The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 304: The Rhine and Hanover Battlefield

The French led by Murat had no mass base in Naples, and Naples had not yet carried out land reform.

There were many royalists in the area, who would rise up in rebellion from time to time.

Now that the Ming army has occupied the city and blocked sea and land transportation, bullets will not grow in the surrounding mountains and forests.

Murat's army was now dispersed, which indeed meant that it would not be defeated by the Ming Dynasty's concentrated attack, but it only delayed the time of being completely annihilated, and turned a sudden death into a chronic death.

The mopping-up teams composed of Koreans and Japanese attacked from all sides and, with the support of aircraft, cleared the villages and forests around the city of Naples.

Once the mountains were set on fire, the soldiers hiding in the valleys and forests would be forced to move due to the smoke and fire. Once they started moving, they would be easily discovered by aircraft.

The key is that they had no way to prepare in advance, the attack completely lost its surprise, and the first-mover advantage against the mopping-up team was gone.

Large-scale armies were indeed easily defeated, but small-scale mixed teams of French and local people were not much better and were equally unable to resist the attacks of bolt-action rifle infantry.

These small forces were wiped out one after another in villages and hills, and many people didn't even know whether other teams still existed.

When Murat was forced to move with his troops, he began to sum up his gains and losses.

However, Murat knew that he was doomed to fail, so he focused more on summarizing his own and Ming Dynasty's experiences, writing them down as much as possible and arranging for people to send them out.

In fact, the real enemy of Korea and the Japanese puppet army may not be the French occupation forces led by Murat.

The king and top nobles of Naples had fled long ago, their wealth confiscated by the French occupying forces, but the local minor nobles and landowners remained.

In accordance with Liu Biao's request, the vassal army concentrated the small nobles and peasants into the city, thus completing partial urbanization.

When the vassal army drove out the petty nobles and civilians, they would not make a detailed count of the people and property, and the future land ownership in Naples would surely be in chaos.

Such behavior will certainly arouse hatred, but the root of the hatred mostly belongs to the French, and the Ming army is protecting them.

The main force of the Italian Corps, directly commanded by Liu Biao, quickly moved northward, quickly defeated the unprepared army, and captured cities at a speed almost similar to that of a normal march.

In the north of the continent, the vanguard of the Ming Army in the Netherlands region sailed upstream along the Rhine River from Rotterdam on an inland fleet.

They mounted machine guns on the ships to cover the army's control of towns and lands along the Rhine.

The Rhine River flows through the core area of ​​western Europe, and the water transport industry is very developed.

Most of the goods imported by Ming Dynasty and Britain into inner Europe entered the German region via the Rhine River.

Now this waterway can provide sufficient supplies for the vanguard of the Greater Mind Netherlands Army.

At this time, the Ming army, with sufficient supplies of ammunition and supplies, was invincible in the world.

The Rhine region is very important to Napoleon's Empire. If the Rhine is controlled by the armies of other countries, the German region and mainland France will be separated.

The lower reaches of the Rhine were controlled by the Ming Dynasty, so Napoleon deployed heavy troops in the upper and middle reaches of the Rhine.

However, at this time, the heavy troops of France and other countries could hardly have much blocking effect on the Ming army.

When Napoleon was preparing his army, he was not very clear about the form of the Ming army.

Even if we knew, it would be useless. The Ming army has been upgraded in recent years. The most important thing is that it has used airplanes and armored vehicles, and machine guns have become more and more popular.

At this time, the armies of other countries gathered together on a large scale, which became a huge target for the Ming army.

There is a higher probability of being hit by airplanes, artillery, and machine guns causing greater casualties.

The vanguard of the Greater Netherlands Army advanced faster along the Rhine than the troops on the Italian Peninsula.

After all, there are no good north-south waterways on the Italian peninsula.

The soldiers of the defeated French army were at a loss, and the French officers who escaped with a small group of soldiers were panic-stricken.

It’s not just because of the current failure, but more importantly, it’s right next to the French mainland.

Since the Ming Dynasty launched an attack along the Rhine River, it is impossible not to attack Paris directly from the Belgian region, right?

The Ming army is so terrifying that it will surely be able to crush France with great force once it enters the territory.

Is the newly established French Empire about to collapse?
France deployed the Northern Army, led by Soult, in the border areas with Belgium and Luxembourg.

