Chapter 466: The Last Battle
"General, something is wrong. Lev led the troops to retreat without authorization, and our defense line has been broken by the French army." A middle-aged officer with the rank of major general rode a horse and came to Kyle and Byron to report.
"What?" Kyle was shocked immediately. And Byron was so shocked that he almost fell off his horse.
"Damn it, I'm going to court-martial him, and I'm going to hang him." Byron said angrily. Everyone knows that Lev is his subordinate and has always been his confidant. What Lev is doing now is completely equivalent to slapping him in the face in public.
"General Byron, don't be angry, let's think about how to get through this difficulty." Kyle persuaded. He also regretted very much in his heart. If he had known that Lev's stomach was so small, he would never have entrusted him with this important task.
"That's right, General Byron, let's think about how to resist the attack of the main French army. All the troops on the front line are defeated, and there is still an hour at most before the French army will catch up." The middle-aged major general also persuaded.
"Now we must leave a part of the army behind to resist the attack of the French army. To buy time for the main force to retreat." Kyle said coldly. This time, the troops and generals who stayed behind were much more dangerous than at the beginning, and it could be said that they were close to death.
Hearing Kyle say this, many people flinched. Although they love Sweden very much, what they love more is their own life.
"I'll stay. The others should evacuate to Sodertalye as soon as possible." At this time, Byron offered. He seemed to have completely taken the fault of Lev on himself. Although he knew it would be very dangerous to stay, he did not hesitate to ask Byron for his life.
With Byron taking the lead, several other officers also stood up and asked to stay behind.
These are the real Swedish soldiers! Kyle sighed. He believes that with their presence, Sweden will one day rise again.
"I've already made a decision." Kyle glanced at the crowd, most of them didn't dare to look at him at all, and when they saw his glance over, they quickly lowered their heads. "You all retreat to South Taliye, and I will stay." Kyle said firmly.
Almost everyone looked at Kyle in disbelief, not expecting him to do this.
"No, Your Excellency Commander, I'll stay. You can retreat to Sodertalye. The troops still need you." An officer persuaded.
"General Kyle, it's better for you to take the troops and withdraw to South Taliye. I just stay and resist the attack of the French army." Byron also said.
"Everyone doesn't need to say anymore, this is an order. Don't you want to disobey the order? After the troops withdraw to South Taliye, General Byron will take full command." Kyle said forcefully.
Seeing that Kyle was so tough, Byron and several other generals who wanted to stay behind had to give up. But more people breathed a sigh of relief, fearing that Kyle would ask them to stay behind. In their view, staying behind and facing the wolves and tigers of the French army is no different from courting death.
"Hurry up, everyone, don't dawdle, the French are about to catch up." Kyle urged back and forth. In the end, he led 30,000 people to stay to stop the French army, while Byron led 70,000 elite troops and tens of thousands of defeated remnants to withdraw to South Taliye.
Half an hour later, French reinforcements arrived. There were 30,000 troops arriving this time, and one of them was the 5th Infantry Division of the French 89th Army, and the other was from the Kingdom of Bavaria. After the 30,000 French troops arrived, they took a short rest, and then launched an attack on the position hastily built by the Swedish army.
In order to ensure speed, the heavy weapons of the French army were left behind, and the only artillery they carried were mortars. and lighter squad machine guns. But despite this, their firepower is much stronger than that of the Swedish army. Although the Swedish army has a few cannons, it cannot pose too much danger to the French army at all.
The first attacking French army threw only two regiments. However, these two regiments almost tore apart the Swedish army's defenses. Kyle saw that the defense line was in danger, and quickly put the reserve team that was going to be used later into the defense line, and then stabilized the defense line.
For the French army, although this attack failed. But they have also figured out the reality of the Swedish army, and it can be said that they have gained a lot.
During the second wave of attacks, the French army pressed across the board. Immediately, the Swedish army felt a surge of pressure, and many areas were in urgent need. At this time, Kyle had no reserve team available. He had to order all the civilian staff to also take up weapons, and entered the position under his personal leadership to resist the attack of the French army.
