Front command of the Prussian army

King Wilhelm, Prime Minister Bismarck and a group of high-ranking officials of the Prussian army stood in front of the huge sand table, looking at the small flags on the sand table indicating the situation of the enemy and the enemy, and the atmosphere was very solemn.

On the battlefield of the Southern Front

The Italian army was crushed by the Austrians in just two days, and the arrogant Italian commander sent an urgent request for help to the Kingdom of Prussia, which was already in a dilemma.

To save or not to save?

"After all, it is a military ally, and it must be saved to be saved...... But not now. Prime Minister Bismarck said in a firm tone.

He pointed to the situation on the battlefield on the Northern Front, looked up and said to King William;

"The Elbe Army and the First Army marched into Saxony and Hanover, swept away the clowns who followed the Austrian Empire, and now the attack is gaining momentum.

This was a crucial step towards the unification of the German nation, and any unforeseen circumstance should not interrupt the military operations of the two armies, but should be redoubled to wipe out these divided states of the German nation in one fell swoop.

The 160,000 men of the Second Corps were responsible for containing the main force of the Austrian Corps, with a total of more than 280,000 men in six armies.

To reinforce the battlefield on the southern front of Italy, we can only find a way to mobilize troops from within the country, and strive to prepare a new regiment of 5~60,000 people within two weeks and put it into the battlefield on the southern front to stabilize the festering situation in the local area.

Your Excellency General Moltke, what is the opinion of the General Staff Headquarters? ”

Prime Minister Bismarck pointed to the chief of staff, General Moltke, and the experienced military commander took a step forward, took the small wooden pole like the baton of the band from the adjutant of the lieutenant colonel next to him, and pointed to the terrain on the huge sand table;

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister;

If we want to launch a full-scale offensive on the northern front, we must continue to build up our forces to strengthen the frontline attack force.

The General Staff Headquarters has made perfect preparations for the second phase of the war, and the top priority at the moment is to use the well-established railway lines in the country to transport troops forward, according to the transfer plan;

The Army General Staff Headquarters will work closely with the railway department to dispatch a total of more than 810 trains and send another 15~160,000 troops to the northern battlefield, including our allied soldiers, and this plan has already begun to be implemented.

One week at the latest

Our army will gather enough forces on the front line to launch the second phase of the operation, strike at the enemy with rapid and uninterrupted fierce attacks, destroy his living forces, and force the Austrian Empire to admit defeat and withdraw from the war.

In order to achieve this strategic goal, it is necessary to resort to dangerous tactics.

Now after the three major corps of the kingdom broke through into Saxony, Hanover and other places, the Elbe Corps and the First Corps will be concentrated in the Moravian region north of Dresden, so as to combine their forces to form a large corps of about 19~200,000 people.

My plan is;

The Elbe Corps and the 1st Corps were ordered to advance south along the Erz Mountains, while the 2nd Corps of more than 25 men crossed the Sudetenland and advanced southwest.

The three main armies of the kingdom "divided into joint attacks", fully broke into the territory of the Austrian Empire, formed a joint corps with a force of 450,000 people, and the destination was to form a pincer offensive against the main force of the Austrian army of more than 28~350,000 people in the Yinqin area, and surrounded and annihilated the main force of the Austrian army with superior forces.

Of course, the dangers of this military plan are great.

If the Austrian corps were to take advantage of the favorable terrain in the Erzgeyama and Sudetenland, our troops might suffer heavy casualties and delay advantageous fighters, thus causing the entire battle plan to fail.

In addition, this plan will penetrate deep into the enemy's territory, which will lead to an excessively long front and a certain degree of difficulty in the logistical supply of the main army.

After in-depth research, the General Staff Headquarters believes that;

As long as the main Austrian corps can be encircled and severely damaged within two weeks, the logistical supply difficulties will not erupt on a large scale, which will lead to the failure of the entire military plan;

There are risks, but the benefits are greater.

When the Allied armies of the Austrian Empire retreated, they did not leave any forces in the Sudetenland and Erzkirges to stop the rear forces, and the Elbe pursuit corps had penetrated deep into the mountains, which was the greatest advantage at the moment.

Before the enemy can react, we must devote enough forces into the depths of the mountains to quickly uproot the few enemy castles that may occupy the dangerous terrain and open a path to victory.

