King's Landing in France

Chapter 258 Old Dumas Got His Nickname
Kleber looked at the old Dumas who came to visit him, and his brows were twisted into twists: "I, like you, ran wildly for a day and a night, and now I want to take a good rest before the enemy comes."

Old Dumas: "Then we can only face the regular army of the coalition without suitable fortifications. You also know the level of our troops. Do you think we can block the enemy twice as large as us without fortifications?" ?”

Kleber pursed his lips and did not answer.

Dumas Sr. added: "Especially when you are so tired."

Kleber: "Go to hell, I will tell you about your behavior of treating people like cattle and horses after this battle is over! Take me to the village to see the terrain."

Old Dumas smiled, showing his white teeth.

Kleber chose to continue to say hello: "You damn devil, black devil!"

The person in charge of the local military depot made a gesture of invitation: "Go this way."

Kleber stepped forward indignantly, and suddenly turned around and said: "By the way, call Moreau, we can't keep him sleeping, we are all brigade commanders, we should be equal, understand, equality!"

Old Dumas: "Okay, call him up. As a commander, you should indeed familiarize yourself with the terrain in advance."

**
The three brigade commanders left Babi Village under the guidance of the person in charge of the local military depot.

Kleber murmured: "Babi Village, Babi Village, why not just call it Spider Village?"

The person in charge of the military depot: "I don't know either. The locals haven't told us the origin of the name. Well, everyone, we're already outside the village. The terrain is what you see."

Kleber looked at the open terrain in front of him and was speechless.

Old Dumas also frowned: "There are a few shrubs, but they can't be relied on. The good news is that we have at least one wooden fence."

Kleber looked at the "wooden fence" and said it was a fence, but it was actually more like a railing, and there was no way to use it as a cover.

Apart from scattered barns and shrubs in the open field, there is no terrain that can be used by the defenders.

Kleber: "You asked me to build fortifications, but there is no way to build fortifications here, not even a high ground."

Old Dumas: "We can only compete with them yard by yard in the village."

Mo Luo suddenly said: "No, we can't stop the regular army group from rushing into the yard. I think we should disperse the troops and block the enemy in the form of skirmishers."

Old Dumas: "This terrain is very suitable for stragglers. Unfortunately, it is spring and there is no wheat in the fields. It would be better if it is autumn to hide in the tall wheat fields. But the biggest problem for stragglers is how to ensure that they Don't run away? Even if it is a regular army, once the formation breaks up or the officer dies, the army will be defeated.

"The stragglers are generally criminals or mercenaries, and our army is composed of farmers and trousers. Do you expect tailors and masons to become qualified stragglers? No, no, they will start to flee as soon as they come into contact. "

Old Dumas was a professional soldier after all, and he still maintained the common sense of the previous era: skirmishers are hooligans or bandits, and these people have the desire to take the initiative to fight.

Moreover, in order to make the stragglers brave enough, the old army often rationed them with spirits before the battle, and also let prostitutes act as female bartenders to follow the stragglers with a load full of wine.

Kleber: "Wait a minute, do you remember what General Frost said? He said that the new French army is different from the old army. will, they will not be easily defeated if they go to the battlefield to defend the Republic."

Old Dumas frowned: "I don't understand the spirit of the republic, and I don't understand the nationalism the general talked about, but I understand the army. Scattered soldiers can't do it, we still hide in the village..."

Moreau: "Give it a try. I also want to see if the Republic is really as magical as Frost said."

Moreau is a hardcore republican. In the original history, he was sent to the United States because he was too obsessed with the republic and had a conflict with Napoleon who proclaimed himself emperor.

Later Bernadotte, another die-hard republican, invited him back to oppose Napoleon, who had usurped France.

But the current Moro is still a fledgling novice, has not experienced the baptism of the Great Revolutionary War, and has not experienced the courage and glory brought by the Republic to the soldiers on the battlefield.

He's a republican, but not hardcore.

Old Dumas looked at Moreau: "You look very excited."

"Yes." Moreau admitted frankly, "I've always hesitated whether the Republic is really that good, and now I want to see it with my own eyes."

Old Dumas sighed: "Okay, let's try it in the form of skirmishers, but we still need fortifications, at least some solid fortifications."

Kleiber: "The good news is that wood is enough."

**
The time is twelve noon.

Kleber had barely slept for an hour when he was awakened by his adjutant.

"Brigade Commander, the enemy is coming!"

Kleber: "What enemy?"

"Allied forces! The enemy is coming!"

Kleber froze for a few seconds, then slapped himself forcefully: "Damn it, it's the enemy! Are the troops up yet?"

"Woke up!"

Kléber put on his uniform, drew back the curtain and left the house, where he saw his brigade hastily assembled.

A messenger galloped on horseback and shouted: "The No. 60 Sixth Brigade has already set off, the brigade commander asked me to rush you!"

Kleber: "Let's go right away!"

By this time his brigade was finally in formation.

Kleber: "Run forward, our position is on the left wing, get there!"

**
Old Dumas had already arrived at his position, and he rode his horse to observe the enemies who were changing formations in the distance.

In this day and age, before launching an attack, you have to line up first.

This is a big job, and even the most well-trained army will be busy for a while.

Generals who are more ceremonial will even set up camp after arriving on the battlefield, rest for a day and then attack in a slow formation the next day.

But this time the generals of the coalition forces obviously did not have any sense of ceremony.

As soon as he found a defensive enemy ahead, he immediately changed the marching formation into an attacking formation.

Old Dumas observed the enemy's formation change, and estimated the enemy's training level by the speed of the formation change.

"Damn," he swore, "is a well-trained army."

At this moment, the officer next to him shouted: "Kleber's troops are coming."

Old Dumas turned his head to look at the flank, and saw Kleber's troops marching to their position, and then scattered in a hurry.

Compared with the coalition forces directly in front of them, the judgment is judged.

Old Dumas shook his head, then raised his hand: "All artillery positions are ready!"

Since only the elder Dumas had received formal military training, all the artillery was under his command.

The black devil pressed down with his big hand and roared, "Fire!"

(End of this chapter)