"That's right. If the General Training Department immediately replenishes the legions and trains as soon as possible, then by next spring, we will still have an elite army of one million. At that time, we will have to deal with a small Russia, isn't that right?" It's easy to catch." Dougal said excitedly.
"Yes, that's what I mean too. Instead of waiting for the Russians to counterattack and wasting time, it's better to seize this time and recover your strength." Xiao Jie nodded and said.
Afterwards, after some discussions, the list of troops withdrawn from Russia for rest was finally determined. First of all, of course, the 88th Army. Now that the Russian army has been disabled, it is impossible to restore its original strength. Therefore, there is no need for the 88th Army to stay in Russia anymore. Therefore, Xiao Jie directly ordered the 88th Army to withdraw to the country for rest. Next is the French 2nd Army on the northern front. In this heavy snow, the two northern armies suffered the heaviest losses, so they also need to take a good rest. According to Xiao Jie's order, the French 2nd Army will withdraw to Poland for rest and reorganization. Next year, depending on the situation, whether to stay in Russia to participate in the war or withdraw to the country. Of course, the French 3rd Army will also accept supplements, but they must stay in the Riga area throughout the winter. The Iberian 1st Army on the central front will also withdraw to Austria. On the one hand, it will rest and reorganize, and on the other hand, it will deter those forces that are about to move. In this way, only the French 4th Army and the Iberian 2nd Army remained in the central region. After receiving supplements, the two legions will also recover to more than 200,000 people. With such a force, it is not difficult to resist the counterattack of the Russian army. On the southern front, since the Russian Southern Front Army has been completely disabled, plus part of the Don River Front Army, the total strength does not exceed 70,000. Therefore, Xiao Jie decided that the Iberian 3rd Army also retreated to western Ukraine for rest. The Russian Liberation Army, which has expanded to 100,000 troops, will continue to maintain pressure on the Russian army.
In this way, Xiao Jie withdrew most of his troops from Russia in one go. Of course, in order to strengthen the defense, the Russian Revolutionary Army of Anatoly and Yefim, who had just surrendered, were required to end their rest and enter the defense line to prepare for a possible counterattack by the Russian army. With the addition of this army of nearly 100,000 people, Xiao Jie believed that they would be able to withstand the counterattack of the Russian army. Even unexpected results can be achieved. After all, against the Russians, it seems that the Russian Revolutionary Army and the Russian Liberation Army, which are basically composed entirely of Russians, are more powerful than the French army.
At the beginning of December, Xiao Jie and Dugor left Russia, and they left Russia and returned to France with the 88th Army, which was about to withdraw to France for rest. The speed of the march was very fast. In Xiao Jie's words, it was time to rush back to Paris for Christmas.
"Marshal, I just got the news that the French army has begun to retreat on a large scale. Haha! Our chance has come." Nicholas said to Kutumanfu with a happy face.
"Really? Then how many troops do they have left in our country?" Kutuzov asked eagerly.
"It seems that there is the 3rd French Army, stationed in the Riga area in the north. The 4th French Army, stationed in the Moscow area, and the 2nd Iberian Army, stationed in the Voronezh area. By the way, there are also those traitors. Leoni The Russian Liberation Army of that shameless traitor and the Russian Revolutionary Army of Anatoly and Yefim." Nicholas said through gritted teeth. He hated these traitors very much, and vowed in his heart that one day, he would hang all those who betrayed him.
After hearing what Nicholas had said, Kutuzov's face suddenly turned bitter. According to Nicholas, the French army left in Russia must have at least 400,000 troops, or even more than 500,000 troops. And what about the Russian army? There are only more than 100,000 remnants of the St. Petersburg area in the north who lack equipment and ammunition. It is still difficult to say whether they can break through the defense line of the French 3rd Army in Riga, let alone counterattack. The southern region is even worse. There are only tens of thousands of remnants left, and they are facing the Russian Liberation Army with a strength of more than 100,000. It is God's blessing to be able to withstand the opponent's attack. How can they participate in the counterattack? As for the main force of the Russian army they led, after the pursuit of the French army, there were only more than 100,000 people left. After the heavy snowfall, although a lot of new recruits have been recruited recently, the total force does not exceed 200,000. . Using this force to attack the heavily guarded defense line of the Russian army is no different from courting death.
