Great Qing Dynasty talker

After the leaders of the various vassal armies returned to the camp, they were responsible for conveying the Emperor Wu's promise to their subordinates. The news spread throughout the vassal army camp like a spring breeze.

Everyone excitedly cheered long live~
Kowtow, kowtow again.

This meant that after the war, they would not have to return to their hometowns, but could take root in the conquered land beneath their feet.

Of course, you can also return home with your military merits as rewards~
In the distance, two Cossack cavalrymen who were spying and reconnaissance reined in their horses, listened to the faint cheers in the wind, and looked at each other with worry.

It seems like something bad has happened.

……

At the temporary headquarters of the Allied Forces, King Frederick William III of Prussia and Tsar Alexander I once again had a fierce quarrel.

The sound came out of the tent.

The soldiers on guard looked at each other and pretended to be deaf.

"Why don't your Cossack cavalry cut off the Wu army's water transport line in the lower reaches of the Severodone River?"

"The brave Cossack cavalry did not bring any cannons for the long-distance raid. Without heavy weapons, they could not take Rubezhnoy. Without Rubezhnoy, they could not cut off the river."

"The Wu army has a constant supply of logistics. How can we siege them? We have more than 400 million soldiers, and the logistics pressure is no less than theirs!"

"Siege? Why siege? Wouldn't it be better to crush them all at once?"

"The Wu army has advanced breech-loading cannons. How many people will die if they launch a strong attack?"

"Let them die, let them sacrifice their lives!"

"They are our subjects~"

"Louis XVI was also sent to the guillotine by his subjects. Can't you see that? We can't feed so many subjects."

"You~"

The two young and powerful monarchs were at loggerheads, and the atmosphere was full of tension.

……

Habsburg monarch Franz II stood up and tried to smooth things over with a smile.

"We can watch and modify our strategy in time according to the actual situation."

"We are facing a powerful enemy, so we must unite internally. Wait a few more days, and the number of troops crossing the river will exceed 400 million. We can start. First, we will annihilate the one million Wu troops, then turn around and take down Constantinople, and finally join forces to destroy the Paris mob."

"How about the three emperors joining hands and leaving their names in history?"

"it is good."

"Row."

In real history, Francis II focused on the same thing throughout his life - the anti-French alliance.

It can be seen that he really wants to avenge the Headless Aunt.

……

Godoy watched the scene with a smile.

This treacherous prime minister, who could be called the "Li Linfu of the Iberian Peninsula", had secretly established connections with the State of Wu. His caravans smuggled large quantities of brick tea, spices, and porcelain from the city of Suez.

Make a lot of money~
He doesn't care too much about the war. This place is far away from the Iberian mainland, and the war will never reach the mainland.

Moreover,
You are not a king, why do you worry so much?
Godoy also served as the coalition's logistics chief, which was another lucrative job.

……

As more soldiers crossed the Dnieper River on pontoon bridges, the coalition's logistical troubles were once again magnified.

The logistics of supplying more than 400 million people is a nightmare.

The logistics route is getting longer and longer~
If they collected grain locally, the Russians would have to suffer, but Alexander I was unwilling to do so. He thought it was okay for his own serfs to be ravaged, but how could it be the turn of you foreigners to ravage them?

What's more, the land has already been taken over by Wu's army.

The Goryeo vassal army was so professional in plundering supplies that they had a keen eye.

They would find the caves, walls, and woods where the food was hidden, and then dig it out.

A Wu army staff officer also asked the Koreans:
"How did you find out?"

The Korean smiled innocently:
“Excellent ingredients will always exude their original flavor no matter how they are hidden. You can find them by smelling them~”

……

While the coalition forces were arguing endlessly, Lin Huaisheng, the Wu army minister, quietly left the camp, taking the imperial edict and a battalion of cavalry to the Volga River in the rear to form a militia.

The immigrant villages were in a state of excitement.

The cavalry shouted along the way:
"Your Majesty is personally leading a million-strong army to fight the enemy on the front line. The battle is at a stalemate. All men who are willing to take up arms should follow."

"Kill the enemy and you will be rewarded; die in battle and you will be compensated."

"The team leader is the platoon leader, the village chief is the company commander. Anyone who can recruit able-bodied men is an officer."

"For yourselves and for the empire, brothers, take up arms and join this great war. His Majesty will remember you, and history will remember you."

Some people lowered their heads and kept silent, retreating into the house.

Some people were so excited that they picked up their weapons and started forming teams.

Some people look around, hesitant.

……

Lin Huaisheng kept telling the team leaders and village heads of each settlement point:
A man cannot always keep his head down and till the land. Now, raise your head, straighten your chest, hold your weapon tightly, and be a real man.

