When the news of the heavy siege of General Douai's headquarters reached the French staff headquarters at the front, Emperor Napoleon III and the French chief of staff, Marshal Loebf, were shocked that they had taken the Prussian army too lightly.

The plan did anticipate a partial counterattack by the Prussian army, but it never expected that it would be a full-scale assault of more than 200,000 troops with the Prussian Third Army as the main force.

Then they realized; The vanguard of General Douai was in great danger.

Napoleon III deployed the French army on three fronts:

The first line consisted of the main Rhine Corps, with three corps, deployed between Theonville and Beechcraft on the Franco-German border, under the personal command of the French Emperor Napoleon III.

The Seventh Army, commanded by General Félix Douai, one of the three main armies of the Rhine Army, was now under siege by more than 10 times the Prussian army.

If the Seventh Army is completely annihilated, the first line of the Rhine Army will be equivalent to cutting off an arm, and the losses will not be insignificant, which may have a major impact on the subsequent war.

The French army had two corps on the 2nd line, one at Strasbourg and one at Matz, under the command of Marshal McMahon, which was the closest field mobile force to the 7th Army.

The third line consists of two reserve corps, deployed in Nancy and Chalon, which is almost 200 kilometers away from the front line on the Franco-Prussian border.

In the deployment of the French Emperor Napoleon III;

The French army was originally a preemptive offensive deployment, planning to concentrate forces and quickly cross the border, advance towards Frankfurt, cut off the link between North and South Germany, force the South German states to remain neutral, and then defeat Prussia with all its might.

The plan was good, but unfortunately the execution was completely out of shape.

The operational deployment of hundreds of thousands of troops is a huge project involving all aspects, far from being as simple as sitting in the Elysee Palace and drinking afternoon tea, a French emperor who came to power by playing tricks and family background, has never commanded 100 people to fight for most of his life.

Napoleon III suddenly came to the fore and served as the commander of the French army to fight in person, which sounded really inspirational, very exciting, and very morale-boosting to the French army, but it was really off the mark.

The French did not do a good job at the first step, concentrating their forces in the plan to quickly cross the border and advance in the direction of Frankfurt......

According to the current situation of mobilization and deployment, which is dragging on, it will not be completed in two months, so how can we talk about a preemptive strike?

France was far inferior to neighboring Prussia in terms of infrastructure, with only two railways leading to the Franco-Prussian border in more than 10 provinces in the northeast and southeast, and the dirt roads between cities were rough and narrow, making it difficult to meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of troops gathered quickly.

Many of the mobilized troops could only march on foot, and the logistical supplies of the villages and towns along the way could not keep up at all, the organization was extremely chaotic, and everything was terrible.

Some of the French mobilized troops had to stop and help the villages and towns along the way harvest the ripe wheat, so that they could have enough food to fill their stomachs and take a little to the front.

In these French villages and towns, there was no surplus food for the hastily mobilized French troops, and the various converging situations simply made the French high command anxious, let alone take the initiative to start the battle.

Now, the main forces of the Prussian Third Army launched a major counteroffensive and the strategic intention of burning the flames of war into French territory was clearly revealed.

"Damn the Prussians, how dare they be so arrogant?" Napoleon III, realizing the great mistake in the military deployment, had a face distorted by the humiliation, and shouted loudly waving his hands.

The close courtiers of the French court, who were good at flattery, looked at each other, and no one could take over this stubble.

Who knew that those German barbarians who lived in the Black Forest would be so reckless?

The chief of staff, Marshal Leboff, quickly calmed down after the shock, and looked at the panicked look on the eyes of the courtiers who were usually eloquent, and knew that these people were completely unreliable.

He took a step forward and said elegantly;

"Your Majesty;

I don't think this is the best time to discuss why the Prussians are so mad, the Seventh Army under the command of General Félix Douai is fighting tenaciously, holding back the attack of a large Prussian army 10 times its size with great courage and sacrifice, and is in dire need of reinforcements.

pressing matter

It was the Charon Corps led by Duke Patrice McMahon, who was in the second line, to urgently move eastward to reinforce the front line, and be sure to block the main force of the Prussian army on the Walter line, so as to give our army time to transfer troops.

The military situation is extremely urgent, and His Majesty is requested to order McMahon's corps to rush to the aid of immediately, and to reach the Volta area within 24 hours, which is not far from Wissanburg. ”

"Good...... I'll give the order. Napoleon III grasped a life-saving straw in his panic and nodded his head in response. But then he realized something, turned his head to the chief of staff, Marshal Lebouf, and asked; "Your Excellency Chief of Staff, the Seventh Army led by Douai is fighting a bloody battle with the enemy in Fort Wissanburg, why didn't our reinforcements rush directly to Fort Wissanburg, but stay on the line of Walter, more than 40 kilometers away?"

In the face of this military idiot, the Chief of Staff, Marshal Lebf, groaned inwardly, but a humble smile appeared on his face, and Wen Yan explained;

"General Douai was an experienced general, and he knew that only Lord McMahon, who was in the second line, could be reinforced, but it would take at least 48 hours.

With the weak strength of the Seventh Army, it was impossible to hold out for that long in any case.

Therefore, he planned to resist desperately for 12 hours, then take advantage of the night to break away from the enemy's heavy siege, retreat to favorable terrain to continue the blockade, save the vital strength of the Seventh Army, and buy time for reinforcements.

Most likely, on the Volta line, the river-crisscrossing geography made it difficult for the Prussian army to fully deploy its large corps.

As long as the reinforcements of the second line are combined, the remnants of the Seventh Army plus the more than 40,000 men of the First Army arrived by Marshal McMahon in the starry night, they should almost be able to stabilize the situation of the retreat and not completely eroded.

The subsequent arrival of the Fifth Army and the 2nd French Cuirassier Division was able to ensure that we could withstand the onslaught of the main force of the 3rd Prussian Corps and stabilize the front. ”

"Oh my God, what are you waiting for? Field Marshal McMahon was ordered to urgently reinforce the front. "Napoleon III immediately gave the order.

As soon as the Franco-Prussian and Franco-Prussian armies first came into contact, they were superior and superior.

So-called; It is not a lie that one general is incompetent, and the three armies are exhausted.

The French army has accumulated rich combat experience in the colonial war of conquest of the world, and has a large number of high-quality professional soldiers, as long as the strategic deployment is properly applied, it is not a problem to resist the fierce attacks of the Prussian army.

It's a pity that they met a mediocre commander.

Even if you think about it with your toes, you know how dangerous it is for an emperor who is happy to achieve great achievements and has no military knowledge to command hundreds of thousands of troops.

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