Within the Prussian army, the question of when to send troops has also become a very hot topic, although close to Christmas, 80% of the Prussian army entered a state of combat readiness and went to the front, but for the soldiers, they did not affect the state because of the approaching Christmas, and even in the three divisions assembled in western Saxony, there was a saying that "Christmas march to congratulate His Majesty the King".
As the top priority of Prussia, the army has always been the focus of William's attention, and with the progress of military reform and Prussia's financial abundance, the treatment of the army has gradually increased under Wilhelm's orders.
In Prussia, there has always been a saying that "no matter how poor you are, you can't be poor in education, and no matter how hard you are in the army", this saying is exactly the expression of Prussia's national spirit, and a knowledgeable and educated army is the most powerful great wall of a country.
Looking out the window at the army training in the bitter cold, Scharnhorst's face was full of smiles.
Two years ago, Scharnhorst was appointed by William as the commander of the Third Division in the face of almost Manchu controversy.
But through his performance in the Danish War, Scharnhorst silenced all those who had a dispute with him, and although the first battle of Schwerin was dramatic, Scharnhorst was also very effective in quelling the resistance in the occupied areas.
This time, William concentrated the 3rd, 17th, 18th, and three divisions in western Saxony, and was preparing to use these three divisions as a fist to smash into the Main region.
In order to achieve a strong coordination between the three divisions, Wilhelm appointed Scharnhorst as commander of the Main Front, a appointment that was of course kept secret, as it would mean that Prussia would have made its ambitions for the Main region public.
The commander of the 17th Division, Otlan, and the commander of the 18th Division, Buschman, were now concentrated in the Scharnhorst's tent.
Looking at the Scharnhorst, who was still young compared to the two of them, even though Otland and Buschman were only in their forties now, they were both born with the sigh of talented people in the country.
In the eyes of others, Scharnhorst was lucky because he met William and was greatly promoted.
In 1781, at the age of twenty-six, Scharnhorst was promoted to assistant to the dean of the Brandenburg Military Academy by Wilhelm, who was then Field Marshal Ziten.
In the following seven years, Scharnhorst rose from an assistant to the superintendent to the commander of the 3rd Division, which was arguably the fastest in the Prussian army, and even Blucher could not match Scharnhorst.
And now, at the age of thirty-five, Scharnhorst has been appointed commander and is in charge of the army, considering that there are only so many generals at the level of commander of the Prussian division.
Not everyone had the luck of being appointed commander in his own right.
"Your Excellency, you are only ten days away from Christmas, I don't know how it is arranged?"
Looking at Scharnhorst's back, Otlan asked.
Hearing Otland's words, Scharnhorst turned to look at Alteran and Buschman and said: "Your Excellency, you are gracious.
Now the appointment of the subordinate has not been made public, so this commander is worthy of it, and besides, you two are my predecessors, how can I be embarrassed to let the two Excellencies use honorific titles for me."
As soon as Scharnhorst had finished speaking, Buschmann said: "Your Excellency, Commander, although your appointment has not yet been made public, after all, His Majesty's order has been given.
Therefore, we should call you commander, and besides, in the army, you have always been called by your position, how can you be arrogant because you are a few years old!
” Hearing Buschman say this, although Scharnhorst admonished himself in his heart to be humble and steady, the smile on his face became brighter and brighter.
"Your Excellency, the orders of the Military Department and the General Staff have been issued, the initial date of our operation has been set for Christmas Day, and the objectives of the operation have been determined.
At the moment all three of our divisions are concentrated in the Hove area.
After the operation began, we were divided into three lines, and General Otlan led the 17th Division to the northwest to attack the line from Ersten to Sunneberg.
General Buschman, your task is to lead the Eighteenth Division southwest to Bayreuth, and immediately after receiving local supplies, head west to the Bamberg area.
And the next general personally led the 3rd Division to attack Coburg!
” As soon as Scharnhorst finished speaking, Otland asked: "General Scharnhorst, a little puzzled below, according to the arrangement of the General Staff.
Then the strength of our three divisions will be scattered, and although there is no strong enemy who can pose a threat to our army on the route of the next mission, most of our army's route of march is in hilly areas, and this will inevitably affect the speed of our army's advance."
