He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 392

(392) The Prussian Grenadiers Charge

The enemy is too fast.

“Good heavens, never mind the British army across the Channel, or even the Austrian or Hungarian forces! Already, the French are coming?”

Outside Berlin, an uproar erupted at Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam.

The so-called conscription system began to spread across Europe from France in the late 18th century, during the revolutionary period.

However, apart from the former Austrian territories that suffered the most under France, it had not yet become established as a widespread system.

This wasn’t due to human rights concerns, but because creating a system that mobilizes the entire population is incredibly difficult.

France was able to implement it only because of the emergency situation where all of Europe was involved in the counter-revolutionary war; whether it’s public resistance or administrative costs, it’s by no means simple.

Therefore, the Prussian court could only be astonished.

How long has it been since the declaration of war, and they’ve already gathered their troops and are marching?

The man who brought the information, Bavarian Minister Montgelas, bowed his head.

“Yes, Your Excellency State Minister Stein. It is said that the vanguard of the French army has already crossed the Rhine River.”

“Don’t the princes of the former Imperial territories have any pride? Are they just giving way without any resistance?”

“Rather, they are being forced to participate in the war as members of the Confederation of the Rhine [a union of German states allied with Napoleon].”

Montgelas responded to the horrified Prussian Minister, Baron Stein, politely but firmly.

“The first line of defense is Hanover, not our Bavaria.”

In fact, what surprised the Prussian King was not the speed of the march but the speed of mobilization.

Because within the former Holy Roman Empire, the Prussian line infantry was by no means slow.

The famous Frederick the Great, in fact, from the time of his predecessor, the Soldier King, the Prussian army was famous for its strong discipline, training, and harsh punishments.

Therefore, even if the French army boasts a march of 24 kilometers a day, Prussia is confident that it will not lag behind.

But the mobilization power alone is astonishing.

After all, even if Prussia mobilizes its entire army, it barely exceeds 200,000.

But the French Empire, or rather Napoleon, has mobilized 300,000 for foreign expeditions.

Suddenly, the Prussian Foreign Minister, Hardenberg, asked.

“Baron Montgelas, does Archduke Maximilian intend to side with France?”

“Of course not, Baron Hardenberg. But Bavaria is too weak to stand against the mighty French Empire.”

“At least you could hinder the army’s advance!”

However, Montgelas retorted with a polite yet unyielding attitude.

“It’s 300,000 against 50,000. Do you truly wish for Bavaria, or rather the House of Wittelsbach, to perish in this generation?”

Of course, the corps active on the eastern front of France numbers around 200,000.

The French Imperial Guard, the 2nd Corps Helvetia, the 3rd Corps Bohemia, and the 4th Corps of Viceroy Eugene.

Naturally, not all of these soldiers crossed the Rhine.

It means that Eugene’s 4th Corps has crossed.

Nevertheless, the princes of the former Holy Roman Empire in the Rhine region feel the pressure of the entire French Empire.

A great power right next door that can mobilize a large army at any time.

In the past, when the Holy Roman Empire was still functioning, it was different.

It could stand against it with Austria as the center, and France only conscripted a large army but did not use it efficiently.

However, since Napoleon appeared, [rapid maneuver] has become the central doctrine of the French army, and the situation has changed drastically.

A country that cannot mobilize a large army comparable to France can no longer resist the French army.

Suddenly, Prussian King Frederick William waved his hand.

“Very well. Thank you for informing us of the situation. Then, I will ask for other cooperation.”

“Even in the current situation, Bavaria is taking enough risks.”

“We need very accurate information on the enemy’s movements.”

Frederick urged Montgelas with a grave face.

“Please pass on as much information as possible about the enemy’s advance to our military. Surely you can do that much?”

Bavaria has already joined the Confederation of the Rhine.

The Confederation of the Rhine is not just a union of princes in the Rhine region.

During the Second War of the Anti-French Coalition, France dissolved the Holy Roman Empire.

