From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

About an hour later, the rising sun slowly rose from the top of the majestic Chinto Mountain, reflecting the plains outside Figari into a dazzling bright gold.

Master Justin was already half awake due to the cold wind. He actively rode a horse and shuttled between the infantry formations, offering condolences and encouragement to these serf soldiers as if they were cramming.

Of course, his artificial smile and hypocritical kindness that could be seen through at a glance did not arouse any enthusiastic response among the soldiers. Only when he generously donated money to a very few soldiers and rewarded them with some gold coins, did the camp become more enthusiastic. There was a tepid cheer.

"Huhu."

Master Justin, who had not been riding a horse for a long time, returned to Sir Robert panting heavily. He wiped the hot sweat from his forehead with a smile and spoke to Sir Robert beside him:

"The soldiers performed well, although I think they can perform better, but it doesn't matter. We have more than 8,000 trained soldiers here, which is more than enough to deal with the divided National Defense Forces, right?"

Sir Robert is riding on a strong black horse with shiny coat. There are few ponies with such fine coat and size in the entire Corsica pasture. It is enough to show the respect that Sir Justin has for this lord. and paid attention to.

Behind him were several solemn-looking red-coated pistol cavalry. These cavalry came from overseas with Sir Robert and have been guarding the gentleman's personal safety since arriving in Corsica.

Sir Robert seemed a little careless about Master Justin's conversation. He bit his lip tightly, closed his eyes and thought about it. He didn't react until half a minute later and turned to look at Master Justin:

"Um, oh, yes, yes, but we can't take it lightly, my friend."

Master Justin glanced at the secretive expression on the other party's face with concern, and asked hesitantly:

"You seem to be worried? What are you thinking about?"

The gentleman did not answer directly, but gave Master Justin a thoughtful look. This look made Master Justin shudder. He remembered that his hunters treated the fallen prey with such a ruthless look.

Sir Robert did not answer his question, but turned around and whispered something to the cavalry behind him. Master Justin could not understand the foreign language of the other party, so he could only frown and immediately stood there.

After giving instructions and explaining what was going on, Sir Robert looked at Master Justin again:

"Nothing, my friend, my lord can't wait to land on Corsica. I have to make a lot of preparations for it."

"Ah, is that so? Don't worry, we will defeat Bonaparte's army in no time. Then your superiors can come to Corsica as the most distinguished guest at any time."

Master Justin nodded twice pretending to understand, and did not take Sir Robert's strangeness to heart. After all, the most important thing at hand was to defeat the national defense force led by Lawrence.

While the two were talking, a foreign instructor galloped over in a puff of smoke, with a pair of slightly scratched binoculars hanging on his chest. Apparently he had just detected something on the front line. .

Sir Robert watched the rider approaching quickly, and at the same time took out his pocket watch and glanced at the time. He already roughly understood the content of the report.

Sure enough, the rider rode up to the two of them with a serious face, without getting off his horse, he shouted:

"Sir, the enemy's vanguard has been discovered three miles away, but the number of enemy troops seems to far exceed our estimate of 3,000."

Sir Robert was slightly startled, stiffly stuffed his pocket watch into the inner layer of his coat, took a deep breath, and conveyed the news to Master Justin concisely, but deliberately concealed his estimate of the number of people on the other side:

"Bonaparte's army has arrived."

After hearing this, Master Justin immediately picked up the reins and eagerly picked up the reins. There was a bit of excitement in his words. He shouted to summon the servants serving on the left and right and gave instructions:

"Okay, the day has finally arrived, come here! Let the army start to advance, just as it was trained! Tell the military governors and instructors that if there are soldiers who don't obey the command, don't be stingy with the whip in your hands. I will let these soldiers This plain will later become an ancient battlefield named after me!”

Another half hour later, the sky was completely bright, and both sides of the war finally had their first contact in a depression.

These serf conscripts, who had just been awakened from their sleep and distributed weapons and ammunition, moved forward numbly under the orders of their superiors. Many of them had not yet fully accepted this reality - they were about to meet Kosi. Jia's regular army faced each other on the battlefield.