Officers continued to flee back to the Northern Corps headquarters and repeatedly reported to Soult the "terrifying" power demonstrated by the Ming army.

Soult experienced a similar mental journey as Murat, from instinctive astonishment and unwillingness to believe, to having to believe that the weapons of the Ming Dynasty were truly like miracles.

Although Soult's situation was much better than Murat's, the Northern Army was stationed in France and could mobilize more manpower and materials.

Surt also felt that he could not win, and the most he could do was to slow down the advance of the Ming army with unimaginable casualties.

But Soult had no choice but to try his best and had to rack his brains with his staff to organize a defense.

But Soult encountered a completely different result from Murat. The Ming army did not go to France.

The follow-up troops of the Great Ming Netherlands Army did leave the Rhine River and attack the surrounding areas to control more land.

However, it only advanced to Luxembourg in the southwest and stopped at the original French border.

The Northern Army led by Soult was temporarily safe, and the cities and lands in mainland France were also temporarily safe.

Therefore, Soult and other French generals had the opportunity to discuss and think with their staff:
"Why is this happening?"

"What larger-scale combat plan is Ming preparing?"

"It is uncertain how the Ming army will fight in the future, but now it is certain to occupy both sides of the Rhine River and cut off contact with the German region."

"No matter what, we should find a way to maintain the passage to Germany and keep in touch with His Majesty..."

"We can't let the Ming Dynasty continue to move south along the Rhine River?"

"The counter question is how to stop it?"

No one answered them. They couldn't defend themselves when the Ming attacked, and the Ming would have a greater advantage when defending.

Water-cooled machine guns and barbed wire will be very effective.

In fact, this was a strategy formulated by the Ming Emperor Zhu Jianxuan and the Privy Councilors.

Zhu Jianxuan believed that if the French mainland was conquered by force, the army’s losses would be incalculable and the combat efficiency would not be very high.

Therefore, large-scale combat on the French mainland should be avoided as much as possible.

Zhu Jianxuan planned to impose a sea and land blockade on mainland France before dealing with other parts of continental Europe.

Control the Rhine River, block Napoleon in Germany, force Napoleon to surrender in Germany, and then let the Ming army escort Louis XVII back to mainland France. There are news of the comprehensive defeat of the French army in various parts of Europe, the threat of the Ming army's invincibility, and news of Napoleon's direct surrender.

Coupled with the return of the crown prince of the legitimate King Louis XVI, the intensity of the fighting in mainland France should be reduced to a minimum, and the situation in mainland France can be controlled at the lowest cost.

However, the Ming Rhine Army advanced all the way and when it attacked the Baden region, it occupied Alsace, which belonged to France.

The southern border between Germany and France is a section of the Rhine River.

The terrain on both sides of this section of the river is somewhat similar to that of the lower reaches of the Mississippi River. It is a trough-shaped valley with a width of about 40 kilometers.

There is a narrow plain in the middle of the trough valley, with rugged hills and mountains on both sides.

The valley on the west side of the river belongs to the Alsace region of France, and the valley on the east side of the river belongs to the Earldom of Baden in Germany.

If the Ming army occupied the Baden region on the east bank of the river alone, the French army in the Alsace region on the other side of the river would hinder the Ming Dynasty's control over the Rhine waterway.

That is why the Ming Dynasty occupied Alsace at the same time as Baden.

Then they continued to advance into Switzerland and continued to occupy the river valleys at the foot of the Alps, completely isolating mainland France from the German region.

The French troops in France were nervous and confused. Although they understood that the Ming Dynasty wanted to separate France from Germany, they did not understand why the Ming Dynasty's army fought in this way.

French generals such as Soult certainly wanted to retake the occupied areas, and the key was to open up a passage to Germany, but they could only think about it.

Everyone knows from the battle reports at the front that even the main veteran soldiers could not rush forward when encountering the Ming Dynasty's super-rapid guns and airplanes, and could not cause effective damage to the Ming Dynasty's army.

But Napoleon in Berlin had no time to think about this.

When the fighting in the Rhine and Italian regions began, the offensive from the Hanover-Hadlen area also began at the same time.

The biggest difference between the combat mission of Hadron's Corps and those of the Netherlands and Italy is that the area that Hadron's Corps is responsible for attacking has completed preliminary land reform under Napoleon's organization.

The two sides of the Rhine were occupied by France relatively early, which was considered "aware of the times" in Napoleon's system, so the most radical land reform was not started immediately.