"General Outland.
I think the General Staff thinks so, first of all, there is no doubt that General Buschman's road is extremely crucial, although there is no strong enemy from Bayreuth to Bamberg, but once our army enters the Bamberg area, it will undoubtedly touch the bottom line of the princes of the Main Valley, but the 18th Division only has 10,000 troops, and the 18th Division is a new division, presumably those princes who dare not be captured will definitely march into Bamberg after learning of the actions of the 18th Division, because that is their best chance, but in this way, if our two divisions are too close to Bamberg, it will definitely make those princes worried.................."
"General Scharnhorst, I'm still a little puzzled" It was then that Buschman spoke, and in Scharnhorst's introduction, it was clear that Buschman and his 18th Division were being treated as bait.
As for the Third Division, although the mission of the Third Division includes a fortified city like Coburg, according to common sense, using the Third Division to attack Coburg seems to be a bit overkill.
Although Scharnhorst was interrupted by Buschmann before he could finish his sentence, there was no displeasure on Scharnhorst's face at all, and he went on to explain: "It only takes two days from Coburg to Bamberg, Coburg is a big city that is not so easy to capture, but as long as the Third Division is under Coburg, then it will inevitably attract some of the eyes, and at this time, the Third Division can completely transfer the main force to Bamberg by the method of golden cicada shelling, and even if the enemy in front of Coburg reacts, according to the distance and the difficulty of the task, General Otlan's Seventeenth Division should also rush to Coburg.
In this way, if all goes well, then we will inflict heavy losses on the princes of the Main River valley in the Bamberg area to clear the way for the next operation, and at the same time, the 17th Division must capture Coburg after the troops are under Coburg, and once Coburg is captured, then the Main River Valley will be open to our army!
” Scharnhorst's step-by-step reasoning made Otlan and Buschmann nod, but there was a big flaw in the plan drawn up by the General Staff, that is, why the Staff concluded that the princes of the Main Valley would definitely gather in Bamberg to resist the Prussian army.
Just after Otlan expressed the doubts in his heart, he saw Scharnhorst laugh and say: "Although I don't know why the staff has such confidence, but I believe that since the staff has made such a plan, then there will be corresponding arrangements, then we just need to follow the plan, even if the main princes are frightened by our army and dare not gather in Bamberg, then this is also good news for our army, after all, it means that the main princes are distracted, and our army can also divide and rule!"
In fact, what Scharnhorst and others did not know was that when they were holding a military conference, Prussia's intelligence system was also operating with all its energy.
The spies lurking in the major vassal states of the Main River have shouted for unity and expulsion of the Prussian army in the local area, and there are many people who hold high positions in the major states, and the princes of the Main River are very jealous of the Prussian army, so under the efforts of the spies and the unwillingness of the masters of the major states, the call for an alliance between the main states is getting louder and louder.
Of course, in addition to the efforts of the Prussians, the Austrians also played a crucial role.
As mentioned above, among the states in the Main River valley, there were not a few states inclined to Austria, and the Austrians obviously did not want to see the Prussians take the Main valley smoothly, so Austria also invested a lot of energy in the hope that the main states could work together against the Prussian army.
But even the most pessimistic person would not have thought that Prussia would march on the Main at Christmas, for while the weather in Central Europe was not as cold as in Eastern Europe, the difficulties of fighting in winter would be numerous times more complicated than usual.
Of course, since it had been decided to launch an offensive at Christmas, Prussia was also ready to mobilize the relevant supplies and troops in Bayreuth and Ansbach, the two Hohenzollern family territories in the Main River valley.
In this way, the Prussian army only had to carry enough baggage for a month, and then it could be transported from Bayreuth and Ansbach.
The 17th Division has no decent armed forces on the front line, so this road can be completely assured, and the 3rd Division has no place to pose a threat except for Coburg, so the 18th Division is relatively difficult.
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Although the 18th Division was close to Bayreuth and Ansbach, it had to play the main role in the upcoming big war, while at the same time ensuring the safety of Ansbach and Bayreuth, as well as preventing possible attacks by Austria and the Duchy of Württemberg!