(Xiaoyu will have an exam tomorrow, "Financial Management", and there is only one chapter today, sorry!)
On November 30, after five days of intensive transportation, Xiao Jie's 88th Army finally arrived at the French-Spanish border city of Perpignan. Being able to get here from Paris so quickly is all thanks to the French railway construction over the years. By 1808, France had completed the railway through the South. Trains run directly from Paris to Nimes, and from there to Perpignan not too far away. Here, Xiao Jie conducted the last rest and analysis of the situation before entering Spain, and began to build Perpignan as the forward base of the 88th Army.
A month passed and the situation in Spain deteriorated further. The situation of the French army in Spain was even more dangerous. All supply lines from Bayonne to Madrid were cut. Murat's cavalry corps and Gerich's 40,000 Spanish army were besieged in Madrid by Castagnos himself with an army of 120,000. In addition, after learning that France had increased its troops to Spain, the British Parliament finally agreed to the proposal to increase its troops to Spain. Before mid-December, at least 50,000 British soldiers will set foot on Iberia, and their commander is Wellington, who was defeated by Napoleon in the Netherlands last time. At the same time, the vanguard of 10,000 British troops landed in the coastal city of A Coruña in the northwest of Spain on November 16, and quickly moved to the Cantabrian Mountains, and Sir Arthur Wellesley, who quickly went north, landed on the 21st Astorga confluence. Sir Arthur Wellesley commanded this force at Burgos on the 24th to fight Bessières.
Since Bessiaire was at an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers, after a fierce battle, Bessiaire was defeated and lost more than 2,000 people, almost half of the entire Imperial Guard. But at the same time, it also caused at least 5,000 casualties to the British army. After that, Bessières led Joseph to evacuate Burgos, ran all the way, crossed the Iberian Mountains, and suffered heavy casualties with Marmont in Zaragoza on the 28th. At this time, Lune was leading a part of the 4th Army to compete with another Spanish general, Braque, for Valencia. Although Braque was defeated by Bessières in Medinia, he escaped under the protection of his own soldiers. Reorganize the troops and fight Lune.
In short, the situation in Spain is a mess now. The land south of the Iberian Mountains, except Madrid, was taken back by the Spanish army.
"Order Murat and Gerich to defend Madrid. Without my order, no breakout is allowed. Castagnos' 120,000 troops must be dragged there." In Perpignan, Xiao Jie issued his An order after becoming the supreme commander of the Spanish theater. At the same time, he was not sure whether Murat would obey his orders. After all, his men were all cavalry, and Castagnos would not be able to stop him at all if he wanted to break through. Therefore, Xiao Jie ordered that if Murat dared to disobey this time, he must be sent to a military court. But no one believed how binding this sentence was. Murat even dared to disobey Napoleon's order. Xiao Jie was also very aware of this, but he still issued such an order because he needed to take this opportunity to attack Murat's influence. For a long time, Murat was the person who most opposed Xiao Jie's succession to the French throne, except for Louis. If Murat dared to disobey this time, Xiao Jie would definitely take advantage of Napoleon's order to let him handle the Spanish war with full power. Murat, though Murat was his uncle. Even if he was not killed, at least he had to be pulled off his horse. Xiao Jie had been staring at his position as the commander of the cavalry regiment for a long time.
"Your Highness, I just got the news that the British Royal Navy's Smith Fleet bombarded Barcelona two days ago and has been staying in the nearby waters since then. The purpose is obvious. The other side wants to prevent us from entering Spain, or to delay our time." Has risen Eck, who is a lieutenant general, reported to Xiao Jiehui, and he is still the chief of staff of the 88th Army.
"How is the other party's equipment?" Xiao Jie frowned and asked. In the absence of a navy, Xiao Jie didn't plan to face the British navy head-on for the time being, but now he had to face it, because he had to quickly enter Spain to fight, otherwise the situation in Spain would be even worse.
"The opponent is very powerful. They have one first-tier battleship, two second-tier battleships, five third-tier battleships, eleven gunboats, and more than ten fast ships." Eck replied truthfully. Battleships with more than 80 guns are first-class battleships, battleships with 60-80 guns are second-class battleships, battleships with 40-60 guns are third-class battleships, and those below are gunboats. Clippers are mainly used for interception and communication. . At that time, it was different from battleships and later warships. At that time, the emphasis was on the number of artillery pieces, but later on the caliber of artillery pieces.
The strength of the Smith Fleet is very strong, accounting for almost 70% of the total strength of the British Mediterranean Fleet. It is said that the current commander of the Mediterranean Fleet will retire soon, and the successor is Lieutenant General Smith.
