Prince Carl now has only 180,000 troops at his disposal, of which 100,000 infantry are deployed on the Orleans defense line. Most of his troops are highly mobile units such as cavalry.
If these more than 80,000 troops are deployed to Orleans, I really won't be able to block the entrance to the Vosges Mountains!
When he was worried, he suddenly thought of the Bavarian Corps that had just arrived for reinforcements. Currently, the troops of the two armies were coming to support him day and night.
"Sixty thousand new troops! It seems that we can only let the new troops go. Pass my order, and the Bavarian First Army will go directly to Orleans to support...the Second Army will go straight to Dijon!"
"Send a telegram to the Prime Minister and tell him that I am seriously short of artillery shells here... I can still raise food locally and save on medicines, but the artillery cannot be without artillery shells!"
"No matter what we do, logistics supplies must keep up..."
Prince Carl did not know that Gambetta of Orleans had already begun to organize a large number of guerrillas in southern France through his own command system.
Many munitions warehouses sealed by Napoleon III were opened. Anyone in France, as long as they are young and middle-aged, can get guns and ammunition, and even guns can be obtained.
You won’t know if you don’t check, but you’ll be shocked if you check! Only then did Gambetta realize how rich the family fortune left by the French Emperor was. The Bonaparte family really attached great importance to military construction. Over the years, the French Emperor had countless weapons in stock.
In September alone, statistics from the South released 350,000 rifles and one million rounds of ammunition. Although they were all old-fashioned Mini rifles, this number was already very frightening.
For guerrillas, the cheap and reliable Minie rifle is more suitable, because this kind of rifle does not require fixed bullets with metal cartridge cases. You can process Minie bullets by yourself by getting some guns and warheads.
These brave French soldiers tried every means to sneak attack the Prussian army, and the trains traveling on the railway tracks became their most concerned targets.
The Bavarian First Army and the Second Army were transferred to Prince Karl by Moltke. These two troops were attacked numerous times while riding the train.
A captain wrote in his memoirs, "At night, we stopped at an unknown station. The sky was covered with stars and the autumn wind was blowing outside the carriage..."
"No one knows why we stopped, but there were faint explosions in the distance... Half an hour later, the major informed me that the Prussian logistics train ahead was attacked, and the bomb buried under the tracks happened to be blown up. The carriage containing the artillery shells was destroyed, and the chain reaction turned more than 100 meters of railway track and the train into wreckage..."
"With no choice, our troops had no choice but to get out of the car and march forward on foot, but a terrifying night began..."
"At one o'clock in the night, on the field path parallel to the railway, the light of the torch raised by the Bavarian soldiers drew out a long dragon, and the end could not be seen at a glance. The tired soldiers were approaching in the direction of Orleans..."
"But just when we were at our most exhausted, there was a sudden burst of gunfire in the woods on the left wing of the team, and bullets were fired at us. My bugler couldn't dodge and was shot directly in the head..."
"The team suddenly became panicked. It was difficult to identify the enemy's position in the dark night. Although we launched a fierce counterattack, no one knew how many attackers were killed..."
"The shooting from both sides lasted for a quarter of an hour, and the enemy's firepower never stopped. It was not intensive but continuous..."
"Until the end, the battalion commander sent a company of soldiers to conduct a hand-to-hand assault and rushed into the woods to drive away those disgusting sneak attackers!"
"Who knew this would be the beginning of a nightmare... From that moment on, throughout the night march we encountered countless sneak attacks. God knows how many hateful guerrillas are hidden in the dark French countryside?"
"They are not many in number. Judging from the shooting density, they are only a small force of fifty or sixty people. There are even ultra-small teams of twenty or thirty people..."
"The number of people is small, but the blow to morale is very serious. The 30,000-strong integrated army was harassed by these flies all night, and only advanced 20 kilometers in six hours. This is simply a shame!"
"After daybreak, the army temporarily repaired for half an hour. After statistics, we found that 82 of our troops died in battle that night, and as many as 320 people were injured in the chaos..."
"The price the enemy paid was only six corpses. Such a result made the entire army feel depressed..."
"But the Prussian orders are very strict. They ordered us to arrive in Orleans within 12 hours. The Prussian army there has been fighting hard for two days. I heard that the French have gone completely crazy!"
"In the face of military orders, we have no choice. The overall situation of German reunification has been decided. Now is the critical moment to fight for the interests of Bavaria. The more credit we get in this war, the easier it will be for the king of Munich to be at the negotiating table!"
"Our beloved Majesty! May God bless you, please cheer up..."
The captain did not know what kind of cruel battlefield was waiting for him ahead. The commander forced the march regardless of the soldiers' fatigue. He knew that the soldiers needed to rest but did not dare to give this order.
They knew very well that the probability of these guerrilla attacks could be reduced only during the day. In order to reach Orleans within the time specified in the order, they could only forcefully march.
The sights they saw along the way shocked all the Bavarian officers and soldiers. The French adopted a strategy of fortifying the walls and clearing the country. All villages were deserted. Everything that could be used as war supplies was taken away, and what could not be taken away was burned.
There are even extreme villages that are willing to burn down houses that have been left for hundreds of years, and the French plains are filled with black smoke everywhere.
After traveling for more than ten kilometers, you can see only a few dozen French people. The old, weak, sick and disabled all stare at these invaders with angry eyes. If eyes could kill, they would have died ten thousand times!
Drinking cold water and eating dry food, the Bavarian Army began a forced march in the enemy's hinterland. The commander knew that it would be impossible for the entire army to arrive in Orleans in twelve hours. He could only let the entire army's cavalry set off first, as long as the vanguard could arrive on time. , maybe you can get forgiveness from Prince Carl?
The cavalry ran wildly throughout the day and finally arrived at the Prussian rear defense line in the northeastern part of Orleans City at seven o'clock in the evening. When they saw the fighting battlefield, they all screamed in surprise.
To the northeast is the rear of the Prussian army. There are medical tents everywhere here. All the wounded soldiers who can be rescued have been sent here. The air is filled with the pungent smell of blood and disinfectant.
The screams were endless, and all the Prussian soldiers who retreated from the battlefield were in panic, as if they had been through hell.
"How is the battle situation ahead? Who can tell me how the battle situation is?" the cavalry battalion commander asked loudly.
"Crazy! Those French people are all crazy..." Many of the wounded soldiers were already hysterical, with fear in their eyes.
"This is the city of Joan of Arc! We invaded here and were punished by heaven!"
"Those French people shouted the name of the saint and charged at us. One battalion was destroyed by artillery fire, and only a few dozen people were left who refused to retreat!"
"There were French people everywhere, and they rushed up with military flags from different places waving... I heard countless accents..."
"Soldiers from all France are gathered here... God, please have mercy on me..."
Hearing these words from the mouths of the Prussian soldiers, who were known for their rigor, showed that the spirits of these soldiers had completely collapsed!
