Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 409 051 The Prussian Army Looks Fierce as a Tiger, but Actually It's Sending Its Head for Death (I)

If it remained unchanged, it would indeed be boring, but after the highest-level meeting and discussion, the Prussian army came up with a conventional plan to threaten the French army's transportation lines with the field troops that could be deployed. This 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 very problematic. In fact, all the troops are now around Erfurt, not gathered together, but scattered in the countryside to seek supplies.

Even if the Duke of Brunswick asked Scharnhorst to make the arrangements, he could only gather two-thirds of the troops gradually.

"Commander-in-chief, these are the troops we can muster now."

"And Hohenlohe?"

"His troops."

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

"The troops at Hohenlohe were all out collecting food, so they couldn't be fully assembled."

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

When Scharnhorst saw that the old Duke did not lose his temper, he knew that the current situation was fine.

"We are heading towards Fulda. The problem is that after we pass the mountain pass, fortunately there will be no large-scale French troop maneuvers on our flanks. They are all deployed south of the Thuringian Mountains."

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

"We estimated in advance that the French army had 15 to 20 troops. They did not disband south of the Thuringian Mountains, but instead kept a long-term watch here. This can only mean that the French are still ensuring their interests from Austria while keeping vigilance to the north."

"Guard against us?"

"I think so. Although we mobilized early, our pre-war reconnaissance was very confusing. We are still unclear about the direction of the French army's movement and which side they will act on."

"They should seek a battle. Unlike when they fought the Austrians, now their opponents are only us and the 2 Saxon troops. It's a one-on-one situation."

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

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

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

But that was the limit, as Scharnhorst knew that the commander-in-chief was old and commanded the troops solely based on his experience and familiarity with the commanders of each unit.

If all the responsibilities of the General Staff were in his hands, it would be fine, but the General Staff was divided into two people, which meant that no matter what plan Scharnhorst proposed, it would be opposed by Messenbach before the plan was completed.

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

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

Even at this critical juncture, Hohenlohe and Meissenbach still wanted to play their own tricks, which made the Duke of Brunswick and Scharnhorst very helpless.

When the battle plan is finally finalized, we can only divide our troops.

At this time, the Duke of Brunswick suddenly became interested and spoke to his entourage.

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

"Your Highness, which volume do you want?"

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

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

"Oh, Hohenlohe, please don't disobey my orders. It would be disastrous if you do."

What he thought was indeed reasonable, and the Prussian army had made up its mind to cut off the French army's transportation lines in order to seek a battle and delay time.

But Hohenlohe refused to give up, and this worry always lingered in the Duke of Brunswick's mind.

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

At this time, Napoleon was watching the actions of the Prussian army. He first sent out scouts, and through front-line reconnaissance and the intelligence network operated by France with the help of Hanover, he had already learned about the general movements of the Prussian army.

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

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

"Why did you go there?"

When Napoleon heard Berthier say this, his brain began to work rapidly. If they were coming 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 must know that the two armies of the large army are at the front at this time. If the Prussian vanguard does not have enough troops, it will probably hit a steel plate.

"I think they still want to deploy in the Fulda area, Your Majesty. With the Fulda River as a support, they can deploy their troops 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 will not unite as one, so they are trying to separate us along several routes here so that they can take advantage of us."

"Your Majesty, what should we do then?"

Although Berthier was the chief of staff, he was more of a transit station, doing a job that was a transition from the quartermaster general to the modern chief of staff. The work intensity was still very high, but his staff department operated very well and orders could be issued quickly.

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

"Steinhauck, your majesty."

"These damn German names are so hard to remember. Let's just call it Stein. Control the Stein Heights so that the Prussians can't use Fulda and have to retreat to the north."

Napoleon did not say it clearly, he just gave orders, and Lannes's 5th Army had two divisions. One division commander was Suchet, and the other was Gazin, who was captured last year. These two divisions had five brigades, in addition to three hussar regiments, each with three cavalry squadrons.

After receiving the order, Lannes understood that the emperor wanted him to disrupt the Prussian army's offensive plan and control some important places.

As for other troops, he didn't have to worry, as Ney's Sixth Army was about 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, followed by the cavalry, the reserve, and the guards.

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

"Ah, we can attack them and have Lannes and Ney stop the Prussians in Fulda, while we advance from the east to Weimar, and our further goal is to advance to Saxony. The Saxon army was coerced by the Prussians into their army, and 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 further go to Leipzig and Dresden, and then Berlin."

"Your Majesty, but the Prussians are acting on the right wing."

"Never mind him. Louis will arrive there with the Dutch army on the Rhine, and our other supply line, starting from Strasbourg, is not under the control of the Prussians."

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

"If they gather their troops together and come back, we may have to take the risk of fighting them. With two armies missing, our 10 men may face 15 returning Prussians."

"Isn't this a bit risky, Your Majesty? No matter how rigid the Prussians are, they are not opponents 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. The most valuable thing now 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 Prussians' own slow movement speed and eat them one by one."

After hearing this, Berthier also felt that this was like a replica of the Italian operations, using the relative concentration and higher mobility of the French army to deal with the Prussians who had poor mobility.

But it’s not entirely the same as before. Is that little notebook really useful?
"Your Majesty, may I ask a question?"

"Of course, Berthier."

"The actions you are going to take this time seem to be different from the past."

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

"Your Majesty, are you eating the platter?"

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

"Your Majesty, Rustam has been there to see it. There is also some bacon and vegetables. Rustam made a pot of soup."

"So is there any chicken to eat?"

"Your Majesty, we didn't find any chickens in this town, but we did find ducks."

"Ah, ducks. Drive the Prussians over like ducks, and then shoot them with a shotgun."

I don't know what Napoleon was doing today. He was still gesturing with his hands about hunting ducks, and he looked quite proud of himself.

"What are you looking at me for? Is this funny?"

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

"Yes, last year when we were fighting the Austrians, we had no chicken to eat while sitting in the headquarters because they were all 'confiscated' by the passing troops ahead. We don't have any this time either, but we can still have ducks."

"Your Majesty, Rustam has already roasted the duck, but it's a little fat."

"That's perfect! Two fat ducks. They can replenish your nutrition and make you energetic!"

As for the deployment of troops, he had put it aside and just called on the people in the headquarters to finish the broth and duck.

If we really look into his actions, it seems that he brought out the tactics he used against the Prussians in the "Six Days' Battle" and put them 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 little bold. He was going to cut off the Prussian army's retreat with a right hook. At the same time, he stretched out his left hand in Fulda to rely on the Prussians' fists.

The only thing Napoleon was worried about was that the Prussians were always united. The Duke of Brunswick indeed thought the same thing. He wanted to concentrate the actions of hundreds of thousands of Prussian troops so that the French would never be able to wipe them out.

Unfortunately, Prince Hohenlohe and Meissenbach were not willing to give up, and they slowed down their march because they went to the countryside to collect food, which resulted in the Prussian army being 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, joined by General Lücher.

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

Queen Louise felt a little chest tightness when she looked at her husband, and she kept lying in the carriage.

Without her, this family would be broken up. She had to give birth to and raise children, comfort her husband, and even ask the old marshal, the Duke of Brunswick, to come out and unite a group of Junker men of all ages.

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

"Louise, dear, are you feeling better?"

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

"I was thinking about Louise, and I was thinking, what if the French went straight to Berlin?"

"Your Majesty, we must fight him to the end! We must fight that Corsican monster, even if it means losing Berlin. The great King Frederick also lost Berlin, but we won the war in the end."

After saying this, 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 could not make up his mind.

(End of this chapter)