(Chapter to)
Ivanovich followed his army until two kilometers from the Oder before stopping. If he went further, he would be within the range of the French cannons, and his guards did not dare to let him take this risk. If there is any damage to Ivanovic, Kutuzov will definitely not let them go.
"Warriors, go forward. The future of the empire is up to you. As long as you break through the French defense line, the victory will belong to us." Ivanovic roared loudly, constantly passing by him The cavalry cheered. Behind the cavalry Platov's infantry were also coming.
The ferocity of the fierce Cossack cavalry was aroused, and they rushed towards the French army's position screaming like wild wolves. The shallow Oder River simply couldn't resist their progress.
On the French position, Davout looked anxiously at the busy soldiers. As the Russian cavalry got closer, he became more and more anxious. At last, when the Russians began to cross the river, the preparations of the artillery were completed. Under the command of the head of the artillery regiment, the cannons began to roar. A round of shells smashed towards the advancing Russian army. Although in the dark night, the accuracy is not very good. However, the 30,000 Russian troops charged together, and the target was still very large. Even if there was no need to aim and no shells fell, several Russian troops would be killed.
The Oder River is not wide. Although the French army's shelling stopped the Russian army's offensive a little bit, the Cossack cavalry did not suffer a lot of losses during the rapid march.
In less than 10 minutes, the Russian army rushed to the other side of the river, but what awaited them was barbed wire fences and countless bullets and shells pouring down. Most of the Russians managed to cross Oderghe, but were stopped by French barbed wire. This seemingly very fragile is actually very effective against cavalry. With only the sabers in the hands of the Cossack cavalry, it is difficult for them to tear through the barbed wire of the French army. At this moment, the heavy machine guns and squad machine guns of the French army were firing non-stop. A large number of Cossack cavalrymen were hit, then fell off their horses, and then were trampled into meat paste by violent horses. Death became the battlefield. theme.
"Bastard! Continue to attack!" Seeing that the offensive of his troops was stopped and the casualties were increasing, Ivanovic roared frantically.
A large number of Cossacks crowded the shore and became the target of the French army. Under the fire of machine guns, the Russian army fell one by one like cutting wheat. At this time, the battle lasted only one hour, and the casualties of the Russian army were already very large. Slowly, the barbed wire fences in some areas were still broken through by the Russian army, and several barbed wire fences were torn open with a big hole. Of course, the Russian army paid a huge price to open this gap.
This gap is about 100 meters wide, and the Russian army opened the barbed wire after cutting off the stakes on which the barbed wire was erected. During this period, at least thousands of people were shot and killed.
Thousands of Russian troops rushed out of the gap like a tide, and the French army even discovered the situation here. The commander of the 3rd Infantry Division of the 1st Corps, who was in charge of this section of the line of defense, hastily mobilized 5 heavy machine guns, 20 squad machine guns and 15 mortars. Try to block this gap with strong firepower.
As a result, he succeeded. Under the powerful firepower of the French army, this gap became the entrance to hell. All the Cossack cavalry who rushed in were shot dead without mercy, and no one could escape. However, in order to block the gap, the 3rd Infantry Division mobilized the firepower of other parts, which greatly reduced the firepower of other parts of the line of defense. The Russian army seized this opportunity, cut off the wooden stakes for erecting the barbed wire, and launched an attack on the French positions. attack. For a while, the position of the 3rd Division became critical.
"What happened to the 3rd Division? Why is their defense already crumbling." Davout put down his binoculars and murmured. In order to stabilize the line of defense, Davout promptly sent two regiments of the 4th Infantry Division as a reserve to support. Fortunately, even if these two regiments arrived, the addition of 5,000 people made the defense line of the 3rd Infantry Division stable again.
Slowly, it was dawn. The attack strength of the Russian army also weakened with the continuous casualties. Although in this nearly 3 hours of fighting, they also had two chances to break through the French defense line. But every time, as long as they broke through the French defense line, the French cavalry behind the position would rush up and drive them out of the position again. With the cooperation of French infantry and cavalry, the Russian army was successfully repelled every time. Of course, the French army also paid a considerable price for this. Almost every time the Russian army breaks through the line of defense, it means that the French army will suffer heavy losses. After all, infantry is very dangerous after being approached by cavalry, and a rifle with a bayonet is not as powerful as swinging a saber condescendingly.
