Chapter 258: Death Battle (3)
After receiving the report from the flying knight, Lan Bofei learned that the reinforcements he was counting on would not come, and he panicked.
As a male ant who has been in charge of administration in the rear for a long time, Rambo has few opportunities to fly on the battlefield, and unlike commanders such as Roll and Rambo Wan, he has experienced countless battles with the protagonist that are full of dangers and enemies, and has not honed his tenacious character.
So his panic is conceivable.
The big-headed ant kingdom often divides the male ants into two categories: managers and commanders, managers rarely have the opportunity to go to war, and commanders rarely get involved in administrative work, which is obviously a summary of thousands of years of experience.
Just like the old-fashioned king, he has always been in charge of administrative work, and only when there is no general in the main nest, he has to put on a battle.
And Lan Bofei has always regarded himself as a rare administrative ant in the Divine Envoy King Legion, and rarely gets involved in war. If it weren't for the fact that the main task sent to "Waterfront City" this time was to deal with the males of the King's Council faction, Rambo Fei would not have been entrusted with the important task - if he knew that a defensive battle would break out here, the protagonist would obviously have sent Rambo Tuo, who is good at defense, over.
Now, Rambo Fei lacks someone to talk to, and his mind, which has always been wise among male ants and praised for the protagonist, is a bit of a whim.
He even sent messengers to ask the commanders of several squads around him what they should do, a rare practice among legion commanders. The answers given by the commanders of these squads were also varied, with some advocating continued combat and others retreating.
On the battlefield, it is often necessary for the commander to make an arbitrary decision according to the situation, and even the general staff can only give advice, not replace the commander's judgment.
This is because the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, and no matter how perfect intelligence and advance planning are, it is impossible to prevent the emergence of unexpected situations, and the characteristics of a good commander are to be able to grasp the unexpected situation (fighter) in my favor in a timely manner, and at the same time have enough ability and tenacity to overcome the unexpected situation that is unfavorable to me.
Napoleon's general, Grouchy, was one of the generals who had both of these contradictions.
Grouchy was a French marshal who served from Jon during the Napoleonic Wars, with the title of hereditary marquis. At the age of 14 he entered the artillery school in Strasbourg, and after graduating in 1781 he was awarded the rank of lieutenant in artillery, although he was not interested in artillery and in 1784 he was transferred to the cavalry unit of the King's Praetorian Guard.
The shortcomings and brilliance of his military qualities were laid bare in the all-important Battle of Waterloo.
When Napoleon was preparing to attack the British army in Wellington, in order to prevent Blucher's Prussian army from joining forces with the British army in Wellington, he sent a part of his troops to follow and pursue the Prussian army in order to prevent them from joining the British army. He placed this pursuing force under the command of Marshal Grouchy.
It was also the first time that Napoleon gave independent command to Marshal Grouchy.
When the Battle of Waterloo began, Grouchy became a key figure in Napoleon's destiny. Both sides of the main battlefield are eagerly awaiting the arrival of reinforcements, and it can be said that this is a battle in which whoever gets reinforcements first will be able to win.
However, Grouchy did not realize that Napoleon's fate was in his own hands, and he simply followed the order and set out to pursue the Prussian army in the expected direction. But the enemy never appeared, and no trace of the retreat of the routed Prussian army was ever found.
As Marshal Grouchy hurried to breakfast at a peasant's house, the ground beneath his feet suddenly shook slightly. This is the sound of artillery fire on Mont Saint-Jean, the sound of the beginning of the Battle of Waterloo. Deputy Commander Gérard urgently demanded: "Immediately move in the direction of the artillery!" "All had no doubt: the Emperor had launched an attack on the British, and a major battle had begun.
However, Grouchy exposed his major shortcomings at this time, because he had not been a commander before, and he could not make up his mind. Seeing that he was so hesitant, Gérard earnestly begged that he should at least be allowed to lead a division of his troops and some cavalry into the field. Grouchy thought about it, he only thought about it for a second.
However, this second of Grouchy's contemplation decided his own fate, Napoleon's fate, and the fate of the world.
Grouchy refused, believing that it would be irresponsible to disperse such a small force, and that his task was to pursue the Prussian army, and nothing else. In this way, he rejected this action against the emperor's orders.
When Grouchy's troops continued to move forward. As the hour passed, Grouch became more and more uncertain, because, strangely, the Prussian army never appeared. Apparently, they left the direction of retreat to Brussels. But Grouchy continued to wait for news and the Emperor's order to return, with increasing uneasiness. But no news came. Only the low rumbling of cannon shook the earth.
In fact, Blucher's Prussian troops had already turned to the battlefield of Waterloo, and the addition of Prussian reinforcements triggered the rout of the French army on the opposite side.
But ironically, when Napoleon was defeated, Grouchy, who was no longer bound by the emperor's orders, summoned up the courage and determined to save Napoleon's empire, although it was too late, but he shone as a famous general at this time.
He miraculously crossed the Prussian blockade in the shortest possible time and rushed back, wittily jumped out of the enemy's blockade, and did not lose a single cannon.
But this could no longer save Napoleon's empire!!
Of course, there are now historians who point out that it is unjust to blame Grouchy alone.
Some scholars believe that Napoleon's intelligence was wrong at the beginning, sending Grouchy in the wrong direction, not knowing that the Prussians had retreated. At the speed of a normal march of twenty or thirty kilometers a day in those days, coupled with the drag of artillery carriages and the mud on rainy days, it was impossible for Grouchy to rush to the battlefield before the Prussian army even if he ordered reinforcements at the first time.
Moreover, the Prussian army, already anticipating the possible return of Grouchy, threw only the Fourth Army into the frontal battle, and the Second and Third Armies monitored and intercepted him on the way through which Grouchy could return.
History is a foregone conclusion, and whether or not Grouchy's return will change the outcome of that battle and the outcome of world history, his hesitation will be remembered.
At this moment, Lan Bofei's mind fell into a similar hesitation, and he was indifferent in the face of different suggestions, and in the end, he also decided to continue with the original plan and stick to it.
Time passed little by little, and it was not until the team on the front line repeatedly reported that the soldiers were exhausted, and Rambo flew back to his senses.