Under the orders of the two commanders of the coalition forces, the coalition forces that were originally rolling south stopped their steps, and it was already the next hour, and the golden glow made the group of people in bright clothes look a little more solemn. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Colonel Lucien-Leflair faithfully carried out the orders of his superiors, knowing that now that the coalition forces were close to the Russian positions, they could no longer advance easily.

At his urging, his troops quickly set up camp on the spot, and he and Kong Ze disembarked from their horses.

"It seems that the Russians are more aggressive, and they want to stop you here." Kong Ze took out the topographic map he had drawn again and carefully calculated his current position. "They probably want to take advantage of the terrain of the Alma River."

Lucien was silent, scanning around with a telescope.

Although most of the light cavalry at the front of the array has now been scattered in all directions, reconnoitering the enemy's movements, and there is no need for him to collect information nearby, his years of professional habits still make him carefully observe the surrounding terrain, so as not to panic when there is really a case.

In front of the telescope are farmsteads in the wilderness, the houses of which are so simple that they are uninhabited. Around the farmstead, there are large vineyards.

It was summer, when all life was at its most active, and as far as the eye could see, the greenery everywhere, and the houses were hidden among the vines and lawns of the vineyards, reminded Lucien for a moment of his hometown in France, which was also a very beautiful farmstead.

As far as the eye can see over the farm, there is a river that flows horizontally, it is not wide, and the current is not turbulent, and it should not seem difficult to swim across. At the same time, the river bends backwards in the central part of the coalition array, forming a concave shaped river, and under the illumination of the setting sun at this time, the river surface is shining, sparkling, and beautiful.

On the other side of the river, however, there is a long, towering cliff that stretches in front of the coalition forces like a natural defensive wall.

This cliff made Lucien frown slightly, it was obvious that this was an insurmountable obstacle, and the Russians wanted to use it as a defense against the coalition forces.

He couldn't help but raise his binoculars and look hard at the other side, under his gaze, the crag in front of him was pitted, the water lapping against it, and the figures in various military uniforms appeared in the middle of it, as if he had come to a theater in ancient Rome and observed the towering auditorium in the lower part of the theater.

The terrain at the top of the cliff is very flat, and it should be used as the main position of the Russian army, equipped with their main forces. At both ends of the cliffs, there are cliffs and slopes on the edges, and if you were the commander of the Russian army, you would have placed artillery and cavalry there, so that you could use the terrain to bombard the coalition forces trying to cross the river, and make the coalition forces suffer enough between the river and the cliffs.

In solitude, he struggled to estimate the number of Russian troops, thinking about how to engage the Russians next, and how to defend himself against the attack of the coalition forces if he were Russian.

The terrain had given them enough obstacles and troubles, and the Russians had apparently arrived here before them, and were now here ready to meet the coalition forces. It is clear that the geographical advantage is on the side of the Russians, and even now they are still suffering from some unfavorable factors......

"Oh God, if the Russians have enough troops, how can we break through here?!" After a while, he couldn't help but cry out. "As long as they have enough artillery, we can't break through here!"

This is a serious problem.

Because of the transportation difficulties caused by the previous rainstorm, the coalition forces did not transport large heavy artillery to the shore, and because these cannons were too heavy and would slow down the march, the coalition forces did not intend to carry them forward, so now the troops carried only light artillery, these cannons are quite effective in the field, but if you want to bombard the enemy's strong fortifications, I am afraid that it will not be enough.

How can the twelve-pounder and six-pounder field guns confront the Russian heavy artillery on the high platform of the cliff? If the artillery fire on the opposite side cannot be suppressed, then even if the coalition officers and soldiers force the attack forward, it will only be a waste of the lives of the soldiers, not to mention that the Russians can also use cavalry to sweep through the slopes and valleys between the river banks and cliffs to repel all the coalition soldiers who rush over.

The more Lucien thought about it, the more anxious he became, and finally he could only turn his head to look at Kong Ze. "How many do you think the Russians will be able to deploy here?"

"According to what we've got, it's about thirty or forty thousand." Kong Ze was silent for a long time, and finally answered. "They don't have any more power to call on right now."

"Do you dare to take responsibility for your words?" Lucien changed his previous mildness and asked him almost harshly, "You should understand what your answer means, don't you?" ”

The estimation of the strength of the Russian army will directly affect the next deployment of the coalition forces, whether to attack, or to detour westward around the river, or to stand still.

Therefore, Kong Ze's answer will be related to the next actions of the whole army and the lives of many people, and this is absolutely not a matter that can be sloppy.

Under Lu Xien's stern gaze, even Kong Ze, who had always been indifferent, sweat broke out on his forehead.

"I can't be responsible for the lives of tens of thousands of people, I'm not the commander of the Russians, and I can't guarantee how many people he brought here." After a long time, Kong Ze finally spoke slowly. "Rest assured, however, that our estimates are based on accurate information, and not on my part...... I think there is a greater certainty that the number of Russian troops is within this range. ”

Lu Xien kept staring at Kong Ze, his gaze was a little crazy.

After a few moments, he withdrew his gaze. "Sorry...... I'm a little out of shape, I shouldn't have put such a big responsibility on you, it's not something you should be carrying, you've done a good enough. You are not a soldier, you may not be able to understand our feelings, the most helpless thing for a soldier is to be driven to death by insensitive commanders...... I've seen too many of these things to tolerate myself doing the same, my soldiers can die in battle, but they deserve to die meaningfully. ”

"I understand your feelings, Colonel." Kong Ze nodded.

