King's Landing in France

As a result, the Austrian army, like a waking beast, began to act.

The decisive battle between the young Andy Frost and the veteran Beaulieu is about to start around Diego.

Chapter 168 Chief of Staff Bei's Speech Is Too Reasonable, Who Said Women Are Not As Good as Men

Andy was on the hillside, watching Beaulieu deploy his formation.

In this era of infantry formation, the most basic unit is a single horizontal row, so just click on the number of small blocks in the opponent's formation, and you can estimate how many troops there are on the opponent.

For this reason, the staff department of this era also has a special position, which is responsible for counting the small pieces on the opposite side with a telescope.

Berti summarized the results of his observations to An Ning when he was in Egypt: "The enemy concentrated their main force in front of us. I am afraid they are preparing to launch a breakthrough in the center."

An Ning: "Very good, so we may soon make progress on the two wings."

Berthier: "The frontal enemy may have a strength advantage of [-] times. Is it really okay?"

An Ning: "No problem, because I will personally lead the team to fight."

Berthier was shocked: "Personally? This is too dangerous. If you die in battle, even an advantageous situation will become dangerous. Especially when you have such a high prestige! You should avoid going to the front line in person!" "

An Ning waved his hand: "I have my own measure."

At this time, Fanny appeared pushing the trolley. A small folding table was installed on the trolley. When it was taken down and unfolded, it became a small round table, just enough to hold a glass of wine and a cold plate.

Then Fanny took out the prepared cold meal and put it on the small table, and then poured wine.

Fanny: "This wine is a gift from a local gentry in Savona. It is said that it has been cellared for 30 years!"

An Ning: "Go ahead, if you have good wine, bring it out early. I'll give La Salle some. After he drinks, he can pierce the enemy's line by himself."

As soon as the words fell, the sound of artillery came from the opposite high ground.

This means the battle has begun.

An Ning gestured to the artillery position next to him: "We will fire too!"

So the thirty infantry cannons placed beside An Ning opened fire.

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Marshal Beaulieu was speechless: "The French army has a lot of artillery. The force is close to ours, but there are so many artillery, and they are used together."

Condore: "It's normal. The cobbler was born in artillery. It is said that he was able to become an artillery officer because he was good at mathematics. You know, you need to know mathematics to make leather shoes, at least you must know how to draw circles."

Condore's words amused the officers nearby, and everyone laughed contemptuously.

But Beaulieu looked serious: "With so many artillery in front, our army will be killed by a large number of artillery when rushing down the hill. Order the troops to act quickly! We must attack the enemy with a firm attitude!"

At this time, the watchman shouted: "Marshal, look!"

Marshal Beaulieu immediately picked up the binoculars and looked in the direction pointed by the watchman. He saw Frost riding away from his position as the headquarters with the general's standard, leaving the small table set by his maid.

The marshal's eyes followed Frost as he patrolled among the frontal French troops.

Condore: "This is ridiculous. How can a cobbler patrol the front line bring courage to soldiers!"

Beaulieu ignored Condoré, and he loudly ordered the orderly: "Bring the horse, I will also inspect the troops and give them a lecture!"

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An Ning took Berthier and others to inspect the infantry battalions on the front line, and delivered a speech: "You have seen that the enemy has obviously concentrated a large number of troops on the front and is preparing to make a breakthrough in the center. I will never let them succeed, so I will be with you guys!

"I solemnly promise you that on the land of Italy, you will gain the glory of conquest and the wealth of Italy! When you go home, everyone will be honored and rich!"

The soldiers shouted in unison: "Long live Your Excellency General! Your Excellency General is always healthy and victorious!"

An Ning was very satisfied with the effect of the speech, then turned his head and gave Berthier an order: "I ordered that half of the troops in the front be disbanded into skirmishers and scattered into the bushes near the main defense line, and let the skirmishers harass you with free fire. Enemy! Attack the opposing officer!"

Berthier was shocked: "What? Our strength is already at a disadvantage, and you still have to separate out scattered soldiers? This will cause our strength to be too weak and be broken by the enemy!"

An Ning shook his head: "You don't understand, the era of stragglers has arrived. The army that has undergone the baptism of revolution is not like those troops of officers and gentlemen. Even if they disband their formation, they will continue to fight and will never collapse! They will let the front The enemy has suffered a lot!"

