"I don't want to know how many casualties there are, tell me, how far we advanced! Tell the brats at the front, attack! Give me offense! ”

Field Marshal Trevier's roar drowned out the sound of artillery fire and fighting from the front, echoing through the cramped tents, making the already nervous personnel of the headquarters even more nervous. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

The staff officer, who bore the brunt of the blow, was stunned for a moment, and with great difficulty regained his senses, he hurriedly saluted the marshal and withdrew, while Marshal Tréville did not speak again, and continued to pac restlessly in the tent.

He had reason to be nervous, for the offensive he had launched today, the largest in history, had exhausted almost all the maneuverable forces that the French could muster, and the lengthy preparations and planning had exhausted what little energy he had left.

In other words, he had already made too much of a bet on this offensive to afford to lose.

If the fight is too bad, Field Marshal Raglan, who is still bedridden at the moment, will be a lesson from the past.

Since the last time in the battle of Balaclava, because of his command mistakes, the British cavalry suffered very heavy and unnecessary casualties, although the British army still maintained the fighting spirit and order because of good discipline, but after the news came back to Britain, as the marshal feared, a tidal wave of criticism poured in him, even if he was on the front line, this criticism and attack made the elderly marshal feel exhausted.

Perhaps because of this, the marshal's condition collapsed, and he had been lying on the hospital bed, and his health was deteriorating, although the news was blocked in order to avoid a commotion in the whole army, but Marshal Tréville knew the truth, and Marshal Raglan probably did not survive this winter.

If...... If I also face such an attack and my reputation is damaged, I ...... Can I stand it? Such questions had been lingering in the old man's mind, and for the old marshal, who had come back from the Napoleonic era, he was not willing to let his reputation be tarnished in any way.

Fortunately, unlike England, France was now an empire after all, and the emperor and his ministers had absolute control, and the marshal, who was deeply trusted by His Majesty the emperor, could naturally avoid most attacks against him.

Admittedly, it was not appropriate to launch a large-scale offensive at such a point in time, and there was some opposition even within the army, but Marshal Trevill, with the power and prestige of his commander, forcibly suppressed it, launched such an attack, and he had to cooperate with the political needs of the emperor and his grandson, even if such an offensive meant that many people would die in vain.

In any case, war is gambling, and for the sake of the empire and his family, Marshal Tréville is willing to risk his army and his own reputation.

Although he was wearing thick clothes and lighting a brazier in the tent to keep warm, he still felt chills all over his body, as if the whole skeleton was soaked in water, and his right hand behind his back shook lightly and uncontrollably.

Time was passing, but the sky was still overcast, and the whole camp was buried under the haze, and the shadow it cast on the old marshal's thick shoulders made the back of this originally upright head seem to become a little rickety.

Under the gloomy and anxious gaze of the rear command, the offensive on the front line continued in full swing, the sky was getting brighter and brighter, in the raging flames everywhere, the infantry who rushed to the forefront of the French army were also organized by the officers, while shooting at the enemy with the rifles in their hands, while shooting at the front at the fastest speed, at this time, in this environment, of course, there was no accuracy to talk about, but fortunately, the Giverny 1850 rifled guns in their hands showed their excellent performance, compared with the old smoothbore guns, These guns were extremely fast to reload and had greatly improved accuracy, so the soldiers at the front relied on them to fire at the Russian positions and provide cover for their comrades next to them.

In such an open front, the casualties of the charging troops were of course unavoidable, and the Russian army has now returned fire with its greatest strength. Bullets flew across the clearing, and occasionally shells exploded in the crowd. Fortunately, the French used the skirmish line because they had taken into account similar situations in advance, but the attacking companies continued to be shot.

Under the cover of the roar of artillery fire, the dull and light sound of the bullet entering the human body is still endless, every time such a sound, it means that someone will disappear from this world, but the charging companies did not slow down their attack speed, especially those officers and soldiers in the vanguard are with the help of the cover of terrain and features, while concealing, while forcibly advancing, at any cost of brute courage finally rushed to the front of the Russian position.

In order to avoid accidentally injuring friendly troops on the front line, the heavy artillery in the rear has stopped bombardment, and the suppression of artillery fire will next be handed over to those field artillery that advances with the vanguard troops, and now the greatest reliance of the attacking troops has been lost, and they will have to fight the enemy to the death with their own flesh and blood.

In the midst of the rain of bullets, the vanguard companies howled and launched a final charge, forcibly crossed the last distance, and in a frenzied atmosphere, jumped into the enemy's trenches with their rifles loaded with bayonets in their hands, because of the fierce shelling, these trenches were almost incomplete, and they could hardly see anything, but they didn't care about this, first picked up their guns and fired everywhere, and then marched along the road in the choking smoke, and any enemy who stood in the way was stabbed with guns, Even when they came across the wounded enemy who were wailing on the ground, they did not show any mercy and had to pierce the enemy in the chest with their bayonets.

Countless comrades-in-arms had already fallen in front of them when they were charging, and they were now red-eyed and had no tolerance to speak of.

