"I insist!" Zhang Cheng, who had a cold face, stepped forward and stared at Colonel Lian Qinglin, and it was difficult to hide the hint of urgency in his voice, "We don't have much time left, we must set off now!" Pick up the elite troops and get on the trucks and set off quickly, followed by the other soldiers. Throw away all the baggage, heavy weapons, and everything that slows down the march! Strive to make it to the city of Turin in the shortest possible time. This is our only chance to turn the tables around. ”

Zhang Cheng's voice carried a hint of sincerity and urgency, and his eyes were full of anticipation, waiting for Lian Qinglin's response.

It was now more than two hours after the Sardinians launched their general attack, and the commanders of the southern front, far away in the town of Bula, had gathered to discuss what to do next. And Zhang Cheng did not hesitate to open his mouth first, requesting that troops be sent immediately to attack Turin City directly.

"Now that Liu Yue's main force has been defeated, aren't we looking for death when we go to Turin again at this time?" Although Liu Yue sent a telegram ordering the southern army to immediately go north to attack the city of Turin and implement the tactics of encircling Wei and rescuing Zhao. However, Lian Qinglin didn't plan to do this at all.

As a land snake, Lian Qinglin naturally has his own eyeliner. The Sardinians used unprecedented advanced weaponry, and it took only a few hours to break through the core of the heavily defended positions. Lian Qinglin didn't think that the army under his command could also resist it.

"The strength of the Sardinians is limited, and they must have used all the forces they could use to attack Major General Liu Yue's troops. Although a major breakthrough has been made, it is inevitable that the main forces will still need to be invested in the subsequent pursuit and entanglement. As long as we are fast enough, we won't encounter any strong resistance on the way from here to Turin! Zhang Cheng frowned tightly and said in a deep voice, "This is our only chance." Now take the city of Turin, which has no defense, and then there is hope that this war will be reversed. If you wait, when Major General Liu Yue's troops are completely routed, and the Sardinians come back, there will be no chance. ”

In all fairness, Zhang Cheng's proposal is definitely the only hope that this Ming army can turn around at this time. Although it is possible that the Sardinians will have a strong reserve to resist, Liu Yue's troops will collapse too quickly, and the road will be difficult to travel in time. But as long as you can storm the city of Turin, then this war will not be lost!

"You" Lian Qinglin looked at Zhang Cheng with a strange expression, opened his mouth, and said suspiciously, "Aren't you and Liu Yue at odds?" He's still thinking about dealing with you. What are you doing now? Such a desperate help? ”

Zhang Cheng's eyes froze, he looked at Lian Qinglin, gritted his teeth and responded, "What is personal grievances in front of the interests of the country and the nation?" What's more, tens of thousands of comrades-in-arms and compatriots are now facing a life-and-death crisis! Is this the time to say this?! ”

Lian Qinglin felt Zhang Cheng's anger and the coldness in his eyes. pursed his lips, unwilling to fall out with Zhang Cheng for this kind of thing, Zhang Cheng is not a simple little leader. Shaking his head, he took out a telegram from the document bag on the side and handed it to Zhang Cheng, "This is a telegram sent by the Army Command personally, asking us to quickly withdraw and return to Re. Naya. ”

"Why?" Zhang Cheng silently put down the telegram. He knew that this order was tantamount to giving up the tens of thousands of troops on Liu Yue's side! Zhang Cheng could not understand why the Army Command would give such an order.

Lian Qinglin stood up from the chair, took out a cigarette case, lit one for himself, and then lit one for Zhang Cheng. After exhaling the smoke ring, he replied in a serious voice: "No one wants this kind of thing." It's just that there's nothing anyone can do. Liu Yue's side collapsed too quickly, and the battle situation could no longer hold on. Even if we really take a huge risk to attack the city of Turin, what if we are dragged and eaten by the Sardinians who turn back? In the short term, the army will not be able to draw a strong force from the whole of Italy, or even the whole of Europa. That would be a huge blow to the empire's colonial system across the continent of Europa. This is likely to cause a large number of countries to embark on the path of confrontation with us. ”

raised his hand and patted Zhang Cheng's shoulder, who looked silent, and said with relief, "If that's the case, if you don't talk about anything else, the entire Italian colony will be lost." And there will be a chain reaction that will shake the foundations of the empire's rule in Europa. Therefore, it is impossible for the Army Command to allow our 20,000 troops to take risks. Now even if we lose the city of Milan, as long as we are stuck in the heat. Naya Harbor, when reinforcements from all over the country arrive to reinforce, you can reduce the losses and hold the hope of a turnaround. This is also considered from the perspective of the overall situation. ”

"Huh~~~" Zhang Cheng pursed the corners of his mouth, and after a long breath, he turned around and left the headquarters without saying anything more. The last thing he wants to hear is to start from the overall situation!

Tens of thousands of troops were just abandoned, and there was not even a rescue action. Even if most of them are just mercenaries, they are all Chinese! It's not just the army, the bigwigs everywhere only care about colonies and interests, and as for the soldiers, hehe.