Before the French revolution, European countries generally looked down on skirmishers—or light infantry, and regarded this unit as an auxiliary arm. Even Austria, which has a tradition of using light infantry, is also working hard to promote the regularization of light infantry. sports.

At this time, the light infantry were mainly mercenaries. They were originally robbers or hunters living in mountain forests. These people would get rewards according to the results of the battle, so they had a strong desire to fight.

Frederick the Great once tried to disband the line infantry and use them as light infantry. It turned out that most of the dynastic army was forced to go to the battlefield by officers, and most of them would flee once the formation was disbanded.

Therefore, it is impossible for the dynastic army to use light infantry tactics on a large scale. Over time, everyone also believes that light infantry can only be used as an auxiliary, and the real decisive thing is the line infantry.

Fage is different. In the beginning, Fage mostly adopted skirmish tactics because the training of troops was too bad and they couldn't form a line formation.But the soldiers of Fage are citizen soldiers, they have a sense of honor, they fight for the country, they have a high desire to participate in the war, and they will not escape without formation.

Therefore, the combination of the two reasons led to the fact that most of the French army in the early days of the French Revolution were stragglers, scattered all over the mountains and plains.

As a result, the officers of the French Revolutionary Army discovered that the effect was actually good, so the French Revolutionary Army began to use skirmishing tactics on a large scale.

An Ning decided to skip this part of summarizing experience and use skirmish tactics first.

Just between the front line of oneself and the enemy, the terrain is very complicated, which is very suitable for the deployment of skirmishers.

But Berthier strongly objected: "No, if we divide half of the troops again, the frontal force difference will reach three to one. This is very dangerous. Unless we have the same geographical advantage as you did last time, we will be unstoppable! "

An Ning was about to refute Berthier when she suddenly saw a troop.

It was the female soldiers. Originally, An Ning planned to train all the female soldiers to become cavalry, but there were not enough horses.

So An Ning let these female soldiers receive skirmish training.

Because skirmishers generally do not fight hand-to-hand with the enemy, the disadvantage of female soldiers' weak strength can be ignored.

An Ning asked Berthier: "Did you include the female soldiers when you calculated the strength of the troops?"

Berthier: "What? Oh no, how can the female soldiers be included? Once they enter hand-to-hand combat, they will retreat immediately!"

An Ning: "You guy, you have to pay a price for looking down on women."

Berthier: "I admit that your female cavalry performed very well in previous battles, but that is because they have undergone rigorous cavalry training, and they are all noble noble ladies. But your female cavalry are all washerwomen and Textile mill girls!"

An Ning shook her head, and said to Berthier, "Come and bet, I bet they will hold up half the sky in this battle."

After finishing speaking, An Ning galloped to the girls on horseback, and asked them loudly, "Girls! Why are you staying here?"

Immediately, a particularly stern voice responded: "Your Excellency, you have to ask your chief of staff. We lined up and waited this morning, but there was no order for us! We still came to the front on our own initiative. !"

An Ning: "On behalf of my chief of staff, I apologize to you. He doesn't want you to be involved in the battle! Now, I have a task that I want to give to you personally! I ask you to disband into skirmish formations and disperse to the line Go to the bushes on both sides of the infantry column!

"The enemy must look down on you as much as the chief of staff, so they won't stop and deal with you! I ask you to aim at the enemy's officers and fire fiercely! Of course, if the officers are too difficult to find, you can also aim at the military musicians!

"I ask you to kill them severely!"

After finishing speaking, An Ning turned her head and said to Berthier: "You ask the logistics team to take out some of the spirits we collected to treat the wounds of the wounded soldiers, and share them with the girls!"

This is also a tradition. In this era, for those troops who need a higher subjective desire to participate in the war, they will be given alcohol before the battle.

This is true of both hussars and light infantry.

The light infantry unit also has the profession of wine attendant, which is usually held by women. They will carry two barrels of wine and follow the light infantry unit. When fighting, whoever has no courage will have a sip.

Berthier muttered: "Crazy, crazy..."

An Ning: "What did you say?"

"I say the general's opinion," Berthier replied.

Chapter 169 Quicklime and women, this is the reason for the defeat of the Austrian army

The offensive of the Austrian army began.

