On the evening of November 7, at Nicholas' headquarters, Nigula convened generals at all levels to discuss the next strategy.
"Let's talk about what we should do next? After fighting for so many days, we still can't capture Frankfurt." Nicholas sat on a large chair and looked at the generals below. Now he no longer has the complacency and self-confidence that he had when he succeeded Kutuzov. After fighting the French army for so many days, he found that the French army in front of him was not easy to deal with, and he seemed to be led by the nose. The 250,000 infantry I brought along with Kutuzov's Cossack cavalry had already suffered heavy losses. Half of the infantry remained, while the Cossack cavalry was completely lost. It can be said that the Russian army is already seriously injured, and at least it will take several years of training to recover its strength. After losing so many troops, they were still unable to break through the French defense line and occupy Frankfurt, and the goal of defeating the French army was an unattainable dream. Nicholas knew that if he returned to Moscow like this, the Tsar would never let him go, even though he was his own younger brother.
"Grand Duke, I think we should withdraw our troops as soon as possible, otherwise we won't be able to leave when the French gather enough strength." An elderly lieutenant general said.
"Coward!" a bearded, very aggressive major general whispered. But because it was too quiet in the room at this time, his voice was clearly heard by everyone.
The old lieutenant general blushed and said angrily, "What did you say? I'm a coward? You weren't born when I fought for Russia?"
The major general looked contemptuously at the old lieutenant general who was flushed and out of breath, and then said: "We Russians will not give up easily, and only cowardly people like you will persuade the Grand Duke to withdraw. We have already fought Frankfurt has fallen. Although we have suffered heavy casualties these days, I believe that the French have also suffered heavy casualties. They are now at the end of their battle. As long as we work harder, we can definitely break through their defenses, occupy Frankfurt, and arrive at At that time, the entire defense line of the French army will collapse, and then we will still have a chance of victory."
"Hmph, ignorant boy." The old lieutenant general finally seized the opportunity to win the round. "We have stormed the French defense line for so many days, but still can't break through. Why do you say that they are at the end of their battles? If they don't retreat, they will be unable to leave even if they want to."
"Hmph. You always ask the Grand Duke to withdraw the troops. Do you have some ulterior secret? Could it be that you have some agreement with the Fa Guoren, or is there any benefit from accepting the French? Otherwise, how do you know that we will be I can’t leave even if I want to,” the major general framed. It is said that the limbs are well developed and the mind is simple. But this sentence is not appropriate at all for this major general.
"You. You are framing." The old lieutenant general was so angry that he could not speak. After a while, he said: "I have fought for the country for more than 30 years in my life, and I have never asked for anything extravagantly. I just hope to keep some fire for the Russian army, but I am so framed by you, a shameless villain. Okay, then Just pretend I haven’t said anything.” After speaking, the old lieutenant general ignored everyone’s persuasion, saluted Nicholas and left the headquarters.
Nicholas was undecided about whether to continue the attack or retreat. He still had a chance to occupy Frankfurt, and what the major general said was just to his taste. He was about to settle the matter like this. But he raised objections, and he also said that in order to keep some fire for the Russian army, he acted as if he would extinguish the fire of the Russian army if Nikolai did not withdraw his troops. It made Nicholas very depressed. If it weren't for the fact that the old lieutenant general has fought for the country for decades, he would have called him good-looking. But at the same time, he was also a little scared. If the old lieutenant general said that he couldn't withdraw even if he wanted to, he would be in big trouble. The loss of more than 200,000 troops would definitely make the tsar order to hang himself.
But in the end, Nicholas still decided to take a gamble. If he wins, his position will be completely consolidated. slip away. As for returning home, as long as you ask the empress dowager, the tsar will not embarrass him too much for the sake of everyone being brothers, at worst, he will lose this official position.
"Are you sure you can break through the French defense?" Nicholas asked the major general who was in conflict with the old lieutenant general.
"Grand Duke, please believe me. I will definitely be able to break through the French defenses and occupy Frankfurt." The major general replied affirmatively.
"Well, I'll give you another day. If we can't break through the French defense line tomorrow, we will withdraw immediately. And you, Major General, you will be tried by a court-martial." Nicholas made the final decision Decide.
"Grand Duke, please believe me, you will definitely not send me to a military court." The major general said confidently.
"Marshals, have all your troops assembled?" Xiao Jie asked directly at the beginning of the meeting.
