On 15 July, shortly after the start of the Third Conquest, France had begun to mobilize its troops, and the next day, the French parliament voted to formally declare war on Prussia.

Soon after, the four southern German states (Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg, Hesse), where nationalist sentiment was high, completely fell to Prussia.

Prussia currently had three corps, the southern part was dominated by the Third Corps led by Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm (Frederick III), which consisted of:

5th Army: Commander Kirchbach

6th Army: Commander Tumplinger

11th Army: Commander Brose

1st Bavarian Army: Commander Tann - Ratzamhausen

Bavarian 2nd Army: Commander Hartmann

Württemberg Division,

Baden Division,

2nd and 4th Cavalry Divisions

Black Singen Brigade.

Because of the particularity of the Hexingen Kingdom, it was classified as a separate combat unit, theoretically at the same level as the Prussian army.

In this war, the Hexingen Brigade was completely formed by the Hexingen royal family, in addition to the personnel, the weapons and equipment were also self-sufficient, provided by the Hexingen Arsenal in Germany, and its system was completely consistent with the Prussian army, and it was easier to integrate with the logistics of the Prussian army than other South German armies that joined temporarily.

Leopold served as commander of the Heshingen Brigade and was under the direct direction of the corps commander Frederick III.

A total of 4,372 people participated in the war, and in addition to the third-year cadets of the former Heixingen Military Academy, some second- and first-year cadets were also included, as well as some conscripts recruited by Heixingen and Sigmaringen.

……

"Knock Knock Knock ......"

As the bell rang, the improvised Hexingen Brigade assembled on the playground of the Heixingen Military Academy.

The Heshingen Brigade, consisting of two infantry regiments, was quickly assembled under the leadership of Leopold, and then turned to Stuttgart, followed the road to the west, and arrived at the border in three days. With the exception of the Grand Duchy of Baden, where the army was fighting on its own soil, the other states and the Prussian army had not yet arrived.

The Third Army, consisting mainly of the South German Confederation and supplemented by the Prussian army, was a German army consisting of 12 divisions of about 130,000 men (historically about 125,000 men) and deployed in the Palatinate region near Baden and Karlsruhe in South Germany to the south.

Heixingen was already next to the Grand Duchy of Baden, and the Heixingen Brigade was the smallest of the Third Army Corps as a state force, so it was also more flexible in its movements.

It was two days before the army of the Kingdom of Württemberg, which was next to Baden like Heishingen, arrived in Baden, along with the Prussian army in the north, led by the Crown Prince of Prussia.

As the supreme commander of the Third Army, Frederick III first inspected the armies of the other states, with the exception of the troops of the Kingdom of Bavaria, which had not yet arrived.

For the Prussian army, Frederick III was the most confident, but Baden and Württemberg had been at peace for a long time, and they had not fought for a long time, so it was difficult to make people feel good, and as for the Bavarian army, it would not be too bad, after all, the two countries had fought each other last time.

Soon the armies of the states were assembled, looking at the bustling armies of the states, Frederick III was very dissatisfied, and his frowning brows never relaxed, his level was too poor compared with the Prussian army, and the equipment was also chaotic, and even a force was equipped with the weapons of the Prussian army at the same time, and even the organizational ability of the three countries was so poor on weekdays, how could it be compared with the battle-hardened Prussian army on the battlefield. Moreover, the enemy on the opposite side is the French Army, which is recognized as the world's No. 1 army.

Just when Frederick was losing hope for the armies of the other states, the Heshingen Brigade in the corner caught his attention.

First impression: young, second impression: capable, third impression: neat.

"Leopold, this is the Heshingen Brigade?" Frederick III came to Leopold and asked.

"Yes. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, they are all a team formed by military cadets recruited by the Heixingen royal family themselves. ”

"Ugh! Didn't I hear that Ernst was not interested in the military? Since he wanted to form troops, why didn't he go directly to the army in the first place, Prussia could provide him with a position. ”

"Hahaha, Ernst is not interested in the military, it's just an excuse, it's just self-knowledge, I think it's the right choice for him to be in business, and besides, these cadet soldiers are completely prepared by him for his own colony, and it's completely impossible for you to stuff him into the army." Leopold laughed.

"Alas! Prince Constantine is also a famous general, why did Ernst not inherit him. Frederick sighed.

"Everyone's choice is different, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, besides, Prince Konstantin is old and has a son, and Hei Xinggen is only a seedling, so naturally he doesn't want Ernst to contact the battlefield again."

"Not to mention anything else, Ernst's so-called Hexingen Military Academy is still doing well, I heard that he is the headmaster himself, and he can manage the army in front of him like this, his ability is not bad, it looks a lot more pleasing to the eye than the armies of other states, but unfortunately the number is too small."

"Hehe, after all, the countries of South Germany have their own military systems, if it weren't for France's declaration of war, they would still continue to exist independently, and the Prince of Hexingen was originally a Prussian prince, so the Hexingen Brigade naturally completely copied the Prussian army template, and its instructors were all selected from the Prussian retired soldiers, and one thing you don't know, although Ernst is the principal of the Hexingen Military Academy, he is actually a hands-off shopkeeper, and he usually does not participate in teaching and training at all, especially after the business grows, I travel a lot, and many times I visit Heixingen, but I can't see him. Leopold laughed.

"Ernst is a good person, but he does too much, in addition to business, he also engages in overseas colonization, and naturally has little time in Heixingen, but overseas colonization doesn't seem to be very difficult? Even if he is a businessman who can do it so smoothly, shouldn't Germany after reunification also take a more active part in entering it? Frederick III said.

"Overseas colonization is indeed very attractive, but the British are not easy to deal with, and the place where Ernst colonized, if not bad, is not much better, after all, even the Portuguese have been there for hundreds of years, and they have not seen what they do to East Africa."

"Forget it, don't think about this, the main thing now is to deal with the French, if France is not defeated, Prussia and Germany simply cannot have a future. But at present, these troops, in the South German state, the Baden and Württemberg armies do not look as good as Heixingen, even the Bavarian army is estimated to be enough, and our battle with France is estimated to be difficult to fight. Frederick III said.

"It's hard to say, the elite troops of the Kingdom of Bavaria should still be good, and the image of the troops is secondary, and you will know whether you have strength on the battlefield." Leopold said.

"Then do you think this seemingly well-trained Hexingen Brigade can make a contribution on the battlefield?"

Leopold replied confidently: "Of course, although these are cadet soldiers who have never really entered the battlefield, they will inevitably suffer some losses, but as long as they survive the first stage, they will definitely become an elite army." ”

……

The enemy opposite the Prussian 3rd Army was the French 1st Army, and the two sides confronted each other along the border area from Saarbrücken to Strasbourg.

(Picture)

The Franco-Prussian War broke out. The declaration of war aroused great patriotic fervor in France, and people poured into the streets to see off the departing procession, shouting: "Go to Berlin and kill Prussia!" This was the case all over the country, where people stuffed wine into the windows of trains full of soldiers on the train platforms in the backwoods, and told them to teach the "square-headed Germans" a lesson.

(End of chapter)