Soon, a large number of attacking troops poured into the trenches at the front of the Russian army, and the merciless hand-to-hand combat was fiercely fought below the horizon, and people kept screaming and falling down wounded, although the French soldiers who initially jumped into the trenches were slowly consumed by the defenders, but the follow-up troops still rushed into it in a steady stream, and brought new casualties to the defenders. Under such a strong blow, although the defenders were already desperately resisting, their numbers were getting smaller and smaller, and the resistance was getting weaker and weaker.

As the main commander, Lucien had been keeping an eye on the progress of the battle ahead, and when he saw that his troops had finally occupied the forward trenches of the Russian army, his originally tense heart relaxed a little, but he knew that at the moment they had only completed the initial offensive goal, and they were still too far from the final success.

In the non-stop fighting, the French army quickly completed the clearing of the forward trenches, eliminating all the enemies in the trenches, they must hurry up, lest the Russians put their reserves into their main attack front, they must take the front fort as soon as possible.

The front of the Russian fortress is hilly and steep, and it can only be stepped into along the narrow and increasingly steep side ramps, so these soldiers who have captured the forward trenches have to go around the trenches to the ramp, and some of the soldiers who have killed the red eyes are not even bothering to look for the road, they climb directly on the cliffs, and then desperately step on the raised stones everywhere to climb upwards, bent on rushing to the front of the fortress quickly.

The ferocious fire was mercilessly sprinkled on these brave soldiers, and the fortresses that supported each other on the flanks opened fierce fire at this time, and the bullets whistling in the cold wind hit the ramps and cliffs, and many of the soldiers who climbed on the cliffs fell to the ground in a miserable scream, and in the muffled sound of falling to the ground, the dead were soon wrapped in the dirt formed by the soldiers who had died before, and soon became part of this large mass of colorful mud, as if it was new nourishment filled into the chest of the monster.

By this time, the troops who had first thrown themselves into the front had suffered heavy casualties and had finally worn down their initial high morale, and some of the soldiers looked at the towering monster in fear, and retreated step by step, even the remnants of the officers waving their command knives and roaring loudly did not summon their new courage.

This result was a little disappointing to Lucien, but it did not surprise him, and the previous offensives were also thwarted at this stage, suffering a large number of casualties in vain but making no progress. Although the casualties they suffered this time were still heavy, this time the French made up their minds completely different, and Lucien did not hesitate to throw in his reserves, and the Guards infantry gathered in the rear also rushed forward.

Marshal Tréville's planned plan was to make feints in several places, and then use Lucien's main attacking force to open gaps in the Russian front, and then use the elite guards to surprise the Russian front, hoping to break the Russian line in one fell swoop.

"Get your regiment to keep up!" Lucien shouted to one of his commanders, "Don't worry about casualties, as long as you can open a gap for the troops in the rear!" ”

Under Lucien's sight, his reserves were quickly thrown into the battlefield, and the originally stagnant French front, inspired by such a new force, regained the courage and determination to attack, and a large number of soldiers rushed up the ramp, and then fought frantically with the Russian soldiers in front of the multi-sided fort.

In the cold smoke, the two armies fought to the death, neither side retreated, the corpses on the main battlefield in the valley piled up higher and higher, under the French offensive regardless of casualties, the Russian army on the front line finally appeared, and a large group of French soldiers rushed into several multi-sided fortresses along the gap opened by the heavy artillery, so that these terrible monsters could no longer devour their robes for the time being.

At this time, the reserves of the Guards were finally dispatched in large numbers, and these elite officers and soldiers selected from the whole army were still neat and tidy and arrogant even at such a moment.

Because the vanguard had already consumed a large number of Russian troops, they lined up in a dense array line, and poured into the battlefield like a tide.

At the forefront, the standard-bearers marched forward at a constant pace with the eagle banner representing the Empire, while the soldiers followed behind them singing their military songs, as if the scenes of war decades ago had been resurrected.

When they came to the front of the Russian position, the Russian army's counterattack continued, and soldiers kept falling, but they were fearless, still marching forward in a tight formation, pressing along the bloody road that had been rushed away by the vanguard, and the targets of their attack were those fortresses in the center of the Russian forward defense line.

They quickly rushed up the ramp, and at this point their array finally became loose again, and the vanguard forces that had already rushed here also converged in the torrent, enveloping the multi-faceted forts in it.

After more than an hour of desperate fighting, under the attack of the Guards, the French flags began to flutter on the fortress, and the fortress, which originally seemed to be impregnable and brought huge casualties to the French army, was finally forcibly conquered by these French soldiers regardless of casualties, and a burst of cheers resounded throughout the French front.

However, this was only the first half of the goal, and the French did not have time to celebrate and continue to attack, they had to continue the attack, break through the depth of the Russian position, and develop the victory at the beginning into the victory of the whole battle, until finally the entire fortress collapsed.

Seeing that a large number of infantry of the Guan army were approaching the position, the Russian troops in the deep position, under the initiation of the officers, raised their bayonets to meet them, and launched a crazy counterattack on the advancing French army, and the soldiers on both sides were killed together, while their officers fought desperately with pistols and even command knives.