"His Royal Highness, our troops have been prepared long ago, and we just wait for your order." Marshal Lan Shi said first.
Several other marshals also said that the army has been assembled and is ready to fight at any time.
"His Royal Highness, you should give the order quickly. My guards can't wait." Davout, who has been suppressed and beaten by the Russian army, can't stand it anymore, and now he is about to start. He fought back, of course he was very excited.
"Oh? But the losses of the Guards Corps are too great." Xiao Jie originally didn't plan to let the Guards Corps participate in this counterattack, because their losses were too great. Not anymore. It can be said that Davout's Guards Corps was the one that lost the most in this war, and it was also the one with the most outstanding offensive. Of course, compared with the Guards Corps, the 88th Corps' military exploits are also not small.
Hearing that Xiao Jie meant that he was not allowed to participate in this counterattack, Davu became impatient, and said in a deep voice: "Please rest assured, Your Highness, although the Guards Corps suffered a great loss, we still have not lost our attack power. Fight to the last person, and my Guards Corps will also participate in this counterattack."
Seeing Dawu's insistence, Xiao Jie finally had to compromise.
After everyone's discussion, Xiao Jie made a final counterattack plan. According to the plan, the French army will launch a full-scale counterattack against the Russian army on November 8. Among them, the Guards Corps, the 3rd Corps, the 5th Corps, the 88th Corps and the Cavalry Corps will launch a fierce attack on the Russian army from the front. The 4th Army and the 6th Army will attack from the flanks, cross the Oder River to capture Slubice, form a pincer attack on the Russian army, and finally strive to wipe out all of Nikolai's remaining more than 100,000 Russian troops. And the goal of this counterattack is also set to prevent a single Russian army from returning to Russia. Although it is a bit exaggerated, it also shows their determination to defeat the Russian army.
On the morning of November 8, just after dawn, the Russian army began to prepare for the attack. The commander was the major general who had promised Nikolai. He only has one day, so he has to attack early.
At almost the same time, the French army was also making preparations before the attack. The gun coats of the cannons were taken off, revealing the hideous muzzles, and the artillerymen were adjusting the firing range and carrying the shells one by one. come over. There are at least dozens of shells stacked next to each gun. Xiao Jie obviously took out all his last belongings.
At 8:30 in the morning, the ready Russian army launched an attack under the order of the major general. At the same time, Xiao Jie also gave the order to start shelling. At the same time, due to the encirclement of the Russian army, the 4th Army and the 6th Army, which were responsible for the flank attack, also set off from their respective stations. The places they chose to attack were the most lax defenses of the Russian army, and most of the Russian troops were attracted to the frontal confrontation with the French army. Therefore, the 4th and 6th armies were in full swing along the way, and their offensive was unstoppable.
The attack of the Russian army and the bombardment of the French army started at the same time, and the dense shells continued to smash into the offensive queue of the Russian army, killing countless Russian troops. In less than ten minutes, the Russian army's offensive position was full of stumps and broken arms, like a scene of Shura's hell.
The major general who directed the Russian attack was confused. He didn't know why he was bombarded so hard by the French army when he started the attack. I had to order to stop the attack~www.mtlnovel.com~ to let the soldiers disperse and look for places to avoid the French artillery. The terrifying shelling lasted for half an hour before it ended. This shelling also caused considerable casualties to the Russian army, causing nearly 20,000 Russian casualties. This made the Russian army, whose strength was no longer dominant, even worse.
The shelling had just ended when Xiao Jie ordered the French army to attack across the board. The vanguard of the attack was obviously Murat's cavalry corps. Murat's cavalry corps was the first to arrive in Frankfurt, but Xiao Jie has been luring the Russian army to attack, consuming the Russian army's vitality step by step, so the cavalry corps has never been sent to battle. But they have been suffocated, and now they finally have a chance to vent it. The Russian army has always been in an attacking position, so they didn't build any decent positions, at most they built a simple starting position. What's more, here is a plain area, except for a shallow Oder River, there is basically nothing that can cause obstacles to the cavalry. However, the Russian army does not have the extremely perverted firepower like the 88th Army, and its own Cossack cavalry was completely lost. Under the attack of Murat's cavalry corps, the result can be imagined.
Behind the cavalry were soldiers of the Guards, 3rd, 5th and 88th regiments. Relying on their advanced weapons and huge advantages in numbers and morale, they frantically slaughtered poor Russian soldiers.
(to be continued,)