The Sun Never Sets In Spain

Almost at the same time that Palermo was attacked, new changes took place in the Franco-Prussian battlefield.

The reason why the rhythm of the battlefield has slowed down so much than in history is that Prussia is taking time to integrate South Germany.

Now after three weeks of adjustment, most of the former Bavarian army has been included in the Prussian battle sequence, and the tools and food produced by Bavaria have also begun to be shipped to the front in an endless stream.

At this time, the army of the North German Confederacy on the front line had swelled to as much as 610,000, far exceeding the historical level.

Maintaining such a large army is a heavy burden for the entire North Germany, so Prussia has just made preliminary preparations and launched an attack impatiently.

Opposite him, the number of French troops reached 320,000, a full 110,000 more than in history.

In addition to the troops trained in Spain, the French troops in North Africa had sufficient time to return to their home countries for support due to the prolonged war.

In addition, part of the southern German army also went into exile to France, and drew swords with former comrades-in-arms.

However, these 320,000 people are already the limit of France, and more troops are located in various islands, Africa, and Asia. It is impossible to come back from this war.

On September 19, a large number of North German troops crossed the border and launched a general offensive against France. Wissembourg was the first stop of the Prussian general offensive.

Wissembourg is just an ordinary French town, but its geographical location is important, and it is related to all the supplies of McMahon's army.

For this general offensive, Prussia planned many complicated and chaotic offensive lines on the German-French border so that all armies could simultaneously cross the border and attack the enemy's interior.

The idea is good, but coordination between the various armies has become a big problem.

The Prussian Third Army, which led the battle of Wissembourg, was troubled by this, because the command given by the General Command did not give too many opinions on their marching route.

In other words, they enjoy a very high degree of autonomy.

After thinking about the commander Julius von Verdi Duvernoy of the vanguard of the Third Army, he decided to attack Wissembourg first, because the commander of the Third Army, Crown Prince Frederick III, The troops are currently advancing along the side of the Vosges Mountains.

If you want to converge with the crown prince to form a joint battle, the top priority is to defeat McMahon in Wissembourg.

He told the Count Leonhard von Blumenthal of his idea, and the Count submitted the idea to the headquarter. Old Mochi praised this and declared: "The intent explained in the letter is completely in line with The views and plans of the General Command. The 3rd Army is completely free when performing its tasks."

After obtaining approval, the divisions of the Third Army began to advance towards Wissembourg from all directions.

The first unit to fight the enemy was the right wing of the Royal Prince Frederick III's Army, the 4th Bavarian Division.

The division was commanded by Count von Botmer and was now advancing towards the small town of Wissembourg. There are almost no roads here. The troops advancing forward are facing the Bienwald Forest on the north bank of the Lauter River. This means that the troops need to cross this large dense forest area in order to avoid congestion during the march. You must be cautious about advancing speed.

This gave Abel Douai, the commander of the French Second Division, an opportunity to anticipate the enemy's first opportunity. However, trapped by the organization and scheduling and bad weather, his march was also delayed, and he did not seize this opportunity in the end.

On the night of September 21, on the same day that Palermo was attacked, Du Ai came late and moved to Wissembourg.

At 4:00 in the morning, Duai dispatched an advance reconnaissance force. The cavalry unit advanced for about a mile in vain, and only learned from the local residents that a large number of Prussian troops were approaching.

The cavalry unit returned to Wissembourg at 7:30, but the reconnaissance unit did not make any attempt to verify the accuracy and completeness of this information. At the same time, at 6:00 in the morning, Duai received a belated warning from McMahon that a large number of enemy troops were expected to attack.

Duai’s order from McMahon was to deploy most of the division’s forces in the town of Wissembourg and in the valley of the Lauter River. However, such a deployment is tantamount to exposing his troops. Under the enemy's firepower, the enemy can launch an attack from the high ground on the north bank of the Lauter River.

On the other hand, the command of the first and second divisions under the French McMahon First Army was a figure named Auguste-Alexander Dicrot.

Duai received a diametrically opposite order from him: asking Duai to draw a battalion from the Wissembourg garrison and its remaining troops to jointly occupy the high ground on the Gaisberg ridge.

In this contradictory situation, by 8:00 in the morning, the Bavarian army arrived in Schwiegen and began to carry out artillery advance to Wolfsburg. By 8:30 in the morning, the artillery could reach the French army, and the French army Only then did they react, and fired back artillery fire from Wissembourg to the Bavarian army.

North Germany occupies a favorable terrain, and the artillery is also in a complete advantage, but the French resistance is quite tenacious. For a period of time, the French artillery can even push back the momentum of the German artillery and further threaten the right wing of the German army.

If we continue to fight like this, the Wissembourg battle will probably end in a tie, but the 5th Army of the Prussian Third Army also rushed to the battlefield at this time. With their assistance, the Bavarian army rekindled its fighting spirit and launched a new battle. A round of offense.

Soon after, the Prussian Eleventh Army joined the battle.

At this time, the Prussian army is several times that of the French side. If time is delayed for a few hours, Duai will face 10 times as many enemies as his own.

Duai is very aware of the situation of his troops. If he does not withdraw as soon as possible, his troops' retreat will be completely cut off. Unfortunately, just after he gave the order to retreat from Wissembourg, a shrapnel spattered from the explosion of the ammunition hit him and Abel Duai was killed on the spot.

General Jean Pellet of the French 2nd Brigade took over the command, but when he realized that if he did not leave Wissembourg as soon as possible, the troops would be encircled, another hour and a half passed.

Until now, no matter what, if no reinforcements arrive to cover the evacuation of the troops, then everything can only wait to die.

Soon after noon, General Pellet ordered three artillery battalions to deploy defenses in and around Gaisberg.

The commander of this artillery position is Major Cecil. He tried his best to defend desperately. However, he also knew that the army could not escape the fate of being surrounded. He tried to escape, but he just left the army more than 40 meters away. He was killed.

At 15:00, the besieged French troops surrendered.