Kyle's efforts did not reverse the situation on the battlefield. As the casualties of the Swedish army increased, morale was extremely low, and there were even desertions. At this time, the French army finally broke through the Swedish army's defense line through a fierce attack. As time went on, more and more lines of defense were breached. The defense line of the Swedish army has become precarious.
When the last French army went into battle, it immediately became the last straw that broke the camel's back. The defense lines of the Swedish army collapsed. After the collapse of the defense line, the Swedish army could no longer organize effective resistance, and all command was interrupted. In this case, most of the Swedish army chose to flee or surrender to the French army.
And Kyle, in the end, was killed in the battle. It was a stray bullet that hit him, causing the young Swedish general to fall forever on the battlefield. Perhaps, this seems to be the best ending for him.
Kyle's 30,000 troops delayed the French army for two hours. The main force of the Swedish army escaped the pursuit of the French army. The Swedish army that withdrew to Sodertalje reached a total of more than 80,000 people. It can be said that the sacrifice of Kyle and the 30,000 Swedish troops has been rewarded.
However, this ultimately could not stop Sweden's defeat. The retreat of the Swedish army to Sodertalje only added a little difficulty to the French army. Even if Monty's army cannot reach Stockholm, the Swedish army cannot resist the French army's attack.
Just as the French army led by Monty was fighting fiercely with the Swedish army on the southern front, the French 3rd Army of the Northern Marshal Lanz had already approached the city of Stockholm. Although Stockholm now claims to have hundreds of thousands of troops, less than 100,000 of them are capable of fighting. And these 100,000 people are not at the same level as the French army in terms of equipment, morale, and combat effectiveness.
From the morning of July 8, the French army launched an attack on Stockholm. In order to knock on the gate of Stockholm, the French army concentrated the cannons of the entire corps with a caliber of 100 mm or more. There was a relentless bombardment of the northern city walls of Stockholm. However, as the capital of the Kingdom of Sweden for hundreds of years, Stockholm has been strengthened many times during this period, making it already a strong city. The French bombardment did not achieve the desired effect.
However, if the Swedish army tried to rely on the protection of the city wall to resist the attack of the French army, it would be impossible. After the artillery returned in vain, Lance decided to use combat engineers to blast the walls of Stockholm. He couldn't believe it anymore. If thousands of kilograms of high explosives were buried under the city wall of Stockholm, the city wall of Stockholm still wouldn't blow up?
In the afternoon of the same day, when the Combat Engineers began to move. The French 3rd Army gathered all the heavy firepower to provide them with improved cover. All the cannons and light and heavy machine guns fired at the head of Stockholm, knocking the Swedish defenders down~www.mtlnovel.com~ and the French combat engineering regiment took advantage of this opportunity to quickly cross the open space outside the city wall, to To the bottom of the city wall. Almost everyone carried a pack of dynamite on their backs. More than 1,000 people were dispatched, and they carried 1 ton of high explosives to the city of Stockholm.
Combat engineers skillfully used engineering shovels to dig a large pit under the city of Stockholm, put all the explosives in it, and then buried the fuse. After everyone retreated, the fuse was ignited from afar. In order to facilitate the smooth withdrawal of the soldiers of the Combat Engineer Corps, the fuse was left very long, which could burn for 5 minutes.
Five minutes later, a loud bang sounded in the northern part of Stockholm. Near the northern city wall, it seems to have suffered an earthquake. A large number of houses were destroyed by the earthquake. And the city wall of Stockholm was also blasted open a big hole more than 200 meters long.
This not only frightened the Swedes, but even the French 3rd Army itself was shocked.
Afterwards, Lance immediately came to his senses and ordered the troops to attack Stockholm. A large number of French troops poured into Stockholm through this gap. The Swedish defenders simply could not stop the advance of the French army.
At this time, there was a smile on the corner of Lanshi's mouth, and he already felt that the goddess of victory was waving to him.