Chapter 802: The Situation Along the Rhine
As the Crown Prince entered, the officers immediately ceased their chatter and rose to salute. "Your Highness, you have arrived."
"Your Highness."
Joseph walked to the conference table and signaled for everyone to be seated with a graceful smile. "Then let us begin the meeting."
Following protocol, a staff officer stepped up to the map to brief the high-ranking generals on the latest developments on the battlefield.
Captain Ferris pointed a slender wooden rod at the northern side of Luxembourg. "Currently, Duke Ferdinand's Prussian Legion, totaling eighty-six thousand men, is concentrated east of Marnach, preparing to launch an assault on Luxembourg City."
"Lieutenant Colonel Masséna's combat preparations along the line from Wiltz to Grevenmacher are largely complete. Simultaneously, our deception operations regarding the readiness of Verdun will continue to expand in scale."
"Once Ferdinand begins his advance toward Luxembourg City, Masséna's Legion will follow the plan to intercept the enemy near Diekirch, launching a coordinated counter-attack across a thirty-kilometer front."
Joseph nodded slightly.
He had been directly involved in the formulation of this operational plan.
Masséna commanded the Royal First Infantry Division, the Royal Longsword Grenadier Battalion, and the Royal First Horse Artillery Battalion—the very finest of France's elite units.
In fact, they were likely the most elite troops in all of Europe.
Previously, Masséna's forces had made multiple contacts with the Duke of Brunswick's army, feigning defeat each time and "retreating" all the way from the Luxembourg border to the vicinity of Luxembourg City.
Meanwhile, the French defensive lines at Verdun had been bustling lately. Vast quantities of supplies were being moved in and out, and thousands of troops appeared to be stationed there daily, striking a posture of defending the site to the death.
In reality, there were fewer than three thousand local troops there. The so-called "massive logistical supplies" were merely thirty horse-drawn carriages filled with miscellaneous junk that entered Verdun during the day and slipped away down the Meuse River at night, only to repeat the cycle the following day.
Verdun was the only high ground on France's eastern border and was home to a complex of fortresses, serving as the gateway to Paris.
France making defensive preparations there was a clear sign that they intended to abandon Luxembourg, which was supposedly "impossible to hold."
The Duke of Brunswick had clearly received this intelligence from his spies, leading him to prepare for a swift seizure of the seemingly low-hanging fruit that was Luxembourg before marching into France.
Currently, his main force was almost entirely within the borders of Luxembourg.
Masséna had originally been prepared to face a hundred and ten thousand enemy troops, but half a month ago, at the insistence of Franz II, the Coalition had diverted over thirty thousand men from the Kalckreuth and Clerfayt legions to Brussels for an emergency relief operation.
Those had originally been the Duke of Brunswick's reserves.
This development significantly lightened the pressure on Masséna. Under these circumstances, if he could not win once the Duke of Brunswick entered his ambush zone, he might as well resign and go home.
Furthermore, the Duke of Brunswick had deployed his entire force for this operation. Once routed, the Coalition would have no troops left to utilize in the entire Rhineland region!
The Rhineland referred to the area on the west bank of the Rhine River, stretching from Aachen to the Palatinate.
It bordered the Southern Netherlands and the Netherlands to the west, France to the south, and the German heartland to the east, serving as a strategic buffer zone between France and Germany. Whenever war broke out in Europe, the Rhineland was always a territory that military commanders vied for.
Currently, the Rhineland remained under the spheres of influence of Prussia and Bavaria, along with the Duchy of Trier.
Captain Ferris then pointed to the location of Freiburg on the eastern side of the map. "On the southern Rhine front, General Wurmser's Austrian Legion of ninety thousand men is preparing to move south into Basel."
"According to the General Staff's analysis, they likely intend to cross the river at the Rhine's Knee, bypass the Strasbourg fortress from southern Alsace, and launch an offensive toward Lorraine."
"Moreau's Legion has already completed its combat deployments according to the original plan."
Moreau's Legion had only forty-five thousand men. Although they were all elites of the New Army, they were still at a massive numerical disadvantage against ninety thousand Austrians. Therefore, his primary mission was strategic defense.
Basel was a small border town in Switzerland, but its geographical location was critically important as a key crossing point near the Rhine's Knee.
Of course, because Switzerland was so weak, Basel was practically a "public toilet." Whether it was Austria, France, or even Bavaria, they all came and went as they pleased.
Consequently, France could not rely on Switzerland to resist any invasion.
Moreau would attempt to intercept the Austrian army near Basel while they were in the middle of their river crossing.
Once Captain Ferris finished speaking, Lefebvre stood up. "Based on Lieutenant Colonel Masséna's judgment, the general offensive will likely begin in five days. Simultaneously, Moreau's Legion will launch a raid on the Austrian pontoon bridges east of Basel."
He turned toward Joseph and bowed. "Your Highness, the few of us had a brief discussion just now. Currently, our forces could retreat to Brussels to hold our ground. This would allow us to free up some troops to move from Liège to Luxembourg to assist Masséna's Legion."
His suggestion was by no means rooted in arrogance.
Even though the British-Prussian-Austrian Coalition had roughly fifty thousand men while the French forces in the Southern Netherlands numbered less than twenty-five thousand, previous battles had shown that the Walloon Defense Force was fully capable of combat. That meant an additional twelve thousand fresh troops.
At the same time, if they relied on Brussels for a defensive battle, even the four thousand men of the Flemish Defector Army could be put to use—they were perfectly capable of firing rifles from behind a breastwork under the cover of city defense cannons.
Therefore, it was entirely feasible to detach five or six thousand regulars from the main French force to fight in Luxembourg.
Even if they took a step back and the Coalition forces were suddenly possessed by the gods of war and began winning every engagement, the French army could still retreat and defend point by point to stall for time.
The Brussels district was vast and rich in resources. Even the Dutch, whose morale had previously been in the gutter, had managed to hold Brussels for nearly a month and a half.
As long as the French army avoided being annihilated in a large-scale engagement, it would be no problem to tie down the Duke of York for two or three months.
By that time, Masséna would have already routed the Coalition forces in the Rhineland and sent reinforcements to Brussels.
Davout, Masson, and the other officers all nodded in agreement; this was the consensus they had reached moments before.
Joseph, however, pulled out a report with a smile and shook his head. "I believe Masséna's Legion has sufficient numbers."
"We cannot focus solely on a stubborn defense of Brussels."
The group looked at him in surprise. Given their limited numbers, if they weren't defending, were they actually going to take the initiative to attack?
Joseph pushed the report to the center of the table. "This news just arrived. We have already taken control of Leuven."
Comments