Chapter 251 Actions of parties
Time is coming in a blink of an eye and August is coming. Napoleon originally planned to mobilize 400,000 French troops to fight against Prussia, but due to insufficient pre-war preparations and logistics and other factors, it was completely bankrupt.
But from the moment the decision to declare war was made, there was no turning back. If he had known that the government department was so unreliable, Napoleon III would never have declared war so hastily a month ago.
At present, France has deployed 230,000 troops in the Alsace and Lorraine regions. At the same time, the number of German coalition troops on the other side of the river has reached 420,000. Because part of the troops were transferred from the Pu-Austrian border, there are more troops than in history. More than 40,000 people.
The French army was organized into two offensive corps and a reserve corps. One offensive corps was deployed near Metz in Lorraine, with a total strength of 128,000. It was led by Emperor Napoleon III and Marshal Bazin. This was the main force of the French army. It is called the Rhine Army; the other is deployed on the right side of the Fuge Mountains, near Strasbourg in Alsace, commanded by General McMahon, with less than 40,000 people; A part of the reserve team remains.
"This is the Vosges Mountains. The Army of the Rhine is near Metz on the north side of the mountains, while General McMahon's Army of Chalon is near Strasbourg on the south. The Army of the Rhine is the main force under my personal command. We The goal is here—Frankfurt. By capturing Frankfurt, we can separate the North German Confederation from South Germany, and the task of the Charon Legion is to support the main force's actions. Put it on Prussia." Napoleon in uniform described his battle plan with the generals of the French Army of the Rhine in the headquarters.
Frankfurt is more than 200 kilometers northeast of Metz and Saarbrucken. If you conquer here, Baden and Württemberg in the south will be surrounded by the French army. Nuremberg in Bavaria. This was originally a pre-emptive offensive deployment, planning to concentrate forces to quickly cross the border and rush to Frankfurt, cut off the connection between North and South Germany, force the states of South Germany to remain neutral, and defeat Prussia with all their strength.
"Your Majesty, the battle plan is feasible. Judging from the mobilization capabilities of Prussia in the last Prussian-Austro-Prussian War, Prussia and the German Allied Forces should be able to deploy at least 300,000 troops on the east bank of the Rhine River. Fortunately, Austria is holding Prussia back. Otherwise, the Prussian Eastern Front The troops have also been mobilized, and our situation is even more dire. Although the imperial soldiers are more experienced and stronger than the Prussians, we still have to be careful when facing nearly twice as many enemies," Marshal Bazin said.
François Achille Bazaine (February 13, 1811 - September 23, 1888) was born as a mercenary and became a French marshal in 1864. Known in France for his incredible bravery during his 40-year military career.
François Archille Bazin was born in Versailles, the son of a mathematician and bridge engineer. His father presided over the construction of several bridges in Petersburg at the invitation of Tsar Alexander I. Unable to secure financial support from his family, he failed the entrance examination to the Polytechnic School and entered service with the 37th Infantry in March 1831. It was when the equal Louis-Philippe was first king. In January 1832, he joined the Foreign Legion as a mercenary, and in 1833 he was awarded the rank of Second Lieutenant. In the First Carlos War, which broke out in 1833, he completed a military mission to Spain. His right leg was injured in the battle and he was awarded a medal for his bravery. He served again in Algeria in 1835 and was promoted to captain in 1837. Later, he served in the Ministry of Intelligence, fought against the Algerian national hero Abdul Kadir in the Sahara Desert, and pursued him, forcing him to retreat into Morocco. In 1845, he was injured again in his wrist. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel after the capture of Abdul Qadir in 1847, became colonel in 1850, and married his first wife, Maria Juana of La Soledad, in June 1852 at Versailles. In addition, he participated in the Crimean War, the French-Sardinian War against Austria, and the French intervention in the Mexican war. It can be said that he is an old acquaintance of Maximilian I.
Bazin said this, but no one refuted it. Looking at the wars he participated in, it was typical to fight more with less, especially Mexico, which belonged to fighting on other people's land, and Mexico was far away from the mainland of France.
As a general, Bazin's commanding ability is not outstanding. The only advantage is that he is brave enough to take the lead every time, so he is often injured. He is a French-recognized warrior.
The French "warriors" have all said that the French soldiers are brave, so there is nothing else to say, that is, they want to fight against the Prussian army, one against two.
"We have no retreat, and this time our opponent is not the European countries in the era of my uncle Napoleon the Great, but the German region that was once stepped on by him, and even the Austrians did not participate, so our chances of winning are very high, let Prussia and Germany once again see the horrors of France, long live France!" Napoleon III encouraged.
"If my predictions are correct, France's goal must be to cut off our connection with the South German region, and the most likely way to achieve this goal is to occupy the Frankfurt region. Therefore, in order to achieve this goal, Napoleon III must preemptively strike, so Our people should always pay attention to the movement of the French on the west bank, and the frontline troops should avoid direct combat with the oncoming French army, and retreat to a favorable position to drain the morale of the French army."
While Napoleon III was discussing the offensive plan with his staff and generals, Moltke was also analyzing the French movements and solutions with the Prussian generals.
…
The war between Prussia and France is imminent, and the war in East Africa has been going on for more than ten days. For East Africa, the experience of this war of conquest is very unfriendly. Due to logistical reasons, the progress has been seriously slowed down. The second war of conquest , with Mbeya as a base, the logistics can barely keep up.
This time, the newly occupied Zambia area in East Africa has not been developed, and the food output is basically negligible. Therefore, military rations and supplies need to be sent to the front line through the poor traffic in Zambia from the rear.
Although the progress is relatively slow, it is stable, and it can advance ten to twenty kilometers every day.
…
Rome.
"The French have withdrawn?" asked the envoy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to Rome.
"Yes, the last batch of French troops evacuated from Fiumicino today. Originally, there were not many French troops stationed in Rome, only more than 3,000 people. Now the French barracks are completely empty."
"Very well, I will go to meet the Pope right away and persuade him to sign an agreement with Austria. This time, we will give Italy some color no matter what."
"Do you need to inform General Carl and ask him to cooperate!"
"No, it's not time for our army to show up. Otherwise, what should we do if we scare the Italian government and make them afraid to act? Go back and tell General Karl to continue lurking. When we wait for Italy to attack the Papal State, we will hit him. By surprise."
The special envoy continued: "I will go to Rome first, persuade the pope to accept the protection of Austria, and then announce this news. The Italian government will definitely be anxious, and they will definitely strengthen their troops in Venice to prevent us from interfering. On the one hand, they will send troops directly. Rome, let all the dust settle, but they never thought that we still have a surprise soldier in Rome. As long as the empire gets an excuse for war, it will be logical to send troops to Italy. At that time, Italy is the invader, and we are defending Guardians of peace and order."
(end of this chapter)