It was already late at night, and I couldn't see my fingers. The continuous rain that lasted for many days also ended in the evening. There was no intention of falling any further. It was just that dark clouds were still covering the sky, covering up the light of the stars and moon.

At the base of the Toulon Legion, more than 5,000 cavalry and infantry were neatly erected in the square in the column, quietly preparing for the order to set off. I walked to the commander's platform and looked at the tired and passionate soldiers. Countless torches in the square reflected their loyal faces red, with loyalty to free France, respect for the commander-in-chief, and desire for battle.

"Citizens, the warriors of Free France," delivered a pre-war speech to the soldiers with my own favorite opening remark.

"First of all, I thank you again as a warrior for your heroic fight during the day, which led to the victory of the battle in the Oliuer Valley. However, it was only a winning battle after all, not the end of the entire battle. In Bomburg, Farlanburg and Marbosburg, the evil royalists and the mean British people were still fighting stubbornly, and Toulon was not restored, so we must continue to fight until we drove all reactionary forces out of France's free land.

Your upcoming mission is to launch an attack on the Rassein Peninsula, occupy Malgrave Castle and two other turrets. Only by occupying them can you control Cape Cron and let the artillery fire of the legion threaten the enemy fleet at sea, cut off the contact between the invaders entrenched in the harbor and the outside world, and allow the revolutionary Toulon to re-plug the tricolor flag symbolizing freedom.

Yes, the Commander-in-Chief knew that the soldiers in front of him were very tired and needed rest and wine, but the war was urgent and could not be relaxed at all. Victory called on you to continue to work hard. I, General Andrew, and Commander-in-Chief of the Toulon Legion, trusted my soldiers without reservation, believe in their courage, believe in their passion, believe in their perseverance, believe in them to overcome any difficulties and win one victory after another.

Freedom belongs to France, honor belongs to the legion, victory belongs to you, and now I order all the soldiers to follow your commander, the target, the Fort Margrave."

"Long live France!"

"Long live the Toulon Legion!"

"Long live General Andrew!"

…

The brief speech ended. Amid the cheers of the soldiers who had accumulated for a long time, I walked off the stage confidently, and my followers sent weapons and war horses. As the soldiers were watching, I stepped onto the war horse and walked out of the base camp first, followed by Wang Jiye and his guard camp.

A long line raised its torches and marched through the forest path in the dark night.

I was walking in front of me on the back of the horse, thinking about the upcoming battle. Originally, after the daytime battle, I was going to give the soldiers a little longer, but the Fred Commissioner who saw the dawn of victory personally took a horse to the battlefield of the valley plains, nominally congratulating me on the victory and comforting the army. In fact, it was not to ask the commander-in-chief to launch an attack on Toulon immediately. TNND, the person who did not see you during the meeting won and ran over to command blindly.

Originally, I wanted to refuse the unreasonable request of the commissioner, but I didn't know that Fred had already mobilized many officers in advance and collectively requested to attack again. There was no way, but after weighing the pros and cons, I still compromised. The target was not Toulon, but the Lassein Peninsula. In order to get sufficient preparation for this attack, I issued several orders in succession on the way back to the base camp:

1. All participating troops were ordered to rest on the spot immediately, and 3,000 elite infantry and 1,000 dropping cavalry were selected from the legion to stay in the base camp and stand by at any time to attack. All mobile troops of the artillery column moved to the Lassein Peninsula in advance under the cover of 500 cavalrymen;

2. He ordered Captain Mura to help me select 100 soldiers from the entire legion who are good at climbing and skillfully used to revive rifles, and be led by an officer to obey my call at any time;

3. In addition to the above-mentioned troops, all units of the Legion, including the General Lapuap division on the Eastern Front, will launch a feint attack on the forts, forts and multi-faceted forts in front of them, especially in the direction of Marbosburg. It is necessary to restrain the enemy and prevent them from providing any support to the Spanish troops stationed in the Lassein Peninsula within these 8 hours;

…

"I'm not sure that the little Gibrotto Fortress will fall before the early morning," Wang Jiye, who was next to him, rode a horse and said, without any sadness in his tone, but he was a little excited and excited.

