Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 408 050 The Changshan Snake of the Prussian Army
Napoleon's army was dispatched very quickly. The people on the Prussian side were not united, not because of whether to advocate war or peace, but because of how to fight.

"It is not wise to start a war now. Your Majesty's letter has been sent. Now we have to wait for the French to formally declare war. In this case, we have no choice but to join the war and win in the end. But now we only have the Elector of Saxony as an ally, and there are also Russian reinforcements that have not yet been prepared in their country. The Swedes also need to mobilize troops to fight Denmark. In fact, we can only rely on ourselves."

After the Duke of Brunswick's incoherent opening remarks, everyone actually realized the seriousness of the problem, but Prince Hohenlohe still insisted on his plan to set up a battle formation in front of the Thuringian Mountains.

Among those present, the Duke of Brunswick, who had participated in several previous discussions, had some doubts. His problem was that he did not want to take responsibility.

But right now, it’s not a question of responsibility.

As the old duke's chief of staff, Scharnhorst was also worried.

While the people present were chattering and discussing endlessly, he said to the "Black Duke" who was called back to the meeting: "The old man's consideration is correct. Concentrating 8 to 12 main forces on the Thuringian Mountains to threaten the French transportation lines is also the traditional way of our Prussian army. But the problem is that the French are also familiar with our way of dealing with transportation lines. They may attack from the side of the mountains."

"Your argument makes sense, but this is the only way to do it now. Regardless of whether it is a tiered defense or your method of relying on the river to resist step by step, it is not effective. And some people will say that you are a coward, otherwise my father would not have come up with such a plan. In short, we can still concentrate our main forces, first defeat the left wing of the French army, and finally fight with them to delay time and wait for the arrival of the Russians."

"You have made great progress, sir. I used to think that you were braver than other soldiers."

Scharnhorst was very pleased with the progress made by his old commander's son, but the problem was that there were not many officers with brains.

This plan was very close to the actual situation of the Prussian army at that time, and everyone agreed with it, especially the corps commanders.

However, there are always people who stand up and express objections at this time.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the plan we discussed yesterday could threaten the French transportation lines, but what if the French do not take this route? Therefore, I also thought about the plan proposed by my chief of staff, Mesenbach."

As Hohenlohe spoke this, Prince August and his close adjutant and staff officer Clausewitz on the other side maintained highly consistent movements and both frowned.

"Your Highness, I want to have a good show."

"Whatever it is, let's just watch it first."

"The rational plan cannot be passed, and he also opposes the old man's safe plan. I don't know what these two 'inventors' are going to do today."

Scharnhorst was of humble origins, and he was a very tolerant person, so he did not show any expression in person.

As for the "Black Duke", his beard was so thick that his facial expressions could not be seen if they were smaller.

In short, everyone wants to see what solution Meisenbach will come up with today.

Moreover, His Majesty the King was here, and Prince Hohenlohe obviously wanted to take this opportunity to express their opinions and ultimately gain support.

"We set up defenses at the two main passes of the Thuringian Mountains, placing the main force of the army on both sides, and placing a small number of cavalry units in the middle for communication and cover. The advantage of this is that we can secure the passes on both wings and defend them on the spot. This is our 'flank fortress' strategy."

"It would be fine if the French attacked from two directions, but what if he attacked from one side, strategically adopting the flanking attack that we usually use in our grand tactics?"

Obviously, Meisenbach's speech would cause dissatisfaction among everyone. Several young staff officers raised objections on the spot. They thought that the old duke's words were more objectionable.

"This is the subtlety of this strategy. Our fortresses on both wings block the pass and can support each other. If the French army concentrates its forces at the western pass, we will mobilize the troops on the east. If the east is attacked, we will mobilize the troops on the west to provide support."

The Black Duke couldn't hold it in any longer at this time, and he said to Scharnhorst beside him: "What a weird theory, what a bunch of bullshit."

"What did you say, Duke?"

"I think the president has a good idea!"

The atmosphere was rather dull for a while, and then Scharnhorst stood up and pointed out the most crucial issue.

"The French army is very mobile. Not to mention Napoleon, even when we fought against the French army in the past, their militia marched very fast. If you set up two positions like this on the battlefield, our army can only march three miles a day, and the distance in between will take five to six days. There is no time to coordinate with each other!"

It can be said that such remarks are actually a death sentence for this plan.

Fortunately, no copy of this plan was sent to the Russian military command, otherwise they would have laughed their heads off.

Clausewitz had not yet started writing his famous "On War", but his criticisms were already very sharp and very close to Suvorov's ideas.

After all, there were always officers in the Prussian army who liked to use fancy words and beautiful drawings to explain their "new military theories", but such innovations always failed.

King Frederick the Great's diagonal tactics were essentially just to tilt the battle line and create a situation favorable to his side. This approach was the "Renaissance" and was a tactic commonly used by the ancient Greek city-state of Thebes, and it was used to defeat the Spartan tough guys.

Then, they themselves used this tactic to be defeated at Chaeronea by Philip One-eyed and his son Alexander, who was just entering the battlefield for the first time.

As for the changes in this formation, the most glorious battles were probably Hannibal in the Battle of Cannae and Scipio Africanus in the Battle of Zama, but the latter was too dependent on the Carthaginian Senate.

Clausewitz thought so and did not make any rebuttal in person. After all, his leader Prince August did not speak, so he could only wait here.

As for Scharnhorst, he firmly opposed Meisenbach's plan and even brought out his plan of successive defense, but cancelled the plan of final retreat to the Oder River.

"If we fight like this, we might as well concentrate our forces. Every time Bonaparte achieved a brilliant victory, the Austrian army was scattered. But if we form a fist and concentrate all our elite troops, it turns out that we can still fight."

