Chapter 743 Right Fist Plan
Joseph looked at Demobin and said: "Although they speak French and are willing to cooperate with us, if they rashly send troops into the Southern Netherlands, it will be easy to provoke them. Their resistance. "
The Wallonia region is still nominally Austrian territory and has its own autonomous government. In this era when nationalism is gradually awakening, all kinds of problems will inevitably arise if troops are forcibly sent to control a foreign area.
Back then, the emperor completely ignored the will of the local people and liked to use the army to rule roughly. In the end, the whole of Europe was full of resentment and stood against France.
Demobin frowned and said: "Your Highness, are you going to give up Wallonia to the Austrians?"
"Of course not," Joseph leaned back in his chair calmly, "We have to wait until the Walloon Chamber of Commerce begs us to send troops. They don't like our army, but they hate the Austrian army even more."
Wallonia The district chamber of commerce is the local government management agency.
Mirabeau turned his head and asked: "You mean, we will wait until the Austrian army invades Wallonia before we take action?"
"You can say that."
Mirabeau said anxiously: "But in this case, the Austrian army will cause serious damage to our factory there!"
Joseph smiled and shook his head: "You have to have confidence in the police in Wallonia."
He looked at Fouche again: "The Intelligence Bureau needs to send people there to assist the Walloon Chamber of Commerce in responding to emergencies. Next. , let's discuss the plan for possible situations..."
At around three o'clock in the afternoon, under the brainstorming of the staff department, the combat plan for the Southern Netherlands has been roughly formed.
Subsequently, Berthier began to introduce the enemy's possible strategic deployment in other directions: "Gelden has already assembled more than 50,000 enemy troops, mainly Prussians, and some British cavalry. .
“Obviously, we will deploy a multi-layered defense line from Luxembourg to Verdun, which will be the main battlefield. In the early stage, 4 divisions need to be invested in defense.
"In eastern Switzerland, the Austrian army may choose to attack our country's Strasbourg from the St. Bernard Pass or the Simplon Pass, and there is also a certain possibility of Saran."
Strasbourg. In northeastern France, Salin is in the east-central part, hundreds of kilometers apart.
“So our army must deploy at least 3 divisions on the eastern front.” Berthier said, “After determining the enemy’s attack direction, mobilize the Lorraine Army and the Lyon Army to assist in defense.
“With the assistance of the Sharp signal machine, the army should be able to arrive in time.
"According to the preliminary plan of the General Staff Headquarters, a total of 130,000 troops will be invested in the northern and eastern fronts. Another 2 divisions will be left as reserve forces...
"In addition, the country will form at least two new divisions within half a year..."
According to France's current army structure, an infantry division has approximately 10,000 soldiers.
Bertier basically put all his troops into the defense line, leaving less than 10,000 people in the rear.
Lieutenant Colonel Napoleon, who was sitting in the back row, couldn't help but frown slightly, always feeling that there was something wrong with this combat plan.
He was about to put forward his own opinions, but saw His Royal Highness the Crown Prince suddenly stand up and interrupt the Chief of General Staff: "General Berthier, frankly speaking, although your plan is relatively safe, it is buried in the dark."
"We should not and cannot put ourselves in the defensive position."
The officers in the conference room suddenly looked at each other.
We have 160,000 and others have 400,000. It’s good if we can defend them. Do we still want to take the initiative to attack? Only Napoleon looked at the Crown Prince in surprise, because he had thought the same thing just now.
Duke Broy said hurriedly: "Your Highness, our country's military strength is at an absolute disadvantage..."
Joseph nodded: "You are right, so we cannot fight a defensive war.
"Defending strategically important locations will cause our army to lose its mobility and fall into a situation of attrition. Neither our military strength nor our finances can defeat the enemy. "
Napoleon couldn't help but nod. It is impossible for the defensive troops to abandon the defense zone and leave, and the enemy will continue to invest troops to entangle, which is equivalent to tying up his own legs.
Joseph continued : "We must concentrate our forces to defeat the enemy in one direction, and then use our army's mobility advantage to quickly rush to the next point and launch an attack on the enemy there.
“We must try our best to eliminate the enemy forces before they fully deploy and form a siege on our important strategic nodes, or attack their important supply lines!
"Push the defense line into the enemy's territory, and we will always be safe.
"This is the way the French army fights! "
After the officers all accepted his idea, Joseph came to the map again and began to describe the combat plan conceived on the way back to Paris from Madrid: "The terrain in Switzerland is rugged, and it is difficult to transport logistical supplies, so The enemy's attack speed here will not be too fast.
"Our army's first attack point will be in the direction of Gelden..."
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He said this with great confidence, because this was roughly the process of the French army's counterattack during the first anti-French alliance in history.
At that time, the French army still had a large number of new soldiers, but they still fought all the way to the west bank of the Rhine.
Later, due to the political struggle between the Directory and the domestic chaos, Prussia and Austria seized the opportunity to push back and regain the lost ground.
The current French army has been preparing for many years, and its combat effectiveness is much higher than that of the new recruits during the Da Qiming period. Even if the number is slightly smaller, it should not be difficult to replicate the historical results.
At this moment, an officer walked in quickly and gently handed a report to Fouche.
The latter opened it and looked at it, then stood up and said to Joseph: "Your Highness, according to the news just sent by Italy, Austria has probably obtained military access rights to Sardinia."
When everyone heard this, their expressions suddenly became solemn. A few points.
Bertier looked at the map on the table and frowned: "This way the enemy has gained another attack point in the southeast."
Lefebvre continued: "And enter 5 In a few months, the snow on the Alpine passes will melt and it will be very difficult to pass through them. It’s very easy. The enemy troops from the south are likely to invade our country earlier than from the north.”
While the officers were anxiously discussing the new changes in the war situation, Joseph smiled and said in a voice that only he could hear. : "In this way, we will be closer."
He was naturally referring to the first anti-French alliance in history.
Sardinia finally succumbed to Austria and stood on the opposite side of France. But this is normal, after all, Austria still has very strong control over the Italian Peninsula at this time.
Joseph glanced at Napoleon sitting in the last row with deep meaning, and then pointed the location of Sardinia on the map with a thin stick: "It seems that we need to adjust the order of battle.
< br>"Give Austria a right punch first. ”
(End of this chapter)