"Oh, is that so, how can I see it?" I asked on purpose.

"The Europeans' tactics are mostly head-on confrontation on the battlefield. This is because they rely too much on their own firearms, and the attack on the fort is even more so. General, let the legion launch a feint attack on all targets, which lasts at least until dawn. The real target of its main force is the small Gibrotto Fortress on the peninsula ahead of you. The previous arrangement was nothing more than to prevent the coalition forces from sending troops to the fortress to reinforce. This is to attack the east and west.

If I read it correctly, there is a team of 100 rebels behind me. During the day, I have learned about their combat capabilities, but judging from the physiques and accompanying equipment of these people, I am better at climbing with bare hands. I believe that the general wants to use them to climb from the cliff behind the fortress, and in fact, the cold-fired assault and eliminate the Spaniard's gunners, which is an unpredictable attack.

The coalition forces of the British Army and Nables who lost General Ohara are now mostly Turin and Spaniards. They are pedantic and difficult to bear great benefits. It is not difficult for you to conquer fortresses and forts. But when fighting at sea in the future, the general should be more careful about the British Mediterranean Fleet commanded by General Nelson. They will be your future enemy." Wang Jiye became more and more respectful. Words like you, General, and others are constantly used in his words. It seems that he has begun to accept my leadership psychologically.

The first point can be understood by him from my pre-war mobilization order, but the latter point does have some skills, and can actually see my sneak attack plan in small ways. Well, a good talent, I hope he can give up the idea of ​​restoring the dynasty that has been destroyed for a hundred years and join me in creating a future free China.

As for General Nelson, I am a real brave general. I admire you in my previous life, and I once fantasized about fighting side by side with you. The facts made people think of us in this life. We don’t want us to stand against each other in this life. Even if we give me two or three times the strength of your fleet, I don’t have enough confidence to fight a naval battle, let alone win. But this is just now. With time, I believe that there will be a day when I can not only chase the enemy on the shore, but also fight the enemy at sea. At that time, we can have a showdown between men. Alas, I hope to meet Xiaofu as soon as possible and let him help me build an iron-clad fleet.

Just when I expressed my infinite sigh of Nelson on the horse's back, it was a coincidence that the general did not fall asleep, and was thinking about me carefully on his flagship, guessing the fighting intentions of me, an oriental.

Early this morning, Nelson watched General Ohara lead the coalition forces to attack the rebels on the deck, and his mind began to feel a little uneasy. As the news of good news in front of him continued to come, the coalition forces won one after another, and the rebels were defeated one after another. This ominous feeling became stronger and stronger. The strategy and tactics of luring the enemy into the depths and encircling and annihilation were not uncommon on the European continent. Hanbani used this seemingly simple but very effective combat deployment when he repeatedly defeated the Roman legion, which had an absolute advantage. Nelson was not only an excellent naval commander, but also had a lot of research on wars that took place on land. However, due to the rigid dogma formulated by the Navy and the Army, he had never commanded the battle on the shore.

The current messenger sent the baggage warehouse to capture Oliuer, but found nothing. When he turned to attack the enemy base camp, Nelson felt something and asked people to hang up the topographic map of the Toulon area. After studying the rebels' fortifications and the coalition's offensive route, he set his sights on the Oliuer Valley plain, which was only 2 miles away from the enemy base camp.

This was a perfect trap. The general of the Navy finally confirmed that out of the sense of honor of the British officer, he no longer minded the anger with Ohara. He immediately ordered 800 horse-riding sailors to form a marine, and led his adjutant to rush to the valley plain to reinforce, hoping to persuade Ohara to give up the attack in time, and to minimize the losses of the coalition forces when they are not good.

However, everything was too late. When Nelson's adjutant arrived at the valley plain, it was already time for the French army to clean up the battlefield. He could only hide from afar and try to gather one or two defeated soldiers as much as possible. However, more than an hour later, the adjutant returned to the fleet command in disappointment and reported to the navy commander all the facts he had witnessed.

Just as Nelson was extremely regretful for the entire army of more than 7,000 troops, bad news followed one after another. From around 10 pm, all defense lines in Toulon were fiercely attacked by French rebels at the same time. The battle reports filled Nelson's desk like snowflakes, and the forts and castles in various places kept asking for reinforcements from the coalition command (the coalition commander was temporarily held by Nelson).