Instead, it was the eastern part of Germany, including Brandenburg centered on Berlin, which had a strong reaction and continued to rebel at the beginning and was the first area chosen by Napoleon as a pilot area for reform.

Zhu Jianxuan and the Ming Dynasty's privy councilors knew this difference, so they specifically formulated a targeted combat method that was different from that of Italy and the Netherlands.

Organize an inland fleet to go upstream along the Elbe and Weser rivers, and install machine guns to protect the transportation of personnel and supplies.

But at the same time, these ships were also equipped with large electric horns.

While sailing and fighting, these ships would broadcast to the surrounding areas alternately in French and German.

At the same time, planes were also dispatched to drop printed German and French leaflets to surrounding German towns, repeating the same content.

The Ming Emperor issued an imperial decree that the liberated serfs in the German region could become free citizens recognized by the Ming Dynasty and could retain the land allocated to them as long as they surrendered to the Ming army.

The second sons, illegitimate sons of nobles, and intellectuals who passed the examinations and became local officials in Germany could continue to be employed after surrendering to the Ming Dynasty.

If they can assist the Ming Dynasty in driving out the French occupying forces, the land of the French occupying officers can also be distributed to local free people.

Anyone who can capture officers and soldiers of the French occupation forces and voluntarily hand them over to the Ming army that comes to take over can receive additional rewards.

There is also a detailed price list. Ordinary soldiers have ten Ming gold notes, which can be exchanged for ten grams of gold.

The price of officers increases according to their rank and position.

If you can bring back the heads, weapons, and rank insignia of those killed in battle, you can also claim the same amount of bounty.

The armored vehicles and transport ships in the Ming army also broadcast the same broadcast as they moved forward.

Such propaganda and promises quickly undermined the will of the German volunteers and made the French officers who managed them feel uneasy.

The Ming people had put a price on their heads.

The Ming Dynasty could not only give the same treatment to the German serfs, but could even give them more and give their own officers a share as well!
Napoleon's land reform in Germany had just begun.

Moreover, it was a relatively primitive and pure transformation, without any mature and complete ideological education.

The volunteers Napoleon obtained in Germany were only fighting to protect their newly acquired freedom and wealth.

This kind of army is actually similar to the feudal conscription army in Shenzhou's history.

What's more, the current German monarch, Napoleon, was an Italian-French man and could not arm the Germans with simple and crude nationalism.

Now that the Ming Dynasty has offered the same conditions, they will soon begin to stage the scene of the change of dynasties in China.

Wherever the Ming army went, as long as they defeated the garrison troops directly commanded by the French, the volunteer soldiers and newly free farmers under them would surrender.

The Ming Hadron Legion attacked forward while broadcasting from airplanes, armored vehicles, transport vehicles, and transport ships.

The seemingly huge and solid foundation of the new German Empire quickly collapsed.

Moreover, after the Ming Dynasty's propaganda was confirmed, the French officers stationed in the local area soon encountered the horrific things they had imagined.

Many volunteer soldiers in the German region directly ambushed and killed these French officers, and took their heads to the Ming army to collect the reward.

The officers of the Ming Dynasty distributed the money without hesitation and even used loudspeakers to publicly broadcast propaganda, continuing to condone similar incidents.

As a result, local German volunteers became restless, and local French officers became even more uneasy.

After receiving the report from the front line, Napoleon was shocked and then at a loss.

"Why is this happening? These armies are facing traditional aristocratic armies, and their fighting spirit is almost the same as that of the main force of France.

"Faced with the Ming army, even if there was no place to go, we could have retreated and fled in different directions. Why did we just surrender?

"Just because the Ming Dynasty promised to keep their freedom and land? But those were given to them by us?

"These people directly abandoned us and surrendered to the Ming Dynasty. The key point is that they killed the officers who gave them these people and surrendered to the Ming Dynasty. Don't they have a trace of gratitude and guilt?"

Napoleon's chief of staff, Berthier, frowned and thought for a long time before saying:
“We actually only gave them freedom and land, but we did not give them free thoughts.

“To the Germans, the Ming people and the French are both foreigners.

"The Ming Dynasty promised to allow them to retain their freedom and land, and even gave them more land and bounties.

“At the same time, Ming can easily defeat our army.

"Even if these German serfs do not surrender, they can no longer contribute to the war."

(End of this chapter)