British right flank.

The walker advanced to meet them; even though it was weaponless and proceeded to take some heavy fire from the Prussians. Most of the damage was cosmetic but the crew inside were starting to panic from the constant fusillade.

Col Lloyd moved over to the right flank to try and bolster the crew of walker but to no avail. The crew bailed but fortunately the light infantry and naval brigade moved over to give the cheeky Prussians what for!

The Prussians were having a whale of a time firing indiscriminately at their enemies lines but British steadfastness and resolve held fast and the Prussians were getting into more and more trouble.

Meanwhile, on the left flank, the Guards were finally seeing off the numerous jagers, giving them a good what for and started to threaten the Prussian right flank.

With the jagers seen off the field and both Prussian flanks looking decidedly shaky, the Prussian commander made the only reasonable decision and started a full retreat for the coast. The Prussian navy had boats waiting to take their troops off and back to the motherland...

Here endth the sixth battle report in out little Dorking campaign. Now, with the Prussians having finally been seen off English soil you would think, dear reader, that would be an end to it. However, reports from across the channel have confirmed a massing of Prussian troops and assets, with some serious Prussian naval ships steaming for the French channel coast.

This could only mean that the Prussian invasion plans are far from over and troubles for the British forces are really only just beginning...

The figures are all Perrys BIF for the Brits and Northstar, the old Helion & Co 1866 range for the Prussians. The naval walker is a kitbash from the OSHIRO range linked below. Houses are all scratchbuild and the hedges/trees are from Debris of Way. Rules used were Sharp Practice 2 with mods for the later period (1875).

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