French Empire: But Napoleon IV

Chapter 70 The Ferry Crossing's Flaws and the French Army's Response

Why was only one regiment stationed at a single crossing? The thought process of Felix Dua, commander of the 7th Army, was baffling.

But that's exactly what he did, and the problems with the combat skills of the French senior generals became their biggest drawback at that moment.

"Brothers, we have no way out."

Fortunately, the 14th Regiment was resilient enough. The captain, who was serving as the temporary regimental commander, stood in the trench, looking at his surviving comrades around him, and shouted to everyone with a flushed face.

"Behind us is Paris, our family! We must protect this place. Long live France!"

"Long live France!"

"attack!"

While the 14th Regiment was chanting "Long live France!" together, the east bank of the river was also ready. With a command from the 11th Army Commander Boze, Prussian soldiers surged toward the Saint-Michel crossing like a tide.

This time, the Prussian army changed its tactics; instead of using small wooden boats, they used a large number of pontoon bridges and floating bridges.

The pontoon bridge consisted of multiple pontoons and could carry a platoon of soldiers and a cannon, greatly improving the speed and safety of crossing the river.

In response, the French Mitrajoz machine guns unleashed their fury once more, sweeping a dense hail of bullets across the river, and Prussian soldiers fell in droves, like weeds being cut down by a sickle.

But the Prussian army was too numerous; as soon as one fell, another immediately filled the gap. They trampled over the corpses of their comrades and continued their charge.

Unlike the Prussian army, which had a steady stream of troops, the 14th Regiment was severely lacking in ammunition and manpower.

"We're almost out of machine gun ammo."

A French machine gunner shouted at his company commander, hoping for a resupply of ammunition and fire support.

To compensate for the lack of firepower, the machine gunner's Mitrayoz machine gun had been firing intermittently for half an hour. Without a water cooling device, even the intermittent firing had made the barrel glow red-hot.

Faced with the machine gunner's complaints, the company commander could only grit his teeth and give him a reply.

"Hold on, reinforcements are on their way."

No reinforcements arrived, and Prussian artillery fire had cut off the Saint-Michel crossing from the rear, blocking French reinforcements several kilometers away.

The artillery, pushed directly to the beachhead on the east bank of the river, continuously fired shells at the French reinforcements' route, forming a deadly barrier to hinder the arrival of French reinforcements by expending their ammunition.

At 12:25 p.m., the first group of Prussian soldiers rushed onto the riverbank at the Saint-Michel crossing. This group of Prussian soldiers quickly established beachhead positions and then expanded to both flanks.

With a safer environment, Prussian engineers began to build larger pontoon bridges to allow artillery and heavy equipment to cross the river.

"Brothers, charge with me and drive the Prussian pigs back!"

Having run out of ammunition and supplies, and unable to stop the German troops from landing, the acting captain of the French 14th Regiment resolutely drew his sword and led the remaining soldiers in a counterattack, thus beginning his final swan song.

The two sides engaged in a fierce battle on the riverbank, with French soldiers determined to die and fighting the Prussian army in hand-to-hand combat.

However, the disparity in numbers cannot be erased by willpower alone. Outnumbered, the French counterattack was quickly repelled, and the acting captain was also hit in the chest by a bullet during the battle, sacrificing himself heroically for his country.

At 1:05 p.m., the Saint-Michel crossing fell, and the Prussian army successfully established a solid bridgehead on the west bank of the Meuse River, with more than 30,000 Prussian soldiers crossing the Meuse.

In response, Commander Boze, who was in charge of the crossing battle, immediately ordered his troops to advance deeper into the enemy territory, hoping to maximize the gains before the French blocked the crossing.

"The crossing of Saint-Michel has fallen."

When news of the fall of the crossing reached McMahon's command post, he was furious at the worst possible outcome.

Compared to others, McMahon's understanding was the best able to keep up with the Prussian generals. At this moment, the French commander's face was ashen, and disregarding his injuries, he slammed his fist on the table.

Unable to tolerate it any longer, McMahon launched into a passionate tirade against his officers.

McMahon had already foreseen the problem with the ferry crossing, but Felix Dua, as his direct superior, turned a blind eye and refused to cooperate with the headquarters' actions.

Deploying troops is a matter for the army and division levels. The responsibility of the corps (group army) headquarters is to assign defense zones to each army and require the armies to cooperate in combat.

To prevent machine guns from shifting 10 meters to the left, corps orders are generally only issued to division-level units, with brigade-level orders issued in emergencies.

The biggest culprit in this situation is clearly Douai, the commander of the French 7th Army. In wartime, it's not appropriate to directly attack Douai, so McMahon can only offer indirect criticism.

"I told you long ago that the Saint-Michel crossing was our weak point, but you wouldn't believe me. Now look what's happened, the Prussians have already crossed the river."

No one present doubted McMahon's words; everyone knew that McMahon was subtly mocking Douai, so no one felt uncomfortable.

Standing nearby, Napoleon III also understood McMahon's meaning, but this was not the time to assign blame. He could only cough a few times and step forward to take charge.

"Now is not the time to assign blame, McMahon. I hope we can organize a counterattack immediately and retake the Saint-Michel crossing as quickly as possible."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Regaining his composure, McMahon nodded. He understood Napoleon's concerns, so he took a deep breath and stopped thinking about this upsetting matter.

After some deliberation, McMahon decided to move his troops to Prussia for a head-on clash. The Prussian artillery hadn't had time to move to their new positions, and if they launched an attack now, the French wouldn't be afraid of Prussia in infantry-on-infantry combat.

"Order the 6th Reserve Corps and the Royal Guard to launch a swift counterattack and recapture the Saint-Michel crossing at all costs. Have the 7th Corps provide flank support and cut off the Prussian army's retreat."

The Seventh Army could no longer be trusted, and fearing that the battle situation would be further ruined by Due, McMahon directly ordered Bourbaki to lead the most elite Royal Guards and the Sixth Army to the battlefield.

The two armies were commanded by Bourbaki. The French Guards were composed of the most elite soldiers in France. Unlike the uniform dark blue, the Guards had some red on their bodies and wore tall bearskin hats.

The Guards, with their long tradition, never feared any powerful enemy. Instead of engaging in positional warfare, they launched a direct and proactive attack on the Prussian army, which was still establishing a foothold.

"Long live France! Long live the Emperor!"

The Imperial Guard soldiers shouted and charged toward the Prussian positions with bayonets fixed.