(Chapter 1 arrives, there will be chapter 1 later)
In order to support the operations on the two fronts at the same time, the French war machine was overloaded. A large number of troops began to mobilize towards the predetermined area. Various military supplies were also transferred from Iberia and the French interior to border areas.
On March 2, the French 3rd Army arrived in the Ardennes. On March 4, the French 4th Army reached the Lorraine Plateau. For a time, France deployed three legions of nearly 350,000 people on the border with Prussia. The four legions of the Kingdom of Prussia were all deployed in the border area. For a while, the situation on the European continent became extremely tense, and war was imminent.
"Your Majesty, I ask you to agree to send two more legions to the front line. At present, France has gathered more than 200,000 troops in the two legions in the border area, and it is still increasing. If we don't send If the reinforcements strengthen the military strength on the border, I am afraid that there will be heavy losses under the sudden attack of France." In the main hall of the Berlin Palace, Clausewitz, the chief of the general staff of the Prussian Army, requested.
"But we only have 6 regular legions, and the reserve corps still needs a period of training. After all the troops are sent out, don't other places in Prussia need to be defended?" Prussian King Friedrich William III said somewhat Said embarrassingly.
"Now that France's threat to other countries has been fully exposed, no country will ignore France's threat and start war against us at this time." Clausewitz explained.
"But our original agreement with Britain was only to send five legions to join the battle, or we are sending one legion to the front line." Friedrich William III said hesitantly.
"Your Majesty, one legion can't play much role at all, and even two legions can play a very limited role. If possible, I even hope to send two more legions to the front line for defense." Krause Weitz advised.
Seeing that Clausewitz was so resolute, Friedrich William III had no choice but to compromise, but he still said angrily: "Damn Frenchman, why do you take us as the first target every time? Is it true? Do you think we Prussians are still bullying?"
Clausewitz just glanced at Friedrich William III, and thought that that was not the reason why you were so active. If you shoot the first bird, France will not fight Prussia. Who will it be?
"Your Excellency Chief of Staff, why are you leaving for the front?" Friedrich William III asked after venting.
Clausewitz thought for a while and said: "Five days later, the 1st and 5th armies should be ready by then, and we will rush to the front together."
Friedrich William III nodded, and then asked: "How much hope do we have to resist the French attack this time?" Every war is fought on the territory of Prussia, Friedrich William III How much William III hoped to defend against enemies abroad.
"If France does not launch an offensive within these 5 days, and the enemy to face is only two French regiments, I am sure to hold the line of defense for a week. If the reinforcements from other countries can arrive in time, we have hope Control the flames of war in France." Clausewitz thought for a while and said.
"One week?" exclaimed Friedrich William III, seemingly shocked by the answer. But then also realized the gap between the Prussian army and the French army. It is quite good to be able to block the French attack for a week with a considerable force. "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, the future of the kingdom is in your hands. I hope you can withstand the French attack." Friedrich William III looked at Clausewitz eagerly and said.
However, Clausewitz did not dare to give him an affirmative answer, only replied that he would do his best.
After Clausewitz left, Friedrich William III immediately summoned the foreign minister and asked him to send a note to other countries to send troops to support Prussia as soon as possible.
On March 6, Xiao Jie led Dougal, Eck and others to Abbeville in secret, and summoned Baldesius that afternoon. "How is the preparation going? When will the plan be implemented?" Xiao Jie asked as soon as they met.
Baldesius replied respectfully: "Your Majesty, the preparations are progressing smoothly, and it is estimated that they will be ready by tomorrow afternoon. As for the attack date, it is tentatively set on March 9. The Feiteng troops will take off at two o'clock in the morning. Bombardment of Brighton naval port at 9:00 am. Return to Abbeville."
"Taking off early in the morning? How do you control the course?" Xiao Jie frowned and asked. In the dark of night, airship troops will easily lose their way in the sky.
"You don't need to be careful about this. Take off in the early morning. On the one hand, you can avoid being discovered by the British navy. On the other hand, you can suddenly appear above the British fleet in the morning. Even if they are spotted at that time, they will not have enough time to react. As for the heading problem , the navy will provide us with assistance. The navy will dispatch 30 warships, starting from Abbeville, deploying one every two kilometers, so as to point out the direction for us. After dawn, the airship unit can also control the direction by itself." Barr Desus replied.
"What about the weather? Does the weather allow airship troops to attack?" Xiao Jie continued to ask.
"According to the forecast of meteorological experts, the weather on March 9 is very suitable for airship flying. Of course, if the weather conditions change suddenly, then we will have to postpone the bombing plan."
Xiao Jie nodded, he is still very satisfied with Baldesius' preparations, and has taken all possible factors into consideration. On March 7, Eck returned to Paris, because the land attack was about to start, and there must be someone in charge of the general staff. Xiao Jie and Dougal stayed in Abbeville, ready to witness this great moment in history.
On the night of March 8th, Xiao Jie was as excited as most of the people, and went to the temporarily built airship docking base together with Dougal, watching the ground crew keep busy, delivering fuel to the airship And other supplies, of course, bombs are essential.
In order to completely injure the British Navy, the airship unit that attacked this time was loaded with bombs, all of which were 500 kg bombs. This kind of bomb is destructive to all the warships in active service in the UK. If an 'Honor' class warship hits one, it will be reloaded if it does not die, and if it hits two, it will definitely die. Not to mention those "British" class warships, which can be sent to the bottom of the sea with only one bomb. Of course, considering that the hit rate will not be very high, the plan adopted this time is to carry out intensive bombing of the ports of Brighton. Putting all 8,000 bombs into the military port, even if the hit rate is only 2%, is enough to wipe out half of the British Navy's strength in Brighton.
At 3 o'clock in the morning on March 9, the well-prepared airships slowly began to take off. At 3 o'clock, all 250 airships were lifted into the air. Started flying towards Brighton. And all the warships of the navy are also in place, and 30 "Iberia" class warships from the Straits Fleet will take on the task of navigating the airship force.
After 5 hours of flying, the airship unit was discovered by the British Navy, and at this time it was only 15 kilometers away from Brighton. Except for 6 of the 250 airships that returned early due to failures, the rest are in very good condition.
"General, the patrol fleet found a large group of French airships heading towards Brighton, and it is estimated that they will reach the sky over Brighton in half an hour." A staff officer reported to Nelson. Since the last time Westrop led the navy to attack the French Mediterranean Fleet, not only suffered heavy losses, but also failed to achieve the planned combat objectives, the commander of the British Navy was replaced by Nelson~www.mtlnovel.com~airship? What do the French want? What are they sending the airship to Brighton for? " Nelson asked very puzzled.
"Aren't airships only used for reconnaissance and to provide bombardment data to warships? It seems that the French still use airships for bombing." The staff officer suddenly replied.
"Bombing? By the way, bombing. The French want to use airships to bomb Brighton. To be precise, they are bombing our navy." Nelson immediately understood the French intention.
"Let all the warships set sail immediately, leave the port, and disperse them all." Nelson roared angrily. I have to say that he is still very capable, and he immediately thought of how to avoid the bombing of the French airship.
However, it was too late. Although many warships faithfully carried out his orders, it took at least an hour for the fleet to leave the port, and the French airship was already very close to Brighton.
At 9 o'clock in the morning, the French airship troops covering the sky and the sun arrived over the Brighton Naval Harbor, and after a short preparation, they dropped bombs one after another. The military port suddenly turned into a sea of flames, and there were only more than 50 British warships that escaped from the port at this time, and there were more than 200 warships in the military port.