pappabearbooks Chapter 73 Look behind you!
Chapter 73 Look behind you!
William's plan was for the Imperial Guard, the 4th, 5th and 6th Armies to continue to hold back the French forces on the front, launching small-scale attacks every day to create the illusion that a large-scale general offensive was about to begin.
All artillery should continue shelling to mislead the French into believing that the main Prussian force was still on the front.
在这个前提下，第12萨克森军、第11军、巴伐利亚第1军、巴伐利亚第2军以及维尔腾堡师、巴登师，再加上骑兵1、2师，共计9.5万人。
This massive army will secretly move south on the night of September 12.
Judging from the military-level units involved, William's operation mobilized more than half of his combat forces.
This large outflanking force would bypass the central and northern regions, crossing the Meuse River in the upper reaches of the river at the city of Neuchâtel. The French defenses there were very weak, with only a single battalion stationed there.
Although the French generals were of average quality, they were aware of the concept of flanking maneuvers, but in their minds, these flanking maneuvers were too risky.
The conservative French generals didn't think the Prussian army would take such a risk, especially since the Prussians were currently in the lead. This was the opinion of all the French generals, including McMahon, and even Camrobelle.
Eugène hoped to warn the Challenger Legion to be careful, hoping to encourage them to hold on a little longer. Unfortunately, while Eugène had prestige in Paris, he didn't have much influence within the Challenger Legion.
The prestige generated by the donation of supplies was clearly insufficient to convince many French military leaders that a 14-year-old French crown prince who had never commanded an army in battle and had never received systematic training at a military academy was truly trustworthy.
Unbeknownst to William, whose plan was nearly nipped in the bud by Eugène, he was still working on his own plan. In his vision, after the army crossed the Meuse River, it would immediately advance north, strike at the rear of the French army, and cut off their supply lines and retreat routes.
The 1st and 2nd Cavalry Divisions would be responsible for covering the flanks of the flanking forces, intercepting French scouts, and ensuring the secrecy of the operation.
To ensure the secrecy of the operation, Friedrich Wilhelm adopted strict confidentiality measures. All troops involved in the operation were told that they would be going north to reinforce, and they would not know the true mission until the last minute before departure.
The troops' transfers were all carried out at night, and during the day they hid in the forest, with no fires or noises allowed.
Even if there were telegraph stations in the towns along the way, the telegraph was not used; the only way to maintain contact was by sending letters by cavalry.
Although wiretelegrams are very difficult to intercept, precautions were taken against potential French espionage, bribery, and the use of parallel wires.
William continued to refuse the use of telegraph stations, carefully preventing any possible leaks from the German frontline commander.
On the night of September 12, the Prussian army's large-scale flanking maneuver began. Under the cover of darkness, 95,000 Prussian soldiers quietly left their positions and began to advance south.
To maintain secrecy, the Prussian army extinguished all lights, and soldiers were strictly forbidden from speaking. In the darkness, they could only communicate with each other by gesturing.
The horses of the two cavalry divisions and the transport team had their hooves wrapped in cotton cloth and their wheels wrapped in straw, in order to reduce noise in every possible way.
Under these circumstances, the Prussian army's march was extremely difficult. The roads in the Argun Forest were already muddy and difficult to navigate, and in many places there were no roads at all, so engineers had to clear the way ahead.
The soldiers trudged through the mud, their shoes sinking into the mud, forcing them to walk barefoot.
If the infantry was in such a predicament, then the artillery units faced even greater difficulties in their advance. The heavy artillery pieces often got stuck in the mud, requiring dozens of people to pull them out.
Fortunately, the Prussian cavalry were very dedicated, setting up a tight perimeter in front of and on the flanks of the main force. They intercepted all the French scouts, which ensured that the French did not discover the slow-moving Prussian troops.
During the two-day march, the Prussian cavalry wiped out more than a dozen French reconnaissance squads, preventing a single French scout from escaping back to report. The French were indeed misled by the illusion of a frontal battlefield.
McMahon focused all his attention on the front line, assuming that the Prussian army was preparing for a new general offensive, and therefore deployed all his reserves on the front.
Most of the French scouts were sent to the north and central regions, leaving the reconnaissance forces in the south very weak. This is why the command was able to remain indifferent when something happened to the southern reconnaissance forces.
McMahon believed that the Argonne Forest in the south was not suitable for large-scale troop marches, so he never expected the Prussian army to make a detour through there.
In the early morning of September 14, the Prussian flanking force reached the Meuse River crossing in Neuchâtel, where the French defenses were quite weak, with only a company of soldiers stationed there.
The Prussian army launched an attack on this single company without even deploying its artillery, and easily routed the French troops stationed there, successfully capturing the crossing.
Without French interference, the engineers immediately began constructing pontoon bridges to expand the army's river-crossing capabilities. Thanks to thorough preparation, three pontoon bridges, each 200 meters long, were completed in just six hours.
All 9.5 Prussian soldiers crossed the Meuse River in one day. After crossing the Meuse, the Prussian army did not stop and immediately began to advance northward, aiming to penetrate the French rear.
The Prussian army also destroyed French telegraph lines and railways along the way, severing French communication with Paris.
After successfully crossing the Meuse River, the Prussian 1st and 2nd Cavalry Divisions went wild, launching attacks everywhere, raiding French transport convoys, burning French supply depots, and causing great chaos for the French forces on the Meuse River.
On the afternoon of September 15, a French convoy was attacked by Prussian cavalry 9 kilometers south of Verdun.
The surviving coachman escaped back to the French lines and reported the situation to Marshal McMahon.
"What? Prussian cavalry have appeared in the south?"
At this moment, McMahon was shocked to realize that the Prussian army had bypassed the Meuse River defense line.
"That's impossible, their main force is clearly on the front lines."
Although he already had extremely bad thoughts in his mind, McMahon, unwilling to see those thoughts come true, immediately sent a cavalry reconnaissance team to the south to conduct reconnaissance.
The reconnaissance team returned in just a few hours, bringing with them devastating news.
A large number of Prussian troops, estimated to be around 10, were advancing north. With his suspicions confirmed, McMahon was forced to confront reality and finally realized he had fallen for a Prussian diversionary tactic.