Chapter 253: The Decisive Battle between Leipzig

On March 1, after full preparation, Grand Duke Charlie led more than 200,000 troops to set off from Nuremberg and attacked Napoleon's right wing. On March 3, Grand Duke Charlie's vanguard, the Austrian 1st Legion encountered the French 9th Legion in Würzburg, and the two sides fought fiercely. After several days of war, the French 9th Legion was quite exhausted and lost tens of thousands of people, so they were at a disadvantage in the fierce battle with the Austrian 1st Legion. On March 4, the French 9th Legion finally lost to the Austrian 1st Legion and began to retreat to Frankfurt. The Austrian 1st Legion pursued relentlessly.

On the afternoon of March 5, 15 kilometers southeast of Offenbach, the Austrian 1st Legion finally caught up with the French 9th Legion. Udino had to order the battle and sent people to ask Frankfurt for help. While the French 9th Legion was struggling to support, the turn finally appeared. At 3 pm, Rana's 5th Legion arrived at the battlefield and cooperated with the French 9th Legion to launch a pincer attack on the Austrian 1st Legion. The roles of both sides changed immediately. Originally, the 1st Legion of the Austrian 9th Legion were tanned with the French 9th Legion, but now the 5th and 9th Legion of the French 1st Legion were attacking the Austrian 1st Legion. The two sides fought fiercely until dark, and the 1st Legion of the Austrian retreated due to heavy losses. In this battle, the 9th Legion had less than 20,000 people left, and the 1st Legion of the Austrian also lost more than 20,000 people.

As the army between Grand Duke Charles was approaching, the four legions on the southern front of the French army had to deploy their troops on Mainz, Frankfurt and Offenbach, and defend Napoleon's right wing with all his might not be broken by the Austrian army. If the Austrian army broke through the French defense line, they could move westward into France, or go eastward to attack Napoleon with Russia and Prussia. More importantly, they could completely cut off Napoleon's logistics supply line, and in that case Napoleon would never have any chance of winning.

Grand Duke Chali's offense was very fierce, and his five legions took turns to launch a fierce attack on the French defense line, but the French defended very tenaciously, especially their weapons and equipment were much better than the Austrian army, and they could better play their weapons advantages when defending.

The war lasted for a whole week, and Grand Duke Chali was still unable to break through the French defense line, but he suffered heavy casualties. In a week of fierce attack, the Austrian army left behind a total of 50,000 corpses in front of the French position. The French army was in a very bad situation. In general, the attacking side was very advantageous in the war. They could choose any point as the target of breakthrough, while the defensive side had to divide their troops into various places, resulting in their military strength very weak. When the Austrian army lost 50,000 people, the French army also lost more than 20,000 people. If Grand Duke Chali persisted for a period of time, it would be inevitable that the French defense line would be broken. Of course, in that case, the Austrian army would also suffer huge losses.

"We can't continue like this." Grand Duke Chali felt very heartbroken as his soldiers kept charging towards the French positions, but fell one by one in front of the powerful firepower of the French army. As the commander of the Austrian army, what he had to consider was not only to eliminate the enemy of the empire, but also to do his best to preserve the power of the empire, so that he could have a relatively large say in future international affairs. The anti-French alliance is not completely monotonous, and almost all countries have irreconcilable contradictions. Now they are united to deal with France, but because the rise of France posed a very great threat to them. Once France is defeated and threatened, conflicts will break out again between these countries, which will be undoubtedly.

On March 14, Grand Duke Chali gave up his attack on the Frankfurt front and led an army of 170,000 to advance northeast. Because in that direction, the main force of the French army of Napoleon had fought several fierce battles with the Russian and Prussian army, and no one could do anything to the other side, but suffered heavy losses. Now that the Austrian army has passed, it is completely possible to win like a ripe peach.

After the Austrian army left, the French army on the front line of Frankfurt did not pursue the pursuit, because the war in recent days had consumed a lot of their strength, especially the consumption of ammunition was very huge. Now they only have a base amount of ammunition. If they leave the position and the Austrian army kills another shot, the consequences will be unimaginable. The only way is to wait for the troops to take a short rest and store enough ammunition. After the soldiers recovered their strength, they led the remaining more than 90,000 people to continue fighting.

