African Entrepreneurship Records

  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 set up a solid line of defense on the east bank of the Rhine River.

  However, there has been little movement on the French side so far. The French are not yet in place, and Prussia is naturally not in a hurry. The mobilized troops and equipment from the rear continue to converge on the front line 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, and the French are fighting in St. According to the data analysis of our staff, there is no way to complete the mobilization of the entire French army for the railway capacity of Lasbourg, 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 the main force will be dispersed, which is obviously not good for us, so I advocate standing on the Rhine River to wait for the French attack, and it is easier to use the Rhine River to defend.”

  William I asked: "How is the situation of the troop assembly now?"

   "At present, the Prussian active-duty army has been assembled, and the conscripts in the rear are also being recruited from all over the country. However, the states still need some time. The third army in the south and the main force of Bavaria have not yet arrived at the front line." Moltke said.

  Prussian army information exchange is very smooth, thanks to their telegraph network. Founded by Werner von Siemens, the "Father of German Electricity", Siemens built the most advanced telegraph network at that time for Prussia, allowing the General Staff to grasp the exact location of each army, division, and regiment within an hour. After experiencing the last Franco-Prussian War, Prussia has been promoting the laying of the telegraph network throughout the entire German region. With the help of the Customs Union, the South German region has also been popularized.

   "Austria did not know why it transferred its main force away from the northern border area, so this time we mobilized more forces from the east to deal with the French, and we just waited for the French to come and throw us into the net." Moltke said excitedly.

  From the winter of 1868 to 1869, Moltke began to formulate a combat plan against France, so from Moltke's personal point of view, he waited too long for this day.

In fact, as early as shortly after the establishment of the North German Confederation, Moltke was trying to take the initiative to start a war against France, because at that time France was replacing the new Chasaipo breech-loading gun. After France completes the costume change, its combat effectiveness will rise to a higher level.

However, Bismarck strongly opposed it at the time: "If we take the initiative to declare war on France, we will become aggressive wars and warmongers. Not only the French will share their hatred, but other countries will not support our actions, even within the North German Federation. Support us."

   This matter was delayed, and the result was that in 1870, Bismarck humiliated the whole of France with just one telegram. France was so angry that it declared war on Prussia with Sangang.

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

   "Austria still has to be careful. I don't believe they will be reconciled to the last failure, but so far, I haven't heard of the Austrian government's statement. It's 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 do nothing, no matter whether they support France or not, they cannot stop Prussia's actions in the southern German region. The only thing they can do now is to do nothing. Let France completely defeat us, so that we can prevent us from uniting Germany."

The reason is very clear. If Austria intervenes in the Franco-Prussian War and France wins, Austria will become a "German traitor". If Austria really intervenes, it may not be able to defeat Prussia. Prussia can call Italy to attack Austria from north to south, and Tsarist Russia will also shot.

  …

  The gloomy weather in Paris represented the mood of Napoleon III. After declaring war on Prussia, Napoleon III found himself deceived by his subordinates.

  The assembly speed of French troops is not ideal. Compared with Prussia's compulsory military service system, France focuses more on professional soldiers. If it comes to individual combat capabilities, professional soldiers are definitely better than conscripts under normal circumstances.

  French soldiers have undoubted combat capabilities, but the situation facing France now is the perennial colonial war, which has caused the French troops to be too scattered.

  Since Napoleon III, France has pursued a maverick neutrality policy in Europe, which is a lesson learned from the besieged in the Napoleon era.

  Unable to use its fists in Europe, France quickly followed Britain 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 forces in the Far East.

  In addition to cooperating with the British, France also ended up in person, Mexico (supporting Maximilian, 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, beat 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 abolished by the French. This is undoubtedly a great victory. Although the newly established Kingdom of Italy cut off France's traditional expansion route, it is not a big problem.

  Colonial activities have led to the dispersion of French forces. It will take time for the colonial forces to return to France. Now that the war machine has been launched, it is too late. No more words will help.

The most important thing is that France has always had its own ambitions for the land of the Rhine, so there has always been a large number of French troops on the German-French border, which can be assembled temporarily. The generals are also full of confidence, since the military said there is no problem, so Napoleon is not in a hurry. What really angered Napoleon III was the logistics department.

   "You bastards, the frontline troops have been waiting for so long, yet you still haven't sent the supplies to the frontline? 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 for this. The declaration of war was too sudden, and our system is currently unable to operate at full capacity. After all, more than 100,000 troops are 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."

   "That is to say, you have never had a plan for the war in the German region? Didn't 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 wished to send them to the front line immediately to serve as cannon fodder.

After calming down his emotions, Napoleon III said: "I don't care what method you use, you must ensure that the front-line supplies are in place within ten days. If you can't do it, then everyone in the logistics department will not have to do it. I will send you to the front, and use the supplies you 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 are? You actually told me that you didn't know, probably, maybe these words? This is the working ability of your intelligence department?"

"Your Majesty, the main reason is that the overseas troops are too scattered and the distances are far away. Information can only be transmitted by ships on the sea, and it takes a lot of time to go back and forth. North Africa and Rome are close. It's okay to say that other regions don't have ten days and half a month to contact them. not on."

   "Then you should know something about the enemy! Haven't figured out the size and organization of the Prussian army yet?"

"Prussia is a country that cannot be speculated by common sense. Everyone knows that all the people of Prussia are soldiers. It is not surprising how many soldiers are sent out. If you add the German states, this workload is too embarrassing for our department. We There are simply not enough manpower.”

The intelligence department pushed the blame completely, and the government departments are all of the same virtue. Napoleon III was so angry that he had nothing to do with them. He knew very well that the enemy was in Paris, not Berlin. The other two factions of the royal family and The republicans are hoping that something will happen to them.

  (end of this chapter)