African Entrepreneurship Record

David Wright.

Trench lines composed of barbed wire and sandbags are swiftly taking shape, and that night, soldiers from the Heixinggen brigade constructed fortifications around the town of David Wright using engineering shovels in a single night.

With a combination of buildings and homes, David Wright is tightly encircled, almost becoming like a hedgehog.

Typical of the academy-like approach of the Heixinggen brigade, they undoubtedly adopt a meticulous attitude and rigorous spirit when building defensive fortifications.

Thus, they continued to standardize and refine them the next day. This scene left Robert in utter astonishment.

Putting down the binoculars, Robert said to his deputy, ”I believe Commander Kilchbach is overly concerned. I dare not comment on the combat ability of the Heixinggen brigade, but their survival tactics must be superior to ours. Look at them; they can’t wait to turn David Wright into a sturdy fortress. If I were French, I certainly wouldn’t foolishly launch an attack on such a place.”

”Commander, these people from the Heixinggen Principality are too timid! The battlefield is constantly changing; there isn’t much time for unnecessary embellishments. Fortifications are at most auxiliary, and we currently have a numerical advantage over the French. The kingdom’s high command will definitely choose to launch an offense rather than passive defense, so no matter how well the fortifications are made, they won’t be very useful, as we are the attackers.”

If Napoleon III heard this, he would certainly slap him. The French have been trapped by their own strategy before the war. At that time, France also chose to attack actively, coupled with rushed preparations, so in the Alsace and Lorraine regions, few fortifications were built. Who knew now the situation has reversed, they have become the defending side and found no barriers to defend.

Take Wissemburg, for example; they are still using defensive works built in the last century, and in reality, they are nearly abandoned.

…

It’s not just Robert who doesn’t understand; Leopold also feels puzzled. He said to Heinrich, ”Are you young people so energetic these days? Building such long fortifications might become a joke to other troops.”

Heinrich replied, ”We’re just doing what we’re supposed to do based on textbooks and the practical experience of predecessors. There’s no trivial matter in war; vigilance must never be relaxed at any time. Moreover, in this war, the Chassepot rifle of the French has a longer range than the Dreyse rifle, providing an advantage. To counteract this advantage, apart from suppressing with artillery, the only way is to think of ways in terms of fortifications.”

”In this way, it does make some sense. But what if the battlefield changes tomorrow and the upper command directs you to another region? All these hard-built defensive fortifications will also be wasted!”

”If they are wasted, so be it; it’s not my concern. Wherever we go, we build fortifications there, even if we’re only staying overnight. We must do so; this is considering the soldiers’ lives and reducing casualties.”

”Is this what you learned in Berlin?”

”No, I learned it at Heixinggen Military Academy.”

”After this war ends, I must go back and take a look at your textbooks; I can only say they are quite distinctive,” remarked Leopold.

…

French Rhine Corps Fifth Army.

The commander of the Fifth Army is the French General De Fayi, and the enemy he is about to face is Prussian Fifth Army, under Kilchbach’s unit.

At dusk, the reconnaissance cavalry of the French Fifth Army returned.

”General, we’ve uncovered the details of the opposing side; stationed at the north foothills of the Vosges Mountains is the Prussian Fifth Army, and additionally, there are a few units on its right side, but their numbers are unclear for now.”

”What is the scale of the Prussian Fifth Army?”

”Their numbers are likely greater than ours, however, the main force is divided into two parts, with one stationed in Stanley and the other in Saverna. Other small forces are deployed along the highway in villages like David Wright.”

”Bring the map!” Fayi commanded.

”Here is Stanley, it’s a salient of the Prussian line; they must have been waiting for us here long ago. Not far to the left rear is Saverna, ready to support Stanley at any time, and vice versa. Saverna is a transportation hub; controlling this place allows for advance and retreat.”

”If we rashly attack Stanley and Saverna, it would not align with our purpose here. Our goal is to strengthen the connection between the Rhine Corps and the Chalon Corps to prevent any side from possibly being encircled by Prussia. Therefore, this task absolutely cannot follow the straight-on approach of the past but should be taken strategically.”

”So far, Prussia’s hand has been gradually revealed; they intend to use numbers to divide us, encircle us, and then destroy us one by one. We must not let Prussia’s plan succeed.”

”In these past days, I’ve somewhat seen through certain traits of Prussia; apart from rifles being inferior to ours, their cavalry seems to have scarcely taken the field and instead focus on intelligence work, occasionally hovering between the armies to gauge intentions. If this analysis is accurate, by utilizing it properly, we can definitely deliver a fatal blow to the Prussian army.”

After the analysis, Fayi began task deployment according to this strategy.

”The cavalry brigade will outflank Saverna from the side, with two infantry divisions on the front lines, the Twelfth Infantry Division feigning an attack on Stanley, where the Prussian’s elite troops should be, to hold them off. The main strength of the Fourteenth Infantry Division, along with artillery units, will head south from the west to charge Saverna, coordinating with the cavalry brigade for a pincers movement, capturing Saverna, then we will turn to assist the Twelfth Infantry Division.”

”General, what about the enemy to the east?”

”Have the Twelfth Infantry Division detach a brigade to block remaining enemies at David Wright. Your Twelfth Infantry Division must remember that the key to this war is to hold off the enemies. Once we take Saverna, everything else will become manageable.”

The commander of the Twelfth Infantry Division asked: ”What if the Prussian Third Corps comes up from the south to aid?”

Fayi responded: ”You must trust the commanding ability of Marshal McMahon, and the Prussian Third Corps should currently be heading south to engage with Marshal McMahon’s forces, unable to move north at the moment. The enemy’s Fifth Army is meant to prevent us from seizing the opportunity to move south; the Third Corps has significantly more numbers than the Chalon Corps, Prussian Crown Prince William definitely intends to first use superior forces to encircle the Chalon Corps, which is why only a force of one army was deployed at Saverna. Therefore, Marshal McMahon and the Chalon Corps are in a very unfavorable situation, and whether we can relieve them will depend on whether we can quickly defeat Prussian Fifth Army, forcing the Prussian Third Corps to separate forces for defense, thereby greatly reducing the pressure on Marshal McMahon’s forces.”

Since it is a surprise attack, naturally, one cannot boldly move forward. Under Marshal Fayi’s command, the French Fifth Army sped towards the target under the cover of night. The first part of their encounter was with the Prussian troops stationed in Stanley, and once the battle commenced, the Prussian Fifth Army’s commander in Stanley urgently sent a telegram to the rear in Saverna, requesting support.

Kilchbach immediately dispatched two infantry brigades to support Stanley, but Stanley was merely a feint target of the French Army, and Kilchbach’s dispersal of Saverna’s forces to aid Stanley played right into Fayi’s hands.

The Fifth Cavalry Brigade of the French Army had already stealthily reached the southeastern direction of Saverna, with the main French force also headed from the west towards Saverna.

Due to the reason of deploying troops, Saverna’s troop numbers decreased to be at the same level as the attacking French forces, and both the Fifth Army of Prussia and France would face off tonight.