Instead, it created a union of western princes, which was essentially an alliance that promised non-aggression in exchange for being subordinate to Napoleon.

Just coming to Prussia to report on the war situation is already a great risk for Bavaria.

And now, to report on military movements?

Who knows what will happen if France finds out.

Nevertheless, Baron Montgelas could not refuse.

“…I understand, Your Majesty.”

Later generations tend to think of the Holy Roman Empire as just a formal, old institution.

However, to the people of that time, especially the nobles of the empire, it was a strong system that guaranteed their authority, wealth, and status.

Even the Grand Duke of Bavaria was a noble of high status as an [Elector, one of the princes entitled to elect the Holy Roman Emperor], wasn’t he?

Even though France, which destroyed this system, became a monarchy, it is still the enemy of the nobles.

Also, now that nationalism has begun to sprout, it was also the enemy of the German people.

Therefore, Bavaria found it difficult to refuse Prussia’s request for various reasons.

Suddenly, a soldier in uniform, watching Baron Montgelas heavily leaving, said.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. Thanks to you, information gathering will be much easier.”

“Look here, General Scharnhorst. What good is this? We can also find out about the enemy’s movements. We’re more concerned about being caught by Bohemia or Galicia!”

“Hungary will block that.”

The head of the Prussian General Staff, Scharnhorst, spread a map on the King’s office desk and replied.

-Thwack!

Although the situation is urgent, Prussia is not idle.

Before Montgelas arrived, the King, ministers, and key military figures gathered to repeatedly discuss strategies.

Even Prince Louis Ferdinand came to participate.

It was just that the French army’s advance was faster than expected.

Scharnhorst updated the newly acquired French army information on the map.

“Look at this map. This is the current structure of Europe.”

The map reveals Prussia’s structure, surrounded from east to west.

“Our Prussia is surrounded by Russian Poland to the east and British Hanover to the west.”

“It’s truly an impossible structure to expand. Of course, we occupied Hanover, but after that, there’s the Confederation of the Rhine.”

“Furthermore, to the south, we are blocked by Bohemia and Galicia, French satellite states. However, if this structure becomes an anti-French alliance, it changes like this.”

Scharnhorst moved the pieces of the game, red and blue, black and white, back and forth as he explained.

“Hungary and Austria block Russia, Galicia, and Bohemia. Also, our Prussia, along with England and Spain, will surround France. The battlefield will rather be in the Confederation of the Rhine area.”

In short, the essence of Scharnhorst’s strategy is that the war does not take place within Prussia.

In fact, Prussia is not yet a country with a very high level of loyalty from its people.

Perhaps this is the difference from the later German Empire in original history.

However, the loyalty of the landed aristocracy centered on the Junkers [Prussian nobles] and the military officers based on them is like ardent fire, and to utilize this point, the battlefield must be abroad.

Here, the intention of England to strategically isolate France came into play.

Even though they lost the Kingdom of Hanover to Prussia, they sent aid through Castlereagh without a single protest.

For Prussia, which had been suffering from financial difficulties due to military expansion, it was truly a welcome rain during a drought.

Prince Louis Ferdinand, who had been staring intently at the map, whistled.

“Whew! So, it’s a reverse encirclement.”

“That’s right.”

“Then the question is whether we can beat the French Imperial Army. What do you think, can we win? Blücher?”

The white-haired general, who had been listening to the story leaning back until then, raised his eyebrows.

At the age of 64, originally from the Kingdom of Sweden, he was a veteran who had roamed the battlefield since the Seven Years’ War.

He could not rise to the top of the military because he was a commoner, but he was the most respected general in the Prussian military.

However, his fiery temper was still the same even in his old age, and he glared at the provocative words.

The old general, Blücher, bared his teeth and growled.

“Prinz Louis, don’t underestimate our army! Prussia has never lost to France. It will be the same this time!”

Of course, it’s a statement mixed with exaggeration.

Because they lost at Valmy, led by the Duke of Brunswick, who is also present in this place.

