In the heat of battle, Richelieu had been carefully observing the entire battlefield, and finally found something strange in the excellent telescope: these armies were usually armed with bows and arrows, firearms, artillery and even some special short spears, and the proportion of people who were actually armed with the peculiar double-barreled musket was not very large. Richelieu was not only a general, but also a prime minister, and of course had some knowledge of some of France's domestic munitions and ordnance. Whether it was a spear or a flintlock pistol, even in Europe at this time, it cost a lot of money to make. Flintlock pistols equipped with decent spears were rare in European armies of this era, and if a double-barreled operation was required, the difficulty of manufacturing could be said to have increased dramatically.

Richelieu, who also had some knowledge of the East and even the Far East in the library, certainly understood that it was almost impossible for the elite of a very small number of main forces to manufacture such equipment with the poor iron ore quality and even the weak military handicraft base of the Far Eastern countries outside India. There is no doubt that the infantry equipped with this weapon is the elite of the strong enemy attacking from the east with about 20,000 people, and there is no doubt that it is not the main body, but why can such the most elite forces always be mobilized in the direction of the main attack and assault of the large army?

At this time, the rough loss of the two failed attacks from the front and even the flanks was also estimated, and at least 6,000 heavy cavalry casualties were lost in the enemy's defensive fire and even in the fierce counterattack that followed. If we add in the casualties and losses suffered by the entire army in the previous battles, the total casualties and losses of the French army in the Chalons area this time are approaching about 10,000. In this era, this proportion of casualties is undoubtedly a dangerous proportion, that is, at this time, the French army participating in the battle clearly has the upper hand, and the other side seems to be relatively passive in command to bring about some serious consequences.

Richelieu, of course, was a perceptive man, and in this case began to order the gradual withdrawal of the troops from the first line and into the defense, but at the same time maintain the encirclement formed by taking advantage of the superiority of forces. Infantry and logistical units, as well as men recruited from nearby areas, began to construct trenches and simple barracks under the cover of cavalry, intending to force the formidable adversary to break through and counterattack. If the opponent is on the offensive, there is no doubt that you can use the advantage of cavalry and strength to deal a decisive blow to this tough opponent.

What Richelieu did not expect was that these opponents, who had performed super well in previous operations, seemed to have miscalculated this time, and seemed to be intending to rely only on long-range artillery bombardment, mainly light shotguns, to contain the offensive launched by logistics and even the civil work of temporary mobilized personnel.

Of course, the continuous shelling posed a lot of casualties and even a threat to the mobilized personnel, but perhaps because of the cover of the cavalry wall, and the fact that the previous sudden contingent did not carry many medium and heavy artillery, the construction progress of the encirclement fortifications was not fundamentally organized.

Roughly near dusk, the "strong enemy in the east" in the encirclement launched a tentative attack, and after encountering strong resistance, it quickly turned into a defensive confrontation.

Somehow, Richelieu suddenly had a bad premonition at this time: the firepower and even the combat effectiveness shown by these people in the defense before were by no means mediocre, why did the later tentative breakthrough counterattack seem to have no intentions at all? Didn't the enemy commander-in-chief consider it extremely dangerous to be besieged by an army that was several times his own strength?

Just when Richelieu decided whether to let the whole army move when night came, and the main force retreated more than ten miles and set up a new battalion, the news that the follow-up troops continued to reinforce Richelieu was reassured that after it would inevitably be reinforced by sixty or seventy thousand new forces from the direction of Paris before dark, the number of French troops gathered in the area of Sharon reached as many as 150,000 men, which was rare in the European theater of this era, which meant that the superiority in strength was as much as seven or eight times. In almost every direction, two or three times the strength of the opposing side can be gathered to form a very strong encirclement.

A steady stream of reinforcements finally arrived near dusk, and the encirclement of the entire French army in various positions seemed to have become stronger, but if you only look at it from the ground, because the army led by Xiao Xuan is surrounded by the cavalry curtain at the front at this moment, it seems that you can only judge that the enemy army began to get reinforcements when it was approaching dark, and it is difficult to judge how many reinforcements the enemy army has.

It's just that at this time, the information of the children wearing the small hot air balloon hidden in the sky near the height of the clouds gave Xiao Xuan a general idea of the power he might face this time. Therefore, at this time, also during the day, the order was given to carry out the simplest fortifications, and to approach about half a mile from the enemy's position.

Many officers and generals of the French army were surprised to see that this strong enemy was already in a weak position and spread the defensive formation, but at this time, they were somewhat relieved to think of the terrifying and fierce fire they had encountered during the day. These fierce and powerful enemies may not know what kind of reinforcements they have received at this time, and they may still have a lot of confidence that they can break through the next day.

At this time, Xiao Xuan used his own soldiers to secretly contact and asked, "Have you made all the preparations for the rapid operation?" ”

At this time, the various battalions were answered in the affirmative. Obviously, after several training sessions on the battlefield, the Volunteer Left Army, as the best force, seems to be no stranger to this kind of business.

In terms of economic size, even at the official exchange rate, the Soviet Union's GDP in 1980 was just over $900 billion, less than Japan's. It is only one-seventh of that of the capitalist bloc of the United States, the European Union, and Japan, and the labor productivity is only one-third of that of the other side. At that time, China, even compared with the size of the Soviet Union, was at least several times different. It is simply not enough to narrow the gap between East and West by less than 1:2 in the short term.

If the Cold War continues, before China can fully develop, it is likely that the gap between the East and the West will accumulate in science and technology and military that will be difficult to catch up. This made even Mao himself afraid of the Sino-Soviet alliance in the 70s and beyond.

From 1957 to 1970, a series of erroneous movements in China's domestic affairs, from domestic affairs to foreign affairs, had delayed too much time for development and construction, thus losing the opportunity for the Sino-Soviet Socialist Alliance to be at least invincible in the Cold War in terms of strategic timing.

Under these circumstances, to bring about an early end to the Cold War and to keep quiet is actually to seek survival in the midst of death, taking advantage of the characteristics of the West's youth, populism, and economic interests, and seeking a way to survive and long-term prospects and possibilities at the cost of the huge political and economic risks in the rightward turn. By the way, we can get some of the benefits from it.

(End of chapter)