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On December 10, after a three-day march, Xiao Jie led the main force of the 88th Army into Zaragoza. Marshal Marmont and Marshal Bessières led many senior officers of Zaragoza out of the city to greet them.
Looking around at the crowd, Xiao Jie asked, "Where's my father? And Marshal Murat?" According to intelligence, Murat's cavalry regiment also entered Sargoza two days ago.
"His Royal Highness Prince Joseph is waiting for you at the city hall. Well, Marshal Murat seems to be a little unwell, and he is resting." Marmont said a little creakingly.
Glancing at him, Xiao Jie probably knew what was going on. Murat was feigning illness, or putting on airs. Since he became the crown prince of France, Murat has not given him a good face, let alone looked down on him, and often taught him as an elder. Xiao Jie had long wanted to give him a taste, but this time, the opportunity finally came.
"I'll go see my father first, gather all the senior officers in the afternoon, and hold a military meeting in the city hall." Xiao Jie ordered. Then I went to the city hall under the leadership of the people.
Zaragoza is a very important city in northern Spain and an important economic and cultural center of the region. But since the war began and the French army entered the city, a large number of citizens fled the city, leaving only the old, weak, sick and disabled. The streets are also deserted, basically there are no pedestrians, and all the prosperity of the past has disappeared.
The city hall of Zaragoza was built in the north of the city, and the various buildings here are obviously much better than those built elsewhere. The city hall is very large, with a large garden and an artificial lake. Behind the lake is a row of buildings, where there are offices and places where the former mayor lived with his family and servants. It's just that after the French army stationed here, this place was requisitioned by the French army. After Joseph arrived here, it became his temporary residence.
Led by the guards, Xiao Jie quickly arrived at the city hall. At this time Joseph was waiting for Xiao Jie in the living room. As soon as Xiao Jie entered the door, he saw an old figure leaning on a chair, and he knew it was Joseph. The wars, breakouts, and escapes in the past few days have made this former high-ranking prince unbearable. Originally, he could have stayed in Paris and brought his son with him. He knew that Spain was chaotic and dangerous, but he still came here. Thinking of this, Xiao Jie's eyes turned red, and at the same time, he lamented that it was fortunate that Julie was not allowed to come to Spain with Joseph, otherwise she, a woman, would not be able to withstand the devastation of war.
"Father, I'm sorry for making you suffer." Xiao Jie looked at Joseph and said.
Joseph smiled and said, "It's okay, don't you think I'm fine? Now that you're here, I have nothing to worry about."
"Yes, you don't have to be afraid anymore, with me here, no one can hurt you anymore." Xiao Jie said confidently.
After chatting with Joseph for a long time, Xiao Jie also learned from him that the current situation in Spain is really very bad. Now in Zaragoza, apart from the main force of the 88th Army that just arrived today and Murat's Cavalry Legion that arrived two days ago, there are only more than 20,000 people left in the 2nd Army and the Imperial Guard. And the morale was extremely low. Fortunately, the 88th Army wiped out the British Smith Fleet in Barcelona, which made the morale pick up.
In Tarazona, 70 kilometers northwest of Zaragoza, Sir Arthur Wellesley was leading more than 10,000 British soldiers to eye Zaragoza. In the southwest direction, after Castagnos occupied Madrid, he did not stay there too much. He is leading the main force of the rebel army with nearly 100,000 people to attack northward. He has already arrived in Guadalajara and is about to cross over Iberian mountains. Although the situation is a little critical, it is not very bad. What made Xiao Jie angry was that so many people in the French army were scared by Arthur Wellesley's more than 10,000 British troops and did not dare to take the initiative to attack. They only knew how to defend blindly. If the backup of 40,000 British troops also arrived, then this battle would not be fought at all. If it were the 88th Army, it would have used this time difference to eat up Arthur Wellesley's 10,000 people to nothing. Then turn around and clean up Castagnos, as long as Castagnos' army is killed, more than half of the great cause of pacifying Spain will be completed.
In the afternoon, Xiao Jie convened the first military meeting of the senior generals of the French Army stationed in Spain. Except for the 4th Army and the 2nd Division of the 88th Army, who were fighting against the Prague rebels on the coast of the Western Sea of Baron, the senior generals were all Gathered in the meeting room of the town hall in Zaragoza. As the king of Spain, Joseph also participated in this meeting and sat on the main seat, but this meeting was presided over by Xiao Jie. After all, Napoleon gave orders, and now all the wars in Spain are under the command of Xiao Jie. , In addition to providing material support, the War Department will no longer interfere in the Spanish war.
