War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Bellevue left the group of old academics at the Saint-Cyr Military Academy speechless for a moment, but he was a political worker after all, so this little problem didn't bother him.

"I don't want to be the next Napoleon! I want to be the first Bellevue! I want to do what Napoleon can do! I want to do what Napoleon can't do!"

Due to Bellevue's status, the experts from the Saint-Cyr Military Academy found it difficult to refute him, but they still reminded him.

“The border fortress built by the Kingdom of Sardinia for generations is not so easy to break through.

We suggest that your army should first pass through Belgium and then Prussia, and then attack from north to south, so as to minimize resistance. "

"Or you can attack the enemy and save them."

Another expert suggested, seeing Bellvi's lack of interest in step-by-step tactics.

"If you attack the enemy, you must save it?"

Bellevue immediately became interested. He was tired of hearing about the tactic of attacking Belgium first, then Prussia, and then attacking Austria from north to south.

Moreover, there is a huge hidden danger in this tactic, that is, the situation in France may not last long.

In fact, because the economic crisis and food crisis plaguing France have not improved in any way, the protests of the Paris people have never stopped.

After Cavaignac took office as commander of the Paris garrison, he carried out several crackdowns, but the problem was not resolved.

The Second Republic hoped to use a victory to re-establish its image in the hearts of the people. However, even the top leaders of the Second Republic did not know whether this gamble would be successful.

"That's right! Attack the enemy and save it! Alsace-Lorraine, a member of the German Confederation in France."

"Alsace-Lorraine?"

Bellevue asked with some confusion, because Marshal Grouchy was ruined here before, and he was somewhat hesitant to start a war here.

"Yes, General Bellevue.

The reason why the German Confederation intervened in Belgium was that Belgium was a part of the German Confederation. So should Alsace-Lorraine, which was also a part of the German Confederation, encounter war, should they also save it?

If the German Allied Forces really cross the Rhine again to rescue Alsace-Lorraine, then we can completely cross the river and attack like the Austrians. "

Attacking halfway across the river is definitely a very ideal state, especially in this era when artillery has been raised to the level of the god of war.

The artillery units were unable to deploy when crossing the river, let alone organize an effective counterattack.

This is also the worst situation for infantry and cavalry. The infantry loses the protection of the formation, while the cavalry loses mobility.

But generally speaking, commanders will try their best to avoid this situation from happening, but there are exceptions to everything, such as receiving a death order.

It is not difficult to create such a premise, for example, by allowing soldiers to run wild in the land of Alsace-Lorraine.

The so-called German nationalists in the Frankfurt Parliament must come to the rescue, otherwise their ideas and theories will all turn into a joke.

This is definitely a very vicious plan, and it is indeed necessary to attack the enemy.

But there are some things that they don't understand. The so-called poisonous schemes all come with a price.

——

You don’t have to read the following if you understand it——

The French army has been wreaking havoc on the land of Alsace-Lorraine again and again, and the local people have long been unbearable.

Even people who originally had a sense of belonging to France now find it difficult to love a country that doesn't love them at all.

——

Finished explaining————

Bellevue admired this plan very much, but showed little interest in the specific plans for attacking Belgium proposed by the experts later.

After his personal absorption and summary, he finally formulated a set of five-pronged policies for the French army to achieve comprehensive victory.

First of all, the first route is to take revenge on the Belgians. After all, you have to get up from where you fell, and France has to lose face.

This was mainly to satisfy the sentiments of the people and the vanity of the men in Parliament. Bellevue was not really prepared to invest too many troops in this direction.

The target of the second route was Alsace-Lorraine. Bellevue was still very self-aware, and he handed what seemed to be the greatest achievement to Marshal Lamosilière.

It's easy to say that it's easy to call for reinforcements, but the actual operation is not something that a civilian like him can do.

And according to the estimates of the experts at the Saint-Cyr Military Academy, they will directly face the main force of the German Confederacy on the Rhine Battlefield (Alsace-Lorraine).

It is true that Bellevue wanted to achieve unparalleled achievements, but he also did not want to take the blame. The Rhine battlefield was obviously not suitable for him.

The third route is the Roches Pass, and this force will invade Switzerland. Their only purpose is to grab territory. From the perspective of the Second French Republic, the Swiss region should be French land.

The previous surrender of most of the land to the German Confederation was a reflection of the Orleans Dynasty's incompetence.

The so-called Swiss mountain people are all soldiers and are brave and good at fighting. In the eyes of the French, it is not worth mentioning. After all, this is not the first time that they have speeded through the Swiss dungeon.

At this time, Switzerland had been cut into countless small pieces by the German Confederation, so it was even less worth mentioning in the eyes of the French.

Bellevue even felt that even if he won a big victory in the Swiss mountains, he would only be given a consolation award for his hard work.

So Bellevue chose the fourth route, which was to attack the rich northern Italian plains from the direction of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

This is the path Napoleon once walked, which has special significance for the French army, especially those so-called Napoleonists.

Of course, it can also directly hit the softest belly of the Austrian Empire. The wealthy Northern Italy region is its most important source of finance and taxation.

As a French soldier, Bellevue could not have known about Napoleon's deeds. He looted the wealthy Northern Italy to boost morale and built an army that was completely loyal to him and extremely powerful. He also confiscated and auctioned noble land to win over civilians and capitalists (businessmen). ).

As for the so-called Kingdom of Sardinia and the old Marshal Radetzky, Bellevue did not take it seriously.

The Kingdom of Sardinia claimed to have a hundred thousand troops before going to war with the Austrian Empire, but they were beaten to the capital within a week.

Marshal Radetzky was completely beyond Bellevue's radar. Previously, two French veterans, Grouchy and Oudinot, suffered disastrous defeats, which made him feel that the era of Napoleon had passed.

Those antiques from the old era were completely unworthy of this great new era. Bellevue specially found a group of young people from the Saint-Cyr Military Academy who agreed with his ideas. He wanted to send Radetzky, a remnant of the old era, to The last journey, stepping on his corpse towards a new era.

The fifth route was to send France's Great Eastern Fleet to cooperate with the British to blockade the Adriatic Sea.

The naval approach was strongly discouraged because at this time the fleet needed repairs, many ships were already reaching critical condition, and operating with the British would expose the reality of the weakness of the French navy.

However, there is another theory in the rumors, that is, the sailors of the Great Eastern Fleet were afraid of the Austrian Navy.