If he survives, he will come back and become a landlord owning thousands of acres of land.

Even if I die, my life will not be in vain.

Don't be complacent! If the empire loses, you won't be able to stay here and will be driven away by others in the future.

……

Many farmers volunteered to go to the front line.

After traveling tens of thousands of miles from their hometown to here, the farmers have gained new insights. They have discovered that abundant resources outside are readily available.
At the same time, he also felt the support of the empire.

Lin Huaisheng worked non-stop, recruiting soldiers, forming an army, and then setting off.

Without training, victory lies in sending the largest number of militiamen to the battlefield on the east bank of the Dnieper River in the shortest time.

……

Volgograd is an important logistical town located at the forefront of the army's expeditionary route.

Inside and outside the city, people are busy day and night.

Open the arsenal and distribute all the extra muskets to the unarmed militia. Then, send all the supplies and ammunition to the front line.

20 days ago,
Craftsmen were ordered to dismantle more than a dozen steamships on the Volga River and transport the mechanical parts to the eastern coast of the Sea of ​​Azov on the front line, where they reassembled the warships.

Scheduling and capacity will be key.

Logistics is the decisive factor in determining every major war in history, but this factor is always ignored intentionally or unintentionally.

……

summer.

The flow of the Dnieper River increased dramatically, and the already wide river surface became even wider.

Upstream, the coalition forces built dozens of pontoon bridges in the narrow section of the base.

Downstream, the coalition forces also built more than a dozen pontoon bridges in the Dnepropetrovsk section.

Except for these two points, there are no floating bridges in other sections of the river.

The reason is simple~
The Dnieper River in most areas is so wide that it is nicknamed the Little Yangtze River.

……

The city of Dnipropetrovskoye was voluntarily abandoned by the Wu army. At this time, it became the temporary base camp of the Habsburg monarchy army, and the headquarters moved into the city.

A major frowned and kept looking back to the west at the river.

He is worried about the war situation.
There were many middle and low-ranking officers in the coalition who held the same conservative attitude as him, and believed that they should not pursue the Wu army at this time and it would be best to let them return to the east.

However, the top management does not think so.

The reason for such a difference is mainly due to different perspectives on the issue.

There is another factor that cannot be ignored. The three kings were all young men who had just ascended the throne and were eager to accomplish something earth-shaking.

……

As time went on, the coalition forces basically cleared the fog of war by relying on cavalry reconnaissance.

More than one million Wu troops camped along the lower reaches of the Northern Donet River, stretching hundreds of miles from north to south, from Slavyansk in the north to Mariul in the south. The fortifications were neat and the defenders were well-organized.

When the staff marked the deployment on the map, all the officers with rich battlefield experience gasped. The Wu army was obviously confident and was waiting for their own attack!
Many people became wary and advised to attack with caution.

……

Fifty miles west of Slavyansk, the Wu army's dragoons launched a sudden attack, sneaking into the gap between the Prussian and Russian army positions and destroying a Prussian artillery regiment.

A baggage camp was also burned.

Then, under the collective gaze of the four Russian infantry divisions, they shook off the pursuit of the Prussian infantry behind them and left the battlefield in a cool manner.

The lack of unified command among the coalition forces was clearly exposed.

The three young kings were forced to sit down again.

Coordination~
It's just a quarrel.

The bad habits of young people are exposed, and no one is willing to bow their heads because of face.
Tsar Alexander I was determined to win quickly.

Prussian King Frederick William III slammed the table and shouted that as long as the Cossack cavalry cut off the logistics of Wu’s army, a long-term siege and gradual erosion would be the right approach.

Habsburg King Francis II quietly ordered the use of Dnepropetrovsk as a support point to strengthen the city defense and protect the pontoon bridge.

The resentful Saxon noble Brigadier General Wellington asked to be exiled to Kherson to serve as the commander of the fortress.

His request was immediately granted.

With only 5 troops, the Saxons had no presence in the coalition forces.

……

The three-dimensional defensive fortifications of trenches and barbed wire of each corps of Wu’s army had already been completed.

The vassal army was outside and the Wu army was inside, with sufficient food and ammunition.

Wait silently!

The coalition forces refused to launch an attack! Li Yu began to wonder if his plan had been discovered. He felt quite uneasy.

He stayed in the tent every day, with white flags fluttering outside, just to create the illusion that he had passed away.

Europeans are not tempted?

Just when he was hesitating whether to order the navy to capture Kherson and cut off the Dnieper River and then take the initiative to attack, the coalition forces finally sent someone to deliver a declaration of war.