However, the main force of the Battle of Valmy at that time was Austria, and Prussia was only in charge of providing tribute.

“This Blücher will send the Corsican bumpkin [a derogatory term for Napoleon, referring to his Corsican origins] back to the island again!”

In the end, even the indecisive King Frederick made a decision at Blücher’s boastful words.

“Good. I will delegate the command of the entire Prussian army to the General Staff! Furthermore, I will also participate in the war!”

Then the Prussian military generals all took a military salute.

-Chuck!

The time has come for the 200,000 Prussian standing army to set out.

***

In Berlin, at the Prussian [Army General Staff], Blücher sat down and grumbled.

“I made a boast in front of the King, but damn it, those French baguette bastards are not ordinary.”

Blücher has a fiery personality and is a general who has been fighting for a very long time.

However, he was sensitive to changes in the times and was also good at recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy.

He had already felt keenly that the war was completely different from the Seven Years’ War when he marched into Flanders during the Revolutionary War.

Besides, isn’t Napoleon the one who dissolved the Holy Roman Empire?

Above all, Blücher is not the Supreme Commander of the Prussian Army.

Above Blücher are Brunswick, Hohenlohe, and Louis Ferdinand.

The Prussian military is dominated by traditional aristocratic generals.

Scharnhorst offered coffee, soothing Blücher, who frowned.

“Massena has headed south, but those coming our way are no joke. The vanguard is Eugene, Augereau is coming to the Swiss side, and Moreau and Bernadotte are waiting in Bohemia.”

“Napoleon himself is preparing to set out from the homeland, right?”

“Yes, but if the vanguard is defeated in the initial battle, all of this will change.”

Scharnhorst smiled and pointed to the south of the map, the Bohemia and Swiss sides, with his baton.

“First of all, Moreau and Bernadotte are by no means proactive. They will watch the situation and move passively. Augereau has antipathy towards the imperial system. Then Napoleon will be alone.”

In the end, although it is said to be 300,000, the main force is two corps.

The vanguard, Eugene’s Corps, 30,000 men.

Napoleon’s Imperial Guard headquarters, 70,000 men.

The other units are scattered in Spain, Bohemia, and Switzerland, making it possible to defeat them individually.

Then, Karl von Grolman, Scharnhorst’s friend and one of the important staff members of the General Staff, laughed.

“Heh heh, many people mistakenly believe that individual defeat is Napoleon’s exclusive property, but in fact, we Prussians are the experts in individual defeat!”

Because the strategy that the famous Frederick the Great showed was individual defeat.

The only way to defeat a large number of powerful countries with a small elite.

Divide the front and move at high speed, then defeat the dispersed enemies one by one.

Perhaps this is the only strategy that Prussia, which is extremely behind France in terms of mobilization resources, can win.

Blücher nodded.

“In the end, we have to defeat the vanguard. Viceroy Eugene, you said?”

“The conqueror of Egypt.”

“Also the conqueror of Constantinople. Of course, he had the help of Hoche and Marceau, but he still won’t be a pushover.”

Blücher and Scharnhorst, Grolman, and other General Staff officials put their heads together.

Strictly speaking, this is only a true [staff group] and has no decision-making power.

The decision-makers are ultimately the King, and in reality, the aristocratic generals.

However, Prussia is a country with a practical spirit, separate from its authoritarian, rigid, and extremely vertical social structure.

Once a discussion is decided here, the aristocratic generals will follow it unless there is a major problem.

The problem is that the opponent is not just a mere young man.

How should we deal with Eugene, who has clearly achieved tremendous results?

Then Scharnhorst smiled and shook his head.

“But according to intelligence, there is a significant weakness.”

Blücher raised his eyebrows.

“What is it, Chief of Staff Scharnhorst?”

“It’s intelligence sent by Gneisenau from Paris.”

“Gneisenau? Ah, you mean the staff officer who was dragged to France. Hasn’t he defected yet?”

Gneisenau had not yet distinguished himself in the military at this point.