"Your Excellency Marshal, why do you look so ugly? Is there something wrong?" Nicholas asked with some regret.
"Your Majesty, although the main force of the French army has already withdrawn from Russia, we have no strength to counterattack the other side. Now in the entire Orenburg area, our strength does not exceed 200,000, and many of them lack equipment. You Do you think we can succeed in attacking the heavily guarded defense line of the French army with such troops?" Kutuzov said helplessly.
Niguo was shocked all over, and then his face turned ashen. He murmured, "Are we really hopeless?"
"Then what should we do?" Nicholas asked. Anyway, at least he still has a glimmer of hope. In short, don't let go of the last hope.
"What we can do now is to restore our strength as much as possible. Produce more equipment, recruit more soldiers, form more troops, and prepare for the counterattack." Kutuzov also said firmly. However, it is still very difficult to achieve this goal. Although the last thing Russia lacks is people, the source of soldiers is very easy to solve, just force those peasants or serfs to put down their hoes and take up weapons. However, what restricted the Russian army was the issue of equipment. As Moscow and other important cities in the west were occupied by the French army, Russia's industrial base was almost destroyed. Fortunately, due to strategic considerations, some military industries were built in the Ural region, otherwise only one of them lost now. But even so, the troops they can equip are very limited. If it is really a last resort, there will probably only be two or three soldiers sharing a rifle.
"Then when can we start to fight back?" Nicholas asked, he seemed a little impatient to have the final decisive battle with the French army.
"It's only the beginning of December, and the weather will get colder after a while. Those French people will definitely not be used to this kind of weather, and their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced by then, and it will be time for us to fight back." Kutu Zoff said with bright eyes.
Niguo nodded, and he also understood that this was the best time for the Russian army to counterattack. Only by waiting for that opportunity will the Russian army be able to win.
When France and Russia temporarily "truce" due to the arrival of cold winter, the other side of the ocean is another scene.
Ottawa, the capital of Canada, is the seat of the British government-in-exile.
In the palace, the pseudo-king William IV, Liverpool, Wellington and others are gathering together to discuss secretly.
"It's really great. According to the latest news, a heavy snowstorm in Russia on October 10 caused the French to lose more than 200,000 people. Since the war started, France has lost hundreds of thousands of troops. It's really satisfying Ah!" Wellington laughed while holding a piece of information.
Both William IV and Liverpool were also full of joy. France's expedition to Russia has greatly damaged its strength, and they are naturally very happy to see it. Since they were forced to flee England more than two years ago and came to North America and Canada, they have been full of hatred for France, thinking about defeating France and going back to Europe all the time. However, France is too powerful, far from being able to compete with them. After arriving in Canada, they first began to develop their own strength. Fortunately, Canada is rich in resources, and they brought a lot of funds and technical personnel, which made Canada develop rapidly in the past two years. But despite this, Canada's strength is still negligible in front of France~www.mtlnovel.com~So, they turned to the United States. At the cost of a large amount of development funds and technology, Canada and the United States have secretly formed an alliance, preparing to secretly develop their strength and confront France. But Liverpool and the others are not idle people. When they heard that France and Russia were at war, they immediately supported a large number of Russian telegraphs for free, which rapidly improved Russia's command ability. Now, France and Russia are "both losers", at least they seem to be like this, and Liverpool and others are very happy. They all believed that the time to counterattack France had come.
"How many troops do we have now?" William IV said excitedly. Although as soon as he arrived in Canada, he was excluded by Liverpool and Wellington. However, they promised to support him as the real king after they returned to England, so William IV compromised.
"After more than two years of development, the army has 12 infantry divisions, 6 independent cavalry brigades and 8 independent artillery brigades, with a total strength of 250,000 people. As for the navy, we also have 5 "glorious" ships weighing more than 7,000 tons. 'class warships, 20 'Canada' class warships over 3,000 tons, and 50 'King' class warships over 1,000 tons (newly developed warships after arriving in Canada), with a total force of more than 30,000 people." Wellington Said proudly. After arriving in Canada, there were only a few warships and less than 20 merchant ships left in their navy, and only a few thousand people left in their army. But in just two years, it has developed to such a scale, and a lot of his hard work has been poured into it. How can he not feel proud and proud?