Chapter 251 Actions by all parties
Time flies and it is coming to August. Napoleon's original plan to mobilize 400,000 French troops to fight Prussia completely went bankrupt due to insufficient pre-war preparations and logistics and other factors.
But from the moment the decision to declare war was made, there was no turning back. If he had known that the government departments were so unreliable, Napoleon III would never have declared war so hastily a month ago.
France currently has 230,000 troops deployed in Alsace and Lorraine. At the same time, the number of German allied forces across the river has reached 420,000. Because some troops were transferred from the Prussian-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. An offensive corps was deployed near Metz in Lorraine, with a total strength of 128,000 troops. It was commanded by the French Emperor Napoleon III and Marshal Bazin. This was the main force of the French army and was It is called the Army of the Rhine; the other is deployed on the right side of the Vosges Mountains, near Strasbourg in Alsace, commanded by General McMahon, with less than 40,000 people; in addition, there is another in Chalon, west of Lorraine Metz. A reserve team remains.
"This is the Vosges Mountains. The Rhine Army is near Metz on the north side of the mountain range, while General McMahon's Chalon Army is near Strasbourg on the south side. The Rhine Army is the main force and is personally commanded by me. We The target is here - Frankfurt. By capturing Frankfurt, we can separate the North German Federation from South Germany. The task of the Scharon Army is to coordinate the actions of the main force. Only by pressing down the South German countries first can we separate the North German Federation from South Germany. Focus on Prussia." Napoleon, dressed in military 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 Saarbrücken. If you capture it, Baden and Württemberg in the south will be surrounded by the French army. At the same time, going north from Frankfurt can threaten the western Prussian mainland, and going southeast and south can threaten Prussia. Nuremberg, Bavaria. This was originally a pre-emptive offensive deployment. The plan was to concentrate troops to quickly cross the border and advance towards Frankfurt, cutting off the connection between North and South Germany, forcing the South German states to remain neutral and defeat Prussia with all their strength.
"Your Majesty, the battle plan is feasible. Judging from Prussia's mobilization capabilities in the last Prussian-Austrosian War, Prussia and the German coalition should be able to deploy at least 300,000 troops on the east bank of the Rhine. Fortunately, Austria has restrained Prussia, otherwise Prussia's eastern front The troops have also been mobilized, which makes our situation even more terrifying. Although the imperial soldiers are more experienced and more powerful than Prussia, we still have to be careful when facing nearly twice the number of enemies." Marshal Bazin said.
François Achille Bazaine (February 13, 1811 - September 23, 1888) was a mercenary and became a French Marshal in 1864. During his 40-year military career, he was famous in France for his incredible bravery.
François Achille Bazin was born in Versailles, the son of a mathematician and a bridge engineer. His father presided over the construction of several bridges in Petersburg at the invitation of Tsar Alexander I. Because he failed to receive financial support from his family, he failed to pass the entrance examination for the comprehensive technical school and entered the service of the 37th Infantry Regiment in March 1831. It was when Louis-Philippe, who was still an equal, had just become king. In January 1832, he joined the Foreign Legion as a mercenary and was awarded the rank of second lieutenant in 1833. In the First Carlos War that 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 and confronted the Algerian national hero Abd al-Qadir in the Sahara Desert. He pursued him relentlessly and forced him to retreat into Morocco. In 1845, his wrist was injured again. After Abd al-Qadir was captured in 1847, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and colonel in 1850. In June 1852, he married his first wife, Maria Juana of La Soledad, in Versailles. In addition, he participated in the Crimean War, the French-Sardinian War against Austria, and the French intervention in Mexico. He can be said to be an old acquaintance of Maximilian I.
When Bazin said this, no one really refuted it. Looking at the wars he participated in, they were all typical of fighting more with less, especially Mexico, which was fought on other people's soil, and Mexico was far away from the French mainland.
As a general, Bazin's commanding ability is not outstanding. His only advantage is that he is brave enough and takes the lead every time. Therefore, he is often injured and is recognized as a warrior in France.
The "warriors" of France have said that the French soldiers are brave, so what else is there to say? They just have to suppress the Prussian army and fight, one against two.
"We have no retreat. Our opponents this time are not the European countries from the era of my uncle Napoleon the Great, but the German region that he once stepped on. Not even the Austrians participated, so our chances of winning are very high, so let's Prussia and Germany once again see the terror of France, long live France!" Napoleon III encouraged.
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"If my prediction is correct, France's goal is definitely 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, so in order to achieve this goal, Napoleon III must take a preemptive strike, so Our people should always pay attention to the movements of the French on the west bank. The frontline troops should first avoid direct combat with the oncoming French army and evacuate to a favorable position to deplete the morale of the French army."
While Napoleon III was discussing the attack plan with his staff and generals, Moltke was also analyzing the French's movements and solutions with the Prussian generals.
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The war between Prussia and France was about to break out, and the war in East Africa had been going on for more than ten days. For East Africa, the experience of this war of conquest was very unfriendly. Due to logistical reasons, it seriously slowed down the progress. The second war of conquest , with Mbeya as a base, the logistics can barely keep up.
This time, the newly occupied Zambia region in East Africa has not been developed, and the food output is basically negligible. Therefore, military food and supplies need to be sent from the rear through the poor transportation in Zambia before being sent to the front line.
Although the progress is relatively slow, it is more stable and can advance ten to twenty kilometers every day.
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Rome.
"Have the French withdrawn?" asked the Austro-Hungarian envoy to Rome.
"Yes, the last batch of French troops evacuated from Fiumicino today. Originally, the number of French troops stationed in Rome was not large, only more than 3,000. Now the French military camp is completely empty."
"Very good, I will go to see the Pope right away and convince him to sign an agreement with Austria. This time we must give Italy some color no matter what."
"Do you need to inform General Karl and ask him to cooperate?"
"No, it's not the time for our troops to show up yet. What if we scare the Italian government and make them afraid to take action? You go back and tell General Carl to continue to lurk. When Italy takes action against the Papal States, we will beat him. Take it by surprise.”
The envoy continued: "I will first go to Rome to persuade the Pope to accept Austria's protection, and then announce the news. The Italian government will definitely be anxious, and they will definitely strengthen their troops in Venice to guard against our interference, and on the other hand directly send troops Rome, let everything settle, but they never imagined that we still have a surprise army in Rome. As long as the empire gets a pretext for war, it will be logical to send troops to Italy. At that time, Italy will be the invader, and we will defend it. Peaceful guardian of order.”