Leaving the headquarters and heading into the town, I watched the soldiers everywhere hurrying and preparing to evacuate. Trucks, gun carriages, horse-drawn carriages, baggage, artillery, infantry, cavalry, etc., countless people, horses, and objects are a mess that makes the whole town noisy.

Zhang Cheng took a hard puff of his cigarette and looked at the local townspeople who were huddled in the corner and watched everything in front of him coldly. Suddenly, his eyes froze, and he strode over.

"Bastard! Bastard!! Bastard!!! A young soldier with angry eyes and red cheeks was swinging the butt of his rifle and slamming it into a local townsman lying on the ground.

There were many Ming soldiers around him, but they were just pointing and pointing, and no one had the intention of stepping forward to stop him. As for the local townspeople, they just clenched their fists tightly and lowered their eyes.

"That's it!" Zhang Cheng pushed away the onlookers, took two steps forward, and put his hand on the young soldier's shoulder, ready to stop him. Who knew that the young soldier seemed to be crazy, and felt someone pulling him behind him, and without looking back, he suddenly threw the butt of his rifle over.

"Grass!" Zhang Cheng's eyes were cold, his agile sideways body flashed over the butt of the gun, and his hand suddenly grabbed the soldier's shoulder, which was an over-the-shoulder fall!

"Bang!" After a loud thud, the young soldier was slammed to the ground.

"Phew!" Zhang Cheng spat and looked at the dizzy soldier with cold eyes. If the butt of the gun just now hadn't been practiced by Zhang Cheng, at least a mouth full of teeth would have been knocked out!

Turning his head to look at the townsman lying motionless on the ground, his body was covered with blood all around him, and he was already getting more air and less breathing. Zhang Cheng's gaze became colder and colder.

Zhang Cheng can tolerate some evil feelings on the battlefield, because this is something that can never be avoided. However, he could not tolerate unforeseen madness and unjustified tyranny, which was the greatest destabilizing factor in an army that emphasized discipline and obedience.

Military discipline and obedience are the biggest points that distinguish the army from armed bandits.

'Click. Zhang Cheng took out his matching gun, opened the safety bullet and pointed at the dazed soldier who was dropped, and asked in a cold voice, "Say, give me a satisfactory reason." Otherwise, I will shoot you for assaulting an officer!" ”

Assaulting an officer is the same crime as fleeing from the battlefield. No soldier can resist this charge.

The soldiers who were watching on the sidelines also saw Zhang Cheng's military uniform and epaulettes clearly at this moment, and hurriedly stepped forward to explain, "Sir, sir." He didn't mean to attack you, but his own brother served in the 2nd Regiment of the Milan garrison, and he just heard that it seemed to be defeated there. He was worried that something would happen to his brother, so he would do such a stupid thing in a hurry, and he had absolutely no intention of attacking you! ”

Zhang Cheng's body paused slightly, and slowly put away the matching gun. He looked at the soldiers around him and asked in a deep voice, "Which unit are you from?" ”

"Report sir!" Immediately, a corporal stepped forward and saluted, shouting loudly, "Milan garrison, 1st Regiment, 1st Battalion, 2nd Company, 5th Squad!" ”

The Doge of Milan commanded three infantry regiments of the garrison. Lian Qinglin brought one, which was the first regiment, and Du Feng was also a member of the first regiment. Liu Yue took away a regiment, which was the second regiment, but at this time it should have been more than lucky. There was also a third regiment, as well as a lone cavalry battalion and logistical auxiliaries, which were stationed in the city of Milan.

Zhang Cheng can accept this reason, but he despises this kind of thing very much. He stepped forward and looked at the young soldier who was lying on the ground coughing loudly and constantly patting his hand on his chest, his eyes were indifferent and full of disdain, "Your feelings are understandable, but your actions are contemptible. If you really want to go against the enemy's army, bullying these defenseless ordinary people can only show that you are useless! It doesn't make any sense except to be laughed at. ”

After Zhang Cheng finished speaking, he got up and left, leaving a group of people looking at each other.

"Who's this?" Some soldiers were shocked by Zhang Cheng and couldn't help asking.

"I've seen it, it seems, it's the commander of the 3rd Regiment of the London Volunteer Corps. He's a rich man. Someone immediately responded.

"Wow~~~" As soon as I heard that it was a rich man, everyone suddenly spoke out with envy or surprise.

The corporal who answered Zhang Cheng's question hurriedly stepped forward and helped the young soldier who was sore and dripping blood from his mouth and nose from the ground, raised his hand to wipe the blood from his nose, and comforted him with kind words: "It's okay, Huzi?" Don't take it to heart, that chief didn't say anything wrong, what kind of hero is bullying civilians? Remembered later? ”

"Oh." The soldier coughed in response. Turning his head to look at Zhang Cheng's back as he gradually moved away, he shook his head with complicated eyes.

As soon as Zhang Cheng intervened, these soldiers quickly left here. It was only at this time that the townspeople who were hiding in the distance ran in a panic to help the townsman in the pool of blood. War is always a general war, and no one is immune to it. Everyone has a place in the war. The abuser, or the victim of violence.

This is the true face of war.

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