"Damn it, where did I create so many reinforcements? The rebels actually launched a full-line attack at the same time. No, they did not have enough troops to do this comprehensive attack. It was a feint attack, and it must be a feint attack. The purpose was to prevent our army from dispatching troops to reinforce their main attack point, but where was the main attack point of the rebels?" Nelson walked to the map with a puzzled face, and looked carefully with the help of the faint candlelight, but inadvertently he touched the lunch and supper sent by the adjutant.

"Adminton, Adjutant." Nelson called his adjutant high. Captain Ross, who heard the news, immediately came to the room. He saw that the food he had not eaten had been overturned. He thought that the general wanted to clean up himself and bent over to take care of it, but was stopped by Nelson.

"Forget it, don't worry about this garbage. Go and find out which position has not been attacked by the rebels so far. Hurry up! Don't salute, go quickly!" Nelson urged hurriedly.

Captain Ross, who received the order, gave up completing half of the military salute and immediately withdrew. After 5 minutes, he brought the answer to Nelson back to his side.

"It's the Lassein Peninsula, where the various forts and fortresses have not been attacked by rebels so far. According to a briefing from General Gonzalez that day, only a few small groups of rebel cavalry were traveling nearby. They were supposed to be delivered before 8 pm, but because the messenger encountered wind and waves, they were dragged to the present. The time should be at 1:55 am." Captain Ross handed the information in his hand to the commander.

"Yes, I judged it right at first," Nelson, who received the briefing, had no intention of reading it, but continued: "Captain, order you to summon all the sailors who can participate in the war, and prepare for it in 30 minutes..." Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by the rumbling sound of cannons from the direction of Little Gibrotto.

It's too late, and even if you forcefully land now, it will only become the best target for preparing for the rebels. What's more serious is that it's dark. Without the guidance of the signal flag from the ground, the Mediterranean Fleet cannot provide strong fire support from the fortress. It seems that only hopes that the brave General Gonzalez will resist the siege of the main rebels, at least until dawn. Nelson silently blessed the Spanish general who he didn't like, hoping that a miracle would happen. But a few minutes later, Nelson took the initiative to abandon his fantasy, and he gave another order rationally and decisively:

"Captain Ross, give up the order just now, and I will order you to immediately drive all the transport ships anchored in the large anchorage to the Port of Toulon overnight. If, before dawn, you will receive news of the fall of the little Gibrotto Fortress, you will immediately ask all nearby coalition forces to board the ship and leave Toulon, and the time must not exceed eight o'clock, and I will lead the fleet to take the response."

"What about the Spaniards and other friendly forces from the fortresses, they retreated at all. What's more, although the war was not good for us, it did not end all evacuation. We still have a strong navy that can attack the rebels at any time." The adjutant was a little confused because it was the first time he saw his commander so embarrassed that he was not defeated.

"Yes, I was careless. At the previous joint meeting, I decided the main attack direction of the rebels, but some factors that should not have interfered with me. Now it is time to pay the price for it." Nelson stopped the adjutant's prepared interjection and continued: "Our opponent is too smart. He is an excellent commander. Because controlling the Lassein Peninsula can choke Toulon's throat, and with the help of the artillery above, it can threaten any ship that wants to enter the port. Perhaps our navy can bombard them, but it must be a defeat. The glorious British Empire Mediterranean fleet should not fire with the shore cannon and lose any ships in unnecessary battles. Out of respect, I should not call them rebels anymore. You, my adjutant, follow the above instructions."

"However, general, according to the existing transportation capacity, can only meet less than 4,000 people, and our French allies can have tens of thousands." After hearing the general's explanation, the captain still felt that things were a little difficult to deal with.

"I know that since the load cannot satisfy everyone, I will leave all the French to the free French army. My mission in Toulon should be over. I will be responsible for all the consequences. Remember, all actions cannot be known to the French. Anyone who forcibly boarded the ship will be authorized to kill you. Do you understand?" After giving the mission, Nelson leaned on the seat with some fatigue, and said in dismay, General Andrew, good, yes, I lost Toulon, although I don't know how you can take the fortress so far. But this is just the first battle between us. On the wide Mediterranean sea, Nelson is always waiting for your arrival.

