It was dark at night, and the north and south banks of the Rhine were brightly lit. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Huge bonfires were lit along the banks of the river, illuminating both the banks and the broken river. There were also large groups of cavalrymen with torches, galloping along the main road by the river, patrolling.

In the camp, there are large and small bonfires and torches, which illuminate the entire camp as if it were daylight.

On the north bank of the Rhine River, the most densely lit is the center of the entire camp, which is also the temporary residence of the three main armies of the German Empire.

Under the arch of the three major legions, the center of the large and small camps, the largest and most luxurious huge camp, the official Chinese army tent of the German army, the command center.

And now, today's regular meeting is being held in the big tent of the Chinese army.

Sitting on the main seat is, of course, the first marshal of the German Imperial Army, who sits in Berlin all the year round, and the veteran general of the empire, Field Marshal Lista, who has decades of war experience. He was facing away from a large topographical map, looking at the people in the tent with a serious face.

From his rank down, the divisions are Marshal Fedor, the commander of the Second Legion of the Empire, Marshal Walter, the commander of the Third Legion of the Reich, Marshal Luger, the commander of the Fourth Legion of the Reich, and the commanders and generals of the three major legions, garrisons in various places, city defense armies in various places, and noble coalition armies.

"What? has the temptation failed again?" said Marshal Lista, whose voice was neither light nor heavy, but with a hint of disappointment.

A middle-aged man wearing a suit of delicate armor immediately knelt down on one knee: "Report to Lord Marshal, we have carried out a test at the same time at the Eagle's Beak Gorge upstream and the downstream Wandering Bend, but these two currents are still too turbulent, even if our side sends elites who are good at water warfare, but if you want to swim to the other side of the river, it will take nearly half an hour! Moreover, there are a lot of cavalry patrols on the other side, and as soon as I let the soldiers arrive on the opposite bank, they were discovered by the other side, and after a bitter battle, they can only retreat first." ”

"How many are dead?" Marshal Lista's voice was still faint.

The middle-aged general saw sweat on his forehead, but still reported truthfully: "We sent a total of 1,000 people to these two temptations, and after a hard battle, 545 people fled back, and the rest of the soldiers were all strangled by the opposing cavalry!"

"It's just a temptation, and you're going to take half of your life?, what are you going to do?" Marshal Lista suddenly became taller, and he rebuked sharply, and the momentum on his body became fierce.

As soon as the middle-aged man's legs were weak, he immediately knelt down, his forehead hit the ground, and explained with difficulty: "It's not that we are careless, but the other side is too cunning! When we crossed the river, none of their cavalry appeared, and when we crossed most of the people, they suddenly came out of the woods on both sides, and caught us off guard. And the other party is obviously elite, and the tacit understanding between them is incomparable, and a single charge will tear our team in half. The infantry is obviously inferior to the cavalry, and everyone has been swimming for most of the day, and their physical strength is insufficient, and it is good to be able to escape half of the people. ”

Frowning, Marshal Lista's voice was a little softer: "Is there only the Eagle's Beak Gorge and the Wandering Bend?

The middle-aged man reluctantly raised his head and explained: "We have taken people to investigate the nearly 100 miles of rivers around here, but the most suitable place to cross the river is here, although the river here is narrow, the water flow is very stable, as long as you build a pontoon bridge, you can reach the opposite bank in less than half an hour." Although the channel of the Eagle's Beak Gorge and the Wandering Bend is also very narrow, the water flow is too turbulent, and it is much more difficult to cross the bridge or build a pontoon bridge. Not to mention the rest of the world, not only did the river widen but the current became more violent, making it very difficult to cross the river on a normal day, not to mention that it was now blocked by the French. Therefore, there are only these three places suitable for a large army to cross the river. ”

"My lord, I think we'd better force it directly. It was Marshal Fedor, the commander of the Second Legion of the Empire, who spoke: "We are now overwhelmed by a large army, and the number of people is almost twice that of the other party! And I don't think this river is a natural danger, just fill in all those cannon fodder, this pontoon bridge must not be difficult to build, it can't be a matter of how much to sacrifice." As long as the pontoon bridge is erected, the elites of the three major legions of our empire will rush over and line up in formation, are you afraid that you will not be able to gain a firm foothold? When the time comes, you can also see whether their French cavalry is strong or our German infantry phalanx is sharp!"

"No! you can't force the crossing!" Marshal Lista vetoed his proposal: "If you force the crossing, the sacrifice is too great!"

After a pause, he explained: "Those cannon fodder are naturally worthless, but you elites are the foundation of the empire! You can't just die in vain! I have been thinking about this method of crossing the river for the past few days, but the more I think about it, the more frightened I become! This Napoleon is worthy of being the French military god, and their defense line on the other side is almost invulnerable!"

Marshal Lista stood up, took out a short stick, pointed to a spot on the map behind him, and continued: "You see, although their camp is small, it is very knowledgeable inside! First of all, their cavalry camp, built on the hillside, occupies an advantageous position, and if you take advantage of the mountain to go down, it will not be difficult to break through and tear several army formations!"

"The second is the infantry camp under the hillside, this one is even more learned! Although it is much smaller than our camp, its location is very critical, and the terrain is relatively high, facing the entire river bank directly, only enough crossbowmen need to be deployed, they are condescending, and the arrow attack will cover the entire river bank! How easy is it to line up to meet the cavalry in the rain of arrows? And these days they are also cutting down trees on a large scale, of course they will not build ships and pontoon bridges like us, they are probably building trebuchets!"

"Aren't these trebuchets and bed crossbows only used during sieges, and what's the use of making them?"

"Of course it works!" explained Marshal Lista with a serious face, "the range of trebuchets and bed crossbows far exceeds that of bows and arrows and hand crossbows, and I have roughly measured that they can hit the river from their infantry camp! Even if we were to lay the pontoon bridge without fear of sacrifice, we would be destroyed by their slings and giant arrows! If they attack while you are halfway across the river, think about how many people will die?"

Looking at the detailed topographic map, all the generals had their own judgments in their hearts.

Thinking of the sight of halfway across the river, only to rain down boulders from the sky and smash their retreat, many people's vests were covered in cold sweat.

"But if you can't force the crossing, then how can you cross the river? His Majesty's order is very severe, and it can't just be delayed. The commander of the Fourth Army, Field Marshal Luger, questioned.

"Of course it can't be dragged on like that. Field Marshal Lista said solemnly: "Now that reinforcements from all over the country are almost here, and we must quickly settle this war! I am ready to break through this line of defense within three days! Enter the territory of Austria!"

"What do you mean?" asked Marshal Fedor, the commander of the Second Legion, respectfully.

We are stronger than the other side, because we have more people and all kinds of support are rapid, while they are fighting in a foreign country, it is difficult to replenish troops, and there are not enough supporters. Marshal Lista pondered and said: "The French emperor on the other side is not a stupid person, and he will be tricked by him if he is clever." If we want to cross the river, we will use the simplest and most brutal method! We will bloom more and overwhelm people with momentum! We will cross the river here at the same time, the Eagle's Beak Gorge and the Wandering Bend! We will cross the river at the same time! We will ...... at the same time."

But before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by a hurried report: "Report to the marshal! The cavalry of the opposing brigade is coming from the upper reaches of the river! It is rushing straight to the camp of our army!"

However, without his warning, everyone had already felt the shaking of the ground, like an earthquake, making people almost unsteady on their feet.

The earth shook by the galloping of horses!

(To be continued.) )