Napoleon in 1812

Chapter 127

The Coalition's first strategy, the occupation of Poland, failed heroically under the Polish persistent and strong resistance and fierce counterattacks by French troops. Nevertheless, the outstanding operational commanders of the Coalition's countries changed their goals and turned their heads on the spot.

War was led by those who could control the variables. The Coalition kept in mind the possibility that the Allies would arrive first before conquering Poland, and prepared countermeasures for this.

'The Poles have chosen to isolate themselves by building fortresses. If put under thorough surveillance, they won't be able to come out anyway. In the meantime, it is enough to organize the rest of the Coalition.'

Other goals could be achieved, while leaving only some troops to keep the Polish army in check. It was the common opinion of the military commanders of the Coalition's countries. With this in mind, Russian Field Marshal Levin von Bennigsen secretly sent a letter to Archduke Karl, who was marching north to save Poland.

l/l/e are truly sorry that your country has decided to antagonize us. But the Coalition allies1 views on Austria are still solid. Our two countries are not obligated to fight because of France, and there is no need to shed any blood. We are not going to attack Poland, which you are defending, for a while. I hope you make a wise choice.

'We have no intention of fighting. So don't chase us and fight for nothing. Didn't you move your troops to defend Poland only to save your face in front of France anyway?'

The letter had this meaning. Karl Ludwig did not hesitate to deliver the letter to Vienna. Franz I and Metternich, the final decision makers of Austrian state affairs, did not necessarily reject the hands of the Coalition.

Although they were siding with France because of unavoidable circumstances, they had no intention of shedding their own people's blood to help the French in the first place.

The best judgment Austria could make in this situation was to stock up as much power as possible and then use it after the war was completely divided.

As the interests of the two sides matched, peace briefly came throughout Poland, and the flames of war moved west.

The Saxony region was the battleground of great powers whenever a huge war broke out in Europe. It had the geographical misfortune of being between Prussia and Austria, two powerful countries in central Europe, but the more fundamental reason was that it was an important commercial and transportation hub, with fertile land where wheat, barley, fruit, and flax were produced in large quantities.

In addition, the Ore Mountains were surrounding its eastern border, and forests and lakes were forming a thick semicircle to the west, making it easy to prepare for foreign invasions. It was not for no reason that Friedrich the Great chose to occupy Saxony first as soon as the Seven Years' War began.

Saxony's occupation would stabilize Prussia's southern part while effectively preventing Austria and other Allied countries from advancing northward. In terms of not only geographical factors but also political judgments, the Coalition had plenty of reasons to attack Saxony.

The king of the Kingdom of Saxony was Friedrich August I. He was a follower of Napoleon who openly revealed his loyalty to Napoleon even when public opinion against him was very extreme within German states, and recognized him to the extent that he was hated by his servants and the people.

At a time when Napoleon's popularity soared around Central Europe, he went very passionately to France without hesitation, but of course, the Coalition did not ignore it.

The main forces of the Coalition immediately made the decision to step out of Poland. Then, they marched west through Silesia and raided Dresden, the capital of Saxony.

The person who led all these operations was Field Marshal Bliicher, the Commander of the Prussian army. He ran right into the city after passing through Saxony's border fortresses in a surprise maneuver, as if he were Friedrich the Great in the past.

Because of how fast and stealthy their movements were, the Saxon Guards and intelligence units guarding the border had to surrender the capital without even detecting their invasion.

The heads of the kingdom, including Friedrich August I, fled to Erfurt (the second biggest city in Saxony), taking advantage of the night, and Dresden fell into the hands of the Coalition.

Although Poland did not give up any territory even after being attacked for 50 days, the capital of Saxony was taken over in just three days. This was news that greatly inspired the morale of the members of the Coalition and at the same time agitated the Allies.

When the Great War broke out, the members of the European Union did their part in accordance with the agreement initiated in Strasbourg. Member states each dispatched troops and officers to command them.

In the suburbs of Paris, the reorganization and armament of troops sent by member states was in full swing, and as soon as this was over, they would be deployed to the front to fight against the enemies.

However, not all member states could mobilize their own troops to support France.

"The population of our city is only 50,000, and there are only battalion guards and patrols here. It's hard to transfer enough troops on the battlefield."

"The same goes for us. All the citizens traveling to and from our city are traders and merchants, so they can't be conscripted."

