xymnovel Chapter 33: Each side takes a step back, and they compromise.
Chapter 33: Each side takes a step back, and they compromise.
The attitude of a French crown prince and governor of Paris carries far more weight than others imagine, especially since Montauban is the newly appointed prime minister, and he needs the support of the royal family even more.
After arguing for a while, Montauban, having calmed down, did not continue to retaliate against Eugène.
The French prime minister has realized how wrong his rhetoric was; he had been confronting Crown Prince Eugene and saying so many things he shouldn't have.
"So, Your Highness, what are your thoughts?"
"Order Bazan's Legion to retreat and form a complete defensive line with Field Marshal McMahon's Legion, rather than two scattered individuals."
Bazin was incompetent at the front, and McMahon wasn't much better. These two French marshals were simply no match for the likes of Moltke from Prussia.
Leaving aside Bazan's indecisiveness, McMahon also violated basic operational principles in the future by choosing the wrong route of detouring through the border city of Sedan to rescue Metz.
From the actual battlefield situation, for McMahon, the shortest, fastest, and most reliable route to Metz was to go directly through the Prussian 3rd Army.
Of course, doing so requires keen strategic vision as well as the courage and determination to defeat a powerful enemy, but he lacked the necessary qualities in both aspects, and thus he had no choice but to embark on the path of being annihilated in Sedan.
Sedan is a tiny place, only 8 kilometers from the Belgian border to the north, and bordered by the Meuse River to the west and southwest.
During the battle, more than 10 French troops were squeezed into an arc-shaped area with a depth and front of only three or four kilometers by the Prussian army, making it impossible for them to maneuver or to properly disperse and deploy.
Thus, the losses caused by the Prussian army's concentrated bombardment of several hundred artillery pieces alone would be enough to make the French army unable to hold out.
In Eugène's view, it would be better not to give these two marshals too much room to maneuver. They should just hold the Meuse River, inflict as much damage as possible on the Prussian army, and buy more time for Paris.
However, Montauban shook his head, saying he couldn't meet that condition.
"Your Highness, I cannot force Bazin to retreat, but I can promise on behalf of the Cabinet that your previously submitted bill on expanding the military in Paris will be approved. You will be allowed to recruit an additional 6 new soldiers from Paris and the surrounding provinces, with all weapons, equipment, and provisions to be allocated by the Ministry of War. At the same time, the Cabinet will also approve your previous request to expand the Guards by two regiments."
The 13th Army's expansion plan had been underway for some time. After unfavorable news came from the front lines on August 6, the 13th Army began its expansion.
However, based on history, the final number of personnel was 60,000, but given the French tendency, Victor only managed to keep around 40,000 in mind.
Therefore, the crown prince has been hoping to increase the quota by another 3 men, allowing him to expand the force to 9. An army of 9 men is comparable to an army group, which is why the cabinet government has been unwilling to approve it.
Olivier disagreed, and Montauban was equally unwilling to agree. However, he was now prepared to accept Eugène's proposed expansion of the military, thus achieving a reconciliation with Eugène.
Sure enough, Montauban's words surprised even Eugène. He had indeed been pushing for the expansion of the Paris military, but the cabinet had previously made various excuses, citing tight military spending. He hadn't expected Montauban to take the initiative to agree at this time.
However, Eugène had no intention of backing down; he saw Bazin's army group as far more important, and he asked Montauban directly. Of course, because Montauban's attitude had softened, his tone became much more relaxed.
"The Prime Minister wants to use his authority to expand the army in exchange for Bazan's desperate defense of Metz? But I don't understand. The Meuse River line is clearly more suitable for defense, and Bazan's army is clearly our only main force capable of fighting against the Prussian army. Why insist on keeping him tied down in that half-finished fortress?"
"Look here, from Metz to Saint-Miille, a full 120 kilometers of defensive line, there are now less than 30,000 local garrison troops. If we withdraw Bazan's legions here and connect them with McMahon, we can form a complete defensive line in depth."
But you insist on trapping 17 men in Metz, which is tantamount to turning half of our main force into an isolated army. Who will fill this gap in the defensive line?
"No one can fix it, but it doesn't need to be fixed."
Montauban took a deep breath and revealed the real reason why he was determined to defend Metz: in his view, Eugène's military capabilities were indeed superior to his, but his political acumen was somewhat lacking.
"Your Highness, you only see the military aspects, not the politics and logistics. Metz is not an ordinary fortress; it was the Empire's eastern logistics center, cultivated for ten years before the war. Do you know how much supplies were stockpiled there?"
It's enough food for 30 troops for three months, ammunition for 200 artillery pieces, and enough rifles and uniforms to equip five divisions. The Prussian army can reach the Moselle River in three days; we simply don't have time to move all these supplies.