Reinforcements from other parts of the fortress came in a steady stream, constantly reinforcing the Russian army with heavy casualties, and the two armies were strangled together, blood stains and fireworks made everyone's faces become hideous and terrifying, and one by one the original fresh lives were left under this fortress city forever.

Under the desperate defense of the Russian army and the counterattack again and again, the shock energy of the Guards was finally delayed and finally eliminated, and they had fallen into the strangulation with the enemy and could not complete the goal of further assault.

And all this, of course, also fell into the eyes of the commanders in the rear.

"Your Highness, send our reserves!" In the rear headquarters, an adjutant in an ornate uniform told Prince Joseph Bonaparte, who had been watching the front anxiously, that "without sending more people, there will be no way to open the Russian positions further!" The results that have been achieved are also in jeopardy! ”

"Enough......" Prince Joseph-Bonaparte, who was witnessing all this in the rear, closed his eyes slightly, as if he could not bear to look at them again.

After a moment, he let out a long sigh. "Don't send any more people up."

"What?" The adjutant was stunned, not quite understanding why the prince suddenly said such a thing, "Now is the critical moment...... We have to ......"

"What critical moment? If we press all the people on now, will we win? The prince turned his head and glared at him, "And even if the fortress is breached, what can it be?" What can be solved? ”

The adjutant was stunned.

"But, the marshal's order ......"

"Marshal Trevier is a little presumptuous! I'm not denying his abilities and plans, I'm just saying...... We can't look at things purely militarily! The essence of the Guards must be preserved and not consumed in such a senseless war! The prince shouted as if to vent his emotions, and then, he regained his composure and lowered his voice, "If too many lives are lost here, and there will be another rebellion in Paris in the future, what will we use to suppress it?" ”

The adjutant looked at the prince in amazement, as if he had not understood his words.

"Well, there's nothing more to say, we've shown enough attitude, and the marshal has nothing to say about me!" The prince waved his hand impatiently, "Now, you must obey my orders, and don't continue to send them over, this offensive ...... It's enough for me to see here, we've already scared the Russians, haven't we? ”

In the Prince's view, the Guards were not only a tribute to the old emperor and the rebuilding of the honor of the imperial army, but more importantly, the most powerful weapon and tool for the Bonaparte family to maintain the rule of the empire. From this point of view, he knew that he absolutely could not easily let this precious elite force be consumed.

His considerations were not necessarily wrong.

The sudden stagnation of the Guards puzzled Lucien in the command on the other side.

In his opinion, now the French army has reached a critical moment, the offensive has stalled, and new forces must be invested to bring impact and further tear apart the Russian defense.

He wanted to ask Prince Joseph-Bonaparte why he had suddenly stopped launching new attacks.

But reason told him that he was only a colonel, and on the opposite side was a general, a prince, and he had no way to question the other party's decision.

Now, it is clear that if you want to win, then you have to throw in more troops, put in the general reserves that stay in the rear, put in the last bet, make a desperate fight, force the attack, attack without sacrifice...... Offensive...... Attack even with all the blood spilled until you break the will of the defenders and break their entire defense.

As for whether he can do it after putting everything in, he himself is not sure.

However, such an order was not his right to give, and he waited anxiously, waiting for the latest order from the headquarters, whether to continue the fight or to withdraw the troops, there was not much time left for them to make a decision.

Fast! Fast! Lucien had been roaring in his heart, and he was getting more and more anxious as he watched several of his troops, and even the newly raised reserves, being consumed in the attack, but the order had not yet arrived.

Can't put it off any longer! Lucien's heart was broken, he simply picked up his sword, then turned to the adjutant next to him, and shouted loudly. "Go! Gather all those who can still be mobilized, and gather all those who can still pick up guns! Let's go on the offensive! Offensive! ”

Without waiting for the adjutant to answer, he jumped up from the trench and brandished his command knife to advance.

At this time, he suddenly felt a chill in his neck.

He immediately looked up, and then suddenly noticed that something strange seemed to be falling from the sky.

Slender, pale, and shaped like goose feathers, it floats in the sky and slowly falls, like a fairy in this environment filled with smoke and choking dust.

"It's snowing......" Lucien was stunned for a moment, then thought almost blankly.

He certainly knew what it meant to snow in Russia - almost every French soldier could not forget the nightmare of Napoleon's army in 1812. Obviously, the temperature will drop even further, and heavy snow may flood every part of the peninsula.

That's fine, at least we can end this offensive with dignity, there is no better reason to stop. With a mixed mixture of reluctance and relief, Lucien thought to himself.

He looked up again and looked ahead.

At this time, some of the fortresses and trenches on the outer line of the Russian army have turned into a tragic hell, and countless corpses are covered between the open space and the mezzanine, covering the rock walls and bastions, and when viewed from a distance, it is almost like a blue-gray velvet blanket has been spread over the entire land.

The snow was still falling, and the red-hot blood flowed from the wounds of the dead and dying people, solidified on the ground, and turned into red ice, as if to draw a new pattern for the blanket.

This strange and cruel scene made Lucien feel that he could not forget it in his life.

God, what have we done?