Just when Nelson on the sea was feeling a lot of emotion at me, I was troubled by the battle in front of me. This was an unsuccessful attack.

According to my combat deployment, after a brief rest of the artillery columns protected by 500 Shank cavalrymen should have moved to the foot of the fortress before 10 pm, waiting for the arrival of the main force of the army, and preparing to launch an attack at 12 o'clock. Unexpectedly, when I brought the large army to the Lassein Peninsula, the motorized artillery column commanded by Major Marlekos was in place, which was half the minimum number I asked for. Moreover, the fire was in short supply. The convoy transporting ammunition entered the swamp because he lost his direction at night and lost most of it. He had to re-transport from the base camp. So, when the artillery soldiers were all ready, the clock was already pointing to 1:30 in the morning.

At 11:00 pm, when I arrived at the front of the position, I was so angry that I was so angry that I was not at all sensible. If I hadn't been a little rational, I would have ordered the Guards to shoot the artillery major who had missed the opportunity to fight. I was furious and finally recovered from my calmness at the advice of Wang Jiye. I wandered quietly in the woods alone. After 10 minutes, I re-issued the combat deployment:

Order another unit to reinforce the troops waiting on the coast of the peninsula in advance to prevent the coalition forces from attacking from the sea;

The entire army was ordered to rest on the spot, and the general attack time was postponed until 2 a.m. It was necessary to take down Malgrave Fortress, the Little Gibrotto Fort within 4 hours, that is, before dawn;

Order the rifle commando led by Lieutenant Xiushi to be prepared to set off at any time;

…

Fortunately, the Spanish on the mountain did not notice my arrival, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable. It seems that God is still very helpful to me. When I win, I will definitely burn incense for you brother.

After I finished giving the order, I breathed a sigh of relief, called Lieutenant Xiushi, came to the position together, pointed to the fortress not far away and asked:

"You've been to that hill before."

"Yes, when Colonel Napoleon was alive, he asked me to accompany him to inspect the terrain here. At that time, the enemy had not built a defensive castle. So, I am quite familiar with the situation here." Lieutenant Shush replied confidently.

"Okay, you should also guess my combat requirements for you. It is that half an hour later, at 2 a.m., when the legion launched a general attack, you and your rifle commando will secretly sneak to the back of the hill under the cover of artillery fire, and climb up from the cliff near the seaside. Your weapons and equipment are rifles, 2 short guns and a saber. The task is to break into the fortress's fortress positions in the shortest time, eliminate all the gunners there, and completely eliminate their threat to the frontal attack troops. When the mission is completed, please protect yourself as much as possible, beware of attacking your fortress defenders, and persist until the arrival of the main force. Are there any problems? Lieutenant." After the assignment, he stared at his subordinates, because I don't want to see a trace of hesitation and fear.

What was worried about was unnecessary. Lieutenant Shush released infinite honor and fighting passion in his eyes. He replied firmly: "Please ensure that the task is completed, general! The battle will prove that Lyon is not only the cradle of the revolution, but the Lyons are also the bravest and most loyal warriors of free France."

"Okay, okay, the commander will celebrate you and your soldiers in the fortress, my captain!" I said excitedly. Restoring the rank may be the only thing I can do for him.

"In the name of revolution!" the captain saluted me.

"In the name of revolution!" After the ceremony, Xiu Shi turned around and left under my gaze, and walked towards his team.

After the previous military meeting, I strictly ordered the army to go up and down. No one was allowed to use this kind of ritual at will in the future. It was only reserved for major celebration occasions. Since the order was issued, no one in the army dared to salute in front of me. Just now, the captain violated the law and did not pursue the matter. Instead, he returned the gift in the same way. Because I knew that most of the commandos who were preparing to engage in similar suicide operations might not see the dawn of the Mediterranean.

On the 13th of the Frost Month of the Republic, at 2:00 a.m., the most critical battle for Malgraveburg in the Battle of Toulon officially began.