Therefore, Blücher only remembered him as a promising middle-aged officer.

Scharnhorst felt a little sorry and reported the intelligence from Gneisenau, a high-level informant.

“He is still full of loyalty to Prussia and the Germanic people. Anyway, according to Gneisenau’s report, the army led by Viceroy Eugene is truly a ragtag group.”

This is also what the command of Viceroy Eugene’s army said, so it is not false information.

However, it may be a rather unfair assessment from the perspective of the experienced veterans.

But from the perspective of a Prussian officer, it is true that it is a military with a lack of discipline.

Blücher, who was skimming through the report, showed interest in his eyes.

“Hmm, a unit composed of veterans and new recruits.”

“If we clash head-on, it will be difficult for them to stand against our line infantry.”

“But according to the Bavarian Prime Minister, they are advancing at high speed, right?”

Then one of the staff members, Hermann von Boyen, hurriedly reported.

“It is certain that they have disregarded supply and troop organization. It is a speed that could never have been achieved if they had moved the army properly.”

This shows that the Prussian military has been closely analyzing the French Imperial Army.

The French Imperial Army, or rather its predecessor, the Revolutionary Army, was famous for its fast march.

In particular, the Italian Corps led by Napoleon had even shown a marching speed close to that of cavalry.

However, unless they were given special drugs, an army made up of the same people meant that they had sacrificed something to move at high speed.

Napoleon’s corps sacrificed supplies.

That means that the French army is sacrificing a lot in terms of firepower, especially artillery.

One picture came to the minds of the Prussian Army General Staff.
The sight of an army, naked, starving, and short of gunpowder or shells, wandering through enemy territory.

We can win.

Blücher grinned and asked.

“Good. Then, where do you think we should catch them?”

Scharnhorst answered clearly this time as well.

“We must catch them in Mainz, the heart of the Confederation of the Rhine.”

That place would be the perfect stage for the French army, which has reached its supply limit, to be annihilated.

***

Lustgarten, soon to be a famous garden and parade ground in Berlin.

In later original history, it is also a place often used by the German Empire and the Nazis.

This time as well, before the Prussian Royal Army formally set out, a parade event was held.

With the citizens watching from afar and the nobles watching from the platform, King Frederick William III shouted.

“Prepare to depart! The 1st Army will be led by Duke Brunswick, the 2nd Army by Duke Hohenlohe, the 3rd Army by Prinz Louis Ferdinand, and the 4th Army by Lieutenant General Blücher! All armies must cooperate to annihilate the enemy!”

The army led by Blücher is in fact the 4th Army, which is essentially a reserve force.

Although divided into four armies, it was not organized into corps like the French.

The Prussian army still maintains the old organization composed of regiments, and is only experimentally introducing a division system.

In terms of military system reform, it was rather behind Hungary, which was the former Austrian territory.

However, it is surprising enough that the commoner Blücher became the commander of the 4th Army.

“They still don’t give me complete authority to the end.”

“This is enough of a bold decision. From His Majesty’s point of view.”

“Indeed, can that old-fashioned relic even face the French Imperial Army?”

Just as Blücher was grumbling, Scharnhorst smiled and replied.

“We only need to catch the Viceroy’s army first, Your Excellency.”

Most of the army has already begun to march south of Potsdam.
The units that are parading here now are representative regiment soldiers from each army.

Immediately after the event, all the generals are scheduled to rush to their respective units.

King Frederick shouted.

“I wish you victory!”

It was then.

“Urgent report!”

Everyone was surprised by the messenger who suddenly ran up.

In the rigid Prussian society, it is impossible for a messenger to run into a parade presided over by the King.

However, Frederick could not help but take it seriously when he saw the messenger.

Because it was Foreign Minister Hardenberg, who had recently gone on an inspection tour to the occupied territory of Hanover.

“What’s going on? Foreign Minister?”

“Urgent report that the French army has already passed Frankfurt and crossed Kassel!”

“What?”