At the Strasbourg talks, several free cities expressed the above opinions and sought Napoleon's understanding. Even if there was a war, it was difficult for them to dispatch troops due to their situation. Napoleon replied like this.

"Then follow past precedents and do what you can to help the whole Union instead of providing troops."

The free cities had been guaranteed great diplomatic autonomy, tariffs, trade, and tax privileges by the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in the past, and had been able to reap enormous commercial benefits. When the war broke out, other countries in the Empire mobilized troops and mercenaries to help the Emperor, but the free cities replaced military help with contributions based on profits.

Napoleon made a proposal according to this past. After several negotiations, the specific type and amount of support were determined, and the free cities accepted it after much consideration.

The city of Frankfurt was where Napoleon's corps was currently stationed. Frankfurt had been recognized as a free city since the days of the Holy Roman Empire, and was one of the small countries of the Union exempted from mobilization of troops in this Great War.

In return, it had to provide a place to rest for a day and food and water to Napoleon's troops. In this way, Napoleon entrusted the free cities throughout the Union to serve as garrison stations from which troops could be moved or stationed.

It was very late at 11 p.m. that the news that Dresden had been occupied reached Napoleon's corps, which was recovering from the fatigue after marching for a day. Napoleon immediately brought in his marshals and staff officers.

"Their goal is probably a complete occupation of the Saxony region. They want to face Your Majesty's corps with a geographical advantage."

"It looks like we need to go to Erfurt as soon as possible. If the entirety of Saxony is taken over by the Coalition, our grand strategy will suffer."

There were also many strategic advantages from controlling Saxony in the Great War. In addition, if they let Saxony's territory be violated by their enemies like this, voices of concern about France's leadership would spread within the Union.

Considering all of these, the officers insisted on speeding up the troops' march. Napoleon nodded after a brief thought.

The next day, the soldiers woke up at dawn and began marching. Their purpose had changed: it was now to save their loyal ally, Saxony.

Napoleon sent a letter to King Friedrich August I, the king of Saxony, saying, 'Retreat with your army to preserve your full power even if you have to give up more land.' In the meantime, he ordered the officers of his corps:

"They must know quite well that we are coming for them. Find out what you can about them, so that we can get a detailed idea of what forces are gathered and who has the overall command of the army."

His instinctive sense after having fought several wars and walked around numerous battlefields was speaking. There would be a huge fight over the Saxony region. Indeed, his keen sense was not wrong again this time.

Waiting for Napoleon's troops to arrive in the city of Erfurt, an army of more than 200,000 soldiers of the Coalition gathered in Leipzig, about 150km away. War was unfolding in Saxony.

The Union's and the Coalition's forces were getting closer to each other. The first to recognize the other side was the Prussian corps. Upon hearing the news that Napoleon was coming here with his own corps, Prussian officers raised their arms and shouted with excitement.

"It's finally time to bury this Corsican peasant in German soil forever!"

"Please put the brigade I'm leading at the forefront, sir! I'll cut the noses of those French bastards diagonally and come back!"

"If they marched from Paris to here without a break, their energy will be weakened beyond imagination. Now is the golden opportunity to avenge 1807 (the Treaties of Tilsit)."

Violent, the Prussian officers were ready to fight on the spot. The morale of the Prussians, who succeeded in taking Dresden and occupying 70% of Saxony in a few days, had risen incomparably.

They were showing the confidence that they could do enough against Napoleon. Bliicher frowned and scolded these idiots.

"Shut up, you stupid and pathetic bastards! From now on, no one talks except for me and the officers I'll point at!"

No matter how fierce they were, they could not do anything at Blucher's roar. Bliicher, who killed the officers' spirits, arrogantly put his legs on the table and fell into thought.

His nickname 'Marshal Forwards' that he had earned while fighting Napoleon and France did not mean that he would act with blind recklessness.

Bliicher took his position as Commander of the Prussian Army more responsibly than anyone else, and knew well what would happen if he faced Napoleon with equal power from the beginning.

"Double our size! We won't fight with Nabot's corps until we have more than double the power difference! Ask Russia and Sweden for help! We'll hold on to them, so they should run there as fast as they can!"

Since Prussia was the closest to the range of threats posed by France among the countries of the Coalition, it always kept a close eye on Paris' politics and military with many spies.

Prussia was the first to obtain information about Napoleon's departure with his own corps.

It was said that the number of soldiers in Napoleon's corps was about 100,000. If so, if they prepared twice as many troops and defeated them, they would be able to determine the course of the Great War at once.