Although Austria has a tradition of using light infantry, the Austrian light infantry is an elite unit of the Austrian army, and is now mainly deployed in the direction of the Rhine front.

Beaulieu didn't have many light infantry units, let alone elite air rifle hunters.

But no one sees this as a problem.

The Austrian line infantry lined up in a neat formation, stepping on drums and approaching the French line at the foot of the mountain.

At this time, someone in the Austrian army in the first row suddenly shouted: "Look, what is that?"

The soldiers who had a dead face were startled by the shout, and soon they became agitated: "That seems to be a woman?"

"wear a skirt!"

"It doesn't have to be a woman. It is said that the Scottish Highlanders in England also wear skirts, and they are thicker than you underneath!"

"Damn it, do the Scottish Highlanders have those big pecs?"

The officers roared: "Shut up, shut up! Don't be fooled by the tricks of the French army!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the ladies scattered among the bushes opened fire.

Immediately, several people fell in the queue.

However, because of the poor accuracy of the muskets, how much damage the girls' shooting caused, for well-trained line infantry, this casualty is the same as tickling.

The officers were loudly maintaining order: "Replacement from the back row to the front row, maintain the formation, and follow the drums!"

While talking, the ladies in the bush opened fire again.

Suddenly, the drumming stopped.

It turned out to be played by the drummer following this row.

All of a sudden, the pace of the whole row was chaotic.

The officer shouted: "Don't panic! Follow the drums in the next row!"

Then the officer collapsed clutching his neck.

The warrant officer in the team shouted: "The second lieutenant has been shot! Evacuate him quickly! Listen to my orders!"

Someone shouted: "The enemy is targeting drummers and officers!"

Warrant Officer: "Don't panic! You all understand the accuracy of the guns in your hands! Keep going!"

A sergeant yelled, "Let's stop and shoot the enemy!"

Warrant officer: "There is no order! Our duty is to move on! It's just harassment by skirmishers. Our target is the enemy's line infantry in front!"

As soon as the words fell, the drummer in the next row was shot again.

Fortunately, the drums played by the military musicians in the battalion were even louder, and the military musicians in the battalion were all at the end of the thick queue, so they should not be attacked by skirmishers.

Unlike the drummer in the platoon, there is only one person in the front row covering it, and if you are unlucky enough, you will still be shot.

At this time, all the platoons of the Austrian army that were shot by the female soldiers were working hard to maintain their marching posture.

Sustained casualties are like mosquito bites, not fatal, but very annoying.

The number of key enemy skirmishers is very large, it seems that the bushes in the front and side are full of skirmishers with skirts and big breasts, and there are flashes and smoke of firing everywhere.

This scene is like a person without insect-proof equipment, standing in the wild and being besieged by hundreds of mosquitoes.

Not fatal, but has a huge impact on mentality.

And with so many people shooting, all aiming at the officers and military musicians, there will always be a few shots that get caught.

Every wave of shooting can always hit a few officers.

The key to the harassment was the female soldiers. General Frost didn't even think about it, but this strengthened the blow to the enemy's mentality.

The distance from the slope to the front of the French line is not long, only about 400 meters. As a result, the well-trained Austrian army moved their formation crookedly.

By the time they reached the front of the French army, the Austrian army was already too annoyed.

Just then, the French line privates opened fire.

The neat row of guns formed a wall of white smoke, and the first column of the Austrian army fell down at once, and the morale of the army collapsed immediately.

Marshal Beaulieu on the high ground saw this scene and cursed: "It seems that the French stragglers are very effective in harassing our front line. But the second column will be the fully organized troops!"

Beaulieu was right. After the first column collapsed, the second column stopped in front of the French army. Even at Beaulieu's position, the officers in that row could be heard shouting: "Raise your guns! Fire!"

The smoke from the volleys formed a wall of smoke in front of the Austrians.

Beaulieu: "Okay, charge up, bayonet charge!"

The order to charge was given, and the second column of the Austrians rushed towards the French.

Then it was like a wave crashing onto a reef, and the tide ebbed quickly.

Beaulieu cursed: "Why can't even the first column of the French army break through!"

Compaore: "Should we fire a few more volleys of guns right in front of the French line? We will charge after causing enough damage to the French..."