Is this military plan being carried out?

His Majesty the King is still asking for royal permission, and the army also needs the Royal Government to organize a sufficient number of horse-drawn carriage convoys to deliver a steady stream of supplies to the front line through mountain roads to relieve worries. ”

The biggest problem of whether to make a decision was sent to King William, who frowned and clasped his hands in front of his chest, looked at the huge sand table with fixed eyes, and fell into a dilemma.

This military plan is not risky, but extremely risky.

It is no joke that the defeat of the Prussian army would lead to the destruction of the countless efforts that the Kingdom of Prussia had invested for decades.

Even if they break out of the mountains, whether they can successfully encircle and severely damage the main force of the Austrian Corps as they wish is still a matter between the two.

The so-called two weeks in the mouth of General Moltke refers to the defeat of the main force of the Austrian army, and then the pursuit and occupation of a large area of Austria with abundant grain production, and the supply to the enemy.

July is the season of the summer harvest, and its significance is self-evident.

The government was really counting on the government to organize 100,000 people to deliver food to the front lines, and the rugged and dangerous mountain roads were a huge obstacle that could not be overcome.

In those days, the mountain roads were only rough roads that could barely be passed by horse-drawn carriages, and it was purely fanciful to rely on them to supply the operational logistics needs of more than 400,000 troops.

More of the ammunition and food carried by the soldiers, as well as the supplies transported by the army's baggage wagons, may be dangerous for two weeks, almost 10 days.

The Duke of Oldenburg, a veteran Junker military nobleman, said after careful consideration; "General Moltke, can you be sure that the fleeing state is not left behind in the mountains and dangers?"

"That's true, the news from the front-line corps shows. Even if there are a few remaining troops, they will not be able to stop the advance of our main army. ”

"That means that there are indeed remnants of troops stationed in the mountains, although not in large numbers."

"Your Excellency, as of now; I am convinced that Prince Benedict of Austria has not yet realized the importance of this, and has not sent troops to garrison the mountain castles and the dangers. This is our greatest opportunity, and we must seize it firmly in case we miss it...... It would drag the war into a longer stalemate. ”

"But we can't take too many risks and risk the fate of the whole country. General Moltke, let's not forget that the famous Battle of Austerlitz, commanded by the French Emperor Napoleon, is a classic example of a battle against the Austrian and Tsarist armies that divided their forces. ”

The Battle of Austerlitz was a complete victory won in 1803 by the French Emperor Napoleon against the main forces of Austria and Tsarist Russia in the Third Anti-French Alliance.

The division of troops meant that the risks were extremely high, and if the Austrians seized the opportunity to divide their forces and break through each of them, the Prussian army would be in an extremely difficult situation.

Because of the mountain range, the main forces of the three corps could not fight together, and the Austrian army would have a military and geographical advantage in both the Elbe Corps, the First Corps, or the Second Corps.

When the time comes, it will be two words to say who will surround whom.

The Prussian army attacking along the valley also had a huge disadvantage, that is, once the Austrian army detected the Prussian army's combat intentions and sent the main force of the corps to block the mountain pass, it would really be over.

The Prussian army was confined to the narrow valley passages, and could not gather a wide enough frontal to meet the enemy, so it could only send people to the head with refueling tactics, and no matter how strong its combat effectiveness was, it could not be brought into play, and it really fell into a dead end.

These words of the Duke of Oldenburg were also a concern in King Wilhelm's heart.

You can't hope that the Austrian commander-in-chief is a fool and is at the mercy of the Prussian General Staff.

While considering the huge benefits, you should also consider the huge risks, what if you lose the war?

And this is where King William hesitated, it was easy to make a decision, but the serious consequences of this made him have to weigh it carefully.

Adhering to the tradition of Junker's military aristocracy, King William was in the barracks at the age of 9, and was known as the "Prince of Shotguns" when he was young, and was well versed in military command, so he was especially cautious in the major joints that determined the fate of the country.

He was silent for a long time, and the solemn atmosphere in the headquarters was suffocating.

Prime Minister Bismarck waited a while, and couldn't help but interject;

"Your Majesty;

I still remember that in 1859, when I was an ambassador to the Tang Empire, in the face of the American Civil War, which lasted for several years, the Tang Empire was ready to intervene in the war.

When the time came, they united with the South and brazenly launched an all-out war against the United States of America.

