Chapter 250 The Enemy in Paris
The water of the Rhine River still flows quietly, and the Prussian and German allies have already set up a solid defense line on the east bank of the Rhine.
However, there has been no significant movement on the French side so far, as the French have not yet arrived. Naturally, Prussia is not in a hurry either, and the mobilized troops and equipment in the rear are continuously flowing to the front line via railways and canals.
In the front-line command center, Moltke personally introduced his battle plan to William I and others: "This is the Alsace and Lorraine region. Metz and Strasbourg are separated by the Vosges Mountains. According to the data analysis of our staff, the French railway capacity in Strasbourg cannot complete the full mobilization of the French army, so Metz in the northwest will share this pressure, and the French army will be divided into two parts. If we take the initiative to attack, we will also be affected by the Vosges Mountains and disperse our main force, which is obviously disadvantageous to us. Therefore, I advocate waiting for the French attack on the banks of the Rhine. It will also be easier to defend with the help of the Rhine."
William I asked: "How is the army gathering now?"
"At present, Prussia's active troops have been assembled, and conscripts in the rear are also being recruited from all over the place, but the states still need some time. The main force of the Third Army in the south, Bavaria, has not yet arrived at the front line." Moltke said.
The Prussian army had very smooth information exchange, thanks to their telegraph network. Siemens, founded by Werner von Siemens, the "Father of German Electricity", built the most advanced telegraph network for Prussia at the time, allowing the General Staff to grasp the exact location of each army, division, and regiment with hourly accuracy. After the last Austro-Prussian War, Prussia had been pushing for the telegraph network to be laid throughout Germany, and with the help of the Customs Union, it was also popularized in southern Germany.
"For unknown reasons, Austria has transferred its main forces from the northern border area. So this time we have mobilized more forces from the east to deal with the French, and we are waiting for the French to fall into our trap," Moltke said excitedly.
From the winter of 1868 to 1869, Moltke began to formulate a war plan against France, so from a personal perspective, Moltke had waited too long for this day.
In fact, shortly after the establishment of the North German Confederation, Moltke was striving to take the initiative to declare war on France, because France was replacing its equipment with the new Chassaipo breech-loading rifle, which far surpassed the De Lacy rifle in performance. If France were allowed to complete the replacement, its combat effectiveness would rise to a higher level.
However, Bismarck strongly opposed it at the time, saying: "If we take the initiative to declare war on France, it will become an aggressive war and a warmongering. Not only will the French share the same hatred of the enemy, but other countries will not support our actions, and even the North German Confederation will not support us."
The matter was delayed, and as a result, in 1870 Bismarck humiliated the whole of France with just one telegram. The French were outraged and declared war on Prussia in a fit of rage.
Moltke was still on vacation when France declared war. After France declared war, Moltke urgently ended his vacation and organized the Prussian army to mobilize according to plan. Within 18 days, he equipped and transported 300,000 soldiers to the border.
"We still have to be on guard against Austria. I don't believe they will accept their last failure. But so far, I haven't heard the Austrian government make any statement, so I'm really unsure of their plans," said William I.
"It could also be that they are afraid of public opinion in Germany. The Austrians know they can't do anything. Regardless of whether they support France or not, they can't stop Prussia's actions in southern Germany. Now the only thing they can do is to let France completely defeat us without taking action, so as to prevent us from unifying Germany."
The logic is very clear. If Austria made any move to interfere in the Franco-Prussian War and France won, Austria would become a "traitor to Germany". However, if Austria really interfered, it might not be able to defeat Prussia. Prussia could call on Italy to attack Austria from the north and south, and Tsarist Russia would also take action.
…
The gloomy weather in Paris represented the mood of Napoleon III, who, after declaring war on Prussia, found himself deceived by his men.
The assembly speed of the French troops was not ideal. Compared with Prussia's conscripted service system, France focused more on professional soldiers. In terms of individual combat capabilities, professional soldiers were generally stronger than conscripted soldiers.
The combat capability of French soldiers is unquestionable, but the situation France is facing now is that years of colonial wars have caused French troops to be too dispersed.
Starting from Napoleon III, France pursued an independent policy of neutrality in Europe, having learned the lesson of being surrounded and beaten during the Napoleonic era.
Unable to exert its influence in Europe, France quickly followed Britain's example in colonies. At the same time, Napoleon III also actively cooperated with the British, such as in the Crimean War, which had almost nothing to do with French interests, and the Anglo-French Allied Forces in the Far East.
In addition to cooperating with the British, France also personally participated in Mexico (supporting Maximilian and interfering in Mexico's internal affairs), Southeast Asia, North Africa and many other colonies. At the same time, under the personal micromanagement of Napoleon III, the Kingdom of Italy was born, the Austrian Empire was severely hit, Prussia was allowed to challenge the Austrian Empire, and the previous Crimean War severely damaged Tsarist Russia.
The two powerful enemies during the anti-French war were eliminated by the French, which was undoubtedly a great victory. Although the newly established Kingdom of Italy cut off France's traditional expansion route, it was not a big problem.
Colonial activities have led to the dispersion of French power, and it will take time to transfer colonial troops back to mainland France. Now that the war machine has been launched, there is no time left, and saying anything more will be of no avail.
The most important thing is that France has always had its own ambitions for the land of the Rhine River, so there has always been a large number of French troops on the German-French border, which can be temporarily assembled. Although the number is not as large as that of the German Alliance, France has always been a one-to-two existence, and the generals are also confident. Since the military said there is no problem, Napoleon is not anxious. What really made Napoleon III angry was the logistics department.
"You bunch of rubbish! The frontline troops have been waiting for so long, and you haven't even delivered the supplies yet? Are you going to let the soldiers of the Empire fight the Prussians on an empty stomach?!"
"Your Majesty, please calm down. There is a reason for this. The declaration of war was too sudden. Our system is currently unable to operate at full capacity. After all, more than 100,000 troops suddenly gathered on the front line, and the amount of supplies required is extremely large. The logistics department is already coordinating with the railway to get more trains to transport supplies to the front line."
"In other words, you have never had any plans for war in the German region? You only started to react when the war came?" Napoleon III shouted angrily.
The emperor was angry, and the people below were silent. Looking at these good-for-nothings in front of him, Napoleon wished he could send them to the front line immediately to serve as cannon fodder.
After calming down, Napoleon III said, "I don't care what method you use, but you must ensure that the frontline is well supplied within ten days. If you can't do that, then all the people in the logistics department will be fired. Everyone should be sent to the front line, and use the supplies you prepared to fight the Germans."
After reprimanding the logistics department, Napoleon turned around and began to reprimand the intelligence department: "And you, when I asked where the troops were, you actually told me you didn't know, probably, or maybe? Is this the ability of your intelligence department to do its job?"
"Your Majesty, the main reason is that the overseas troops are too scattered and far away. Information can only be transmitted by ship on the sea, and a round trip takes a lot of time. North Africa and Rome are close, so it's okay, but other areas may not be contacted for ten days or half a month."
"Then you should have some understanding of the enemy! Why haven't you figured out the size and organization of the Prussian army yet?"
"Prussia is a country that cannot be speculated on by common sense. Everyone knows that Prussia has a military population, so it is not surprising that they have deployed a large number of soldiers. If we add the German states, the workload will be too much for our department. We simply do not have enough manpower."
The intelligence department completely pushed the responsibility, and the government departments were all of the same character. Napoleon III was so angry, but he couldn't do anything about them. He knew very well that the enemy was in Paris, not Berlin, and the other two factions, the royal family and the republicans, were all hoping that something would happen to them.
(End of this chapter)
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