The military meeting was held, and Murat had to attend it. I saw him sitting next to Marmont with nothing to do, closing his eyes and resting his mind as if it had nothing to do with himself. Xiao Jie sneered, and said in his heart: "You seem to be quite calm, I will see if you are still calm later."
"Okay, Your Royal Highness." Marmont saluted Xiao Jie, then walked to the map hanging on the wall, and explained: "The situation of our army in Spain is very bad now. Since the fall of Madrid, our army The cities exhibited in Iberia have all been captured by the Spanish rebels led by Castagnos." Speaking of this, he glanced at Murat and Xiao Jie, Xiao Jie didn't respond, and Murat glared at him At a glance, everyone knows that the fall of Madrid is related to Murat's disobedience to Xiao Jie's order. Marmont continued: "At present, our army is mainly facing danger from three directions. One is the northwest direction. Arthur Wellesley's more than 10,000 British soldiers are occupying Tarazona and threatening Zaragoza from there. One is the southwest direction, where Castagnos is leading the main force of the rebel army to cross the Iberian Mountains and threaten Zaragoza. The last direction is the coast of the West Sea of Baron, where the Spanish rebel general Braque is leading nearly 5 The Wanchao army attacked Castellon, which was defended by Marshal Lune, but since the crown prince has already sent troops to support him, the front there should be stabilized."
"Andresi, why are you still dividing your troops at this time? Don't you know how powerful the enemy Zaragoza is facing now?" Murat took the lead in launching the attack. He knew that he would not obey orders and lost Madrid. Xiao Jie He will not let him go, so he quickly changed the subject.
Looking at Murat coldly, Xiao Jie said: "You have to figure it out, now I am the supreme commander of the Spanish theater, what I will do, what orders I will issue, you don't need to teach me."
"You." Murat was very angry. No one dared to speak to him like this before, even Napoleon. Now Xiao Jie, a junior, did not give him face in front of so many people. How could he step down. He was about to attack, but was stopped by the officer next to him. Fortunately, he also understood that he was at fault first, so he gave Xiao Jie a bitter look, then sat down on the chair angrily and did not speak.
Stimulating Murat a little, Xiao Jie glanced at the generals and marshals present, and then said: "That is to say, the large Iberian Peninsula, now except for a small area north of the Iberian Mountains, The rest are occupied by the British and the Spanish rebels. You know, a few months ago, these places were our French."
As soon as Xiao Jie said these words, it was obvious that he did not give face to everyone present, but the reactions of the people below were also different, some were angry, some were ashamed, and some were indifferent.
Seeing their different reactions, Xiao Jie said in his heart: "Those who look angry and ashamed can still be used, and those who don't respond are completely hopeless." He quietly ordered Eke who was sitting next to him to call someone Write down all the officers who didn't respond, and replace them all after Murat is cleaned up, and give the troops a good blood change.
Seeing that it was almost done, Xiao Jie looked at Murat, thinking that it was time to deal with his problem.
Seeing Xiao Jie looking at her, Murat felt hairy in her heart, and at the same time secretly cried out.
"Marshal Murat, I want to know why you evacuated Madrid. I seem to remember that I did not give you an order to evacuate." Xiao Jie said coldly.
The good show is coming, everyone said in their hearts, everyone knows that the relationship between the crown prince and Murat is not good, and now Murat is in the hands of others, and this time he has suffered. Except for those who are closely related to Murat, everyone else looked at these two "relatives" with the mentality of watching a theater.
"This. Do I really need your order? I'm not a fool~www.mtlnovel.com~ The situation in Madrid was so critical at that time, wouldn't I be dead if I didn't retreat?" Murat knew that he couldn't escape this time. , said boldly.
"Did you forget the vocation of a soldier? Do you know the consequences of disobeying the military order?" Xiao Jie stared at Murat and asked, his eyes were like a beast about to eat people.
"Me, me. So what about disobedience? Andresi, don't forget, I am the King of Naples, the Prince of France, the Field Marshal of the Empire, and your uncle. How dare you do anything to me?" Murat said arrogantly Having said that, I have to say that he has quite a lot of names.
"Really? Are you sure that I dare not do anything to you? Don't forget, this is a barracks. Now I don't know anything about you except that you are a soldier of the French Imperial Army. Besides, I only know that since you committed crimes If the military order is issued, it should be punished." Xiao Jie said, ignoring everyone's surprised eyes.
It seems that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is going to come for real, everyone thought. Those who had a good relationship with Murat and were about to intercede for him immediately shut their mouths, pretending that they didn't know Murat at all.
(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!)