(1813 AD)
The Battle of Leipzig (an eastern German city, 150 km south of Berlin, on the east bank of the Saale River) was a war between the French and anti-French allies during the Napoleonic Wars.
After the failure of the French invasion of Russia, the sixth European Anti-French Alliance began to form. In April 1813, the Russo-Prussian army took the lead in advancing towards Leipzig, preparing a frontal attack on the French.
After the French army withdrew from Russia, it received some replenishment, about 100,000 people. At the same time, Napoleon quickly raised a new army at home. On 12 March, the new combat unit was formed, with Napoleon himself as commander-in-chief and Chief of Staff Berthier, with 12 infantry regiments, 4 cavalry regiments (3 of which were being organized) and 1 Guards Regiment, totaling 226,000 men and 457 artillery pieces. The battle plan was to march into Leipzig and then turn to Dresden for a decisive battle with the Russo-Prussian army.
On 2 May, the French defeated the Allies at Lützen and captured Leipzig, but were unable to extend their gains due to insufficient cavalry. On 21 May, the French defeated the Allies at Bautzen, but suffered heavy casualties. On June 1, France, Russia, and Prussia agreed to a temporary truce. During the truce, Austria and Sweden joined the coalition forces.
On 19 July, at the Meeting of Legenbach, the Allies proposed a new tactic against Napoleon: no matter what the circumstances, they would not risk fighting Napoleon's main forces alone. If they encountered napoleon's main force alone on the battlefield, they should immediately retreat and wait until the allied forces were concentrated before fighting. The coalition forces were ready to abrogate the truce on August 10 and attack France. At this time, the French army was also replenished, with a total strength of 500,000 troops and about 442,000 combat troops, including more than 40,000 cavalry and 1284 guns. Napoleon commanded the main force in Dresden. The commander-in-chief of the coalition army was the Prince of Schwarzenberg, the headquarters was located in Prague, the combat troops were about 550,000, including more than 100,000 cavalry, 1380 guns, plus the siege of the French army in Prussia, Polish fortresses, etc., a total of about 700,000 people.
On 27 August, Napoleon led the main French army to victory over the main Bohemian army in Dresden, but the french army was defeated on all other fronts, and the coalition forces approached in separate ways. Napoleon attempted to capture Berlin to change the unfavorable situation, but the main Force of the French army was in the east and south of the Allied forces, running east and west, losing sight of one or the other, and was trapped in Dresden. On 9 September, the Allied generals and Allied monarchs met in De Priez, Bohemia, reiterating that the nations would not make peace with France alone, and decided to march toward Leipzig in a big way to encircle the French.
In late September, Bryucher led the Silesian Army northward, reaching Halle in early October; the Swedish Bernadotte Northern Army was about 25 km north of it. After the two armies met, Bryucher wanted Bernadotte to attack from the north as the Bohemian army approached the French from the south. However, Bernadotte, who had been Napoleon's general, was afraid and unwilling to fight directly with Napoleon's troops, advocating the protection of Berlin and its passages. The Bryucher army (60,000 men) went south alone.
Schwarzenberg led the Bohemian army of about 160,000 men, marched north with extremely slow movements, walking only more than 100 kilometers in 17 days, and arriving in Oldenburg on October 14. Nor was he willing to confront Napoleon directly. Tsar Alexander advocated a decisive battle, sent Wittgenstein to lead a large cavalry in a power search, and ordered bryucher's army to accelerate south to meet the Bohemian army at Magnaneno, 15 km southwest of Leipzig. On the 14th, the Allied forces had formed a situation of attacking the French army in Leipzig: the main force of the Coalition army in the south, that is, the Bohemian army under the command of Schwarzenberg, the left flank was about 70,000 troops of Wittgenstein, the center was 30,000 of the Prince of Hesse, the right wing was 30,000 men led by Clay, and the reserve force was 30,000; in the northwest was the Silesian Army commanded by Bryucher, about 60,000 people; and in the north was the Northern Army commanded by Bernadotte, about 80,000 people, but farther away.
In early October, Napoleon was able to gather 256,000 men and 784 artillery pieces near Leipzig. If the troops are concentrated in one place, they are still in the initiative strategically. However, the French army intended to attack Berlin, defending the south and attacking the north, basically dividing the troops into battles. On 2 October, Napoleon ordered Murat to command the 2nd, 5th, and 8th Armies and the 5th Cavalry Corps, totaling 45,000 men, to retard and prevent the Bohemian advance towards Leipzig near Dresshun; the 14th and 1st armies of about 40,000 men held dresden; Napoleon personally led the main force northward, rendezvoused with the forces under the command of Ney (the 7th and 3rd armies), and planned to quickly break the Bryucher and Bernadotte army before the main allied forces occupied Leipzig, and then returned to the south to break the main force of the allied forces. Napoleon decided on 6 October to abandon Dresden in order to concentrate his forces in the north, and after 12 hours, fearing that it would affect the pro-French attitude of the Saxon state, he ordered the city to be held. On the 9th, Napoleon's army marched north, losing every opportunity to destroy the Allies, because Bryucher had already rendezvoused with Bernadotte. The main French army abandoned the northward advance plan on the 12th and returned to Leipzig on the 14th.
