#835 - Massena is not simple either

Chapter 831 Massena is definitely not simple either

Bruner shook his head repeatedly:

"Oh God, our offensive plan may have to be dragged until next year."

As he was talking, Major St. Ellair, the battalion commander of the cavalry, urged the horse to come and said to Macena, "Mr. Commander, more than 25,000 Prussians crossed the Moselle this morning, and there are more updates to follow up. Many enemy troops gathered on the north bank of the river. This is the latest reconnaissance report."

Bruna looked at Massena: "It seems that we have to take all the troops back to the Luxembourg Fortress for defense first..."

As for the information currently in hand, the Duke of Brunswick has 85,000 soldiers, 40,000 German state coalition forces that are about to arrive, plus the Duke of York on the way, the enemy will concentrate more than 150,000 troops on the front line of Luxembourg!

France has only 65,000 troops here.

There is no need to expect an attack, and being able to hold on is considered a victory.

St. Elare turned over and dismounted, nodded in agreement: "The location of Luxembourg City is almost the best. As long as you make good use of the Betlius Fort, you can persist in sending reinforcements to the country."

There is only a narrow pass to the north of Luxembourg City, and a strong fortress guards the pass.

The Betlius Fort is the core part of the fortress. It can accommodate thousands of soldiers, is equipped with more than 120 artillery pieces of various caliber, and has a tunnel system connecting water sources inside, which is absolutely easy to defend and difficult to attack.

But Massena stared at the map unfolded by Staff Wassel and thought:

"Our previous deployments were to facilitate a counterattack against Ferdinand from the flanks."

He stroked his fingers through the narrow strip on the west side of Luxembourg: "Our front line has been unfolded for a long time and suddenly retracted to Luxembourg City, and he will likely contact the enemy on the way. He will be attacked by the enemy's superior forces."

According to the established combat plan on the Luxembourg front line, the French army's main force was more than 50,000 people hiding along the western border of Luxembourg in the middle of the Ardenne Plateau.

When the Duke of Brunswick attacks the Luxembourg Fortress, they will launch a counterattack from their waist and behind them, destroying the coalition's rear troop and baggage troops.

If the Duke of Brunswick returns not in time enough, his main force's retreat will be cut off. By then, he would not be able to chew the strong Luxembourg fortress, and he would only have the result of surrender.

However, the coalition's military strength advantage is too huge now, and if the French rashly attacked the Duke of Brunswick, they are likely to be surrounded.

Brunner said anxiously: "But with the 15,000 soldiers in Luxembourg City alone, we can't stop so many enemy troops. We can only take the risk to return to defense!"

Massena shook her head: "I remember His Highness the Prince once said that the worst tactic is passive defense. That will only allow the enemy to calmly exert their combat effectiveness.

"Also, it is difficult for reinforcements to come in a short period of time. If you are besieged in the Luxembourg Fortress, you will not even be able to obtain supplies."

Bruner and St. Elare looked at each other and became even more anxious: "What should we do? Should we withdraw Verdun?"

"What are you talking about?" Massena glanced at him angrily, then looked at the map. "Perhaps we can use the terrain to actively defend."

"Active defense?"

“Yes,” Massena said, “to fight at the defensive positions we choose, while leaving ample room for detour.

“For example, the northwest of Luxembourg is OK.

"The Ardennes plateau is there, which is very suitable for condescending defense. At the same time, Bastogne can also provide our army with a steady stream of supplies from behind."

Bastogne is a transportation hub in southeastern South Netherlands, only more than ten kilometers away from Luxembourg.

"If the coalition offensive is too fierce, we will shrink westward, and the Arden Plateau has a range of dozens of kilometers for our army to maneuver.

"After that, we must take advantage of our mobility advantages, pull up the formation of the coalition forces, find gaps to carry out surprise attacks, and gradually accumulate advantages.

“The biggest benefit of doing this is that we don’t have to mobilize troops on a large scale.”

The French army is now on standby in the abdomen of the Arden Plateau, just arrange the defense line on site, avoiding the dangers encountered by the enemy while moving and superior.

Brunner nodded repeatedly when he heard this. It was indeed much better than defending Luxembourg. To take a step back, even if the Luxembourg Fortress is really broken, at least its main force still has a chance to withdraw to the South Netherlands, rather than being surrounded and killed in the fortress.

He suddenly frowned again and looked at Massena and said, "But there is another most important question - what if Ferdinand continues to move south without launching an attack on the Ardennes front line?"

Massena smiled: "It's very simple. I deliberately leaked our army's deployment. The Pu'ao spy will help us..."

After he finished talking about his plan, he saw that Bruna and St. Elaer had no objection, so he asked Vasel to submit it to the General Staff for approval - this is actually a process, and the Legion commanders of this era have very many Great decision-making power in the face of war.

Massena suddenly remembered something and asked Wassel: "Where are the troops of Thuringian, Bavaria and other countries going now?"

"Based on our intelligence, the Thuringian and Hessen-Kassel should have arrived in Koblenz. The troops of Bavaria and the more eastern states are even further away."

Koblenz is an important town and ferry on the Rhine River. It is basically a place to pass through Luxembourg from North Germany to the south.

No mistakes, one song, one post, one content, one reading!

Massena asked again, "Which legion is we on the north side of Clevo?"

Wasser recalled and said, "It should be the Oudinot Corps, Commander. It is under the command of the 2nd and 4th Regiments of the 2nd Infantry Division, the 6th Skirmishers Regiment, and a Cavalry Artillery Company."

There are less than 5,000 people in total. Massena hesitated for a moment, but still ordered: "Let the Oudinot Corps find a gap in the enemy, cross the Sauer River to the east, and attack the Thuringian Army in the area from Neuerburg to Gerolstein."

The Thuringian army plus Hesse-Kassel should have more than 10,000 people, but if they are attacked during the march, the possibility of success is still very high.

If they join the Prussian army, under the command of the Duke of Brunswick, the combat effectiveness they can exert will be doubled.

So it is necessary to take risks.

And if they can go deep into Trier and defeat the enemy, it will cause a big blow to the morale of the coalition forces.

Massena judged that the enemy would definitely not expect the French army to take the initiative to cross the border and attack when they are at a disadvantage in terms of manpower, which is also the reason why he dared to take risks.

…

Diekirch, a city in the north-central part of Luxembourg.

According to Massena's original plan, this was an important battlefield for him to launch a counterattack against the coalition forces, but at this time it had been occupied by the coalition forces and became the headquarters of the Duke of Brunswick.

A major officer in charge of intelligence walked into the Duke of Brunswick's office under the guidance of his attendant and saluted, "Marshal, according to reliable intelligence, the French are planning to launch a large-scale raid on our army."