Chapter 742 Right Swing Fist Plan

Chapter 743 Right Fist Plan

Joseph looked at Demobin and said: "Although they speak French and are willing to cooperate with us, if we rashly send troops into the Southern Netherlands, it will easily arouse their resistance."

Wallonia is still nominally Austrian territory and has its own autonomous government. In this era when nationalism is gradually awakening, all kinds of problems will inevitably arise if troops are forcibly sent to control a foreign area.

At that time, the emperor completely ignored the will of the local people and liked to use the army to rule roughly. In the end, the whole of Europe was filled with resentment and stood against France.

Demobin frowned and said: "Your Highness, are you going to give up Wallonia to the Austrians?"

"Of course not," Joseph leaned back in his chair calmly, "We have to wait until the Walloon Chamber of Commerce begs us to send troops. They don't like our army, but they hate the Austrian army even more."

The Walloon Chamber of Commerce is the local government management agency.

Mirabeau turned his head and asked: "You mean, we will wait until the Austrian army invades Wallonia before we take action?"

"So to speak."

Mirabeau said anxiously: "But in this case, the Austrian army will cause serious damage to our factory there!"

Joseph smiled and shook his head: "You have to have confidence in the police in Wallonia."

He looked at Fouche again: "The Intelligence Bureau needs to send people there to assist the Walloon Chamber of Commerce in dealing with emergencies. Next, we will discuss the plan for possible situations..."

At around three o'clock in the afternoon, after brainstorming by the staff, the operational plan for the Southern Netherlands had been roughly formed.

Later, Berthier began to introduce the enemy's possible strategic deployment in other directions: "Gelden has already assembled more than 50,000 enemy troops, mainly Prussians, and some British cavalry.

"Obviously, we will deploy a multi-layered defense line from Luxembourg to Verdun, which will be the main battlefield. In the early stage, four divisions will be invested in defense.

"In eastern Switzerland, the Austrian army may choose to attack our country's Strasbourg from the St. Bernard Pass or the Simplon Pass, and there is also a certain possibility of Saran."

Strasbourg is in the northeast of France, while Salin is in the east-central part of France, hundreds of kilometers apart.

"So our army must deploy at least three divisions on the eastern front." Berthier said, "After determining the enemy's attack direction, we will mobilize the Lorraine Army and the Lyon Army to assist in defense.

"With the assistance of the Sharp signal machine, the army should be able to arrive in time.

"According to the preliminary plan of the General Staff Headquarters, a total of 130,000 troops will be invested on the northern and eastern fronts. Another two divisions will be left as reserve forces...

"In addition, the country will form at least two new divisions within half a year..."

According to France's current army structure, an infantry division has approximately 10,000 soldiers.

Berthier basically put all his troops into the defense line, leaving less than 10,000 people in the rear.

Lieutenant Colonel Napoleon, who was sitting in the back row, couldn't help but frown slightly, feeling that there was something wrong with this battle plan.

He was about to express his opinion when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince suddenly stood up and interrupted the Chief of General Staff: "General Berthier, frankly speaking, although your plan is relatively safe, it has buried the advantage of our army.

"We should not, and cannot, put ourselves on the defensive side of the ball."

The officers in the conference room suddenly looked at each other.

We have 160,000 and others have 400,000. If we can defend it, it’s good. Do we still want to take the initiative to attack?

Only Napoleon looked at the Crown Prince in surprise, because he had thought the same thing just now.

Duke Broy hurriedly said: "Your Highness, our country's military strength is at an absolute disadvantage..."

Joseph nodded: "You are right, so we can't fight defensively.

"Defending strategically important areas will cause our army to lose its mobility and fall into a situation of attrition. It is impossible for us to defeat the enemy in terms of military strength and finances."

Napoleon kept nodding. It is impossible for the defensive troops to abandon the defense zone and leave, and the enemy will continue to invest troops to fight, which is equivalent to tying their own legs.

Joseph continued: "We must concentrate our forces to defeat the enemy in one direction, and then use our army's mobility advantage to quickly rush to the next point and launch an attack on the enemy there.

"We must try our best to eliminate the enemy forces before they fully deploy and form a siege on our important strategic nodes, or attack their important supply lines!

“Push the defense line into the enemy’s territory and we will always be safe.

"This is how the French army fights!"

After the officers all accepted his idea, Joseph came to the map again and began to describe the combat plan conceived on the way back to Paris from Madrid: "The terrain in Switzerland is rugged and it is difficult to transport logistical supplies, so the enemy's attack here is Not too fast.

"Our army's first attack point will be in the direction of Gelden..."

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He said this with great confidence, because this was roughly the process of the French army's counterattack during the first anti-French alliance in history.

At that time, the French army still had a large number of new troops, but it still fought all the way to the west bank of the Rhine.

Later, it was because of the political struggle between the Directory and the domestic chaos that the Prussians and Austrians seized the opportunity to push back and regain their lost ground.

The current French army has been preparing for many years, and its combat effectiveness is much higher than that of the new recruits during the Da Qiming period. Even if the number is slightly smaller, it should not be difficult to replicate the historical results.

At this moment, an officer walked in quickly and gently handed a report to Fouche.

The latter opened it and looked at it, then stood up and said to Joseph: "Your Highness, the news just sent from Italy is that Austria has probably obtained military access rights to Sardinia."

When everyone heard this, their expressions suddenly became more solemn.

Berthier looked at the map on the table and frowned: "This way the enemy has gained another attack point in the southeast."

Lefebvre continued: "And after May, the snow in the Alpine passes will melt, and it will be very easy to pass there. The enemy forces from the south are likely to invade our country before the north."

While the officers were anxiously discussing the new changes in the war situation, Joseph smiled and said in a voice that only he could hear: "This way, we will be closer."

He was naturally referring to the first anti-French alliance in history.

Sardinia finally succumbed to Austria and stood on the opposite side of France. But this is normal, after all, Austria still has very strong control over the Italian Peninsula at this time.

Joseph glanced at Napoleon sitting in the last row with deep meaning, and then pointed the location of Sardinia on the map with a thin stick: "It seems that we need to adjust the order of battle.

"Give Austria a right punch first."