General Pope had just lost his eldest son in a new round of unsuccessful attacks. This made him extremely sad, but it also made him breathe a sigh of relief - now, no one can accuse him of deliberately treason for his previous unfavorable battles.

So after losing his eldest son, General Pope immediately stopped almost all offensive operations and played a confrontation with the British. And by the time Napoleon arrived with the Fifth Army, the two sides had been sitting in war for some time.

Napoleon was not very fast, for along the way he had been training his army to use the new toys that Joseph had provided him. But when his army arrived, Napoleon sprang into action.

Napoleon first visited Pope and learned some information about the enemy's defenses that he had previously exchanged for the lives of his soldiers. Pop gave this information very simply, because he knew that General Napoleon had a close relationship with some of the guys above. If he stumbles at this time, even if he dies the eldest son and the second son, it may not lead to any good results.

After receiving this information, Napoleon said goodbye to Pope very politely, but when he walked out of Pope's barracks, he couldn't help but say to the guards who were following him: "I really don't understand, how can he attack so unprepared?" How did he become a general? ”

But in fact, Pop can't be blamed for this. , because this practice is actually a common phenomenon. Most of the French generals during the Republic period lacked experience and talent, and the soldiers of the Republic were generally undertrained, so they could not play complex tactics. It was almost a common habit of French generals during the Republic to be indecisive on the battlefield. What's even worse is that by virtue of this approach, the army of the Republic has really won a lot of victories. And such a victory strengthens the position of this approach. As a result, such brainless recklessness became the legitimacy of the French army.

Back in his barracks, Napoleon carefully studied the map he had brought back, summoned Davout and others in, and set up a reconnaissance mission. After several days of reconnaissance, Napoleon summoned several of his division commanders to discuss the attack.

Napoleon decided that Fort Mulgrave was the key to the battle. If this fortress could be captured, the port of Toulon would be bombarded directly with the cannons set up there. Once the port of Toulon was exposed to cannon fire, the British could not guarantee all kinds of supplies to Toulon, and they had no other choice but to retreat.

"General Pope is clumsy in front, but no matter how clumsy the action is, it makes sense. General Pope's attempt to break through to Toulon from the front was of course stupid, but his stupid behavior also led to the stupid response of the British. Judging by the information we have received, the British should have put the main forces in front of the port of Toulon as well. As a result, they neglected the defense of the Mulgrave fortress on the contrary. You see, this is a map of Toulon while it was still in our possession. And this is a map that we have drawn newly through reconnaissance. ”

As he spoke, Napoleon uncovered the outdated map that had been laid out on the table, revealing the new map underneath.

"You see, since Toulon fell into the hands of the British, the size of the Mulgrave fortress has increased markedly. At its current scale, it should be able to be armed with more than thirty cannons. And in order to defend it, the British still here, and here, each built a small fort, echoing the Mulgrave Fort. If there are enough defenders in these forts, I am afraid that it will take great sacrifices to capture these forts. However, some time ago, the military flags on these forts were changed, and the British flags were replaced by the Spanish ones. That is, the British put more combat units on the front, and they felt that this was not the focus of our attack. ”

"General, when are we going to attack?" Ogereau asked.

"There's no hurry, we need more preparation. First, we need to make the enemy feel that our focus is still on the front. "So I need to keep some pressure on the front, so that the British feel that our next attack is still aimed at the front." ”

"General, are you planning to make a feint on the front?" Davout frowned and asked, "But the extent of the feint is difficult to control. The number of people invested is small, and it cannot attract the enemy; If there are more people who invest, their own losses will also be great. ”

Napoleon smiled: "Am I such a stupid person?" I'll tell you a way you can ......."

After breakfast, Second Lieutenant Hale, as usual, ascended to the lookout post of the fort and looked over the French. Although the French are not rushing here as much as they used to, it is always possible to be vigilant.

