Chapter 255: 50/50

David Wright.

Positions consisting of trenches, barbed wire and sandbags were rapidly taking shape. That day, soldiers from the Heichingen Brigade used ordnance shovels to build a fortification around the town of Davidlet overnight.

Coupled with some buildings and houses, David Wright was surrounded by water and 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. Their means of saving lives must be better than ours. Look at them." , I wish I could turn Davielet into a strong fortress. If I were a Frenchman, I would not be foolish enough to launch an attack on such a place."

"Brigadier, the people from the Princely Kingdom of Heisingen are too cowardly! The battlefield is changing rapidly right now. How can we have so much time to do so many bells and whistles? The fortifications can only play a supporting role. We now have a far superior number than France. , the kingdom’s top leaders will definitely choose to take the initiative rather than passively defend, 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 him a slap in the face. The French had been tricked by their own people before the war. At that time, France's choice was to take the initiative to attack, and the preparations for the war were hasty, so in the Alsace and Lorraine regions Not many fortifications were built at all. Who knew that the situation was now reversed and he became the defensive side, only to find 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 will probably make other troops laugh."

Heinrich said: "We just do what we should do based on the textbooks and previous practical experience cases. There is no small matter in war. We cannot relax our vigilance at any time. Moreover, in this war, the French Chassebou rifle has a range greater than that of De The Lesser rifle is farther away, so it has an advantage. If we want to offset this advantage, in addition to suppressing it with artillery and other aspects, we can only think of ways from the bunker!"

"This does make some sense. However, if the battlefield changes tomorrow and the higher-ups order you to go to other areas, wouldn't this fortification that you have worked so hard to build become useless?"

"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."

"You learned this in Berlin?"

"No, I learned this at the Hechingen Military Academy."

"When the war is over, I must go back and read your textbooks. 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 had 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 remaining small forces are deployed along the road in villages and towns such as Davidlet."

"Bring 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 from the left rear is Saverna, who can support Stanley at any time. The same is true in reverse. Saverna is a It is located at a transportation hub, and you can control this place to advance and attack, and to retreat and defend it."

"If we rush to attack Stanley and Saverna, it will not be in line with the purpose of our trip. Our 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, so this trip is absolutely We cannot attack head-on as in the past, but we must outsmart ourselves.”

"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. Prussia's plan must not succeed."

"These days, I have seen through some of Prussia's characteristics. Apart from the fact that its guns are not as good as ours, its cavalry does not seem to play much role. Instead, it focuses on intelligence work and sometimes wanders between the two armies to find out what is true. If this analysis is accurate, As long as you make good use of it, you can definitely deal a fatal blow to the Prussian army."

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 14th Infantry Division and the artillery unit From the west, go south and attack Saverna, cooperate with the cavalry brigade, attack from the front and back, capture Saverna, and then turn back to join the 12th Infantry Division."

"General, what about the enemies in the east?"

"Ask the 12th Infantry Division to deploy a brigade to stop the remaining enemies in Davitlet. Your 12th Infantry Division must remember that the key to this war is to hold off the enemy. When we take Saverte, the remaining Everything will be easier to handle.”

The commander of the 12th Infantry Division asked: "What if the Prussian Third Army comes from the south to support us?"

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 naturally could not be carried out 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 force to come into contact was the Prussian army stationed in Stanley. As soon as the war started, The commander of the Prussian Fifth Army 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 Fifth Cavalry Brigade has rushed from the left to the southeast of Saverna in the dark, and the main force of the French army has also rushed from the west toward Saverna.

Due to the deployment 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.