A few days later, in the town mayor's mansion of Oliouel.

"General Carto, Captain Bonaparte begs to see you!" A herald said to General Karto, who was seriously painting an oil painting of a scene by the window, and at this time General Karto was wearing a knitted woolen vest (shēn) with a white lace-trimmed shirt inside, and his unruly long hair was casually draped, like an uninhibited artist.

"Let him in!" General Carto carefully held the paint plate, staring intently at his masterpiece, the brush in his hand dipped in blue paint, sketching the sky on the canvas.

"General Karto, I have to say, the state of our artillery really scared me! There are only 5 bulky old guns, and there are only a few dozen artillery artillerymen, and most of them don't know anything about artillery! "Napoleon has narrated as euphemistically as possible.

"Captain Bonaparte, did you come to me in a hurry, just to complain to me about such a trivial matter? Cannons are nothing more than tools used to destroy the walls and clear the way for the infantry! General Carto turned his gaze to Napoleon with a little displeasure, and said in a disdainful tone.

This is also the way most generals of this era thought about cannons, similar to the role of ancient catapults, the siege equipment used to attack fortresses, and nothing more.

This is not entirely to blame, as the cannons of this era did not have rifling, and could only be strengthened by lengthening the barrel. The working principle of the cannon and the musket was originally the same, but if it was enlarged according to the scale, the barrel of the 32-pounder gun would have to be poked into the sky! And this is simply impossible, so this leads to the fact that the accuracy of the artillery is even worse than that of the musket!

And because it is a solid bullet, although it is powerful, the only thing that can really cause damage is the line where the cannonball flies (shè)!

"Your Excellency General, if you want to conquer Toulon, just 5 cannons are not enough! And our reserves of ammunition and gunpowder are not sufficient! Napoleon exhorted.

"How is 5 cannons not enough? For bombardment of the city wall, 5 cannons are more than enough! Isn't that what cannons are for? The painter dipped his brush in paint and began to continue his artistic creation on the canvas.

"Who would ask such a childish question?" Napoleon was speechless. On the surface, he had to pretend to be patient and said: "Your Excellency, the last time we attacked Oriul, our army dispatched a full 10 cannons, and in the end, half of them were destroyed, and Major Maltian died even more heroically!" Now facing the heavily fortified city of Toulon, which is far more heavily guarded than Oriul, 5 cannons will not be enough! ”

General Carto put down his paintbrush and paint tray, picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea, touched his chin with his right hand and thought for a while, and then said impatiently: "Then what do you say you want to do?" Obviously, the capture of Toulon was also a top priority for the Carto general. Although he had little talent in art, politics, and military affairs, he had a burning ambition.

"Your Excellency, I hope that you will approve me to go to various places to collect artillery and ammunition and make adequate preparations for the upcoming offensive and defensive battle of Toulon! After all, as an attacker, there will be a large number of fortresses and fortifications that need to be destroyed by artillery! Like here, and here! It is impossible for the British not to be prepared in the slightest! Napoleon said as he pointed to the map of Toulon and said in a colorful voice.

General Carto nodded again and again, even a fool knows that the siege is bound to gnaw hard bones, although he is a typical layman, and he can be said to know nothing about artillery, but compared to the previous campaign against Oliur, it does seem a bit suspenseful to attack Toulon with 5 cannons, right?

What's more, it's just a piece of paper, which can make this nasty Corsican dwarf in front of him get out of here, he can't wait for it! So General Carto, in the name of the Supreme Commander of the troops on the front line to pacify Toulon, ordered that any French army that saw this order must satisfy as much as possible any reasonable military demands of the holder!

Then he signed a fancy and dancing signature with a quill, and gave it to Napoleon: "Is it all right, Captain Bonaparte?" I grant you full authority to represent me, and any French city or garrison must cooperate with you to the best of their ability when they see this instrument! ”

"That's fine!" Napoleon took the "holy decree" and bowed slightly. Of course, it is not entirely correct to call it a "holy decree", but it does have no less effect than a holy decree! With this official document, Napoleon is equivalent to a "minister", and he will naturally be straight and righteous when he does things! General Carto again turned his gaze to his canvas and waved his hand at Napoleon, apparently signaling him to hurry away.

After obtaining this official document, Napoleon took Han Xing and began to travel for half a month, collecting cannons and ammunition everywhere, and collecting experienced gunners.

You asked him why he had to bring Han Xing? In fact, it's very simple, don't you have to ask for a horse when the artillery is brought back? Han Xing acted as his bodyguard and personal captain, helping him escort the artillery. Although artillery is a stupid iron bump, it doesn't mean that no one will be interested in it! After all, there are still British people around, right? God knows if any of Toulon's dharma (jiān) will have an idea, and he will go crazy and plan to intercept the cannon and use it to flatter the British master!

During this time, Napoleon and Han Xing almost ran through the cities in the south of France, of course, with a letter from General Carto, naturally no one dared to block them, plus the journey was safe, and there was no interception, so although the journey was a little hard, it was still smooth.

After all, General Carto is equivalent to the minister and commander of the front army sent by Paris with full authority to quell the rebellion in Toulon, and Napoleon is equivalent to the envoy sent by General Carto.

In front of me, there are the results that Napoleon and Han Xing have harvested during this time! Hundreds of cannons were lined up, and it took two minutes to walk from the first to the last, and these hideous metal beasts just opened their black holes and pointed straight at the blue sky, as if they were uttering a silent cry to declare war on the heavens and challenge the authority of the gods!

"Great! Great, there are both long-range mortar guns and field guns with incredible power! With so many cannons, I can't wait to see the watches (qíng) of those stupid hats in Toulon when they see them! It's going to be exciting! Napoleon was overjoyed as he stroked the black and shiny cannons of these cannons, his voice trembled, and he said to Han Xing excitedly.

"yes, who would have thought that we could scrape together so many artillery! There are a few gates in this city, a few gates in that city, and after half a month, they have made up so much! Han Xing looked at the hundreds of artillery pieces of various colors lined up in front of him, and said with heartfelt emotion.

This is the direct embodiment of France's strong national power! So I'm not a king for nothing! Otherwise how do you think France survived the Hundred Years' War! Relying on the strong national strength, this is the family foundation that our successive French kings have accumulated with great difficulty! In this way, even if the regular army suffers a crushing defeat at the front, the rear can raise reserves in this way! Louis XVI suddenly said with a very smug face.

"Hanschel, this is absolutely unprecedented! No one has ever put so many cannons together! I dare say that what we are about to do (qíng) will surely shake the whole world and completely change the pattern of future wars! Napoleon held the metal cannon barrel in one hand and said to Han Xing with an oath.

"I have no doubt about it!" Han Xing replied decisively.

"Just kidding, after all, you started the Napoleonic era of the mighty (dàng) (dàng), sweeping across the continent through the tactics of an unprecedented large-scale artillery cluster! That's what modern history has written anyway! Han Xing sneered.

"By the way, the artillery and ammunition are sufficient, but it seems," Han Xing looked around and suddenly thought of a big problem, "It seems that there is not enough artillery!" For this point, even if one person (cāo) shoots one cannon, there are still forty of them empty! Han Xing pointed to the dozens of artillery in front of him, all tall, short, fat and thin.

"Don't worry, it's not as difficult to reload and (cāo) artillery as you think!" Napoleon patted Han Xing's shoulder lightly, "The real difficulty is to train qualified gunners!" Because the gunner needs a solid mathematical foundation to calculate the influence of factors such as wind, gunpowder dose, and gun angle on the landing point of the shell! Napoleon gestured beside a cannon.

"So how are you going to solve the problem of lack of manpower?" Han Xing was not interested in these mathematical knowledge at all, he always thought that artillery and muskets were a usage, nothing more than aiming, (shè) shooting, if you didn't hit, adjust the muzzle, and try again! As soon as he heard these mathematical questions, Han Xing felt that one head was two big, so he immediately interrupted Napoleon's tirade and asked directly.

Napoleon also seemed to realize that he seemed to be a little off-topic, so he touched his nose in embarrassment and said in a deep voice: "I have asked General Carto for five hundred infantry to use as artillery." Most of them only need to do simple cleaning and loading of guns, and as for the gunners, I and our original team will be in charge for the time being! Anyway, Toulon City won't grow wings and fly, you just need to calculate the angle of one artillery, and the other cannons will do the same! ”

After a few days of training, a tacit understanding between the loader and the gunner had already begun to develop, and this improvised artillery unit was about to shine in the upcoming Toulon offensive and defensive battle!