"How is the power of the opponent's naval gun compared to our army's artillery?" Xiao Jie asked. Because in later generations, general naval guns are much more powerful than artillery used by the army.
Eck's eyes lit up, he knew that Xiao Jie was planning to confront the Smith Fleet head-on, and he used the performance of the 88th Army's artillery to severely hit this arrogant British fleet. "Although the British navy's naval guns are ahead of other countries, they are still not comparable to our army's artillery. Its power and range are inferior to our army's 75mm field guns, let alone the 105mm howitzers." Eck Quickly replied, as the chief of staff, he also knows these things very well.
"That's good. Since Smith is going to trouble us, let him know how powerful we are this time." Xiao Jie said viciously. He has never been soft-hearted when dealing with his enemies.
"You go and arrange it. On December 2, the troops marched into Spain. Among them, the heavy artillery regiment directly under the General Army, the heavy artillery battalion of the first division, the artillery regiment and the heavy artillery battalion of the second division, and the artillery regiment were secretly arranged in Barcelona. If Fleet Smith appears, let them go and never return." Xiao Jie quickly made the arrangements.
Eke responded and went to arrange it, and he was very happy to see him. In fact, it is no wonder that France has suffered a lot in the hands of the Royal Navy over the years. Now they can kill the famous Smith Fleet among them, which can also make them proud.
An hour later, Eke came in again, wondering why he came again so soon, but Xiao Jie realized from his face that there must be some bad news coming from the front line. "Tell me, which general was defeated again." Xiao Jie leaned on the chair and asked indifferently.
Eck replied with a bitter face: "The news just arrived that Marshal Lune failed in the battle for Valencia and lost tens of thousands of people. Now the whole army has retreated to Castellón and is preparing to garrison on the spot to prevent the Spanish from attacking." The army is attacking the coast of Dorada. Your Highness, it seems that we have to speed up. Marshal Lune only has 10,000 people in his hands, and the other 20,000 people are scattered on the coast of Dorada and the spectacular coast. And his opponent Bu Lark still has 30,000 people, plus another new defeat, I am afraid that Marshal Lune will not be able to withstand the opponent's attack. At the same time, the British army led by Arthur Wellesley also crossed the Iberian Mountains , launched a tentative attack on Zaragoza, and was defeated by the 2nd Army. The two sides are currently in a stalemate."
"Why do bad news come one after another?" Xiao Jie was a little depressed. It was another loss of 10,000 troops, which undoubtedly made the situation in Spain worse. The same is true for Marmont. Although his 2nd Legion has suffered heavy losses, there are still nearly two perfect men. With Besières remnants of the Imperial Guard, isn't it Arthur? Rally's opponent. If this situation encountered the 88th Army, the British would have eaten up all the scum.
"Your Highness, it seems that we have to increase our marching speed, otherwise the situation may change." Eck reminded.
"I see, tell Dougal that the whole army will finish its rest and march to Spain tomorrow morning. In addition, the preparations in Barcelona must be carried out in secret, so that the British cannot find out." Xiao Jie instructed, and now he urgently needs Vent your dissatisfaction, and Fleet Smith is undoubtedly the best candidate.
"I see, I will definitely handle this matter." Eke led the order and went out.
On the spectacular coast at this time, in the waters of Barcelona, Vice Admiral Smith of the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet is lazily lying on a bench on the deck, enjoying the warm sunshine on the Mediterranean Sea in winter. In the distance, several third-tier battleships in his fleet and all the gunboats are conducting a "live-fire exercise", and the target of the instruction Smith called ~www.mtlnovel.com~ exercise" is Barcelona. After Barcelona was shelled by the Smith Fleet at that time, a block near the sea was completely reduced to ruins, and the port and docks were all destroyed. The forts on the shore were also completely destroyed. These old-fashioned coastal artillery in Spain are basically No damage can be done to the great Royal Navy warship.
"It's so boring. This mission is really not challenging." Smith said lazily.
"What can we do? The **** Admiralty actually gave us such a boring task." Next to Smith, there was also a middle-aged man lying on a bench. He is Smith's old partner, George, the chief of staff of the fleet.
"Forget it, George. Just treat this as a vacation. I forget how long I haven't had a vacation. I remember that the last time I took a vacation was in the sunny Caribbean. I really miss the sunshine there. There are passionate beauties on the beach," Smith said, looking like he was reminiscing about the sweet past.
At this time, neither of them knew that he would almost stay here forever, but instead of enjoying the warm sunshine, he enjoyed the cold sea water.
(To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to .FU., more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)