"What do you think of Lord Bolton's proposal?" George IV asked. He tried his best to keep his expression calm, but others could still tell that he was already very moved by Boton's proposal. After all, if the struggle continues, Britain will only be destroyed. Britain could survive surrendering to France, although it would cost a lot. But for those in power like them, the impact is not great. Besides, using those American and Canadian troops to win the trust of France has nothing to lose for them. You know, most British people look down on the United States and Canada. A few decades ago, North America was nothing more than a British colony. Now, although they have developed and become a powerful country, they still cannot change the paranoid views of the British. Canada, in particular, is nothing more than a country where the previous king fled to establish.
"Your Majesty, I think Lord Bolton's proposal is very good. A truce with France is beneficial to our country." Edward said immediately. He can best understand the heart of George IV, which is why he can be the throne of the Secretary of the Interior.
"Your Majesty, if this is the case, we must deploy early. After all, the U.S. Army and the Canadian Army add up to 300,000 people. If it is not controlled, it will definitely be a disaster for us." Bill Admiral reminded. At present, the US and Canadian troops are mainly stationed in the area around Bristol Bay in the west of the UK. The British mobilized about 20 divisions to monitor the movements of the American and Canadian troops. But from the perspective of combat effectiveness, 20 British divisions are absolutely unable to withstand the same number of American and Canadian troops. [bsp;"This is a problem. I think that if we want to have peace talks with the French, we must proceed as soon as possible. At the same time, we need to pay attention to secrecy, so that the US and Canadian forces cannot be aware of our intentions." Williams also said. Judging from everyone's reaction, it can be concluded that everyone tends to have a truce with France.
"Okay, since everyone agrees. Let's inform Palmerston and authorize him to make peace with the French. Let him make an agreement with the French while preserving our interests, and end this **** war." ...Edward, you are in charge of contacting Davis, and stabilize them for me. Don't let them discover our actions." George IV quickly made deployments.
Everyone took the lead. Now is the time that should be life and death. At the same time, deep in their hearts, there is still a little sadness. Only God knows how much it will cost Britain. From the hostile attitude of the French and the government towards Britain, we can see the general idea. What's more, this time it was Britain who took the initiative to send men to be slaughtered. However, no matter what, the war must be ended as soon as possible. Britain can't beat France, and if it continues to fight, it will only push Britain into the abyss. This is the consensus of almost everyone. Even though they would bear the notoriety of betraying their allies again because of this, they didn't care so much for their own interests.
On the morning of July 5, when the sun just rose, all the French soldiers got up. The quartermaster started distributing ammunition, and at the same time, the smell of breakfast began to waft across the entire battlefield, making the hungry soldiers swallow their saliva uncontrollably. From this morning they will leave Dover and march towards Maidstone. It was expected that they would hold Maidstone on the evening of 6 July, and attack on the morning of 7 July.
At 8 o'clock in the morning, the first batch of troops set off. Immediately afterwards, the entire French 4th Army, divided into 3 groups, marched towards Maidstone. The mighty and mighty army is extremely imposing. It proves that the hard training in the past two years is still very effective.
The march along the way was very smooth, and there was basically no resistance from the British army. At most there were some sporadic disturbances, but they were all defeated by the cavalry battalions directly under the divisions. It didn't have the slightest impact on the French team.
The army along the way in the middle moved a little slower. Because the artillery division was arranged on this road. The traffic situation in the UK is pretty good. But the heavy cannons of the Artillery Division, especially the 155mm howitzers weighing dozens of tons, undoubtedly became a burden. This is often the case. When marching, the artillery unit is the culprit that drags down the speed of the troops. But in battle, the artillerymen were everyone's favorite. Their powerful firepower clears the way for the army, and at the same time reduces casualties.
On the afternoon of July 6, the French team arrived in Maidstone one after another, which caused the British team to be nervous. But the French army did not launch an attack immediately, and began to build a position at twenty. When more and more French troops arrived, the British couldn't sit still. If it weren't for the gendarmerie to stop them, most of them would have thrown away their weapons and fled.
