Bazin guessed wrong, and Napoleon III also guessed wrong. They all thought that the purpose of Crown Prince Karl's legion was Bazin's main force, but they did not expect that the enemy would directly bypass Bazin's legion with a false shot.
The main force of more than 100,000 Prussian troops rushed out and crossed to the southwest, capturing towns and villages one after another along the way. Those remaining troops were no match for the elite Prussian troops and were almost defeated at the first touch.
The Marne, this important river that protects Paris, changed hands almost overnight!
All bridges and ferries were heavily manned, and engineers even laid a large number of bombs on the bridges. If the French dared to attack by force, they would be blown up directly.
All the ships were robbed, and Prince Carl divided the remaining main force into two, relying on each other in a horned state to jointly resist the French counterattack.
When Bazin saw that the Marne River had failed, he almost fainted with anger. He quickly dispatched the main force to attack in the southwest, and even the French Emperor's direct troops in Chalons began to provide support.
However, Prince Karl had already made up his mind to defend the Marne River. He began to build fortifications, and the situation suddenly reversed. The French became the attacking party while the Prussians took it easy.
Just after Prince Karl defeated two waves of enemy attacks, Old Moltke finally issued the order for a general attack. Steinmetz's army was the sharp knife that mainly attacked Bazin.
One hundred thousand Prussian troops inserted directly from the northeast of Bazin's Army. The attack position was very tricky. It was located right at the connection between Bazan's Army and McMahon's Army. It was also the most chaotic place to defend.
Prince Karl was waiting for this good opportunity. He ordered two armies of more than 60,000 people to outflank the Bazin Army from the south. In this way, Bazin became surrounded by enemies from both sides.
The Prussian troops in the north and south formed an angle that surrounded Bazin, but a huge gap appeared in the east of the army.
Bazin finally understood what the Prussians were trying to do: "Oh God! Damn Prussians, they are trying to cut me out of the Chalon defense system!"
"They are trying to force me to break out from the east, and then chase after me... They are trying to beat me back to Metz!"
"What a move to pieces. They are trying to break up the main force that His Majesty has gathered together so easily! They are vicious, really vicious!"
Bazin may have never dreamed that such a poisonous plan was not thought up by the Prussians at all, but by the Eastern head of state in Belgium who had a clear view of it.
It was Xiao Letian's exquisite deduction that led to such a dismantling plan. Xiao Letian's purpose was very clear, which was to cut apart the Bazan Army and force it to retreat to the east.
Then the army attacked Chalon City, and finally forced the French Emperor to flee to the north!
If everything goes well, when the King of France escapes to the Sedan area, he will have only 100,000 people left to burn incense!
What can one hundred thousand people do? Prussia can completely annihilate it with three or four times its troops!
Xiao Letian's proposal was completely a top military secret. It was not until 70 years after the end of the Franco-Prussian War that the German Archives decrypted the messages from that time in batches.
Scholars of later generations looked at the telegram sent by the head of state with great sadness. Everyone marveled at the head of state's accurate judgment of the overall strategic situation, especially his understanding of people's hearts.
But these declassified telegrams also caused quite a stir. At that time, many French nationalists went to the Chinese Embassy to protest strongly, which attracted the attention of the global media!
Many times, the strategy is not mysterious. The real strategy is something you can understand, but you can’t do anything about it!
This is what Bazin is encountering now. He already understands the Prussian plan, but what can he do if he understands it?
Prince Karl's army is in the south, and Steinmetz's army is in the north. They are both elite troops with high morale and sufficient supplies.
On the other hand, on our side, morale is low after consecutive defeats, and supplies are still in short supply. With such a force, what will happen even if you clearly see the enemy's plan? Can you beat it?
After consecutive battles and retreats, the Bazan Army was unable to withstand the flanking attacks of the two main Prussian forces. In the end, the old commander could only grit his teeth and issue an order for the troops to break out to the east.
"Leave here! March to the east. The children we left there are still waiting for me to save them!"
"We have not lost! Attack all the way east, and I will return your 200,000-strong army!"
Bazin finally broke through to the east, and the French Emperor in Chalons in the west continued to order McMahon to attack Steinmetz's corps. He strictly ordered McMahon to resume contact with Marshal Bazin.
But unexpectedly, as soon as McMahon's regiment took action, it was severely bombarded by Moltke and Bismarck headquarters regiments!
It was really an earth-shattering artillery battle. The Prussian army used more than 300 Krupp steel cannons, which hit McMahon's army like hailstones.
The French army that had just rushed out of the camp was bombed into a mess. The entire battlefield was littered with corpses, and the crying soldiers fled back like rats.
Originally, McMahon's army had been badly beaten in the Vosges Mountains. The crazy attack of Karl's army frightened their courage. This time they encountered a more elite Chinese army, and they almost retreated without a decent counterattack. Arriving at Chalon City.
At this point, half of Xiao Letian's plan was completed perfectly, and all that was left was to force the Emperor to flee north!
The Bazin Legion was driven away. The French Emperor looked at the thunderous sound of artillery in the east in horror. Despair welled up in his heart. He looked at his son beside him and sighed.
"Bazin is gone, how many of us are left?"
Prince Eugene lowered his head, "We have prepared a total of 400,000 people for this war... Paris and the Navy have transferred nearly 100,000..."
"Of the remaining 300,000 people, 100,000 have been dispersed during the war, and many of them are trapped in enemy-occupied areas!"
"We...we have a little more than 230,000 people in Chalon...Now Bazin has broken out with 100,000 people..."
"us……"
The prince couldn't continue talking. Even a fool can calculate such a simple math problem. The emperor's head was dizzy. "Are there only 130,000 people left? My magnificent Second Empire will leave me so few troops in the end?"
"My child...break out! Don't follow me, go find your mother, get out of here first..."
"No! Father, I won't leave. We still have hope... Our cavalry unit should have broken through the Belgian border last night!"
"I guess good news is on the way now! I can't leave, we still have a chance!"
But at this time, the Emperor no longer listened to his son. He growled, "Come here! Escort the Prince to Calais and execute the order immediately!"
The Imperial Guards swarmed in, and they dragged the prince out of the room, ignoring his struggles.
That night, Prince Eugène was secretly sent away from Chalons and headed northwest to the coastal city of Calais!