On March 8, Napoleon moved his command from Kassel to Magdeburg, which is less than 130 kilometers away from Berlin. As long as he wins two victories, his army can reach the city of Berlin again, but the chances are very slim.

On March 6, the main forces of 200,000 Russian troops were finally put into the battlefield. The French and the Russian-Public coalition launched a ruthless fight on the plain hundreds of kilometers wide between Magdeburg and Potsdam. In this war, the French army invested 6 troops including the Imperial Guard, Guard Corps, the 3rd, 6th, 13th, and 14th Corps. On one side of the coalition was 200,000 Russian new forces and nearly 50,000 Pudong-Russian coalition. The coalition had a full 100,000 more people than the French army, but the French army was much more advanced than the coalition weapons. Moreover, they had been tested for a long time, and were not comparable to those new recruits who only participated in the army.

The war lasted until March 16, and neither side could decide the outcome, but there was no doubt that both sides suffered heavy losses. At this time of the battle, only less than 100,000 French troops were left, while the coalition had 170,000 people, and their most powerful Cossack cavalry retained considerable combat power. In general, the coalition still had an absolute advantage.

On March 17, when Napoleon learned that Grand Duke Chary led an army of 170,000 in his direction, Napoleon had to start retreating, otherwise his army would be likely to be made into dumplings by the coalition forces. At the same time, the French army stationed on the front line of Frankfurt also began to move northeast. With their restraint, Grand Duke Chary did not dare to oppress Napoleon too much. He must be wary of not being attacked by the French army behind him. The only good news for Napoleon was that after fierce battles, France was second.

The 12th Legion finally destroyed the 1st and 3rd Legions of Prussia, but the two French armies suffered a considerable loss, with the two legions remaining in total. In the Netherlands, the three French legions completely suppressed the British Expeditionary Force of the Marquis of Wellington. The two sides launched a major battle in Rotterdam. However, in the end, France relied on the advantages of troops and weapons to win the battle. The British Expeditionary Force had to retreat north to Amsterdam. It was only a matter of time before the French army won the final victory.

On March 20, Napoleon's army retreated while fighting and retreated to Leipzig, an important city in the western part of the Saxony Kingdom. Here, Napoleon was no longer prepared to retreat because the army of Grand Duke Charlie had advanced to Jena, only 75 kilometers from Leipzig. The Russian-Prussian coalition led by Kutuzov and Clausewitz also arrived at the Elbe River line, only 50 kilometers from Leipzig. Napoleon's 100,000 troops were surrounded by 300,000 troops from the Anti-French Alliance.

, the situation can be said to be very bad. But Napoleon's southern line troops also arrived in Erfurt on the 20th, only 50 kilometers away from Jena. In addition, the 2nd and 12th French army were also rushing towards Leipzig. On the 20th, they had arrived in Sessen, only 150 kilometers away from Leipzig. The situation between the two sides was very responsible. If the Russian-Prussian coalition attacked Leipzig, it would be more strongly counterattacked by Napoleon. Who would have won the battle to death?

It is hard to say that the only way is to cooperate with the Russian-Prussian coalition forces, and the two armies attack Leipzig. But if this is the case, the French army stationed in Erfurt will definitely attack the Austrian army. In this way, it is difficult to say whether the Austrian army can withstand the attack of the two French troops. In this way, the French army and the anti-French alliance confronted each other near Leipzig. Before the other side showed a flaw, no one dared to launch an attack easily to avoid jeopardizing future plans. But both sides also

It is impossible to continue to drag in Leipzig, because no country can withstand the huge consumption of war. In comparison, Napilun hopes to drag it down, because the French team has taken the initiative in the battlefield in the Netherlands, and it is only a matter of time before they win. After they drove the British Expeditionary Force out of Europe, they will inevitably provide assistance to Napoleon. By that time, Napoleon's military disadvantage will not be so obvious. The war has become more confusing again.

"His Royal Highness, do you think His Majesty Napoleon will win?" In Madrid, in a combat conference room of the Iberian General Staff, the military map hanging on the wall is Leipzig, where the French army and the anti-French alliance are now facing each other. The map is marked with colorful colors, indicating the situation of the two armies.
Chapter completed!