Chapter 250 The enemy is in Paris

Chapter 250 The enemy is in Paris

The water of the Rhine River is still flowing quietly, and the Prussian and German Allied forces have deployed a solid defense line on the east bank of the Rhine River.

However, there has not been much movement on the French side. The French are not in place yet, and Prussia is naturally not in a hurry. Mobilized troops and equipment from the rear are constantly coming to the front through railways and canals.

In the frontline headquarters, Moltke personally introduced his combat plan to William I and others: "This is the Alsace and Lorraine regions. Metz and Strasbourg are separated by the Vosges Mountains. The French are in Strasbourg." According to the data analysis of our staff department, there is no way to complete the mobilization of the entire French army, so Metz in the northwest will share this pressure, and the French army will also be divided into two parts. If we take the initiative to attack , will also be affected by the Vosges Mountains and disperse the main force, which is obviously disadvantageous to us, so I advocate a strong position on the Rhine River to await the French attack, and it is easier to rely on the Rhine River to defend."

William I asked: "How is the gathering of troops now?"

"At present, the Prussian active army has been assembled, and rear conscripts are being recruited from all over the country, but it will still take some time for the states. The Third Army in the south and the main force of Bavaria have not yet arrived at the front line." Moltke said.

The Prussian army communicated information very smoothly, thanks to their telegraph network. Siemens, founded by Werner von Siemens, the "Father of German Electricity," built Prussia's most advanced telegraph network at the time, allowing the General Staff to know the exact location of armies, divisions, and regiments down to the hour. After experiencing the last Franco-Prussian War, Prussia has been promoting the laying of the telegraph network to the entire German region. With the help of the Customs Union, the southern German region has also been popularized.

"For some unknown reason, Austria transferred its main force from the northern border area, so this time we mobilized more forces from the east to deal with the French, and we are just waiting for the French to fall into their trap." Moltke said excitedly.

From the winter of 1868 to 1869, Moltke began to formulate a plan for combat against France, so from a personal perspective, Moltke had waited for this day for too long.

In fact, as early as shortly after the establishment of the North German Federation, Moltke was trying to take the initiative to go to war with France, because France was replacing the new Schassel breech-loading rifle at that time. This rifle far surpassed the Dresser rifle in performance. If it were allowed After France completes its equipment change, its combat effectiveness will rise to a higher level.

However, Bismarck strongly opposed it at the time: "If we proactively declare war on France, it will turn into a war of aggression and warmongering. Not only will the French share the same hatred, but other countries will not support our actions, not even within the North German Federation." Support us."

This matter was delayed, and the result was that in 1870, Bismarck humiliated the entire France with just one telegram. The French people were so angry that they declared war on Prussia.

Moltke was still on vacation when France declared war. After France declared war, Moltke urgently ended his vacation, organized the Prussian army to start mobilizing as planned, and equipped and transported 300,000 soldiers to the border within 18 days.

"Austria still needs to be careful. I don't believe they will be reconciled to the last failure. However, so far, I have not heard of the Austrian government's stance. This is really uncertain about their plans." William I said.

"It may also be that they are afraid of public opinion in the German region. The Austrians know that they can't do anything. Whether they support France or not, they cannot stop Prussia's actions in the South German region. The only thing they can do now is to do nothing without taking action. France must completely defeat us to prevent us from unifying the German region."

The reason is clear. If Austria makes any move to interfere in the Franco-Prussian War and France wins, Austria will become a "traitor". And if Austria really interferes, it may not be able to defeat Prussia. Prussia can summon Italy to launch a north-south attack on Austria, and Tsarist Russia will also Take action.

…

The gloomy weather in Paris represents the mood of Napoleon III, who found himself deceived by his men after declaring war on Prussia.

The speed of gathering French troops is not ideal. Compared with Prussia's compulsory military service system, France focuses more on professional soldiers. When it comes to individual combat capabilities, professional soldiers are generally better than compulsory soldiers.

There is no doubt about the combat capabilities of French soldiers, but the situation France is facing now is perennial colonial wars, which has led to French troops being too dispersed.

Starting from Napoleon III, France pursued a unique policy of neutrality in Europe, which was based on lessons learned from the siege during the Napoleonic era.

Unable to exert its influence in Europe, France quickly followed the British in its colonies. At the same time, Napoleon III also actively cooperated with the British, such as the Crimean War, which had almost nothing to do with French interests, and the Anglo-French coalition in the Far East.

In addition to cooperating with the British, France itself also ended up in Mexico (supporting Maximiliano and interfering in Mexico's internal affairs), Southeast Asia, North Africa and many other colonies. At the same time, under Napoleon III's personal micro-management, the Kingdom of Italy was born, which severely defeated the Austrian Empire and allowed Prussia to challenge the Austrian Empire. In addition, the previous Crimean War severely damaged Tsarist Russia.

Two powerful enemies during the anti-French war were eliminated by the French. This was undoubtedly a great victory. Although the newly established Kingdom of Italy cut off France's traditional expansion route, it was not a big problem.

Colonial activities have led to the dispersion of French power, and it will take time to transfer colonial troops back to the French mainland. But now that the war machine has been launched, there is no time, and no more words will help.

The most important thing is that France has always had its own ambitions for the land on the Rhine, so there has always been a large number of French troops on the German-French border, which can be temporarily assembled. Although the number is not as large as that of the German Alliance, France has always been one against two. The generals were also confident about the existence of the army. Since the military said there was no problem, Napoleon was not in a hurry. What really made Napoleon III angry was the logistics department.

"You bunch of trash, the frontline troops have been waiting for so long, and you haven't sent the supplies to the front line yet? Do you want the soldiers of the empire to compete with the Prussians on an empty stomach?"

"Your Majesty, calm down. There is a reason. The declaration of war was too sudden. Our system cannot operate at full capacity at the moment. After all, more than 100,000 troops suddenly gathered on the front line, and the required material consumption is huge. The logistics department is already coordinating with the railway. Strive for more trains to transport supplies to the front line."

"In other words, you never had a plan for the war in Germany? Did you start to react until the war came?" Napoleon III angrily yelled.

The emperor was angry, and the people below were silent. Looking at the wine bags and rice bags in front of him, Napoleon wanted to send them to the front line immediately to serve as cannon fodder.

After calming down, Napoleon III said: "I don't care what methods you use, we must ensure that the supply of frontline materials is in place within ten days. If we can't do it, then everyone in the logistics department will no longer have to work, and everyone will give in." I will send you to the front line, and you will use the supplies you have prepared to fight the Germans."

After training the logistics department, Napoleon turned around and began to reprimand the intelligence department: "And you, when I asked where the troops were? You actually told me that I didn't know, probably, maybe these words? Is this the working ability of your intelligence department?"

"Your Majesty, the main reason is that the overseas troops are too scattered and far away. Information can only be transmitted by ships on the sea. It takes a lot of time to go back and forth. North Africa and Rome are so close that it is easy to say. If there is no contact with other areas within ten and a half months, I'm afraid Not on."

"Then you should know something about the enemy, right? You still haven't figured out the size and organization of the Prussian army?"

"Prussia is a country that cannot be speculated based on common sense. Everyone knows that all Prussians are soldiers, and it is not surprising how many soldiers they send out. If we add the German states, the workload will be too difficult for our department. We There simply aren’t enough manpower.”

The intelligence department completely passed the blame. Government departments were all of the same character. Napoleon III was so angry that he couldn't do anything about them. He knew very well that the enemy was in Paris, not Berlin. The other two factions, the royal family and the The Republicans all hope that something will happen to them.