"Well, judging by your usual performance, since you say so, then I think it should be enough to be believed." Lucien nodded, looking a lot more relaxed, "Thank God, the weakening of the Russians gives us a chance to break through here. ”

Then he suddenly stretched out his hand and patted Kong Ze on the shoulder, "Please don't mind what happened just now, and continue to work hard in the future, sir." ”

Kong Ze frowned, knowing that the other party was to show affection, but Kong Ze was still very unhappy in his heart.

"I will."

At this moment, the herald rode to the makeshift camp where Lucien's ministry was, and then conveyed the order of Marshal Tréville, who asked him to go to the headquarters to discuss the next battle.

"I'll relay your words to the Commander." Lucien left these words, and then hurriedly mounted his horse and rushed with the herald towards the central camp of the army.

Along the way, there were soldiers who gathered to drink water and chat, so Lucien and the others were very slow, but they finally came to the tent where the headquarters was.

Because this was the place where the two marshals were located, they were surrounded by patrolling soldiers, but fortunately, with a herald to lead the way, Lucien quickly passed through the checkpoint and came to the tent where Marshal Trevil was.

When he arrived, he found that many French generals had gathered here, and when they had gathered, the tent immediately became cramped, and the marshal himself, sitting on a small stool, looked at a map that had been laid directly on the ground.

"Lucien, you're here?" When he saw Lucien, he beckoned to Lucien and motioned for him to come to his side.

Lucien passed through a few lines of envious gaze, then walked over to the marshal and sat down directly.

"We really owe that gentleman a debt of gratitude." After he was seated, Marshal Tréville said calmly, "The map he gave us has helped us a lot, and so far nothing has gone wrong." ”

"He's a very shrewd and capable man." Lucien nodded immediately.

"My grandson has found a good helper, he has always been very useful." There was an ostentatious attitude in the marshal's tone.

Then, he immediately regained his seriousness, "You can see it, the terrain seems to be very unfavorable to us, and the Russians want to choose this place to stop us. ”

"Yes, the terrain is very unfavorable, Your Excellency." Lucien replied immediately. "In fact, I think that if the Russians have enough troops, it would be a very unwise choice for us to attack."

Marshal Trevel glanced up at him in a little surprise, then couldn't help but smile and shake his head.

"Sometimes you're so blunt, I don't even know if it's a disadvantage or an advantage."

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency. But...... The stakes are high, and I can only ...... Only speak out directly. Lucien bowed his head.

"Well, you're not wrong, you just need a good boss who is willing to listen to unpleasant things." Field Marshal Tréville made a gesture, "So, do you think their forces are sufficient?" ”

"I just asked the gentleman and he thinks ...... He believes that the strength of the Russian army should be about 30,000 or 40,000 people, far less than ours. He knew that what he said meant a lot, so he didn't dare to say it to death, "However, this is only our rough judgment based on intelligence, and I cannot guarantee that it is a definite fact." ”

"That gentleman has always been close to the truth so far, and hopefully this time will be the same." The old man replied calmly. "If the enemy is this number, do you think we can attack?"

"If we have a huge numerical advantage, I think we can go on the offensive and overcome the terrain disadvantage." Lucien paused, and then immediately replied, "Marshal, I cannot guarantee you victory here, but I can guarantee that I, and my men, will do everything in our power to fight for victory—only if we really have such an advantage, of course. ”

"Good." The marshal nodded, and then fell back into a deep groan, and the others did not dare to speak, waiting for the marshal's decision, and the tent suddenly became extremely silent.

"It's still early, and there's still a few hours left before dark, Lucien, go and try it." After a long time, the marshal finally spoke, and he looked at Lucien with unmistakable courage in his eyes, "I want you to attack from the right flank first. ”

"What? Attack now? Lucien was astonished. Right now...... The whole army is not ready yet

？ ”

But from the calm expression of Marshal Tréville, Lucien found something. "What do you mean ......"

"Yes, a tentative attack to see how strong the Russians really are." The marshal nodded, "I trust you, Lucien, your troops should be one of our quickest-moving, so I want you to give it a try." Ideally, if you force your way across the river and take up a position on the other side of the river, then our next thing will be simple, we will attack with all our troops, expand this position, and then break through the enemy's line. Of course, I don't have too high requirements for this, you just have to try to make an offensive posture and let's see the deployment of the Russian army. ”

This time it was Lucien's turn to be silent, although the marshal's words were optimistic, but Lucien knew that the so-called ideal situation was an extremely rare thing on the battlefield, and it was more likely that his troops suffered a huge blow in the attack, lost part of their forces, and then had to thwart and retreat in front of the enemy's position.

He didn't want to waste his energy at all for vague hopes.

"Your Excellency...... I'm definitely not questioning your orders, but I wonder if we can be a little more cautious? Now we don't know much about everything about the enemy forces......" Lucien couldn't help but ask.

"Lucien, the situation in the country does not allow us to delay any longer." The marshal had a calm face, and then said coldly, "We have two battlefields, one is in the Crimea and the other is within the borders of the empire, and we can even say that the other is more sinister, we must calm down the empire in the rear, Lucien, we must do this, only victory will dilute people's doubts about the empire, because our empire is too young." So, sometimes we have to be a little reckless. ”