Welcome to 19th-century Europe, where strength reigns supreme

Napoleon III judged that the Prussian army was about to arrive at the Metz Fortress. The Metz Fortress gathered the remaining defeated troops on the front line, and a total of about [-] French troops were assembled. The Prussian First and Second Army received Moltke's instructions not to attack directly. Metz, besiege the city first.

There were still many defeated French soldiers along the way. After the Prussians captured them, they were transported to prisoner of war camps in the rear.

There was no tense atmosphere between the French army and the Prussian army in the prisoner-of-war camp. In order to reassure the French army, Moltke specially inserted a sign about the military discipline of the Prussian army in the prisoner-of-war camp. It probably meant that we have delicious food here. I'll give you a drink while you stay quietly in the rear. I'll send you back when the war is over.

After being captured, many French soldiers thought that the Prussian army would mistreat them, but it turned out that they did not. The Prussian army strictly followed military discipline, and occasionally they encountered two Prussian soldiers who talked and laughed with the French army.

Manteuffel sent a reconnaissance team on horseback to the vicinity of the Metz Fortress to inquire. The news may be that Napoleon III has escaped.

Moltke was raiding the French fortresses in the south and encountered relatively few battles, so he transferred some of his troops north to help the Prussian army attack Metz. The Prussian army was led by Blumenthal, chief of staff of the Third Army. you.

The reconnaissance team discovered the movement of the French army to Cologne. It was probably Napoleon III who fled to Chalons, where the French Sixth Army was commanded by Camrobert. After Napoleon III ran away, the command of the Rhine Army was handed over to Paris. Zan, Bazin plans to let the main force withdraw one after another.

Moltke accurately calculated the French army's retreat route, and immediately asked Bittenfeld to lead [-] cavalry to rush in front of the French army and force the French army back to the Metz Fortress.

It sounds a bit nonsense, because the opponent has almost more than [-] troops. Let’s not talk about whether Bittenfeldt’s [-] cavalry can charge through. Even if they do, can they drive the French army back to the Metz Fortress? ?

Bittenfeld said that [-] cavalry were enough. Watch me take the enemy general's head in the midst of thousands of troops.

Bittenfeldt led [-] cavalry, bypassing the Metz Fortress from the north, and ran to Villonville, east of Maslatour, in front of the French army. He faced the main force of the Rhine Army, and he only had this in his hand. There are [-] people, and the ratio of French and Prussian soldiers is about four to one, which is a huge disadvantage.

Bittenfeldt decided to mount the horse himself and lead the group of German boys behind him in a last-ditch battle.

Of course, Bittenfeldt was not Xiang Yu. He just rushed forward to seek death. He first sent a reconnaissance team of [-] people to find out the enemy's situation. The reconnaissance team found that the French army did not bring heavy weapons, and many soldiers were a little distracted. , probably most of them were defeated troops before.

Bittenfeldt made a prompt decision. He was fully confident in this battle and must defeat them immediately. He asked [-] people to shoot first. When the French army found someone ambushing, they would immediately respond and shoot in the direction of the enemy. , the French gun takes about five or six seconds to reload. If you seize this opportunity to launch a sudden attack, the French army will collapse.

Everything was as Bittenfeldt calculated. These French troops were defeated troops who had been crushed by the Prussian army on the front line. Their morale was not very high. Bittenfeldt's sudden attack stunned them.

The army of hundreds of thousands was on the verge of collapse. When Bazin saw that the Prussian army had circled behind the French army, he immediately ordered the troops to stop advancing and quickly ordered the French army to withdraw to the Metz Fortress.

The French army that retreated to the Metz Fortress gradually found that it seemed to be surrounded. The Prussian First Army and the Second Army were almost at the city of Metz. The backup of the Second Army also arrived at Vionville. Two Prussian troops The main force of the corps surrounded the entire Metz Fortress.

The French army was now trapped and still fighting, and they were determined to fight. The French generals gathered all the cavalry they could use and launched a breakout towards the Prussian army. At this moment, the French cavalry exploded with unimaginable and amazing power, which is quite reminiscent of Napoleon. .

The French army was very lucky. They briefly repelled the Prussian army before the Prussian army completely surrounded the Metz Fortress. If they could seize the opportunity, they could avoid being dumped.

At such a critical moment, the French army's top brass fell into a dispute over whether to launch an offensive to break out of the encirclement, or to wait for reinforcements. After arguing for a long time, the French army still planned to launch a breakout operation.

But they missed their best opportunity. The First Army of Manteuffel and Rudolf von Rundstedt had blocked the gap that the French soldiers had finally made, and the two armies completely surrounded Metz.

In this battle, Prussia invested about [-] troops, but there were only a hundred thousand people in the Metz Fortress. Bazin wondered if he could make an opening from the west and let the troops rush out from here.

He placed the French troops in Saint-Privat and Rozérières, west of Metz. As long as there was a breakthrough in one of these two places, the French army could gather together and break out of the encirclement.

The troops of Blumenthal and Rudolf, who had circled behind, took the lead in attacking the French position. Just the day before, Bazin sent the French army to dig trenches with shovels all night, and hid the artillery in the trenches. In a safe position, when the battle began, trenches and artillery played a key role.

The Prussian soldiers were camped step by step, and the attack was not going smoothly. The French troops were hiding in the trenches and were not easily discovered, and they could also shoot black guns.

And because of the trenches, the cavalry was unable to launch a charge, and had to rely on infantry to fight a protracted battle. It was difficult for soldiers to directly break through the French front line.

The French army therefore blocked the first wave of Prussian attacks. Rudolf saw the French army's tactics. He asked the Prussian army to rest in place and wait for the logistics troops to bring the artillery over.

In the afternoon of the same day, the baggage troops brought the cannons they needed to Vionville. After receiving the cannons, the Prussian army immediately resumed the attack. Countless artillery shells fell on the French army's position. After the round of shelling, the Prussian army immediately They rushed into the trenches under artillery fire, eliminated the remaining French troops in the trenches, and consolidated their positions.

At this time, the Prussian army has not yet gained a firm foothold. Although the severely damaged French army has retreated, the reserve force of the Guards is still intact. If the French army can have the courage to countercharge at this time, the Prussian army will most likely not be able to win here. position, the French commander was timid at the critical moment. He believed that the French army had failed and did not launch an attack.

The French army retreated collectively back to Metz. The French army was surrounded and lost the ability to break out.

Napoleon III was very shocked after receiving the news in Chalon. He did not expect that the French army would be so defeated. He was frightened by the Prussian offensive. He was not very confident in the war in the first place, and he was even less confident now. He knew that he had underestimated He overestimated the strength of Prussia and overestimated the strength of the French army.

He wanted to retreat back to Paris, but a telegram blocked him again. Queen Eugenie said, "Your Majesty, you cannot return to Paris now. You must not let the French people lose confidence in any case. You must persist until the French Empire victory."

Napoleon III almost wanted to scold the public. You can rest in peace at the back, while I carry the burden for you in the front, right? I have no choice but to continue to withstand it, but fortunately there is a general beside me, General McMahon.

The only one Napoleon III can rely on now is MacMahon. He is one of the few generals in the French army. The other generals are either cowards or rookies. There really is no one left to use.

Although McMahon was very depressed, he had no choice. He and Napoleon III took the remaining French troops and the Chalon Corps, preparing to rescue General Bazin and his Rhine Army.

In order to avoid the Prussian defense line, Napoleon III planned to go to the Sedan Fortress, and then go south to rescue the Rhine Army.