Fox of France

These shells are falling with a very high curve, and therefore it is almost impossible to form an effective ricochet. It is the important weapon that Joseph prepared for Napoleon, which will once again change the status of artillery-shrapnel. In the beginning, Joseph was very thoughtful and tried to get over this thing and directly make a high-explosive bomb. But he immediately encountered several problems:

The first problem is the stability of the shells. The high-explosive shells must ensure that the fuze hits the ground, which requires the best wired-bore gun. But rifled guns need a lot of steel, and steel needs...

But it's really not good, and it's not impossible to use the tail to stabilize. But then there are two problems involved. One is the reliability of the trigger fuze. This problem does not seem to be easy to solve in a short time; the other problem is an old problem, that is, the production of gunpowder and explosives is insufficient. Therefore, grenade bombs that require less explosives are an alternative. But even this alternative program has once again changed the status of artillery in the war.

After the appearance of the Mini rifle, the artillery fell into a very embarrassing situation-attacking with solid shells could not hit the scattered skirmishers; if attacking with a shotgun, the effective range of the shotgun fired by the artillery was not as good as that of the Mini The rifle is far away. As a result, the cannon changed from an attack weapon that could be placed at the forefront of the battlefield to a support weapon.

However, the emergence of the grenade shell returned the advantage of range to the artillery.

A grenade is actually an iron bucket full of shotguns. It was shot out by a cannon and then exploded at a suitable height, so the shotgun inside poured down. This is a winged shotgun. With the support of a specially made cannon that can shoot at a 45-degree angle, it can even hit farther than a solid cannonball. Coupled with a curved trajectory, it can even be used to overcome obstacles and hit targets behind them.

In addition, grenade shells can also play a special role in tactics, that is, partition. When the soldiers on both sides of the current line have already started close-range combat, the artillery is normally useless. After all, this is not a game. The artillery fired by our side is not a fireball thrown by the Faye in the game with the ability to identify the enemy and ourselves.

But at this time, the army equipped with shrapnel can, with the assistance of the hot air balloon observation post, use the grenade to cross the fierce melee position, directly hit the enemy in the back row, and hinder the enemy's reinforcements. And if, in the battle for key positions, our army’s reinforcement energy continues to increase, but the enemy’s reinforcements are overwhelmed, and the outcome of the battle will naturally lose its suspense.

The French army's grenade shells are hitting the heads of the reinforcements of the Russian army. Compared with the previous broadsword mines, these things that fell from the sky are actually more like hail, and the Russian soldiers who are unfortunately covered are also like hail. The wheat was beaten to a large swath.

In this situation, Suvonov also had to give an order to retreat, but the retreat at this time was really very difficult. Those soldiers who attacked could finally withdraw less than one-fifth.

In this battle, the Russian army lost almost 8,000 people. Although this number does not seem to be particularly large compared with the total number of the Russian army close to 60,000, these people are all combatants. In fact, The combatants in the army generally account for about half of the army. For the Russian army of 60,000, the loss of 8,000 is no longer a small figure.

What's more, these eight thousand people are still the most elite part of the Russian army. In a sense, this battle can be said to completely destroy the Russian offensive ability. Now the Russian army has no strength to attack the French positions anymore.

Even worse, this battle broke the confidence of the Russian army. In the face of the technology of "No. 1 in the European continent" or even "No. 1 in the world," the Russian army was full of frustration. Even the old marshal complained in private: "Why is there such a big gap between our country's science and technology and France? How do we fight!" Later, the old marshal still wrote to his friend's grandson, encouraging him to learn mathematics, physics and chemistry, and become A scientist’s letter also said:

"Alyosha, I know you want to be a general. But your grandpa and I think that you are actually more talented in science. Moreover, if you learn science well, let Russia have one more scientist, which will help Russia more than It’s a lot to become a general. You have to know that science and technology are the number one combat force..."

The Russian army has lost confidence, and the Austrian army is of course not to mention. They already had severe Napoleon phobia, although the Russians were beaten this time-because morale was low after facing Napoleon, the Austrian army simply couldn't bear the offensive task. Even the Russians, after carefully observing the situation of the Austrian army, unanimously agreed: "These people cannot be used in the most difficult breakthrough stage of operations, otherwise they may become obvious weaknesses that can be exploited by the enemy."