There was no movement on the part of the French, and it seemed that they had given up their efforts. However, it was said that the French reinforcements had just arrived, and there was no telling when they would act, so they still needed to be cautious.

At this moment, something seemed to move on the distant skyline. Hale quickly raised his binoculars and looked over there.

"French! The French are here again! Hale shouted.

The French came again, but the battalion of French troops stopped out of the range of the cannons, and then Hale saw through the binoculars that the Frenchmen began to swing hoes and shovels, as if digging trenches.

Trenches were dug around fortified cities to cut off traffic from the outside world, which was also uncommon in Europe. But Toulon is not an ordinary city, it is a seaport, can the French still dig a trench in the sea?

Although Hale was puzzled, he quickly reported this information to his superiors.

Soon, a group of officers appeared at the lookout. Everyone was looking over there with binoculars.

"What are the French doing?"

"Dig a trench, but ...... It seems that not lateral, but longitudinal trenches. One of the officers suddenly said, "They want to dig directly in front of us like this!" ”

"A bunch of ground rats!" An officer scoffed. In this era of paying attention to the grace of war, this kind of rat-like approach will indeed make many people look down on it.

But many more did not laugh. Of course, it is not very imposing and unseemly to dig it up like a ground mouse, but if you think about it carefully, they realize that the French really make sense to do this. At least that would have greatly reduced the effectiveness of their artillery, and it would have been a real problem to get them digging in front of them, and then having the French suddenly rush up and fight for bayonets. The British and Spaniards are limited in number, but the human resources on the French side are not comparable to the British and Spaniards. If such a scuffle is carried out, then Toulon is still really dangerous.

"It will take at least three or four days for them to dig far enough to make an impact." One officer said, "We're going to get ready for a big fight." ”

The French ground rat was more frequent than the British expected. Because even at night, they did not stop moving, they lit torches, and kept digging forward, and the British tried to fire a few shots, but it was not easy for the shells to get into the trenches, and the trenches dug by the French had a slight turn, so even if the shells went in, it was difficult to hit people. Seeing that the shelling was not effective, the British simply stopped and seriously prepared for the subsequent fight. The morale of the French army was high, and the bayonet battle was good, but the bayonets of the British lobster soldiers were not vegetarian either.

Depending on the number of trenches dug by the French, a single charge of their men could throw in thousands. Therefore, the British concentrated all the forces that could be concentrated on the front as much as possible, and prepared to withstand the impact of the French.

"General, we observed that about two companies of Spaniards left Fort Mulgrave. Probably also turned to the front. An officer said to Napoleon.

"Good. Davout, tomorrow morning, you should be able to get within attack range, right? Napoleon asked, turning his head.

"Dig for the night today, and tomorrow morning we will indeed be within attack range." Davout replied.

"Okay, early tomorrow morning, Davout, you lead the troops into the position and make a gesture of attacking. Augereau, early tomorrow morning, we will go together to attack Fort Margrave. Davout, you have to make a good gesture to attract the British and buy time for our attack. ”

"Understood, General!" Davout and Ogero responded.

That night, the British and Spaniards kept approaching the French ground rats, and farther away, the French ground rats also built artillery forts. Both the British and the Spaniards know that tomorrow will be the decisive moment.

……

Lucien and Chrysler went out quietly in the dark with the women of the Bonaparte, and the girls changed into boys' clothes for ease of movement. Everyone came to the beach in the dark, and several fishing boats appeared in their field of vision.

"Such a ship? Is it okay to have such a ship? Letizia asked.

"Don't worry, Mom! No problem. That's how we came by these boats. Lucien said indifferently, and then he turned to Chrysler, "Mr. Chrysler, do you say that my brother and they are already fighting the Englishmen in Toulon?" We're rushing over now, and we don't know if we'll see a fight. ”

"I don't know." Chrysler said, "But General Bonaparte is still in Paris." Even if you want to go south, it shouldn't be so fast. ”

"I really want to see a fight." Polina interjected suddenly.