"General, the French are here. Shall we take advantage of their unsteady footing and launch an attack?" Forfer asked.
"Let's forget it. You think the ** team is obviously well-trained. While building positions, the priority is to build those firepower points. I'm afraid it's to guard against our sudden attack. In addition, look at the morale of our army. Attack?" Hammurabi said wordlessly. This morning, he had been notified by Williams, and Williams had passed on their decision to him. Under such circumstances, he was even more unwilling to waste the lives of the soldiers.
Forfar eventually had to give up. Although Hammurabi didn't tell him what happened, he could guess from Hammurabi's expression that something must have happened.
"Hmph! I really don't know if the British are arrogant or they already know they are not our opponents. They are so passive." Bride said disdainfully in the temporary headquarters. If the British army launches an attack when they have just arrived, although it is impossible to defeat the French army, it will at least cause some hunluàn.
"Marshal, haven't you noticed? The morale of the British is low now. They don't dare to fight with us at all. I believe that we will soon be able to break through the enemy's defenses and then approach London." Deputy Corps of the French 4th Army Long said.
Brad nodded. He also found that the British team had indeed lost their fighting spirit. From the bottom of his heart, he disdains to fight against such an opponent. Such an opponent would not be able to achieve the effect of military training at all.
The next day, July 7, at dawn. The artillery division of the French 4th Army pushed all the cannons into several artillery positions that had already been built. Tear off the gun cover, revealing the hideous gun barrel. A large number of shells were moved out and neatly stacked next to the cannon.
At 8 o'clock sharp, the soldiers who had had breakfast all entered the attacking position. The changes in the French army's position attracted the attention of the British army and caused some riots. A large number of British soldiers, driven by junior officers, also entered the position one after another. Obviously they understood that the French offensive was about to begin.
"Is it about to start? That's fine, start early and end early." Hammurabi put down the binoculars in his hand. At this moment, he felt very tired.
"Start the attack!" Bride gave the order to attack.
As the artillery commander waved the flag in his hand high. A ménmén cannon roared. 155mm howitzer, 105mm howitzer, 75mm field gun. And the howitzers, field artillery and mortars of the artillery regiments of each division joined in the roar.
In an instant, the position of the British army was shrouded in a sea of flames. The vast majority of British soldiers have never experienced such violent shelling. They either hugged their heads and hid in the trenches shivering, or ran away with their heads covered, and were torn to pieces by the flying shrapnel.
"Lie down! Lie down!" Some low-ranking officers yelled amidst the artillery fire. But amidst the intense shelling, their voices could not be heard very far.
The shelling of the French army took a full hour to prepare. The British army suffered heavy losses.
Before the shelling was over, an infantry regiment was thrown into the attack. Under the cover of artillery fire, they quickly rushed towards the British army's position. Infantry coordination is a subject that the French Army has been training for many years.
At the request of the officer, the British soldiers had to brave the fierce artillery fire and climb out of the anti-battery hole, preparing to resist the attack of the French army. However, all this is in vain. They flew to attack, although they caused some casualties to the French army, but that's all. After the French army broke into the position~www.mtlnovel.com~, the British army resisting inside was quickly eliminated.
As the French army invested more and more troops, with the coordination of artillery fire, it launched an attack on the depth of the British army. In just one day, the battle line was pushed to the city of Maidstone.
The defeat on the front line made more British teams fearful. Inevitably, there were deserters. At first there was one, then there was a large group. By the time the French entered Maidstone the next day, at least a quarter of the British had fled.
In street fighting, the British army was no match for the French army. The French army took squads as units, and each squad was divided into two or three groups. They cooperated closely and used grenades, mortars and other weapons to defeat the British army steadily. It took only two days to gain control over most of Maidstone City.
Seeing that the situation was over, Hammurabi gave the order to retreat. The remaining more than 100,000 British troops scrambled to retreat towards London.
After the French army took Maidstone, they did not take a rest and launched a pursuit directly. During the attack on Maidstone, they didn't feel strenuous at all.
On July 18, the French army approached only forty kilometers from London.