Under the impact of the Russian army, the French army's defense line has become in disarray. If the Russian army can persist in attacking, it will be a matter of time before the French army's defense line is broken, but the premise is that the Russian army has so many troops. army to consume. In the fierce battle that has just passed, the Russian army has lost at least nearly 20,000 people, while the French army has also lost more than 10,000 people.
As soon as the Russian army's offensive stopped, the French army immediately began to get busy again. Mend the line of defense, mend the line of defense, move the material of the material. Davout also seized this time to adjust his deployment and withdraw the 3rd Infantry Division, which had suffered heavy losses. At the same time, because the main attack point of the Russian army is here, Davout asked the 2nd Army and the 4th Army to send a division to support the 1st Army. At the same time, he also urgently contacted the 3rd Army, hoping that they can launch an attack on southern Poland. , to relieve positive stress.
Ivanovic's face was livid. He didn't expect that under such circumstances, his army not only failed to break through the French defense line, but also suffered heavy losses, especially since Platov was still watching, which made him lose face .
As soon as the frontline troops were withdrawn, Ivanovic asked them to rest and prepared the second wave of 20,000 people to attack. Half an hour after the fighting stopped, the Russian offensive started again. Twenty thousand Cossack cavalry launched a fierce attack on the French defense line.
As soon as the Russian attack began, the French had to get back into position, and although the damaged line had only just been repaired, there was no time left. Everyone didn't even have time to eat the breakfast brought by the cooking soldiers, so each of them grabbed a piece of bread and entered the position. Many soldiers cursed the Russian army while gnawing dry bread. If they hadn't attacked at this time, they could have enjoyed delicious vegetable soup or milk.
Now that the sky is bright, the role of the French artillery is also revealed. Their lethality is also much greater than at night. When carrying out blocking shooting, they can even divide the attacking troops of the Russian army into two parts, the front and the back, with no man's land in the middle. Any Russian troops entering this area will be torn to pieces by shells.
At this moment, since the French army's position has not been repaired, the difficulty of the Russian army's attack has dropped a lot. After successfully crossing the Oder River, many Russian troops were able to successfully attack the French positions. Many of them also successfully broke through the French positions and fought with the French cavalry.
Ivanovic smiled: "Look! Platov, my troops have already broken through the French defense line. Send your troops to occupy their defense line."
Platov did not answer, because he saw that the French resistance in the place where the Cossack cavalry had broken through was still not over. Often, when they were unable to lead the approaching Cossack cavalry, they would take the initiative to let them go and hand them over to the cavalry behind to deal with them, while they themselves dealt with the Cossack cavalry who were still charging. It has to be said that this method is very effective, and it is much more lethal to the Russian army.
"What are you waiting for? Seize this opportunity?" Ivanovic urged impatiently.
"Has your troops really broken through the French defenses? Don't you see that the French in those areas are still resisting? In this case ~ www.mtlnovel.com ~ my troops launched an attack. To die," retorted Platov.
"My task is to break through the French defense line. Many of my soldiers have already rushed over. Can't your troops start attacking now? In case the opportunity is delayed, I'll see how you explain to Your Excellency Kutuzov. ' threatened Ivanovic.
Faced with Ivanovic's threat, Platov finally compromised. He knew that if Kutuzov couldn't win the war because of him, then he would definitely be unable to bear it. At the same time, he also wanted to block it. If his troops could break through the French army's school, he would be credited with it. After weighing, Platov ordered his troops to attack. In the first attack, he invested 3 infantry divisions at one time, a huge force of 45,000 people.
The Russian army pressed towards the French army's position in a dark mass. At this time, the French army did not have any extra troops to deal with the Russian infantry except for the artillery. On the Cossack cavalry. This caused the Cossack cavalry to suffer heavy losses under the powerful firepower of the French army, so that in the end Ivanovich had to order the cavalry to withdraw from the battle and hand over the battle to the infantry.