The second more

Napoleon was in a hurry, and Bismarck was in a hurry.

While he was busy dealing with the affairs of the Banco de France, the iron-blooded prime minister finally made up his mind to transfer part of the forces of the Second and Third armies to Paris, preparing to forcibly break the defenses and occupy the city as quickly as possible.

Originally, Kaiser Wilhelm did not agree to this plan, because it was too risky. The strength of the Second Army commanded by Frederick was originally weaker than that of the French Rhine Army in the Metz Fortress, and if another 10,000 or 20,000 men were drawn, the Rhine Army would be completely unable to withstand the defense, and it would cause a major gap and be counter-surrounded by the French army.

"It's a politically risky offensive, but if we don't take this rash approach, we'll be dragged into the war in France. We have seen that although large swathes of French territory have fallen, we have not completely occupied them, and there are constant unformed armies to resist. It is better to capture Paris as soon as possible and force the French government to declare surrender and end the campaign. As a result, we had to take a slight risk and secretly draw a part of Fretricar's Second Army to storm Paris, so that we would have plenty of troops. Capture Paris before the French Army Group South was fully mobilized. ”

Bidianfeldt's analysis is well-founded, the black lancer is good at taking the lead with risky attacks, and is one of the few generals among the Junker nobility who has a more adventurous style of play. Judging from the battle of Paris, no one knows how many unopened cards have not been opened behind the military leader who has not come forward, so the Prussian army must use the trump card in its current hand to wipe them out in order to prevent future troubles.

"But you have to draw nearly 80,000 troops, which is too much. If we do this, it means that we can no longer attack Saint-Quentin, and the French defenders who cannot hold out in the fortress of Metz can no longer be taken, so don't you worry that our rear road will be cut off? ”

William's fears were not unreasonable, it was a risky military operation, Prussia was in the upper hand, and there was no need to end the war in such a dangerous way.

"By the time they understood it would be a few weeks later, and we had decided to end the battle of Paris with lightning speed, for in order to win the battle, it was necessary to take risks, we were not in an absolute advantage, and now the situation was slowly changing, and we needed to make a final fight before turning into a disadvantage to Prussia."

There was a world of difference between the blitzkrieg proposed by Bidenfeldt and the blitzkrieg proposed by Guderian, at this time, Prussia only hoped to completely overwhelm the French defenders with a rapid force and an advantage in numbers and artillery, seize the fortress of Paris, and achieve a final victory. It was an uphill battle that required huge casualties to win the battle.

What else did William want to say? Bismarck, who was originally silent, stepped forward and whispered, "Your Majesty, this meeting is just to inform you that in fact, we have already issued an order for the transfer of the army two days ago. Now the Second and Third Armies are probably ready to set out for Paris. ”

"What?"

Wilhelm I did not expect that Bismarck would issue orders behind his back, and that he would influence orders that could affect the outcome of the war.

In addition to having a feeling of being deceived, there was more of a sense of foreboding in his heart.

King Wilhelm glared at Bismarck and said indignantly, "My Excellency, you actually mobilized the army behind my back? ”

Moltke's order for each legion to fight on its own according to the actual situation finally came to fruition at this moment, and it was a sure victory against the army of the Second French Empire under the command of Napoleon III. However, once encountering Napoleon, who liked to win by surprise, the lack of communication between the army and the staff would be fatal.

Facing his friend, Bismarck said slightly apologetically, "Special cases are handled specially, because the stakes are high, and we don't want to miss the opportunity for endless discussions." ”

Wilhelm I said angrily, "If Paris is not taken, Prussia will lose the first opportunity, and everyone here will wait to take off their uniforms." ”

"What, Bismarck actually asked me to send nearly 40,000 men to support Paris? Was he dreaming? We were already very reluctant to besiege the Metz fortress, and if it weren't for the Rhine corps retreating to the Metz fortress and not launching a breakthrough, we wouldn't have been able to besiege them at all. ”

Frederick Karl slammed the transfer on the table, he could not accept such a dispatch, it was originally a critical moment in the battle, and the loss of more than 30,000 men was equivalent to the weakening of the Second Army by more than half. The original offensive will also be weakened, and they must avoid the eyes of the Rhine reconnaissance troops, and it is not easy to move 30,000 people silently.

Albert excitedly said, "This is a one-and-done operation, if they take Paris, we will no longer need to besiege the defenders of the fortress of Metz, France is already dead." ”

"No, it's not that simple. If Paris could be easily taken, troops would not have been seconded to us. ”

Frederick Karl shook his head, having fought with the French army for almost two months, and he also became more and more familiar with the country's army. From the Second Reich army, which retreated in August, to the stubborn resistance that still stands firm and does not retreat, the French army has shown a terrible metamorphosis.

This metamorphosis is simply due to the change of a group of leaders at the top of the French army, which also means that the strength of the French army is not as unbearable as they imagined.

"We're going to win, right?"

Crown Prince Albert still couldn't believe that Prussia couldn't take Paris.

"Unless, after the surrender of the French army, we slaughter all the prisoners. Otherwise, nothing but bloody mad revenge awaits Prussia. ”

Frederick Karl agreed to secondment troops, but he needed to write a letter to his uncle, hoping that after the victory in the Franco-Prussian War, he would execute all the captives who surrendered and kill all the men of the French generation, so that they would not have a chance to take revenge on Germany.

The Franco-Prussian feud and estrangement are still deepening, and even if they win the war by chance, they will quickly transform into vengeful monsters without completely destroying the French foundations.

"Commander Albert, the moment when Germany cannot maintain its military superiority is the beginning of French revenge."

"With our land, with our blood."