In late January 1793, the Front Command gave final approval to the plan for an offensive operation. In early February, the last reinforcements of the revolutionary army arrived, bringing the number of troops besieging Shanglun to 38,000, more than double the number of defenders. In mid-February, both the assault troops and artillery entered the area of concentration as planned, occupied the pre-constructed forts, and completed the final preparations for the offensive. And this date is almost a year earlier than the Battle of Toulon in the other plane.

Napoleon stood in front of his artillery position, he was wearing a blue French officer's uniform, and although he was not tall, he looked particularly tall in the gale. He had to make sure that every soldier on the battlefield could see him, even if he didn't, as if he saw him.

"All units do one last pre-war inspection." Napoleon confessed that at this time, his artillery unit was extraordinarily prosperous, far exceeding the artillery of the coalition army, and more importantly, Napoleon's excellent command and dispatch ability, which organized his nearly 100 artillery pieces into different levels of firepower, coupled with the proper strategy, Napoleon was full of confidence.

"It's time, let's get started!"

With Napoleon's order, the French army used 45 large-caliber guns and bombarded Little Gibraltar. A variety of different shells, whizzing towards enemy positions, there were pointed-end shells from Tang-made guns, as well as round solid shells used by smoothbore guns. In order to configure these guns of different ranges, Napoleon put a lot of thought into it.

Little Gibraltar turned into a sea of fire in an instant. Under heavy French artillery fire, the Allied fortifications were quickly destroyed. Even in this era, the military doctrine and equipment of the Tang Army had greatly changed the shape of warfare. But many military generals are still not well adapted to this dramatic change. For example, in the construction of fortifications. The defense against artillery is still relatively poor. Limited by the industrial and logistical capacity of the country. It is basically impossible for European countries to be able to build permanent fortifications with strong defense like the Tang army engineers.

Many of the coalition artillery pieces were destroyed in positions before they could fire a single shell. The enemy in some sections was forced to abandon the forward fortifications and retreat to the rear positions. Napoleon, who was deeply influenced by the artillery theory of the Tang Army, ordered the French army to bombard the French army with heavy artillery fire for two days and two nights, and it was not until the evening of the 16th that the attack was really launched.

That night, the sea breeze was howling and the rain was pouring down. The wind was biting, lightning and thunder roared, and darkness and terror enveloped the entire battlefield. At 1 o'clock in the night, the French army, 6,000 men, under the command of General Dugome, began to attack from the north and south flanks and pounced on Little Gibraltar. The French army was organized into 4 columns. Of these, 2 columns were mainly used for surveillance, keeping an eye on the enemy at the capes of Baradeje and Egilyet; The 3rd Column was the main force, commanded by Labold. Its mission was to capture Little Gibraltar; The 4th column was the reserve, commanded by Napoleon. Be prepared for emergencies at any time.

Napoleon commanded the artillery bombardment for two days and two nights, but after all, Napoleon was a Frenchman and not a real artillery expert of the Don Army, he understood the importance of artillery suppression, but he could not pay attention to the efficiency of artillery fire like the Don Army. The real Tang artillery has now developed to an extremely high level, and the Tang artillery will, with the cooperation of front-line reconnaissance and aerial reconnaissance, carry out more systematic and meticulous strikes against the enemy, and not simply pursue firepower intensity, but pursue firepower efficiency. In fact, this characteristic comes from the combat effectiveness of troops with stronger information communication capabilities in the era of digital warfare. It is impossible for the Tang Army to fully realize it, but the Tang Army can do it more intelligently. Instead of indiscriminate bombardment, as in the case of the Soviet army, shelling was an art for the artillery of the Don Army.

So despite the continuous shelling of Little Gibraltar for 48 hours, the losses suffered by the anti-French coalition forces were not unbearable. When the French troops rushed into the position in droves, they were also met with stubborn resistance from the enemy. Because the attack was at night, and the French army lacked the necessary lighting conditions and was not familiar with the route, a large number of French troops lost their direction in the night. Relying on pre-constructed obstacles and fortifications, the coalition forces stubbornly resisted and fiercely returned fire, inflicting many casualties on the French army. However, the French during the Revolution were probably the least afraid of death in history, and the French army broke through the enemy's first line of defense in the face of casualties and poured into the fort of Little Gibraltar.

However, during the attack on the second line of defense, the Allied artillery in Little Gibraltar began to fire fiercely, and a large number of French troops were crucified in their positions.

Napoleon watched the battle from behind, and when he saw that the large number of soldiers began to waver and hesitate, Napoleon drew the command knife at his waist and shouted to his reserve soldiers: "It is our time to win!" ”

The French army was in difficulty, but Napoleon looked like he was about to win, and his soldiers were easily infected by his emotions.

Napoleon ordered Lieutenant Millon, with a battalion of soldiers, to carry out a roundabout operation, bypassing the fortress and storming Little Gibraltar through the rear gate, when the enemy was completely unprepared. At about 3 a.m., the battalion broke through into the Little Gibraltar battery, opening a gap for the follow-up troops. This caused great confusion among the enemy troops, and Napoleon immediately commanded the French troops to begin storming the fortress, capturing the forts and small Gibraltar in one fell swoop.

The panicked coalition forces attempted to retake Little Gibraltar at dawn, but Napoleon immediately organized his own soldiers to go on the defensive.

"Turn the guns on the turrets and keep the enemy down to the ground!" Napoleon seemed to be eternally energetic, and the victorious French soldiers, like their commanders, burst with great enthusiasm and energy.

Even though the coalition forces launched several very heavy attacks, the French stubbornly held on to Little Gibraltar.

At 10 o'clock on the morning of the 17th, after adjusting the deployment, the French army launched another attack on the enemy, and after several hours of fierce fighting, the enemy was finally driven out of Cape Kerr. In this way, after 10 hours of fierce fighting, the French army finally made the tricolor fly over Little Gibraltar and Cape Kerr. In this battle, Napoleon took the lead and charged into battle, and was wounded in two places, but fortunately not very seriously. The French suffered 1,000 casualties for the attack, while the Coalition suffered 2,500 casualties.

The fall of Little Gibraltar made the fleet of the British Royal Navy dare not stay any longer, and Lord Hood ordered the fleet to set sail and leave the port of Toulon despite the strong southeast winds.

(To be continued.) )