Chapter 210 Good News (Part 1)
Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.
News of the victories in Alexandria and Beirut reached Vienna, and Franz was curious why Muhammad Ali did not surrender.
If the fighting continues, let alone the government of Muhammad Ali, even the entire Egypt may be annexed by the Ottoman Empire.
This is of course not that Ali refused to surrender, but that the British did not want the Egyptians to surrender. They wanted to weaken Ali's power as much as possible, and it was best to support a puppet loyal to them.
This would make France lose all its investment and exclude it from competing for hegemony in the Near East.
In theory, this is no problem, but there is a minor trouble, that is, Egypt, which is too weak, may re-enter the Ottoman territory instead of being a vassal state.
This naturally has no problem for the British, but for Austria and France, this is a big problem.
Franz felt that the two lands of Tripoli and Tunisia were very suitable for Austria's colonies because of their close proximity and huge development potential.
But once the Ottoman Empire regains Egypt, the two territories bordering it, Tripoli and Tunisia, will inevitably return to the Ottoman sphere of influence.
If Austria forcibly colonizes these two areas, or establishes some kind of relationship with these two lands through the upper levels, will Britain start another Turkish-Egyptian war under the banner of maintaining the integrity of Ottoman territory?
The French's worries are similar to those of the Austrians. Algeria in their hands was also a territory of the Ottoman Empire in the past.
Moreover, the French also have ambitions in Tunisia, and they have huge interests in Egypt. Once the Ottomans ban the government of Mohammed Ali, the French investment will be lost, which is unacceptable in any case.
Syrian battlefield.
Following the melodious Grenadier March, Sequoia Army A advanced.
General Gablenz saw the British attacking, and he also ordered the Austrian army to start playing music and prepare to attack. How should I put it? Austria is worthy of being a country of art, and even has several kinds of military music.
The soldiers began to advance to the beat of chaotic drums.
The skirmishers of the coalition quickly eliminated the light infantry of the Egyptian army, and the main line infantry of both sides finally faced each other.
However, in the face of the coalition forces with superior artillery fire and skirmishers, the Egyptian formation was incomplete from the beginning. After entering the gun platoon stage, this disadvantage becomes more obvious. The coalition soldiers have higher quality and better equipment.
Looking at the Egyptian line, someone fired the first shot out of fear, and then the Egyptian line, which was still 200 meters away from the coalition line, started shooting.
There is no doubt that this kind of shooting has extremely limited lethality. Only a crackling burst of white smoke rises. Only a few extremely unlucky soldiers in the coalition ranks are knocked down, but their positions will be immediately taken up by their comrades behind them.
The commander of the Egyptian line had to order the soldiers to quickly reload bullets while continuing to shoot. Looking at the approaching coalition line, the Egyptian officer simply broke the can and ordered "Free fire!"
Colonel Carter saw the Egyptians' foolish fighting style and knew that the battle was won. So the soldiers were asked to bring tables and chairs and coffee.
"Dear General Gablenz, would you like a cup of coffee?"
Many of the officers at that time were aristocrats, and it was not uncommon for commanders to take their mistresses to lunch as they fought hard on the front line.
"Thank you, please give me a drink."
Colonel Carter asked after pouring a cup of coffee for Gablenz himself.
“Do you want any sugar?”
Then he realized that he had done something stupid. Gablenz was putting the candy directly into his mouth, and the two parties looked at each other awkwardly.
Finally, the coalition soldiers braved a hail of bullets and reached a distance of 50 steps. (The Austrian army stopped at 70 steps. At that time, the styles of various European countries were different, and the commanders' commands were also different.)
"preparation!"
The black muzzles of the coalition soldiers' guns were instantly pointed at the Egyptian soldiers who were desperately loading bullets.
"aim!"
"shooting!"
The coalition's queue flashed with flames and continuous gunshots. After the smoke passed, a layer of Egyptian soldiers was cleared.
The front lines of the Egyptian army collapsed directly, because hundreds or even thousands of people were killed at the same time. The effect was too shocking.
However, the coalition's shooting did not end. The first row immediately gave up its position after the salvo, and the second row continued to fire. Another round of volleys. This time, more Egyptians fell.
The Egyptian army behind them had already been bombarded by artillery shells, and when they saw the teams in front being cleared out row by row, fear had enveloped them. If it weren't for the supervising team behind them who were killing people, these people would have been killed long ago. escaped.
After the second round of salvo ended, the coalition soldiers who had just fired collectively squatted down to reload, while the soldiers behind continued to shoot.
After three rounds of volleys, there were not many people left in the Egyptian line that initially encountered the coalition forces. The Egyptian army behind them, which was still hundreds of meters away from the coalition forces, started shooting again.
Given the accuracy of the muskets and the level of training of the Egyptians, the coalition soldiers could load the bullets at their leisure.
Another cycle started again, and Ibrahim wiped the sweat from his forehead. His most elite troops were harvested by the opponent like immobile scarecrows.
Although he was unwilling to accept this reality, he had to consider for himself that if he continued to fight with the coalition forces, he himself might be captured.
So Ibrahim took the lead in the reverse charge on his beloved camel, and at the same time he also gave the order to retreat. Although Ibrahim's order was to retreat, the retreat quickly turned into a rout.
At this time, the 600 hussars brought by Gablenz finally came into play. The cavalry rushed out from the flanks and prepared to cut off the fleeing enemy troops.
You must know that the formed infantry is the nemesis of the cavalry, but the threat of the fleeing infantry to the cavalry is almost zero.
The hollow square formation can even be said to have ended the era of cavalry dominating the battlefield, but without formation, it is difficult for infantry holding rifles alone to hit high-speed moving cavalry.
Not to mention, most of the bullets in the Egyptian infantry guns were empty, and they were overtaken by the hussars before they even had time to mount their bayonets.
These hussars are natural butchers, especially when facing infantry who don't even have bayonets.
The cavalry raised their sabers on their horses and harvested the poor Egyptian soldiers with inertia. However, most Egyptian soldiers chose not to resist, but to find ways to run past the people around them. They seemed to think that they would be safe in this way.
But one thing they seem to have forgotten is that horses have four legs and they only have two. The cavalry repeatedly charged into the Egyptian army's camp, and the coalition infantry also fixed their bayonets and began to charge.
Everyone must have heard of the famous saying of Suvorov, the famous Russian military commander, "The bullet is a fool, the bayonet is a hero."
However, many people don’t know that he once said, “If you fight with a bayonet, you must keep bullets. If you fight with a bayonet without bullets, you will be worse than a fool.”
The coalition soldiers carried bayonets and launched a mass charge. At this time, the Egyptian army was bombarded by artillery fire, called out by skirmishers, endured several rounds of volleys, and was attacked by cavalry. The Egyptian army had already lost morale.
The coalition soldiers were not fussy about bayoneting. As long as they didn't kneel down and throw away their weapons, they would just stab them with one or two swords. Even those Egyptian soldiers who threw away their weapons and surrendered were inevitably hit by gun butts.
Treat prisoners of war well? nonexistent! In this era, there is not even the Geneva Convention, and whether to hold back or not depends entirely on the soldiers' self-consciousness.