The artillery column still concentrated 20 artillery pieces before the war started. Amid the command of the major commander, they also launched an attack on the Spanish defenders entrenched in Malgrave Castle. They carried shells full of revenge and anger, crossed the silent night sky and landed on the heads of unprepared enemies with extremely beautiful flight curves. The round of artillery attacks lasted for a total of 30 minutes. Under the cover of artillery fire, Captain Shush led his commando to detour behind the fortress.

The Spanish sentry, who were unable to defend, was covered in his head and turned around by this round of fierce bombardment. The huge 16-pound and 24-pound solid bullets hit all directions on the front of the castle. Countless rebounding shrapnel and broken wall stones hit them one after another, scrambling around like ghosts and howlings, not even the least alarm bell was beaten. It was only in the sound of the huge explosion that the Spanish in their sleep were awakened.

Enemy attack! Enemy attack!

Artillery! Infantry!

Everyone takes their place and starts fighting!

…

The officer on duty pulled his throat and shouted, whipping his subordinates desperately, and rushed to their respective positions with the shells that fell at any time. Ten minutes later, the artillery of the fortress began to fight back to the bottom of the mountain in a hurry.

"A bunch of Spanish flies!" I said contemptuously when I saw the enemy's clumsy performance.

Unfortunately, if the fortress built by the British were not too strong and could not carry out a frontal raid, I would have led the cavalry to attack. Behind the fortress was a cliff, and at both ends were the Egerit Fort and the Balagier Fortress, which were stationed by the British, it was even more difficult to pass under the threat of artillery fire. The only road leading to the fortress was the only one in front of me. The distance from our frontier position to the chest wall of the fortress infantry was more than 2,000 meters. In order to prevent sneak attacks at night, the defenders set up countless lighting objects along the way. The sentry looked down from above and could detect any enemy troops coming at any time. Therefore, I knew the price of the attack, but there was no way. I really hope I could have a tank.

Just when he was stunned, 1,000 cavalry columns were the pioneers and 2,000 infantry phalanxes were the successors, and they began to attack the enemy fortress. In order to prevent the British troops from reinforcements from other turrets, the artillery part of the position turned to the target and raided the Egerit Fort and the Balagiye Fort.

"Damn it, it failed again!" Looking at the retreating soldiers, I thought to myself that this was the fifth time that I had hit the fortress without success. As time passed, it was already 5 a.m. It would be dawn in another hour. By then, the naval guns from the sea would destroy everyone here. Why has the captain's raid team not yet arrived? In a hurry, I didn't care much anymore, and rode my horse to the defeated troops and shouted to them:

"Soldiers, my invincible warriors, are you brave enough? Are you scared by the cowardly enemy? The commander-in-chief's command is to attack, attack, attack again. Now I won't say more, because General Andrew will personally lead you to attack again and use the blood of the enemy to clean up the previous shame!"

After saying that, he pulled out his saber and led his cavalry guard camp to the hillside to welcome the baptism of the battle again.

The enemy's artillery was still firing in intensive fire, and the shells kept falling beside me. Several subordinates who rushed in front of me were hit directly, and they fell on the hillside with people and horses. I didn't have time to think about anything, but just recalled my previous experience at the flea hill, shrinking my body, clinging my back, and reducing the attacked parts, hoping to rush to the dead corner of the artillery as soon as possible and under the chest wall of the enemy's fortress.

"Damn it, I'm going to be on the lottery again." Just as I was about to approach the fortress, a wave of guns killed his mount, and his left shoulder was hit by lead bullets and fell to the ground. The guards who saw this situation rushed towards me, but were shot at the enemy's gun and fell down. At the moment of crisis, I was so anxious that I no longer considered what danger was. I stood up from the ground with difficulty, waved my arms desperately, and shouted: "Don't come over, attack, attack, continue to attack, rush to the chest wall, and eliminate the enemy."

Seeing that the commander was not injured, the guard battalion adjusted its direction and continued to charge forward in the enemy's rain of bullets. At this moment, the artillery fire from the fortress suddenly went out, and gunfire and cry for help began to come from inside. Then the enemy began to be in chaos. The Spaniards gave up the defense of their chest walls and retreated to the fortress.
Chapter completed!