Especially for those phalanxes that are arranged at the forefront of the entire army. The eyes of the soldiers in the phalanx can already visually see the National Defense Force soldiers less than 300 yards in front, and they can even see the soldiers carrying weapons on their shoulders. The musket with a handle looked dazzling under the sunlight.

The gentle morning breeze blew on the faces of these serf soldiers, but at this time, even the comfort of the spring breeze seemed to the soldiers more like the God of Death slowly caressing their cheeks with his withered palms. .

During these ten days of training, they all saw the tremendous power of the muskets in the hands of the enemy.

The seemingly tenacious lives present were as fragile as a piece of paper in front of the volley of muskets.

Soon, as long as the other party pulls the trigger, accompanied by the smoke rising into the sky and the roaring gunfire, your own blood may be completely meaninglessly spilled on this land that does not belong to you.

For many serf soldiers, the only reason why they are still standing here with guns is because they are afraid of being beaten and tortured by the overseers and instructors.

"Let this end quickly."

Such thoughts have become a true reflection of the hearts of many soldiers.

Arranged at the front of the army was a vertical formation of three companies. It stands to reason that these company soldiers who were selected as vanguard soldiers were already the best performing batch in the training.

But when they actually stood on the battlefield and faced those Wehrmacht soldiers who actually fought against the Genoese and Sardinians in the mountains of blood, they would still subconsciously feel that their brains went blank.

Due to their defensive advantages, the vanguard columns of these three companies, under the command of foreign instructors, reached favorable terrain ahead of the vanguard of the National Defense Forces, and lined up in a long formation here to start loading ammunition, waiting for the enemy to approach and launch an attack.

"Listen to the order - load!" Under the sharp command of the instructors, the serf soldiers skillfully removed the muskets from their shoulders, took off the charging rods, and began to stuff lead bullets and gunpowder into the barrels.

More than half a minute later, the soldiers of the three companies had basically completed loading. They nervously raised their muskets and pointed them at the Wehrmacht soldiers who were approaching their formation not far away.

The foreign instructors on horseback also had cold sweat on their foreheads. They held their sabers high and silently calculated the distance between the enemy and their own array, waiting for the Wehrmacht soldiers to enter the firing range.

The hands of the serfs holding the muskets were shaking a little. Part of the reason was because the gun body was slightly heavy, but more importantly, it was because of the excitement in their hearts when they looked at the Wehrmacht soldiers who were also holding muskets and approaching them step by step. fear.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a serf soldier pulled the trigger in panic, firing the first shot of the battle.

However, for a weapon with a large scatter distribution, such as a musket, if the trigger is pulled outside the effective range, it will not even be able to hit an elephant.

The lead bullet that flew out of the gun barrel with the help of gunpowder ignited went straight into the soil without hitting anyone.

But this shot seemed to trigger a chain reaction and completely aroused the fear of the serf soldiers. They couldn't wait for the commander's order. They closed their eyes and gritted their teeth to pull the trigger, and filled the gun chamber as if they were venting needlessly. bullets are fired.

"Damn idiots! Who asked you to shoot!"

Before the instructors' sabers were dropped, they heard the continuous and increasingly intensive gunshots, and they immediately shouted angrily:

"Stop it all, follow the order and fire! Hold your fires!"

However, these orders were quickly lost in the sound of gunfire. Only a few soldiers could maintain their firepower under tension, waiting for the commanders' firing orders.

After this round of sporadic shooting, three entire companies of soldiers only knocked down five or six soldiers in the formation of the opposing defense force.

After the launch, the serf soldiers stood there and looked around blankly. They had no idea what to do next. Many of them looked at the approaching enemy troops and began to cry involuntarily to leave them. position and ran backwards.

"What are you doing standing still! Reload! Idiots, Reload!"

The instructors shouted instructions while riding horses and rushing towards the fleeing soldiers, waving steel knives and ordering them to return to the array.

