Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 409 051 The Prussian Army that Looks Fierce but Actually Sends Its Head for Death (I)

If it remains unchanged, it would indeed be boring, but after the highest-level meeting, the Prussian Army still came up with a conventional plan to threaten the French Army's transportation lines with the field troops that can be deployed, which is also a consistent feature of the Prussian Army.

This plan is still confidential on the Prussian side, but considering that the General Staff is very bloated and comparable to a bureaucratic organization, the mobilization of the entire army is also a problem. Even now, all the troops are around Erfurt, not gathered together, but scattered in the countryside to seek supplies.

Even if the Duke of Brunswick asked Scharnhorst to dispatch, he only gathered two-thirds of the troops one after another.

"Commander-in-Chief, these are the troops that can be assembled now."

"What about Hohenlohe?"

"His troops."

Scharnhorst was also afraid of making the old man angry, but then the old duke's adjutant took over.

"The troops of Hohenlohe are all collecting food, so they can't assemble completely."

"I knew it would be like this! Time is precious now. If Bonaparte attacks directly, how should he respond?"

Scharnhorst saw that the old duke didn't lose his temper, so he knew that the current situation was not bad.

"We are heading to Fulda. The problem is that after passing the mountain pass, fortunately there will be no large-scale French troop movements on the flanks. Their deployment is all south of the Thuringian Mountains."

"Scharnhorst, what was the previous deployment of the French army?"

"We estimated in advance that the French army had 150,000 to 200,000 people. South of the Thuringian Mountains, they did not disband, but kept surveillance here for a long time. This can only mean that the French are still ensuring their interests from Austria, while keeping vigilance against the north."

"Guard against us?"

"I think so. Although we mobilized early, the pre-war reconnaissance was very chaotic. At present, we still don't know the direction of the French army's movement and which side they will move on."

"They should seek a battle, which is different from when they fought against the Austrians. It's different. Now their opponents are only us and 20,000 people from Saxony, which is equivalent to one-on-one. "

"Sir, if this is the case, I think they should have two choices, just at the two mountain passes. If they choose to meet us head-on in Fulda, it will obviously be easier to mobilize, and it will be easier to go this way. But what I am worried about is their mobilization of forces from the eastern mountain pass to Jena. If we attack with all our forces and try to cut off the French army's transportation lines, they should have the same considerations. "

"Then send some more scouts out. The French should have more than one transportation line. "

Although the Duke of Brunswick's command ability is not the strongest, his experience still tells him that this matter is not that simple.

But that's all. Scharnhorst knows that the commander-in-chief is old and relies entirely on experience and familiarity with the commanders of various troops to command the troops.

If the responsibilities of the General Staff were all in his hands, it would be fine. However, there were two people in the General Staff to share power, which meant that whatever plan Scharnhorst proposed would be opposed by Mesenbach before the plan was completed.

Moreover, this guy has been selling his "innovative" tactics all the time!

Prussia and Austria are old enemies. On one hand, the various staff officers in the General Staff are arguing, and on the other hand, the commander and the quartermaster general are arguing with each other in the meeting. In short, the efficiency is extremely low.

Even at this juncture, Hohenlohe and Mesenbach still want to play their tricks, which makes the Duke of Brunswick and Scharnhorst very helpless.

When the battle plan is finally determined, the troops can only be divided.

At this time, the Duke of Brunswick suddenly became interested, so he said to his entourage.

"Mueller, go get that Chinese novel in French."

"Your Highness, which volume do you want?"

"Ah, the volume of 'Southern and Northern Wars', I saw that part before."

As for what content he saw, it was probably the more useful part of the military order.

"Ah, Hohenlohe must not disobey my order, otherwise it would be bad."

It made sense for him to think so, and the Prussian army had made up its mind to cut off the French army's transportation lines to seek a battle and delay time.

But Hohenlohe did not give up, and this worry had always lingered in the mind of the Duke of Brunswick.

As for the troops he was going to send out to fight, it also included Prince Louis Ferdinand. The column he commanded had more than 8,000 people and was at the forefront of the entire army.

