I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 831: Massena is not simple either

Bruna also shook his head repeatedly:
"Oh, God, our offensive plan may have to wait until next year."

As he was speaking, the commander of the cavalry battalion, Major Saint-Hilaire, rode up and said to Massena, "Commander, more than 2 Prussian troops crossed the Moselle River this morning, and more enemy troops are gathering on the north bank of the river. Here is the latest reconnaissance report."

Brune looked at Massena and said, "It seems that we have to withdraw all our troops to the Luxembourg Fortress for defense..."

According to the intelligence currently available, the Duke of Brunswick has 8 soldiers, the German coalition forces will soon arrive with 5, plus the Duke of York's Legion on the way, the enemy will concentrate more than 4 troops on the Luxembourg front!
France has only 6 troops here.

There is no need to hope for an attack; being able to defend is a victory.

Saint-Hilaire dismounted and nodded in agreement: "Luxembourg City is strategically located. As long as we make good use of the Betelius Battery, we will be able to hold out until reinforcements are dispatched from the country."

The north of Luxembourg City is connected only by a relatively narrow mountain pass, which is guarded by a sturdy fortress.

The Betelius Battery is the core part of the fortress. It can accommodate thousands of soldiers, equipped with more than 120 artillery pieces of various calibers, and has a tunnel system connected to the water source, making it absolutely easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Massena stared at the map unfolded by Staff Officer Wasser and thought:
"Our previous deployment was all to facilitate a counterattack against Ferdinand from the flank."

He traced a narrow strip of land west of Luxembourg with his finger: "Our battle line is 18 kilometers long. If we suddenly withdraw it to Luxembourg City, we may come into contact with the enemy on the way. We will be attacked by the enemy's superior forces."

According to the established combat plan on the Luxembourg front, the main force of the French army, more than 5 people, was hidden in the central part of the Ardennes Plateau along the western border of Luxembourg.

When the Duke of Brunswick launched an attack on Fortress Luxembourg, they would launch a counterattack from multiple positions around his waist and behind him to destroy the rear troops and baggage train of the Allied forces.

If the Duke of Brunswick did not come back in time, the retreat of his main force would be cut off. By then, he would not be able to break through the solid Luxembourg Fortress, and the only result would be surrender.

However, the coalition forces now had too great an advantage in terms of manpower. If the French army rashly attacked behind the Duke of Brunswick, they would likely be surrounded.

Bruna said anxiously: "But Luxembourg City's 1 soldiers alone cannot stop so many enemy troops. We can only risk returning to defend!"

Massena shook his head: "I remember His Royal Highness the Crown Prince once said that the worst tactic is passive defense. That will only allow the enemy to fully exert their combat power at ease.

"Besides, it will be difficult for reinforcements to arrive in a short period of time. If we are besieged in Fort Luxembourg, we won't even be able to get supplies."

Brune and Saint-Hilaire looked at each other and became even more anxious: "What should we do? Should we withdraw to Verdun?"

"What are you talking about?" Massena glanced at him unhappily, then looked at the map again, "Perhaps, we can use the terrain for active defense."

"Active defense?"

"Yes," said Massena, "we shall fight in the defensive positions of our choice, leaving ample room for maneuver.

“For example, northwest Luxembourg could do it.

"There is the Ardennes Plateau, which is very suitable for high-altitude defense. At the same time, Bastogne can provide a steady supply of supplies to our army from behind."

Bastogne is a transportation hub in the southeast of the Southern Netherlands, just over ten kilometers away from Luxembourg.

"If the coalition offensive is too fierce, we will retreat westward. The Ardennes Plateau has a range of dozens of kilometers for our troops to maneuver." After that, we will use the advantage of mobility to pull the coalition's formation, find gaps to launch surprise attacks, and gradually accumulate advantages.

"Another major advantage of doing this is that we don't have to mobilize troops on a large scale."

The French army is now on standby in the heart of the Ardennes Plateau. They only need to set up defenses on the spot, thus avoiding the danger of encountering superior enemy forces while on the move.

Bruna nodded repeatedly. This was indeed much better than defending Luxembourg. Even if the Luxembourg Fortress was breached, at least his main force would have the opportunity to withdraw to the Southern Netherlands instead of being surrounded and killed in the fortress.

He suddenly frowned again, looked at Massena and said, "But there is still one most important question - what if Ferdinand continues to move south and does not launch an attack on the Ardennes Plateau?"

Massena smiled and said, "It's very simple. If we deliberately leak our military deployment, the Prussian and Austrian spies will help us..."

After he finished speaking about his plan and saw that Brune and Saint-Hilaire had no objections, he asked Wasser to submit it to the General Staff for approval - this was actually just a process, as corps commanders of this era had a lot of power in making decisions before battle.

Massena suddenly remembered something and asked Wasser, "Where are the troops from Thuringia, Bavaria and other countries now?"

"According to our intelligence, the Thuringian Army and the Hesse-Kassel Army should be close to Koblenz. The armies of Bavaria and the eastern states are still a little further away."

Koblenz is an important town and ferry on the Rhine River. Almost everyone traveling south from northern Germany to Luxembourg has to pass through here.

Massena then asked: "Which corps are we on the north side of Clervaux?"

Wasser recalled and said, "It should be the Oudinot Corps, Commander. It has the 2nd and 4th Regiments of the 2nd Infantry Division, the 6th Skirmisher Regiment, and a Cavalry Artillery Company."

There were less than 5 men in total. Massena hesitated for a moment, but still gave the order: “Let the Oudinot Corps find a gap in the enemy army, cross the Sauer River to the east, and attack the Thuringian Army in the area from Neuerburg to Gerolstein.”

The combined forces of Thuringia and Hesse-Kassel should number more than 10,000 troops, but if we attack them on the march, the chances of success are still very high.

If they were to join forces with the Prussian army, their combat effectiveness would be multiplied under the command of the Duke of Brunswick.

So taking risks is necessary.

And if they could penetrate deep into Trier and defeat the enemy, it would deal a heavy blow to the morale of the coalition forces.

Massena judged that the enemy would never expect that the French army would dare to cross the border and attack when they were at a disadvantage in terms of manpower, which was the reason why he dared to take the risk.

……

Diekirch is a city in north-central Luxembourg.

According to Massena's original plan, this was an important battlefield for him to launch a counterattack against the Allied forces, but at this time it had been occupied by the Allied forces and became the headquarters of the Duke of Brunswick.

A major officer in charge of intelligence walked into the Duke of Brunswick's office under the guidance of his attendant and saluted, "Marshal, according to reliable intelligence, the French are planning to launch a large-scale raid on our army."

(End of this chapter)