Franco-Imperial Border Fortifications

Written by Jacob Eugster Edited by Zach Batson

Introduction

The Holy Roman Imperial-French frontier has not seen active combat since the Italian wars of the 1850s. However, this does not mean that the borders are unguarded.

History

During the reign of Napoleon, the French built grand defensive fortifications in the recently annexed territories in the Rhineland. The largest of these was the great fortress at Mainz, rechristened by its French conquerors as the city of Mayence-sur-Rhine. Meanwhile, the HRE was forbidden from constructing new fortifications on their side of the Rhine by the Pact of Schönbrunn. This left the Imperial border undefended, but the introduction of city sized Shield Generators allowed border cities such as Frankfurt-am-Main to protect themselves from bombardment, and the renovation of the cities medieval walls allowed for fortifications without breaking the terms of the treaty.

The French fortifications, while state of the art in 1810, proved ineffective in the 1850s. Imperial long range siege guns were able to fire from hastily erected siege works in Frankfurt and shell French positions throughout the Rhineland, causing massive destruction in Mayence-sur-Rhine. However, without modern fortifications, Imperial soldiers proved unable to defend the east bank of the Rhine, and French soldiers penetrated deeply into Imperial Germany before being forced to withdraw at the end of the war.

Over 80 years have passed since the Imperials have been limited by the pact of Schönbrunn, but the core defensive strategy remains unchanged. Imperial cities within 100 miles of the French border are issued Shield Generators, and most cities also benefit from robust fortifications constructed between 1910-1920. The greatest of these Festung-cities is Frankfurt, which today boasts the largest and most powerful shield generator found in public record, as well as thick city walls constructed to replicate the look of the city’s old walls. The strategy behind such astounding defensive fortifications is that in the event of war, waves of French soldiers will sweep over the countryside, but Festung cities will serve as islands of control which allow their defenders to harass the French military with constant artillery bombardment. These cities will be expected to resist French attacks until the Imperial military can be mobilized, which according to military projections should be complete within one month, but dissenting voices have claimed this figure is wildly optimistic.

French plans for the most part have been focused on cracking these fortifications. A favorite strategy has been the covert infiltration of these cities by Socialist agents loyal to France. Called terrorists and spies by the Imperial government, these cells exist in many Imperial cities and are tasked with raising the population in rebellion against Imperial rule where possible, and sabotaging defensive infrastructure where not. Behind closed doors, the French high command does not expect its initial offenses into the Rhineland and Swabia to succeed at cracking its fortresses. Instead, efforts are being focused on the Low-Countries. A collaborationist government has been prepared in Amsterdam, and Dutch partisans have been armed with French weapons, waiting for their signal.