Once Metz is abandoned, all of this will become Prussian spoils of war, allowing them to advance directly to the gates of Paris without relying on supplies from their homeland thousands of miles away.
Montauban and Eugénie clearly valued political and logistical issues more. Having never seen the Prussian army, they did not believe the French army was much inferior to the Prussian army.
Therefore, the two insisted on holding Metz, believing that once the rear recovered, they could naturally push the Prussian army back. In their view, the supplies in the fortress were enough for Bazan to sustain them until their allies arrived.
At this point in Montauban's discussion, Eugène seemed to understand. Throughout the entire conversation, the two had never been on the same wavelength; Eugène was somewhat using future answers to deduce the present situation.
No one present could have imagined that the Prussian army could annihilate McMahon's army and advance directly to the outskirts of Paris. In their minds, they knew that Bazin would be besieged, but the French army, fighting on home ground, would eventually push back. Therefore, their sense of military crisis was far less intense than Eugène's.
Thinking of this, Euren felt a strange headache coming on. He couldn't carry him, he really couldn't. What else could he say?
Does that mean that if the French army pointed fingers and cursed everyone, they wouldn't be able to defeat the Prussian army at all? Placing Bazin in Metz was just asking for Prussian annihilation.
"The most important thing is time. Bazin's 17 men remaining in Metz can tie down at least two Prussian corps, a total of 15 troops. Moltke cannot leave such a large army behind and directly attack Paris."
This will buy us at least a month. A month is enough for McMahon to reorganize the Army of Charon, enough for the defenses of Paris to be completed. Without this month, we can do nothing.
Although he understood that this decision would be a mistake in the future, in the present moment, in this meeting room, and considering all factors, he was right.
Eugène, in his impatience, learned a valuable lesson: Montauban was not as useless as Eugène had imagined. Although its military tactics were outdated, its overall strategic vision was indeed stronger than Eugène's.
Moreover, Eugène knew that Montauban was telling the truth. Historically, it was Bazin who tied down nearly half of the Prussian army in Metz, giving Paris time to mobilize for defense.
It was only due to the government's misguided directives that everything fell apart.
Eugène has decided to back down. Since he can't completely change things, he'll try to get more conditions in return, and then he can push back from Paris later.
Even if Bazan follows the historical timeline, he wouldn't surrender until the end of October. Starting from the beginning of September, he would have had two months to relieve the siege of Metz.
Moreover, if he had shown signs of reversing course before then, it is believed that with his abundant stockpiles of supplies, Bazan could have held out for much longer than until the end of October.
However, Eugène, who had suddenly gained a clearer understanding, was not entirely at ease, because he knew that once Bazin was besieged, the politicians in Paris would panic, sometimes ordering him to hold the line, sometimes forcing him to break out, and finally forcing McMahon to abandon the defensive line and detour to Sedan to provide relief, ultimately leading to the complete annihilation of the two main forces.
"I can accept Bazan staying in Metz."
After much deliberation, Eugène, feeling he had shown sufficient respect, finally spoke and offered his terms.
"I have two conditions. If either one is missing, I will reject the plan and personally send a telegram to my father at the front to explain my position."
Although Nathaniel and Montauban disliked him and didn't want him to return, it was impossible for him to have no influence in Paris if he didn't come back.
Therefore, Eugène's threat was quite effective, Montauban said, now a little more relaxed.
"Your Highness, please speak."
"First, orders must be clear and cannot be changed frequently. Bazin was given only one order: hold Metz at all costs, rely on existing fortifications to inflict as many casualties on the Prussian army as possible, and buy time for Paris."
No one is to be asked to break out without authorization, nor to be given any ambiguous instructions. They must either hold out until the last soldier is left, or wait for our orders before acting. There must be no more chaos of alternating between holding and retreating.
"Then McMahon's Shallon Army and his father's direct army had to withdraw to the west bank of the Meuse River and rely on Verdun and Saint-Miille to build a defensive line."
We must stabilize our defenses first before considering a solution. I don't want to see anyone sacrifice another main force to save a lone army, ultimately leaving Paris wide open.
Montauban's expression changed repeatedly after Eugène had pointed out his thoughts. He had indeed originally planned to order McMahon to lead reinforcements if the battle in Mays became critical.
The two conditions Eugène proposed were not particularly demanding; they were mainly to prevent the problem of inconsistent orders and to stop Bazan from constantly trying to break out of the encirclement, thus preventing him from sending soldiers to their deaths unnecessarily.
Having appeased Eugène and with both sides having compromised, Montauban was no longer willing to fight for his interests. The argument in the conference room today had already caused him to lose face, and the old and weary Montauban decided to let it go.