Opposing Windmills

The Windmill at Naveau - Napoléon's Command Post
Source

"Sire?" Berthier was loathe to interrupt the Emperor's scan of the battlefield before them, but interrupt he must.

Napoléon snapped his glass shut then turned with a grin to his chief of staff, "This had better be good news, Berthier. From what I can see, the old Prussian only has two corps on the field."

Berthier handed the Emperor a piece of paper, "Sire, good news indeed. This a message from Maréchal Davout. He has the bulk of Reille's corps in position and intends to attack before the sun goes down. He hopes to have the crossroads at Quatre Bras before the morning."

"This is most excellent news, will we know ..."

Napoléon paused as his trained ear heard what sounded like cannon fire, "Do you hear that, Ruty?"

Général de Division Charles-Étienne-François Ruty, commanding the artillery of the Armée du Nord, nodded and said, "I do, Sire, three distinct reports followed by what you hear now."

The distant rumble of artillery fire could be heard distinctly in the direction of the left wing under Davout. Everyone paused and listened, then the Emperor spoke.

"Ruty, begin your bombardment of those Prussians displayed on the slopes across the way. Soult, prepare to launch your assault when Ruty judges the enemy sufficiently softened up. Vandamme to go in between Wagnelée and St. Amand, Gérard to go straight in at Ligny."

"Général Grouchy¹, I want your cavalry prepared to come in hard on the heels of the infantry. I shall batter them with my guns, fix them with my infantry, then cut them to red ribbons with your horsemen."

Turning to see where Ney had got to, the Emperor saw him coming up the stairs of the mill, more red faced than usual. Napoléon had expected him before now.

"Ney! Glad you could join us."

Maréchal Ney stopped and glared at his Emperor, "My apologies, Sire, Mouton's damned train is blocking the road back to Charleroi. I'm late because I was hurrying your Guard to this place. Look, there!"

Napoléon's temper seemed on the verge of exploding, then he saw what Le Rougeaud was gesturing at, the main body of the Imperial Guard Chasseurs à Pied² were deploying behind the mill. Not far behind were the Grenadiers à Pied³ and the Guard artillery.

"Well done, Ney. It seems you have recaptured the fire which has driven you since you were a sergeant of hussars."

"Shall I order the Guard artillery to join the main battery?" Ney asked.

"Discuss that with Général Ruty, but I think yes, the line would benefit from having the Guard 12-pounders⁴ in action. Now go, make it happen!"

Blücher's CP was at the Brye windmill, Napoléon's CP was at the Naveau windmill
(Both circled in blue above)
Source

"Verdammt! Where is Thielmann? Without him we cannot hold here."

Blücher's chief of staff, Gneisenau answered, "I have sent multiple messengers to hurry III Corps along. It seems that a bridge in Namur was sabotaged, which started a fire and General von Thielmann had to direct his men around that city. Might I remind you, Herr Generalfeldmarschall, it is too late to withdraw, Bonaparte is over there with the bulk of his army and ..."

The discussion was interrupted by a young cavalry officer on a horse which had been hard ridden, "Herr General, the lead elements of III Corps have reached Mazy, five kilometers to the southeast of Sombreffe!"

Gneisenau looked worried, before he could speak the old field marshal spoke, "Very well, we shall fight them here. We must hold until Thielmann can throw his weight onto our left flank."

As those words came out of his mouth, the French artillery began firing.

¹ In this timeline Napoléon has not yet given Grouchy a marshal's baton. The name is pronounced "groo-she," not as the word is pronounced in English.

² Literally "hunters on foot," the light infantry of the Imperial Guard

³ Literally "grenadiers on foot," the heavy infantry of the Imperial Guard. It's worth noting that the Guard also had Chasseurs à Cheval and Grenadiers à Cheval, light and heavy cavalry respectively.

⁴ Field artillery were designated by the weight of their shot, the standard cannon of the day were 8 and 9-pounders. Horse artillery, where the entire battery was mounted, were lighter still, sometimes as light as 4-pounders.