"What about Austerlitz?" "The Battle of Austerlitz is a failed example of blindly fighting a battle in advance. Although the overall battle resolution was correct, it ignored the situation of the Russian and Austrian armies on the battlefield at that time. Archduke Karl should have been given half a month to continue his journey, so that he could have fought another battle on a battlefield that was more favorable to him, instead of near Brno."

Meisenbach and Scharnhorst argued endlessly, using each other's arguments in support of their own proposals as ammunition.

It is most difficult to tell the winner from words. After all, bragging does not require practice. No matter how good your plan or PPT is, it will not work if you lose in the battle.

Meisenbach was also angry at this time. Scharnhorst came out to oppose his opinion. It must have been instigated by the old Deng who was still in good spirits behind him.

However, the Duke of Brunswick was cautious and mature. He was worried that his plan would bring him responsibility. At the same time, Hohenlohe and Meisenbach had been emphasizing their "innovation". If it weren't for Scharnhorst's continuous output today, this plan would have been approved by the king long ago.

And he saw his son clenched his fists
If they were to fight, the "Black Duke" was very young and Scharnhorst was only 51 years old. It would be a lively scene if the two of them grabbed these two and beat them up.

"Son, don't move. Now it depends on how we decide to fight in the end."

The "Black Duke" then sat down unwillingly. He was a filial son. Although he loved to get into trouble, he listened to his father's instructions.

"Father, if this goes on, there will be no end to the quarrel."

"Then you can't follow the ancient Germanic practice of using duels to decide the winner. What we need to decide is the strategic approach to the war against France."

There were also duels in this era, and the Junkers were all hot-tempered, so similar situations were inevitable.

And Scharnhorst seemed to have gained the upper hand.

But Meisenbacher threw out a strange argument: "Then why did the French who were chasing from Amstetten to Dürenstein be completely wiped out?"

"Dürenstein? If I remember correctly, according to the official Austrian report or the embellished content of the Grand Army Bulletin, Armee, commanded by Mortier, was killed here because he was unfamiliar with the terrain and encountered an ambush by the Allied forces. It had nothing to do with the overall strategy, grand tactics, or battle tactics!"

This statement was impeccable, and Scharnhorst knew that the commander-in-chief had been in correspondence with Colonel Solovyov, a young Russian officer who participated in the battle, and had already known the detailed situation on the battlefield.

Then he turned to the old duke and also asked for help from his superior.

Seeing that there was no other way, the Duke of Brunswick signaled his adjutant to take a letter out of his briefcase.

Although the letter was sent in the name of General Langeron, Chief of Staff of the "East Prussian Corps", the Duke of Brunswick also knew that this was a letter written to him by the young man Solovyov on his own initiative without authorization.

"What I want to mention here is that the Russian side also hopes that we can maintain our combat effectiveness when the Russian army at least reaches the territory of West Prussia. And they also expressed a concern that taking the initiative on the battlefield and attacking the enemy's transportation lines can threaten the enemy and delay time as much as possible. At the same time, it also buys time for the arrival of our allies in several directions. Furthermore, there is another more interesting plan, which is that we send an army in Erfurt as a decoy to attract the attention of the French army with great fanfare. At the same time, we put the entire corps on the Elbe River line and wait for the French to approach."

This brought up a problem. The Prussian commanders generally had little initiative and had to rely on their chief of staff to assist in operations.

If the Duke of Brunswick was ten years younger and his energy could keep up, he might have cooperated with Scharnhorst and used this plan to fight. Although the Prussian army was in a bad situation at that time, it was not as bad as it was in 1806.
Moreover, there is no cavalry general like Seydlitz in the Prussian army who can actively judge the battlefield situation. Perhaps the old madman Blücher is good on the battlefield, but his status is not enough at present, and he needs to be given a brain to restrain his violent temper.

"If we want to do this, don't we have to at least give up Erfurt?"

Meisenbach was unwilling to give up the area north of the Thuringian Mountains. He still insisted on his own opinion and had a vague feeling that His Majesty the King seemed to agree with this plan of dividing the troops to guard the two gates.

"That's better than lying here like an earthworm, getting cut into pieces with no guarantee that you'll still be alive!"

Meisenbacher was now enraged and launched a personal attack on Scharnhorst.

"You, the son of a farmer, really still have the country farming ways!"

But Scharnhorst has always been rational and calm, and he doesn't buy it.

"You may think so, but farming also requires ridges, like building a defense line, and sowing in the spring, and gardening pruning is like forming a line of infantry. But you are just making two piles of manure, waiting for that Corsican landowner and his tenants to come and shovel the manure!"

This article was so interesting that Frederick William III couldn't hold back his laughter.

Queen Louise, though she frowned a little when she heard such "savory" topics, she also appreciated the general's rusticity and sense of humor.

As for the people around, young officers like "Black Duke" could no longer hold back and started laughing.

"Okay, everyone, we still have to make up our minds today."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Although Frederick William III was a cowardly and incompetent person, there was one good thing about him: he at least knew that the two sides had been arguing for ten days without any result, and now they had to reach a conclusion.

Otherwise, if we were still in the meeting when the French attacked, it would be tantamount to surrendering.

"I think everyone has expressed their opinions at this time. Based on past experience, we should follow the Duke of Brunswick's opinion and attack the enemy's transportation lines. This is a good idea. But the opinions of Prince Hohenlohe and General Meissenbach are not unreasonable. As for General Scharnhorst, we all know that your plan is the most rational, but it is not reasonable to give up Berlin in the end. Therefore, at this time, we should follow the Duke of Brunswick's opinion and fight the French."

It seems that Davout will not have the opportunity to perform his ultimate moves in Auerstadt.

As for history, there will definitely be some changes.

(End of this chapter)