At this time, the Prussian army's actions were already under Napoleon's attention. He first sent scouts, and through front-line reconnaissance and the intelligence network operated by France with Hanover, he had learned about the general movements of the Prussian army.

"They are in Erfurt, so there are only two options. One is to attack our transportation lines on the Rhine River, and the other is to defend around Erfurt and delay time to wait for the arrival of the Russians. There are only these two ways."

"Your Majesty, according to the information obtained by reconnaissance, the Prussian army seems to have taken action on the road on the west side of the Thuringian Mountains, and the vanguard troops have already moved towards Fulda."

"Why did they go there?"

When Napoleon heard Berthier say this, his brain began to work rapidly. If they came from the Fulda line, it was obvious that the Prussian army was heading for the transportation line, but it was a bit strange to attack at this time.

You should know that the two armies of the Grand Army are at the front at this time. If the Prussian vanguard does not have enough troops, it is afraid that it will kick on the steel plate.

"I think they still want to deploy in the Fulda area, Your Majesty. There is the Fulda River as a support, and the troops can be deployed on the north bank. It seems that they still want to take advantage of the terrain. Here, from the Fulda River to the south, the terrain is relatively fragmented. At this time."

"The Prussians hope that we can't be united, so they separate us from several roads here so that they can take advantage."

"Your Majesty, what should we do then?"

Although Berthier is the chief of staff, he is more of a transit station. He is doing a job of transitioning from the quartermaster general to the modern chief of staff. This kind of work is still very intensive, but his staff department operates very well and can issue orders quickly.

"We need Lannes and Ney to stop the Prussians here. We cannot let them be so proud and gain a strategic center in Fulda. As for how to do it, Lannes should lead the 5th Army and all his troops to take control of the south bank of the Fulda River first. If necessary, we should seize the north bank. What kind of high ground is this?"

"Steinhauck, Your Majesty."

"These damn German names are really hard to remember. Just call it Stein. Control the Stein Heights and prevent the Prussians from using Fulda. Instead, they should retreat to the north."

Napoleon did not say it clearly. He just gave orders. What about the two divisions of Lannes' 5th Army? One division commander is Suchet, and the other is Gazan, who was unlucky enough to be captured last year.

These two divisions have five brigades, and in addition there are three hussar regiments, each with three cavalry squadrons.

After receiving the order, Lannes also understood that the emperor wanted him to disrupt the Prussian offensive plan and control some key areas.

As for the other troops, he didn't have to worry, as Ney's Sixth Army was also going to move in at this time.

But the other armies, except Augereau's Seventh Army, which would be behind them, the First Army, the Third Army, and the Fourth Army had already set out from the east, with the cavalry, the reserve, and the guards behind them.

Napoleon found that the Prussian army on the battlefield was concentrated on the right wing, and its left wing must be empty, and the pre-war deployment was biased towards one wing, which gave him an opportunity.

"Ah, we can attack them and let Lannes and Ney stop the Prussians in Fulda, and we will advance to Weimar from the east, and our further goal is to advance to Saxony. The Saxon army was dragged into their army by the Prussians. If they knew that their own territory was lost, they would definitely not want to fight. As for us, after we control Weimar, we will go further to Leipzig and Dresden, and then Berlin."

"Your Majesty, but the Prussians' actions on the right wing"

"Don't worry about it. Louis will arrive there with the Dutch army on the Rhine, and our other supply line starts from Strasbourg and is not under the control of the Prussians."

"Your Majesty, in this way, we can force the Prussians to abandon their plans."

"If they unite their troops and come back, I We may have to take risks to fight. With two armies missing, our 100,000 men may face 150,000 Prussian troops returning. "

"Is it a bit risky to do this, Your Majesty? No matter how rigid the Prussians are, they are not an opponent that can be underestimated."

"But they move very slowly. In order to ensure ammunition and various supplies, there are always ammunition carts and baggage carts following behind. Now the most valuable thing is not the baggage, but time. If the Prussians can move faster, I will naturally not adopt this plan. What we need is to take advantage of the slow speed of the Prussians themselves and eat them one by one."

