Napoleonic Wargame Club (NWC)

I realize Austerlitz was fought when it was due to Allied euthusiasm to beat the French, but what if the day of battle would've been delayed?

If I counted correctly the two Russian armies, Podolia and Volhynia, marched with 8 position batteries (excluding Gd), yet only 4 were present for the battle, and Essen-1 was approaching with two columns of additonal troops. Does anyone know how far Essen-1 was? the missing artillery? Would waiting for them be a day or two, or two weeks?

Did the Allies have the logistics support to hang out for a few days? Did Napoleon?

What would N have done had the Allies just occupied the Pratzen and dug in? Would he have still attacked had he found the Allies entrenched on the hill instead of trying to move against his right?

How long could the armies faced off before N would've had to back out of a closing noose of Charles moving up, additional Russians, and possible Prussian intervention?

Would N have followed any further had the Allies just fallen back upon the approaching Essen-1?

... and how would a delayed battle play out?

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Slightly different angle, how would the battle have played out had all 8 position batteris been with the Allies on Dec 2? More firepower per column or grand battery base on the Pratzen?

Officer, salute!

You raise a lot of interesting points of conjecture Al, many of which could well have affected the outcome of the battle differently, or at the least, presented the opportunity for a different outcome.

However, many of your points concerned with waiting or falling back further were not possible due to the issue of logistics (which you also raised). My understanding of the matter is that the Allied armies were fast depleting the local resources of food and other supplies. Indeed, this factor is a prime reason as to why the Allies were compelled to advance towards the French.
Why not away? I'm no expert, but I imagine that the area behind them was also scare in it's supply status, as the Russians had already marched through it to reach the retreating Allied formations. Plus, the morale of the Allies who had been involved in the fighting retreat may not have withstood any further withdrawal. As it was, joining up with the Russian reinforcements did wonders for their morale, fatally so...

Coupled with problems of supply, you had the overweening confidence of the Allies, who despite the measure of French success so far, could not imagine that the French scarecrows (such was the damage done to the appearance of the fantassins from all their ceaseless marching) would be able to resist a full scale Allied assault.

The role played by the deception fostered by Napoleon's agents, in leading the Allies to believe the French were on their last legs, also added fuel to the fire being fanned by the zealot staff officers who sought to attack immediately.

Just my thoughts on the fascinating subject you have raised.

Regards,