Thiers still sells his theory of decisive war, but this time his remarks are more confusing. What he and Gambetta say is to use war to promote peace!
Gambetta did not know that Thiers had actually defected to the enemy. Based on his strategic and tactical considerations, this plan of promoting peace through war was still very feasible.
Looking at the north first, the city of Metz is currently under the control of Marshal Bazan. The city of Metz has undergone large-scale military expansion many years ago.
This is a highly defensive military town, absolutely easy to defend and difficult to attack!
More importantly, some sentinels in Metz had disguised themselves as ordinary people, escaped and established contact with Paris, and they brought shocking news.
It turns out that Metz City is not the 100,000 people that everyone thought before, but a full 170,000 troops trapped in the city!
When Marshal Bazin led his troops to retreat toward Metz, he never expected that there would be so many scattered French troops in the forests, mountains, and rural towns along the way.
These are all small units at the company and platoon level, and even some battalion-level units. They separated from their headquarters during the war and were isolated by the Prussians in the occupied area.
I had no choice but to fight guerrillas carefully on my own. When I encountered Bazin's large army this time, I immediately threw myself into its arms.
Just like this, they gathered together while walking along the way. When they arrived in Metz, as soon as Bazin's military flag was raised, all the trapped French troops around Metz gathered together.
By the final head count, 170,000 elite troops from the Empire had poured into the city of Metz, all of whom were veterans raised by the French Emperor for many years!
From the surrender of the French Emperor to the present, a total of three large-scale battles have occurred in Metz, and these 170,000 veterans actually withstood them all. Not only did the Prussians fail to capture the city, but the casualty ratio was much greater than that of the French army.
At this moment, as long as the Bazin Army can get a little material supplies or reinforcements of 10,000 or 20,000 people, its morale will naturally be high, and their persistence will definitely inspire the whole of France!
There is Metz in the north and Orleans in the south!
The Southern Corps has been renamed the Loire Corps and is entrenched along the Loire River to confront Prince Karl's Corps!
Although the Loire Corps are all new recruits from the south, the connection between this legion and the rear area is smooth, and they can continuously receive supplies from the south.
No matter the source of troops or materials, it is not a problem. Such a corps can only become bigger and bigger!
The Loire Corps and Prince Carl have formed a strategic tug-of-war, using the city of Orleans as a tug-of-war, fighting back and forth!
I believe that one day, when the strength of the Loire Corps reaches a certain level, a wild victory will never be lost!
In fact, both the north and the south may give birth to a victory that will boost the morale of the entire French military. Of course, the greatest possibility is in Paris, the core of all wars.
Thiers stood up and walked to the window, lit a cigarette for himself, looked at the restless Paris in the darkness, and said helplessly, "In a super metropolis with two million people, the weapons in the warehouse are enough to arm an army of 700,000..." "
"The total number of existing troops is nearly half a million... With such strength, why can't we win a victory that boosts the morale of the army? Why can't we..."
Thiers' sad tone infected Gambetta, and the interior minister stood up, "I also tried to persuade General Trochu, but the old general refused to send troops..."
"As for Blanqui and others, they won't listen to our orders at all... That's all, that's all, I'm going to leave the city right now!"
"Where are you going?" Thiers asked.
"I will go to the south and personally command the Loire Corps. France needs a victory, so I will give him a victory..."
"Member Thiers, please maintain communication with the enemy and wait for my good news... The Republic should indeed cease the war, and negotiations should have started long ago!"
"No, it's too dangerous..." Thiers was very worried on the surface, but he was smiling on the inside because he knew very well that there would never be a so-called victory.
In the current situation, the more the Republic takes the initiative, the faster it will fail!
Even if you are lucky enough to win a battle, once Napoleon III is released, the royalists in southern France will stir up trouble.
So even a small victory would be completely shattered by the news that the Emperor was released from prison!
Of course Gambetta didn't care about the danger. He said goodbye and left Thiers' villa, and went back at night to arrange work. He was ready to break out and leave Paris within a week.
But I never expected that the Prussians would suddenly accelerate the increase of troops in the last few days. On September 19th, the Paris encirclement was officially closed!
All of Paris was shocked. They watched as the last road to the west of the city was cut off by the Prussians, and the last batch of supplies was intercepted and snatched away by the Prussian troops on the main road.
At that moment, countless desperate cries rang out from the crowd. Paris was really surrounded, and the last breathable gap was tightly blocked!
Prussian officers riding tall horses galloped back and forth in a mighty manner outside the range of Paris's defenses. They laughed endlessly as they watched the last supply carriage flee into the city in horror.
The angry French army fired at these arrogant cavalry, but the bullets landed more than ten meters away from the cavalry.
That night, before the Provisional National Defense Government opened its mouth, the Central Committees of the 20 districts issued a declaration of war!
"In view of the experience given to us by the great French Revolution, popular war is the most powerful weapon to resist all invaders... With two million Parisians united, we can defeat all enemies!"
The horn of charge sounded throughout Paris, and people gathered together to give speeches to boost morale all night long. The recruitment office was full of people, and many children aged fifteen or sixteen received weapons.
In the city's feverish atmosphere of preparations for war, the only exception was the Porte de Chapelle, which was the defense zone of the National Guard because it was close to Montmartre.
But the defense here is the weakest in Paris. Even on the night of the siege of Paris, Eugene and Andrew transported a cart of cultural relics to trade with the Chinese.
On the city gate, a pair of wolf-like eyes stared at Eugene and Andrew. "Have you found all the evidence? Follow them and start where there is no one..."
Eugene and Andrew never expected that they would be attacked by a group of National Guardsmen less than twenty minutes after leaving the city, and all of their men were tied up.
Raoul Rigault sneered cruelly and said, "Collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country during the war? You are so brave to do business with the enemy... Take him away and put him in prison..."
Without any explanation, they blocked their mouths with a few pieces of rags. Eugene, Andrew and several workers were thrown directly into the car and dragged back to the city along with the cultural relics.
Watching the cultural relics return to the city, Raoul Rigaud turned his head and looked at the two people kneeling on the ground in the darkness, both of whom were also tied up.
"I can't open my eyes! I really can't open my eyes... I have to torture him before he admits his identity as a secret policeman... He won't talk until he's beaten, right?"
"Don't forget, I am the Paris Police Commissioner! You are all my subordinates. If you don't obey orders, you will be killed without mercy..."
Before he could finish speaking, two National Guardsmen kicked a secret policeman down and shot him in the head without saying a word!
With a bang, * and blood spurted all over the other person's body!
Note: The third update is here. Happy Dragon Boat Festival to all my book friends!
Thanks to the book friends for the red envelope rewards: Dongfang Jin Ge Wei Ming, Fu Sheng Jing, Jin Yao Ri??, 17k book friend 0hxpr4dt9, Sunny 634869711, Lovely Wutong Wow, 17k book friend z...