Before these commanders could gather and stabilize their troops, something happened that frightened these frontline soldiers even more:

The Wehrmacht soldiers marching side by side unswervingly towards their own side have already brought their own side within range.

To the beat of the military drum, these well-trained Wehrmacht soldiers marched toward the array of serf soldiers with loaded muskets in an orderly manner.

"Fire!"

Under the orders of several company commanders, neat tongues of flame spurted out from the barrel, and hundreds of lead bullets were fired at the serf soldiers. In a burst of whizzing sounds across the air, the opponent's array Dozens of corpses fell down in an instant.

"Ah ah ah ah ah!"

How could these honest serfs who usually only plow the fields have ever seen such a scene with corpses strewn in the fields? After just one round of shooting, a large number of serf soldiers were already shouting unbearably, and some even threw away their muskets. On to the ground.

The warlords and instructors rushed forward anxiously and tried their best to prevent the formation from disbanding. However, the low morale and confused military spirit could not be restored.

For those soldiers who had not yet fought in the rear, hearing the heart-rending shouts coming from the front, each of them could not help but feel chills on their backs and their legs became weak.

Naturally, this scene on the battlefield did not escape the eyes of Lawrence, who was observing on the high ground not far away.

"This is the end of a hasty battle. The effect of our army's surprise attack is still very good."

Lawrence gently put down the telescope, wiped the lenses twice with the corner of his clothes, and ordered Major Cui Farley beside him:

"Let four more reserve battalions join the battle, take the initiative to increase the width of the front, and expand our enemy area."

Major Cui Farley also understood this order very well. When the enemy's morale is unstable, the more people involved in the fighting, the greater the blow to the overall morale of the enemy, and the greater advantage the National Defense Forces can gain.

"correct"

Just as Major Cui Farley left the command post to call for the messenger, Lawrence suddenly remembered something and gave an extra instruction:

"Let the French army led by Major Serurier continue to be in reserve and not join the battlefield."

"Huh? Lord Bonaparte, what is this...?" Major Trifali was stunned for a moment, not understanding the order.

Lawrence continued to raise his telescope to observe the situation on the battlefield, and explained at the same time:

"After all, this is a civil war. It is politically disgraceful to use foreign troops to suppress the people of this country. It is better not to do this kind of thing that is not conducive to the unity of France and Kuwait."

Under Lawrence's instruction, more than 2,000 Wehrmacht soldiers in four battalions immediately approached the landlord group's army from the flanks.

Those foreign instructors were very good at judging and commanding the battlefield situation, and immediately dispatched corresponding troops to prevent the four battalions of the National Defense Forces from forming an encirclement.

This correct decision also played into Lawrence's hands. As the width of the battle between the two armies increased, more and more serf soldiers were thrown into the battle, and soon they were fighting in a battle filled with smoke and flying bullets. Almost collapsed on the battlefield.

Master Justin, who was watching the battle on the mountain, looked at the situation in the depression with a pale face.

He is not a natural strategist, but he can also see that his own army is unable to withstand the opponent's attack and is even on the verge of retreating.

Such an ending was beyond his imagination. With numerical superiority, almost unlimited supply of supplies, and experienced instructors, why would an army created in this way collapse in front of that damn Bonaparte boy? .

The series of blows made Master Justin's face look a little ferocious. He clenched his fists tightly, but he didn't know who to punch in the face.

Sir Robert's brows were already knitted together. He looked closely at the smoke filling the battlefield. After glancing at Master Justin's expression, he said in a deep voice:

"Don't worry, my friend, it's not too late to conclude that we have lost. Judging from the number of enemy troops, they don't seem to have any troops staying at the ancient fortress. As long as we resist their offensive here, wait for the ancient fortress The garrison came to attack us from both sides, but we still have a chance of victory."

In the midst of his collapse, Master Justin's eyes suddenly lit up, as if he had grasped some life-saving straw, and he murmured to himself crazily:

"Yes, that's right. They must have ignored the more than two thousand garrison troops in the fortress. Those garrison troops must be right behind them. That must be the case! As long as those garrison troops launch an attack, everything will be fine!"