Chapter 255: 50/50
David Wright.
Strengths consisting of trenches, barbed wire and sandbags were rapidly taking shape. On that day, soldiers from the Hechingen Brigade used ordnance shovels to build a fortification around the town of Davielet overnight.
Paired with some buildings and houses, David Wright was so surrounded that he almost became a hedgehog.
A typical academic school like the Hechingen Brigade must have a more meticulous attitude and rigorous spirit when building fortifications.
So the next day, it was still being regulated and trimmed. This scene made Robert next door look stunned.
Putting down the telescope in his hand, Robert said to his deputy: "I think Commander Kirchbach is completely over-concerned. I dare not say how good the combat effectiveness of this Hechingen brigade is. The means of life-saving must be better than We are strong. Look at them, they wish they could turn David Wright into a stronghold. It is a solid fortress. If I were a Frenchman, I would not foolishly attack a place like this."
"Brigadier, the people of the Prince of Hessingen are too cowardly! The battlefield is changing rapidly. How can there be so much effort to build so many bells and whistles? The fortifications can only play a supporting role. , we now have a numerical advantage over France, and the kingdom’s senior officials will definitely choose to take the initiative rather than defend passively, so no matter how beautiful the fortifications are, it will not be of much use, after all, we are the attacker.”
If Napoleon III heard this, he would definitely give He slapped the French in the face. The French had been deceived by their own people before the war. France's choice at that time was to take the initiative to attack. In addition, preparations for the war were hasty, so there were not many fortifications built in Alsace and Lorraine. Who knew that the situation would be reversed now? , he became the defensive side, but found that there was no danger to defend.
For example, Weissenburg still uses the defense projects built in the last century, but it is actually almost abandoned.
...
Not to mention that Robert didn’t understand, Leopold was also a little puzzled. He said to Heinrich: "Are you young people so energetic now? Building such a long fortification is probably a waste of time." It will make other troops laugh."
Heinrich said: "We just do what we should do based on the textbooks and previous actual combat experience cases. There is no small matter in war, and we cannot relax our vigilance at any time. Moreover, in this war, the French Chassebaud rifle has a longer range than the Dreiser rifle, so it has an advantage. If you want to offset this advantage, in addition to suppressing it with artillery, you can only find a way from the bunker!"
"This does make some sense. However, if the battlefield changes tomorrow and the superiors direct you to go to other areas, wouldn't this fortification that you have worked so hard to build become useless!"
< br>"If it is scrapped, it will be scrapped. This is not what I should consider. Wherever we go, we will build fortifications. Even if we only stay for one night, we must do this. This is to consider the lives of soldiers and reduce casualties."
"This is what you learned in Berlin?"
"No, this is what I learned at the Hechingen Military Academy."
"When the war is over, I must When I go back and look at your teaching materials, I can only say that they are very unique." Leopold said.
……
French Army of the Rhine Fifth Army.
The commander of the Fifth Army is French General de Fay, and the enemy he is about to face happens to be the Prussian Fifth Army, under Kirchbach.
At dusk, the reconnaissance cavalry of the French Fifth Army has returned. "General, we have figured out the details on the other side. Stationed at the northern foot of the Vosges Mountains is the Prussian Fifth Army. In addition, there are a small number of troops on the right, but their numbers are temporarily unknown."
“What is the size of the Prussian Fifth Army?”
“There should be more people than us, but the main force is divided into two, one is stationed in Stanley and the other is stationed in Saverna. The rest is small Troops were deployed along the highway in villages and towns such as Davidlet.”
"Bring me the map!" Faye said.
“This is Stanley, a prominent part of the Prussian army’s defense line. The Prussians should have been waiting for us here. Not far behind on the left is Saverna, who can support Stanley at any time, and the same is true in reverse. , Saverna is a transportation hub. If you control this place, you can attack and retreat. "
"If we attack Stanley and Saverna rashly, it will not be in line with the purpose of our trip. The goal is to strengthen the connection between the Rhine Army and the Chalon Army to avoid the possibility of either party being encircled and suppressed by Prussia. Therefore, this trip must not be a frontal attack as in the past, but must be outwitted."
"So far. , Prussia’s trump card has gradually become clear. They just want to use their numbers to divide and surround us, and then annihilate us one by one. They must not let Prussia’s plan succeed.”
“These days, I have seen through Prussia. Some characteristics, except that the guns are not as good as ours, its cavalry does not seem to play much, but focuses on intelligence work, sometimes wandering between the two armies to find out the truth. If this analysis is accurate, as long as it is used well, it can definitely be fatal to the Prussian army. One blow.”
After the analysis, Faye began to arrange tasks according to this idea.
"The cavalry brigade outflanked Saverna from the side. Two infantry divisions were on the frontal battlefield. The 12th Infantry Division pretended to attack Stanley. This should be the most elite unit of the Prussian army. Hold them back. The main force is the 10th. The 4th Infantry Division and the artillery troops went south to attack Saverna from the west. They cooperated with the cavalry brigade to attack Saverna from the front and back. We then turned back to the 12th Infantry Division. "
"General, East. What should we do with the enemy?”
“Ask the 12th Infantry Division to deploy a brigade to stop the remaining enemies at Davidlet. Your 12th Infantry Division must remember that the key to this war is delay. Stop the enemy, and when we take Savert, the rest will be easy."
The commander of the 12th Infantry Division asked: "What if the Prussian Third Army comes from the south to support us. Do?”
Faye said: "You have to believe in Marshal McMahon's command ability, and the Prussian Third Army should be heading south to fight with Marshal McMahon's department now, and will have no time to go north in a short time. The enemy's Fifth Army is to prevent us from taking the opportunity to go south. , the number of the Third Army far exceeded that of the Charon Army. Crown Prince William of Prussia must have wanted to use superior forces to encircle and annihilate the Charon Army, so only one army was deployed in Saverna. Therefore, Marshal McMahon and the Charon Army were The situation is very bad, and whether we can rescue the siege depends on whether we can quickly defeat the Prussian Fifth Army, so that the Prussian Third Army will have to divide its forces for defense. At that time, the pressure on Marshal McMahon's troops will be greatly reduced. ”
Since it was a surprise attack, it was natural not to go over there blatantly. Under the command of Marshal Fay, the French Fifth Army took advantage of the darkness and rushed towards the target at high speed. The first troops to come into contact were the Prussian troops stationed in Stanley. As soon as the war broke out, the commander of the Prussian Fifth Army stationed in Stanley urgently sent a message to Saverna in the rear, requesting support.
Kirchbach immediately sent two infantry brigades to support Stanley, but Stanley was just the target of a feint attack by the French army. Kirchbach's dispersion of Saverna's forces to support Stanley played into France's hands.
The French 5th Cavalry Brigade has rushed from the left in the dark to the southeast of Saverna, and the main force of the French army has also rushed from the west towards Saverna.
Due to the redeployment of troops, the number of Saverna's troops has dropped to the same level as the French offensive troops. The two fifth armies of Prussia and France will also compete tonight.
(End of this chapter)