The time, place and scale of the decisive battle were all explained.

The commander of the 2nd Corps, Hu Zhihuang, signed the declaration of war and ordered the person to take it back.

……

The declaration of war was not out of gentlemanly behavior, but given the current military's weapons and equipment, communication level, and the quality of its soldiers, it is difficult to carry out all kinds of tricks.

There are many tricks, and it is likely that there are many loopholes.

It would be better to prepare in advance and play a round-based game with open cards.

By coincidence,

Wu Jun also wanted to play his cards openly.

The date agreed for the decisive battle was September 1795, 9, a day full of vitality and hope.

There is a gentle breeze in the early morning.

The coalition forces mobilized a total of 390 million people and launched an attack on the Wu army simultaneously on a front line nearly 300 miles wide.

……

at the same time,

At a simple beacon tower only 30 miles away from the city of Mariul*, a bored man suddenly widened his eyes.

Not far away, three smoke signals shot straight up into the sky.
"Quick, set off the signal smoke."

Two beacon sentries who had been on guard for several months lit the signal fire with trembling arms.

On the eastern coast of the Sea of ​​Azov and the Black Sea, hundreds of beacon towers lit up signal fire one after another, like a relay baton.

The defenders of Constantinople immediately fired their cannon:
"send troops!"

"send troops!!"

The whole city was boiling with countless people cheering excitedly.

At the dock, transport teams shuttled back and forth to supply the steam battleship with fuel and supplies.

A captain pointed to the mast overhead.

"Change our flag!"

Just one hour later, the fleet set sail collectively, trailing black smoke, followed by dozens of Ottoman merchant ships loaded with local soldiers.

Sultan Selim knelt on the dock and prayed devoutly, unwilling to leave for a long time. If Wu's army wins, Osman will live. If Wu's army loses, Osman will die.

The target of this fleet is - Kherson!

……

The coalition forces were completely unaware of all this and did not take the maritime threat seriously.

Because they deployed a Russian infantry division and a Saxon infantry division in Kherson, and built a solid coastal artillery battery.

Normally, such a fortress is difficult to capture.

Even if something happens, there will be time to dispatch troops to rescue.

Brigadier General Wellington, a Saxon noble who "voluntarily requested to be exiled", was also in Kherson.

……

On land, the coalition forces took the lead in launching a fierce attack.

They had a total of 3500 cannons of various calibers, 1000 of which were deployed on the center line to support the infantry's attack on Gorlovka.

Every volley was like rolling thunder.

Li Yu opened the telescope and saw bullets raining down on the front line. His own "fake" fortifications were torn to pieces under the bombardment. He couldn't help laughing.

The vassal army had built several thin walls at the forefront in advance, built houses with earth, painted them with lime water, and put up flags.

Such a fake position was too eye-catching, so it was hit by a lot of artillery fire.

It's not the fault of the coalition artillery observation post, because the artillery principle is like this, destroy the enemy's ground fortifications first~
……

A fat Junker nobleman drew his sword and shouted, "Attack!"

The infantry phalanx on his side began to move forward.

5 troops were deployed in the first attack, arranged in two rows in company units.

The artillerymen followed behind, pushing their cannons, and the cavalry patrolled in the distance.

The battlefield suddenly became quiet!
The silence of hundreds of thousands of people is so depressing that it makes people want to go crazy.

The Wu army stationed in Gorlovka did not fire any artillery fire, and did not counterattack even when the Allied infantry vanguard was only one and a half miles away from the front line of fortifications.

……

A Prussian company commander who was a farmer turned soldier looked at the strange defensive position ahead and began to sweat on his forehead.

Although he didn't understand the power of the trench-barbed wire, his sixth sense told him that it was not simple!
Most of the soldiers in his company were farm workers and farmers from the surrounding areas. As a local officer commanding local soldiers, he could only keep shouting:

"go ahead!"

The drummer beat out a cheerful rhythm and the flag bearer held his head high.

The farmer looked around and saw that his friendly troops were everywhere and their morale was high, so his confidence immediately returned.

The marching steps are full of power.

Be proud of the Great Prussian Army.

……

When they were approaching the circular barbed wire, a cannon shot was fired from Wu's side, and all the officers on the front line shouted at the top of their lungs: "Shoot!"

The vassal soldiers immediately stretched out their flintlock breech-loading rifles from the trenches, with muzzle flames flashing.

The Prussians' neat formation was disrupted in an instant, and those who were shot fell to the ground screaming.

The officers remained unmoved, brandishing their swords and shouting:

"Keep in formation and move forward!"

"Clear the obstacles." (End of this chapter)