On the 14th, southeast of Leipzig, Murat's cavalry engaged in a large cavalry battle with Wittgenstein's cavalry, but with no decisive results. Napoleon's battle plan was to hold on to leipzig front (south) and rear, attack the right flank of the Allied forces with a detour on the left flank, and take advantage of the victory to break through to the center of the main allied force. The deployment was: about 40,000 men of the 6th Army, defending the northern rear of Leipzig, preparing to deal with the Southward Allied Forces and covering the right wing; about 50,000 men of the 2nd and 8th Armies, huaqiao and Markryburg and Dusson in the south (front); about 30,000 men of the 11th Army, in Tauka, northeast of Leipzig, detouring and attacking the main right wing of the Allied forces; about 60,000 men of the 9th and 5th Armies, led by Napoleon himself, in southeastern Zhou Kerhausen, Libert Wurkwitz and Leipzig (the base camp was in Stötriz) The 5th Cavalry Corps was deployed on the right side of the southern front, the 1st and 4th Cavalry Corps were in the central rear, and the 2nd Cavalry Corps was on the left; the Guards Corps was the general reserve, not far from Leipzig, Laudeniz; the 4th Army was in a mobile position north of Leipzig; the 3rd Army was in Duben in the northeast, intending to assist in the detour and attack on the right flank of the Coalition Army; and the 7th Army was also in Duben.
At 9 o'clock on October 16, when the main force of the Coalition army was dissipating in the thick fog, under the cover of artillery, it divided into four columns and advanced in a wide frontal fierce attack. The front-line French front-line troops were attacked and almost wavered. Napoleon had intended to wait for the arrival of the 3rd Army before launching an attack, but the time was not waiting, that is, at 11 o'clock it was decided: to concentrate 150 cannons on the Allied forces and suppress them with firepower; and to advance the detour attacking forces to the left flank of the Allied forces. At 14:00, the main French army turned to the offensive, and Murat led more than 10,000 cavalry to charge forward, followed by infantry. The onslaught of the French army overwhelmed the coalition and forced them to retreat. The French army took advantage of the victory to occupy a key point in the south and east of Huaqiao. The coalition forces were in a moment of chaos, and the monarchs of Russia, Austria, and Prussia were almost captured and fled across their horses in shock.
Although the French advanced in all directions, the infantry did not follow, and was blocked by the Allied reserves, unable to develop the victory, and forced to abandon some of the captured positions.
At this time, the Northern French Army was threatened by the Bryucher Army, and Napoleon drove the troops there, which affected the war in the south. He transferred the 6th Army, which was covering the flank, from Lindensha to the southeast to support the roundabout attack of the 11th Army. As soon as the 6th Army began to move, the Bryucher Army was approaching, and the 6th Army had to return to the defense around Mokwan and ask for help from Neiyi. Nei sent the 4th Army north to help, and on the way encountered an urgent call for help from the defenders of Lindhi Lao. Because of the great value of the bridges in the area, the 4th Army was forced to transfer to the woodlands. The 6th Army, with no reinforcements, was repulsed by the superior Coalition forces and withdrew to Goris. At this time, the Northern Army and other units of the allied Bernadotte were advancing from north and southeast to Leipzig. In view of the unfavorable situation of the French army, Napoleon used the river to take the defensive position.
On October 17, Napoleon knew that the allied forces had been assembled, forming a siege of the French army, so he implemented a delaying plan and proposed a truce. The coalition ignored it. Napoleon decided to retreat, and the deployment was: the 4th Army set out in advance to ensure the crossing of the river along the way; the main French army shrank its position and retreated after an attack. At this time, the French army totaled 155,000 people, the coalition totaled 295,000 people, and 1,466 artillery pieces.
On October 18, the 6th route of the coalition forces attacked the French army in Leipzig fiercely, but the French stubborn resistance and fierce fighting. Although the Allies captured some of the peripheral points, they were recaptured by the French. At this time, the two Saxon brigades of the French 7th Army surrendered to the Coalition Army, causing a gap in the northeast of the French position, but fortunately Neiyi was good at commanding, occupying new positions to resist, and was able to rest slightly. In the evening, the French had been forced to retreat to the outskirts of Leipzig. In the night, Napoleon deployed to retreat in batches. At the same time, the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, Schwarzenberg, gave the order to attack Leipzig the next day. However, the coalition forces still adopted the method of parallel attack, and did not cut off the French lines of communication and organize the preparation for pursuit.
At 7 o'clock on the 19th, the Allied forces launched an attack, and soon ceased fire, and Tsar Alexander attempted to force a landing in Leipzig. The French refused to surrender, and fierce fighting resumed. The French army withdrew as it fought. On this day, a colonel in charge of guarding the Lindilau Bridge looked forward to inspect the crossing troops, and an engineer squad leader thought that the Russians were coming and blew up the bridge prematurely. As a result, the French officers and soldiers who did not cross the river jumped into the river and drowned many, and the French troops on the east bank of the river were forced to land and capture the coalition forces, counting 30 generals, 33,000 soldiers, and 260 cannons. The main retreat of the French army was relatively smooth, and there were 120,000 people who retreated into Erfurt on the 23rd.
At the Battle of Leipzig, the Allies lost 54,000 men; the French lost 38,000 men, and many others were captured. After the war, Europe set off an anti-Napoleonic upsurge. In 1814, the Sixth Coalition forces pushed the war into the French mainland. Although Napoleon mobilized the people, organized an army to resist, and won many victories, he was finally outnumbered and forced to declare his abdication on April 6 and was exiled to the island of Elba.
The Defeat of the French Army in Leipzig was mainly due to the mistakes in operational command: First, Napoleon failed to adhere to his consistent idea of annihilating the enemy's living forces, and attached too much importance to the significance of seizing Berlin to force the enemy to make peace, so he sent troops north several times, in a situation of fighting on both sides, and losing sight of one or the other. Second, the French army was not well deployed and the plan was changeable, resulting in the dispersion of troops. Third, Napoleon was slow to respond to changes in Allied tactics and did not take corresponding countermeasures.