I personally admired the Tang Empire's Emperor Richard's tough hand and his keen sense of war like a wolf, and I even admired him for daring to resolutely decide to take action at a time when the southern government was facing a crisis of full-scale defeat.

You saw it too

As a result, the Tang Empire gained the eternal friendship of the Confederate States of America, and thus reaped huge war dividends, truly establishing the hegemony of North America.

In many cases, it is not a matter of investing in nine out of ten, and the greater the risk, the greater the return, both ancient and modern.

I dare not say whether Prince Bennedy will divide his forces to guard the mountain passes, or whether he will block the exit of the valley and put our army in great danger.

But I am convinced of the strong combat effectiveness and vigorous fighting spirit of the Prussian army, that decades of painstaking management will not be in vain, and that military geniuses like the French Emperor Napoleon are not everywhere. ”

King Wilhelm took a deep look at his prime minister Bismarck, and saw the vigorous fighting spirit in his eyes, which also aroused a fire in King Wilhelm's heart, how could he be willing to drag the war into a long-term stalemate?

The situation now was that the Prussian army had to climb over the mountains in order to penetrate deep into the heart of the Austrian Empire to strike at the main force of the Austrian Imperial Legion, which adhered to the concept of "defense first".

It is not surprising that the Austrians did this, as they were waiting for the other European powers to get involved before launching a full-scale counterattack.

The Russians could not count on it, and Nicholas I was killed by the anger of his good brother Emperor Franz-Joseph. Now that his bones are still cold, how could his son Alexander II send troops to rescue the Austrian Empire?

The problem is;

As long as the war dragged on, the French Emperor Napoleon III would definitely intervene with troops, and the Austrian Emperor Franz-Joseph was ten percent sure of this.

The situation in Europe is not a joke, and the French will never do anything to see the Kingdom of Prussia fall into the collapse of the German states, and thus rise to become a powerful unified state in Europe, and lay the foundation for France.

The French Third Reich had many followers in North Germany, and this was also a region where French influence penetrated deeply, with a constantly cutting and chaotic marriage and family relationship, which alone was enough for France to take action.

From the point of view of national strategic interests

Napoleon III finally broke the shackles of the Three Emperors' Alliance, but he did not want a strong rival to rise in northwest Europe and compete with France for continental hegemony.

So France has already mobilized its military forces on its borders, a steady stream of troops is converging on the Franco-Prussian border, and tremendous pressure has been exerted at the national level, all of which has been piled up on the shoulders of Prime Minister Bismarck.

The biggest problem now is time, and what is missing is time.

Because the Austro-Prussian war broke out too suddenly, the French army was not mobilized quickly.

Many French officers and soldiers on leave were on their way to the barracks, and the French army, which was fighting in the colonies, could not be brought back for a while, and the French army at home alone was not enough to wage a full-scale war.

It took time for France to mobilize, and it took a long time for factories to switch to a wartime system, which created the strategic thinking of "defense first", the main force of the Austrian imperial army, and tried to draw the war into a stalemate and wait for the military intervention of the European powers.

The adventurous military plan of Chief of Staff Moltke was the most advantageous plan to break the illusion of the Austrian army, to inflict heavy damage on the main force of the Austrian army in the shortest possible time, to lay the foundation for victory, and to leave no time for the French to intervene.

"Have faith? Your Excellency My Chief of Staff. King William asked this with a solemn face.

General Moltke instantly felt a heavy pressure, and the hope of the whole Kingdom of Prussia to unify the German regions weighed on his shoulders, and he nodded firmly, and replied; "Your Majesty, you can trust that this Prussian army, with the best military mobilization system in all of Europe and a firm conviction, will bring you the victory you desire."

"Then it's decided, let's implement the battle plan formulated by the staff headquarters, the sooner the better."

"As you wish, my noble majesty."

Finally, the overall military plan for the second phase of the "split road joint attack" was decided, and everyone present exhaled with relief.

From now on

The Elbe Corps, the First Corps, and the Second Corps were deep into the mountains, and the General Staff Headquarters had to issue hundreds of important orders, which were related to the battle sequence, the dispatch of troops, the supply of materials, the order of marching, and so on.

If it weren't well thought out, the 450,000 troops crowded on the narrow mountain trails and shouted that the earth was not working, it would be a complete disaster.