Russian and Swedish commanders immediately accepted Blucher's strategy and sent troops. Russia sent their proud Prince, Pyotr Bagration, and the King of Sweden, Karl XIV Johan (Bernadotte), led the Swedish troops himself.

In order to overthrow Napoleon's world, the main forces of the three countries gathered in Leipzig.

"Wasn't it within our calculations that Saxony was going to collapse so quickly and that the troops of Russia and Sweden would come here? Give me the information you collected."

Napoleon was calm despite hearing that more than twice the number of enemy troops was stationed so close. Rather, he showed interest by looking at the names of the enemy generals gathered in Leipzig.

'Bliicher, Bagration, and Bernadotte. They all are working so hard after what happened between them and Nabot.'

In particular, Bernadotte's name stood out. In the world where Napoleon came from, Napoleon and Bernadotte could not be said to be very close, but they were also not distant. They had been comrades on several battlefields, and the bond between them was not weak.

However, here, they were great enemies hating each other extremely, with quite complex relationships such as past political competitors, general and his subordinate, and traitor to the country. Comparing the stark relationship difference between the two worlds, the reason attributable to this was probably Nabot in this world.

'But there is nothing I can do about it. I have no choice but to destroy him thoroughly because he is my enemy now.'

Napoleon was now somewhat immune to handling Nabot's cheap errors. Even old ties could be dealt with mercilessly.

"We have two options."

His corps was in garrison in the city of Erfurt.

After being treated kindly by the King of Saxony Friedrich August I, who desperately asked him to defeat their enemies to save the kingdom, Napoleon summoned his chief of staff Berthier, Oudinot, Soult, and the other field marshals accompanying him.

"The first option is to hit Leipzig like this. It would prove the bravery of the Imperial Guard against more than 200,000 troops. Aren't outnumbered fights the area in which the Imperial Army is most confident?"

The total number of soldiers in Napoleon's corps was about 107,000. On the other hand, the smallest estimation of the enemies' troops exceeded 200,000. Napoleon was talking about the gruesome operation of attacking first while twice as many troops were guarding a key point. However, the officers were willing to do so. Because their leader was Napoleon.

"The second option is to be patient. As you all know, there are troops of Allied countries waiting behind us. They could be leaving now and running here. It would be a good strategy to attack Leipzig with their support."

However, as they wait for them to arrive, their enemies would also become stronger. Both options had pros and cons, but the marshals' choice was unilateral.

"If we were to call in reinforcements, wouldn't it be more advantageous to our side because we are closer to our mainland? The second one seems to be a better option."

"If the enemies are overly conscious of Your Majesty's corps and concentrate their troops too much in Leipzig, the siege on the Polish side could be weakened. We could use that opportunity to order a counterattack from there."

"I'll choose the latter, too. It looks vague, but it seems more likely than dealing with twice as many troops right away... Oh, of course, I do not doubt the Emperor's commanding skills. If Your Majesty leads, we would be able to annihilate more than 200,000 enemies."

"It's no use trying to wrap it up. It's already too late."

At Napoleon's words, Junot made an awkward smile as the hair on the back of his head stood up. Andoche Junot had been newly granted a position of army commander the year before in recognition of his achievements in the Iberian Peninsula War and the Russian expedition.

"Contrary to your thoughts, I have no intention of waiting for long. I don't know what kind of tricks the British will do in our back, but I don't see the need to leave them alone."

As expected.

The marshals nodded. While talking, they felt strangely forced to choose the first option. But at the same time, they began to wonder.

Napoleon had always defeated a large number of enemies with a small number of troops, but he had often used tactics that divided the enemies to gain the upper hand and defeat them one by one.

However, now, they would be openly attacking twice as many enemies who were waiting for them.

It was not an ancient battle where the qualitative difference of soldiers between countries was large, and it was never easy to defeat an enemy twice as big no matter how outstanding a commander was in this era.

It did not matter who the enemies were. And weren't the Prussian, Russian and Swedish troops known for their bravery in Europe? In addition, their commanders were also called war masters.

"I will show you the exact calculated time, schedule, and the beauty of joining forces."

Napoleon was confident of victory. As always. The influence of the Emperor, called the God of war, was enough to stabilize the hearts of the marshals that were beating irregularly in anxiety.

TL notes

Here's a map showing Saxony in 1812: