It had been a year of great calamity for General Bolieu, and for an old man who was seventy years old and was about to turn seventy-one, the battlefield had begun to turn into a complete torture!

Perhaps in his youth, General Bolieu was a brave, fearless, composed, energetic four-year-old general, with a smart, clever head, a shēn body cast in iron and bronze, and a good appetite that could eat and digest anything.

But as the years passed, the changes brought to him were not only the hoarfrost in his hair but also the ravines on his face, whether he admitted it or not, he was old! Chūn's vitality is gone, maybe his body is still quite strong, but his head has begun to get groggy, he has begun to fall asleep, fatigue seems to be stuck to his (shēn) chewing gum no matter how much he can't shake off, he seems to have an endless sleep, his eyelids just want to droop down every day.

He is not incorruptible, and he can't do "ten catties of rice (ròu) for one meal, and he can still fight on a horse in armor". At this age when he should have been teasing his grandson, our seventy-year-old veteran was given the task of leading reinforcements to the fortress of Mantua, and he had to drag his tired body (shēn) and continue to do his best for his motherland!

"I hope those French boys will surprise me a little!" Bolieu tried to look as good as he could, his eyes wide open, and he took a deep breath as hard as he could, trying to dispel the tidal wave of fatigue.

"Maybe they'll just attack Mantua? Then I'll have a chance to command another battle! What do those higher-ups think of me? A stupid old man who is weak and powerless? I'm Beaulieux! The great general Bolieu, who once defeated the Ottoman army of 100,000! They actually asked me to transport food, grass and supplies? What do they think of me? Captain of the transport brigade? ”

Although the body had betrayed him completely, he was still psychologically a warmonger, and he longed for a war, the last war of his life, and he wanted to draw a perfect end to his military career.

"Old man, I know you're tired! I'm tired too! Hold on and soon, we will be able to go to the ranch in Hungary and live a peaceful life! It's time for us to get some rest! Really, we've been busy for too long and we've walked too far! But I never stopped to enjoy the scenery in front of me! The world will eventually belong to young people, and we have all been young! But now, it's time for our story to come to an end! General Bolieu gently stroked the mane of the war horse under his crotch, and sighed with a trace of sadness and vicissitudes.

The war horse under his crotch had gray hair, the dense mane that should have been black and shiny had also become thin, and the pair of horse eyes that should have been bright had also become dull, and at this time there was a flash of sadness in it, and it raised its head and screamed a few times in a rhythmic manner, as if in response to General Bolieu's words.

Judging from the tall (shēn) volume of this war horse, it must have been a handsome BMW, but now it has prominent joints, emaciation, dull hair, and even "alopecia areata" in several inconspicuous places on the horse (shēn). Apparently, the old fellow of General Bolieu, like his master, is long past his best years!

"Your Excellency, General! We're almost in Mantua! A bearded middle-aged horseman rode into General Bolieu's ear and said, his voice pulling General Bolieu back from his memory.

General Bolieu let out a "hmm" to signal that he understood, and rode to the front of the group, but his old man was no longer at odds (rì), and he had been advised to replace the old mount, which drew a scolding from General Bolieu.

It's actually quite understandable, he's old! The old man is always prone to nostalgia, he and his old buddy have experienced so many things together, and his war horse has become his companion, one of the witnesses of his glorious life. What's more, he's also an old general? If the old stuff is going to be eliminated, shouldn't he himself be thrown into the garbage?

"Speed up the march, I wish we could get to Mantua a little earlier!" As he spoke, General Bolieu gently patted the horse's belly, and the old man under his crotch understood, and one man and one horse began to gallop across the grassland.

"Soldiers! We will have lunch in Mantua! General Bolieu announced to his soldiers as he galloped his horse.

At this moment, he seemed to regain the feeling of his youthful chūn, at that time, it was also a lush plain, he rode his war horse, held the reins of the horse, brandished his saber, and led the cavalry behind (shēn) to kill the Turks in the back like a boning sharp knife, it was an extremely difficult battle, even he himself and the guards joined (ròu) to fight, but it made him unforgettable!

"I don't know, will I have a chance to fight such a refreshing battle again in my life!" What General Bolieu didn't know was that a really difficult battle awaited him ahead.

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"They're coming!" When Napoleon saw the Austrian army in the distance on the skyline in the telescope, he excitedly said to the crowd (shēn). As he spoke, he shoved the telescope he had snatched from Berthière and gave it to Murat.

"Soldiers of the Italian Legion, today is your glorious moment! See? Those are the Austrians who came to die! We have 40,000 and they only have 20,000! We're waiting, but they're on a long journey! Do we have a reason to lose such a war? Today, we're going to smash them up here like a baked potato on a dinner plate! Let them know what it will be like to go against the great France! ”

Napoleon pointed to the enemy troops on the skyline in the distance, and delivered a speech that was as short as ever, but subdued, and made people listen to the excitement and leap (yù) to try. This is the speech style of a military strategist, and this amazing effect is beyond the reach of ordinary politicians!

As soon as Napoleon finished speaking, the French troops, crouching or half-kneeling on the hillside, cheered (shēn), and the golden cockades on their high caps made them look like autumn golden waves of wheat from the air, wave after wave, like a frantic crowd in the audience at a concert.

"Cannon, prepare! Aim! "Now the entire hill, which stretched for miles, was occupied by a dense French army, and at the commanding heights of the hill at the rear was a cannon with a hideous muzzle open.

On the hillside in front of them were rows of orderly stragglers who followed the slopes of the mountain, these people were the elite in the hands of the muskets, their muskets were more accurate, the distance was longer, and they occupied better heights, which would greatly increase their combat effectiveness. Their only drawback is their lack of melee ability, and if they encounter cavalry, these ranged (shè) men with light rifles will be defenseless.

Thus, on the plain in front of them, there was the first line of defense of the line of infantry regiments of 1,000 men, who were the backbone of the platoon gun era, armed with smoothbore guns and bayonets, and maintained the density of fire and the battle line in dense formations. Their total number reached 20,000 men, and they formed two dislocated lines of defense, one in front and one behind, to ensure optimal firepower and visibility.

General Beaulieu was not a fool, he had already spotted the French. And began to send orders to their own troops into combat mode, after all, when marching, most of the army marched along the road in a long line to ensure the speed and efficiency of the march.

While the Austrian army had not yet completed its formation, Napoleon prepared an "appetizer" for them. The two hundred cannons had already started to roar, giving out their "present" (present, producing, giving, the word also means hair (shè), pun intended), and the overwhelming solid bullets were already flying towards the ranks of the Austrian army, which was still in a dense and chaotic state.

And almost every shell is swept in a large row, after all, today's Austrian army still looks like a long line, but the shells that come out of the disembowel are also in a straight line.

"Steady! Steady, calm down! Quickly complete the formation! General Bolieu was worthy of being a veteran of the battlefield, he drew his command knife, and immediately looked at the flying cannonballs with a fearless face, without feeling panicked at all.

In fact, anyone knows that the shells at this time are just solid shells, and the lethality is actually very average, a shell can kill three or five people, and injure more than a dozen people, and this shell can receive a "Medal of Honor"! An ordinary shell can kill one or two people and injure three or five people, after all, it's not a flowering shell! So in fact, with 200 cannons, the ideal result is to kill a few hundred people in one round of shelling! A little less, it's possible in the early hundreds!

This number, for 20,000 people, is just a drizzle! In fact, even if the Austrian army stood and let the French army fight, the casualties would not exceed 5,000 in a day! After all, as casualties further expand and enemy targets become smaller, it will naturally be more difficult for artillery to hit people!

But helplessly, you can see that there are unlucky eggs on the side (shēn) who have their heads cut off by cannonballs; You can also see someone being blown up to the ground (ròu), and the corpse being lifted up like a rag doll, and finally falling heavily to the ground, who can guarantee that he will not be the unlucky guy who was tricked? Therefore, the real effect of the cannon is actually a psychological deterrent! However, Napoleon's tactics of large-scale artillery clusters further expanded its effectiveness.

The French shells rained down on the heads of the Austrian troops, but the movement was definitely rougher than the raindrops! The earth shook almost like an earthquake, making it impossible to even stand up straight (shēn), and the sound of cannonballs falling to the ground came and went, making a dull "dong~dong~" sound of metal balls hitting the ground, as if some bear child was constantly beating a drum as huge as a mountain.

"General, let's retreat!" The adjutant shouted in General Bolieu's ear with an inquiring tone.

It's not that he is "ruthless", but that General Bolieu has grown older and has been on the battlefield for many years, and under the ravages of muskets and cannons, his hearing has become quite worrisome, and the sound of gunfire everywhere around him has forced him to raise his voice by a few decibels.

"No, I've been tasked with transporting reinforcements and supplies to the fortress of Mantua! Nothing can stop me! General Bolieux shook his head, and as he spoke, he raised his saber and led the charge.