I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 957: Believers in Scorched Earth Tactics

East bank of the Tamega River.

Junot, the commander of the French Iberian Army, looked at the small town built on the hillside in front of him, turned his head and said to the Spanish officer beside him:

"Major Caldes, are you sure the guerrillas have not left?"

The latter nodded vigorously: "Don't worry, my people are always watching."

"Okay. Let's stick to the old rules. I'll deal with the guerrillas, and you'll be in charge of collecting grain."

"Yes, Your Excellency the Commander."

Soon, two French infantry companies entered the town of El Soute.

After a burst of gunfire, thirty or forty Portuguese men fled from the east side of the town with guns in their hands.

However, the cannons that had been placed on the mountainside immediately began spewing flames at them.

After a dozen people were torn to pieces by shells, the others lost the courage to resist, dropped their weapons and surrendered to the surrounding French troops.

Immediately afterwards, Caldes led more than 200 Spanish soldiers to collect food from house to house.

The small town, with a population of only 800 or so, was quickly cleaned up.

Juno watched the Spaniards load bags of wheat, sour cheese, and bacon onto the carts, and signaled to Caldes:

"There are still a few hours before dark. Please deliver the supplies to the Marquis of Talavera as soon as possible."

Yes, during this period of time, the British and Portuguese troops have always avoided a decisive battle with the Spaniards who attacked Porto, and just hid in the fortress and defended it.

At the same time, the supply lines of the Franco-Spanish coalition were frequently attacked by British cavalry and Portuguese guerrillas, and more than half of the logistical supplies were lost along the way.

Although Spain immediately dispatched additional supplies to the Porto front, it was still stretched to the limit. At one point, the soldiers of the Talavera Legion could not even guarantee two meals a day.

Joseph's previous plan was to lure the enemy deep into his territory, establish a defense line at Lagoaza near Spain, and fight a war of attrition with the British.

But at the moment, the Talavera Legion was forcing the enemy troops in Porto to retreat and there was no sign of defeat.

We can't just order him to retreat, because then the British will know at a glance that he is faking defeat.

Joseph really didn't expect that the famous Duke of Wellington would be so cowardly. He didn't even try to attack, but just defended to the death.

The Marquis of Wellesley is the Duke of Wellington in later generations, but he has not yet been conferred the title of Duke.

In fact, it’s not Wellesley’s fault that he’s timid.

In history, the British Empire did not suffer the heavy blows of the "London Gaslight Incident" and the "Caribbean Sugar Supply Shortage Incident", and its financial situation was much better than it is now.

At that time, the British sent nearly 2 expeditionary troops in the first wave, and later increased it to 3 soldiers. With so many troops in hand, Wellesley must have gone straight to A.

But at the moment, the parliament only gave him 7 soldiers, how could he dare to attack rashly? It would be good enough if he could hold on.

Fortunately, the "local supply mode" was a standard training subject for the French army. Junot responded to the situation and expanded this mode to "collect" supplies within a range of hundreds of kilometers around Porto.

Anyway, the British army had no intention of taking the initiative to attack, and the French army originally deployed in the area of ​​​​the Tamega River for ambush had no battle to fight for the time being. Junot took half of his troops to attack the enemy forces that harassed the supply line. After the battle, he collected food on the spot.

As for whether the soldiers who collected food paid the local residents and how much they paid, that was not Junot's business. After all, those who collected food spoke Spanish. It was relying on this model that the Spanish army on the front line was able to barely maintain its offensive.

Joseph, on his part, could accept the current situation.

Although the British and Portuguese armies would have consumed less energy in the war as the defending side, France suffered almost no consumption - the troops besieging Porto were all Spanish troops, and they ate Portuguese food.

Oh, Madrid has sent reinforcements twice, and now the number of troops besieging Porto has reached 3.

Just waste a few years like this and see who can’t hold on first.

……

In the meeting room of Porto City Hall.

In order to drown out the rumbling of artillery in the distance, Portugal's Minister of War Miguel Furjas shouted at the top of his voice:
"Mr. Marquis, the war has lasted for nearly two months, but the Franco-Spanish coalition did not fall into chaos due to lack of logistical supplies as you predicted."

Wellesley waited until the cannon fire stopped before he said calmly:
"Yes, the enemy still launches fierce attacks every day. That's because they receive a steady supply from the towns in Portugal."

"Yes, the Portuguese are being plundered by the enemy." Folhas said with a gloomy face, "So, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince hopes that you can report the difficult situation here to London so that the Prime Minister can dispatch more troops. Only in this way can we win."

The Crown Prince he was referring to is the Crown Prince of Portugal, João Maria José, who is also the current ruler of Portugal.

Wellesley shook his head slightly: "No, what we need most now is not to increase the number of troops."

In fact, he had applied for additional troops half a month ago, but because the navy swallowed up a lot of funds and the parliament was unwilling to increase the financial pressure on Portugal, they only raised the expeditionary force limit to 1 people and sent him away.

Even so, the additional 3 soldiers have not arrived yet.

Vollhaas said anxiously: "But we don't have enough troops to launch a counterattack..."

Wellesley raised his hand to interrupt him: "The first thing we have to do is to cut off the enemy's logistical supply source."

Vollhaas looked at him in surprise: "You seem to be saying something that is impossible."

"Yes, we can do it," Wellesley said. "We just need to move all the people around Porto to the south of the Douro River, and even burn down the nearby towns. In a month at most, the enemy soldiers will begin to starve."

Fulhas' pupils shrank immediately, and he shook his head subconsciously: "No, this is absolutely not possible..."

Wellesley came closer to him and said coldly, “This is the only way to defeat the enemy.

“Please tell His Royal Highness the Crown Prince that summer is coming soon. By then, the ripe wheat will provide the enemy with enough food for half a year.

"Then the next time a situation that can deplete the enemy's logistics will occur will be next spring. If Porto can hold on until then."

Fulhaas was stunned for a long time before he said with difficulty: "I...I will inform His Highness."

Many people think that Alexander I's burning of Moscow was the first time Napoleon encountered scorched earth tactics, but in fact, the Russians were inspired by the Portuguese campaign and finally made the decision.

The British are staunch believers in scorched earth tactics. During the Thirty Years' War, they carried out scorched earth warfare on a large scale, causing serious damage to the European continent.

Wellesley continued: "General William Beresford will complete the training of the 'mixed formation' within two months. At that time, we will take advantage of the enemy's logistics to launch a counterattack in one fell swoop!"

(End of this chapter)