After listening to this, Berthier also felt that this was like a replica of the Italian operation, using the relative concentration and higher mobility of the French army to deal with the poorly mobile Prussians.

But it is not entirely the same as before. Is that little notebook really useful?

"Your Majesty, can I ask a question?"

"Of course, Berthier."

"The action you are going to take this time seems to be different from the past."

"That's right, what we have to do is to attack the places that the enemy is eager to defend, such as Dresden, Leipzig and Berlin. We must rescue the enemy when we attack them, and then we will fully mobilize the Prussians to make their actions disconnected. In this way, we can control Weimar and force them to detour from the north. In the northwest of Leipzig, right here, we can make their army actions disconnected, and we can take action to defeat them one by one within a few days."

"Your Majesty "Your Majesty, are you eating a platter?"

"It's a platter, you have to eat it bite by bite. Speaking of this, I'm hungry. Rustam, is there anything to eat?"

"Your Majesty, Rustam has checked, there are some bacon and vegetables, Rustam made a pot of soup."

"Then are there chickens to eat?"

"Your Majesty, there are no chickens in the town here, but ducks are found."

"Ah, ducks. Drive the Prussians over like ducks, and then use a shotgun, biu"

Napoleon didn't know what was wrong today, he was still gesturing with his hands to hunt ducks, and he looked quite proud.

"Why are you looking at me? Is this funny?"

"Your Majesty, it's not funny. If you are in a good mood, the brothers will have confidence. "

"Yes, when we fought the Austrians last year, we sat in the headquarters and had no chicken to eat. They were all "confiscated" by the troops passing by. There is no chicken this time, but ducks are still okay."

"Your Majesty, Rustam has roasted the ducks, but the ducks are a bit fat."

"That's perfect! Two very fat ducks can replenish nutrition and make you energetic after eating!"

As for the dispatch of the army, he has put it aside and just called the people in the headquarters to finish the broth and ducks.

If you really want to delve into his approach, it seems that he took out the set of the "Six Days' Battle" against the Prussians and put it on the battlefield in Central Europe in advance.

At this time, the Prussians did not know what Napoleon was going to do. This action was even a bit bold. He wanted to directly cut off the Prussian army's retreat with a right hook, and at the same time, he spread his left hand in Fulda to use the Prussians' fists.

The only thing Napoleon was worried about was that the Prussians had always been united. The Duke of Brunswick also thought so. He wanted to concentrate hundreds of thousands of Prussian troops so that the French could not eat them all.

But Prince Hohenlohe and Meissenbach were not willing to give up, and they slowed down their march because they went to the countryside to collect grain, which caused the Prussian army to be divided into three parts.

In addition to the vanguard of Prince Louis Ferdinand, the Prussian army formed a main force led by the Duke of Brunswick himself, with the king and queen also participating, and marched towards Fulda.

And the part led by Prince Hohenlohe, and General Lucher joined in.

Although the strategic policy was in accordance with the requirements of the Duke of Brunswick, the delay in Hohenlohe's action was somewhat fatal.

Queen Louise looked at her husband and felt a little depressed, and she had been lying in the carriage.

Without her, the family would probably fall apart. She had to give birth to children, comfort her husband, and even ask the old marshal, the Duke of Brunswick, to come out and unite a group of old, middle-aged and young Junkers.

But her husband was hesitant to declare war, and he was still worried about Berlin.

"Louise, dear, are you feeling better?"

"Your Majesty, at least the air in the countryside is fresh. After the carriage opened the canopy, breathing feels much smoother."

"I'm thinking about Louise. I'm thinking, what should we do if the French go straight to Berlin?"

"Your Majesty, we must fight him to the end! Fight that Corsican monster, even if we lose Berlin. The great King Frederick also lost Berlin, but we finally won the war."

After saying that, she felt a little depressed. Although her husband was a good man, he was not like a king. He was always worried about this and that, but often couldn't make up his mind.