So this time the Austrians were not beaten, but they watched how the Russians were beaten. In this battle, the tactical level and fighting will of the Russians was obviously better than that of the Austrians. The Austrians also understood this very clearly. The results of it? Russian A went up, and the Russian lay back. After the Austrians watched the performance of the French beating the Russians, their morale dropped even worse than the Russians.

Although the Russians no longer had the courage to continue attacking fortifications, they still had the courage to continue to confront the French and conduct defensive operations, but the Austrians did not even have the courage to conduct defensive operations. For several days, Austrian generals approached Archduke John, hoping that he could propose and withdraw the troops quickly.

Although Archduke John is not good at the army (in fact, it is mainly due to the lack of ability to respond on the spot), he still knows the basic truth. He knows very well that with the current state of the coalition forces, it is impossible to safely withdraw in front of the enemy. If it really retreats, it will be pursued by the French all the way, and the whole army will probably collapse.

He also knew that it was impossible for his generals not to understand these principles, and even these generals put forward such requests that were not in accordance with military principles, which shows the extent to which the morale of the Austrians has collapsed.

"Grand Duke, we can propose to the Russians that we will divide the barracks into two places and move our troops to the northeast to camp separately. So if the French attack, we can support each other from different angles. Then take advantage of the Russians not paying attention. , Let's run first..." Some shameless guys even came up with such tricks.

In order to appease everyone, Grand Duke John had to say to them: "Now that the British and Prussians have won major victories in the north, most of the French have to transfer Napoleon's army back to defend Paris. We only need to hold on for a while, and the French guess it will be. We can only retreat. And if we run first, will the Russians definitely not run? Then everyone runs, and in the end, no one can escape!"

Archduke John's estimate of the situation is still very accurate. On the same day that Napoleon repelled the Russian general offensive, the Anglo-Prussian coalition also launched a general offensive on Liege. Although the French army resisted bravely, their attacks still made significant progress and captured several important positions. The French army's defense in Liège was also close to collapse, and Liège's fall was almost certain.

Once Liège fell, there was no danger to Verdun. And once Verdun could not defend it, Paris was directly exposed to the enemy's attack.

Under such circumstances, the superintendent desperately ordered Napoleon to return to defend Paris; on the other hand, he called on the people of Paris to rise up and organize volunteers to defend the motherland, just like in 1792.

But the people of Paris did not stand up like they did in 1992-this is different now. In the words of Aunt Sophie, the maid once employed by Joseph, it is: "Before the revolution, I had no bread to eat; after the revolution, there was still no bread to eat-isn't the revolution a white leather?"

Many of the members of the supervising government, members of parliament, and decent people have made a fortune. But for the common people, they didn't get much real benefits. For them, the revolution that allowed them to shed their heads and blood was really a white revolution. In that case, why should the people shed blood and sacrifice for it again?

And ~www.readwn.com~, the Duke of Brunswick issued a very untimely threat to massacre in Paris. This threat agitated the people of Paris and became the best mobilization order of the revolutionary government at that time. But now, the well-behaved British and Prussians no longer say such things. Without their assists, the Supervisory Government really cannot mobilize the people.

Fortunately, the conscription mobilization mechanism that Kano has worked hard to establish over the years has gradually improved a lot. With the conscription, the supervising government has created more than 100,000 troops. But with the ebb of the Great Revolution, the consequences of its arrival are beginning to appear-these soldiers, although in terms of military skills, are much better than the Volunteers of 1992. But their morale is far from that of the Volunteer Army in 1992.

In this regard, Paris is indeed at stake.

This afternoon, Napoleon received a new letter from Joseph. This letter told him a piece of news that was bad news for France but good news for the Bonaparte family: "The British and Prussian forces attacked In Liege, the French suffered heavy losses, and General Joubert retreated to Verdun."

When Napoleon received the letter, he was immediately overjoyed, so he sent envoys to the Russian-Prussian army, returned the wounded to the Russian army, and asked the Russians for a truce and peace talks.