Chapter 378 The Wrong Use of Giving Food to the Enemy
"It is used for the country because the food is given to the enemy, so the army can have enough food."
--"The Art of War"
March 27, 1796
Italy, Savoy, Nice
When Napoleon first arrived in Italy, he reviewed his troops; what he saw was an army of beggars in ragged clothes, underfed, and with low morale.
"No well-connected French general will accept the position of commander of the Italian Army." Only now did he understand the true meaning of this sentence.
This is an abandoned army. Not only were the officials in Paris unwilling to provide it with supplies, but the soldiers and officers under its command did not know what military discipline was, and theft was common.
The 43,000 people in the entire army had no military pay, no military rations, no feed, no shoes and socks, no clothes, no tents, no camping furniture, no means of transportation, and their material life was extremely poor. The hungry troops robbed and stole everywhere, rebellions and desertions occurred from time to time, and morale was very low.
Napoleon clearly realized that if he wanted to improve the combat effectiveness of the army, he had to improve military discipline, but was it easier said than done? Just shooting some people won't help at all.
What the officers and soldiers under their command really need is to eat well and wear warm clothes. After they have money, they can mail it to their families. These necessities would not be provided by Paris, and they had to be exacted from the enemy at bayonet.
Hence his famous speech:
"Soldiers, you are short of food and clothing. The Republic owes you a lot, but the country does not have the power to repay the debt. I am here to lead you into the richest plains in the world. The rich provinces and wealthy towns are all at the mercy of you. Dispose of it. Soldiers, faced with such a prospect, can you not muster up the courage to persevere?"
This was his first speech to the soldiers, but it was enough to go down in history.
Since then, under the outstanding command of this young commander, the Italian Army has achieved successive victories in Piedmont. Piedmont, the gateway to northern Italy, was opened by Napoleon in less than a month. And his generous promises were successfully fulfilled - the troops received a large amount of supplies.
Back to business
At this time, Jean Durde also wanted to imitate the former Emperor, and the French soldiers who were familiar with that allusion also began to work hard on their old profession-robbery.
The Wallonia region is worthy of being a prosperous place, and the French officers and soldiers gained a lot. In just one day, they robbed enough food for them to consume for several months, and even the weapons and ammunition were fully replenished.
Not to mention that the looted property was enough to pay them dozens of military pay. In addition, they temporarily established twelve military prostitution camps, including a hospital dedicated to treating syphilis.
That year, Napoleon achieved six victories in fifteen days and captured 21 military flags. He was so excited that he couldn't sleep well for a month.
Now, Jean Durde has achieved nine victories and captured dozens of military flags in just one day, which is a unique achievement in the entire European history.
Therefore, his entire body had expanded to an unbelievable extent. Not only did he surround Prussia's 40,000 main force with only more than 10,000 people, but he also divided 5,000 people to continue to pursue the remaining enemy, intending to capture the Liege Fortress as well. .
Usually when siege a city is surrounded by three and one is missing, it is convenient for the enemy to cover up and kill him when he is escaping, so as to achieve the purpose of breaking the enemy's morale and annihilating the enemy's main force.
However, Jean Durde did not intend to let go of a Prussian. His purpose was to complete his victory in one battle and completely eliminate the effective forces of the German Confederation.
Albrecht's leading reconnaissance force ran into the French reconnaissance outposts in the Walloon area and had a fierce exchange of fire with them. On one side were elites who had experienced many battles, and on the other side were fledgling calves but with high morale.
The hunters of both sides struggled together in the swamps and hills, fighting with all their strength. In the end, they were able to eliminate this tenacious sentinel force through a tip from the Walloon locals.
After the battle, it was discovered that this so-called force only had less than 500 people, but it managed to exert the momentum of 5,000 people, and even suppressed the Austrian vanguard with 3,000 people at one time.
However, before Albrecht had time to reprimand his men for their incompetence, he immediately sent 5,000 of his most elite cavalry to launch a probing attack on the French defense line, and then led his 20,000 elite and French troops under the city of Namur. Start a decisive battle.
At this moment, he was ready to burn the boat.
Although they encountered an outpost, the strength of this force was far beyond his understanding, and the rest of the French troops in Belgium who broke into it would probably be even stronger than this.
Albrecht was vaguely worried. If he could not quickly defeat the French army in Namur, he was afraid that the 100,000 Dutch troops behind him would immediately switch sides and stab him in the back.
By that time, he was Austria's eternal sinner, and he even regretted whether he should have listened to Franz's advice and shouldered the responsibility of garrisoning the Walloon region, leaving the rest to the Dutch and Belgians.
But now I can't control that much, I can only hope that time is on my side.
Wallonia, city of Namur
The Prussian soldiers in the city were trembling. They didn't know exactly how many French troops were besieging the city in front of them; it might be one hundred thousand, or it might be two hundred thousand. In short, their situation was very bad, and the feeling of being surrounded was extremely uncomfortable.
Prince Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig, the proud deputy commander-in-chief of the German Confederate Army, resolutely refused to surrender to his opponents, and it seemed that he had made plans for a last-ditch effort.
The morale of the officers and soldiers fell to the bottom, and the groans of the wounded soldiers who were trampled by their own people echoed throughout the military camp.
The civilians of Namur originally planned to cooperate with the French inside and outside, but the news that continued to come from outside the city proved that this group of French troops were simply beasts in human skin.
In order to avoid being plundered by the beasts outside the city, they spontaneously organized militia to help defend the city. But even this cannot change the low morale of the Prussian army. Fortunately, Namur is a strong city and should be able to wait for reinforcements to arrive.
The French army outside the city lived a life like an emperor. It was even so exaggerated that almost every accompanying soldier was accompanied by a temporarily recruited prostitute. There were also two civilian husbands waiting for dispatch. They drank fine red wine and ate. It is ham that common people can only eat once a year.
Jean Durde used the residence of a high official as his temporary headquarters. He had just executed three mayors for "incompetent" work and was enjoying the pleasure that power brought him.
"I'll give you a week. I want one hundred thousand young men to carry their weapons and follow me through Berlin. Then I will destroy Vienna first, and then massacre Moscow."
The senior officials of Hainaut Province and Bratban Province managed a smile.
"I'm sorry, dear General Jean Tourde, our two provinces only have 600,000 people. One hundred thousand young men are equivalent to one-sixth of the population. It is really difficult to do. As for the weapons, we have previously donated them to France. , the inventory has been emptied."
"Are those rags called weapons?" Jean Durde raised his gun and pointed it at the two senior officials with disdain, and the latter immediately raised his hands obediently.
"General, we really have no choice. Otherwise, how about this? When you capture Namur Province, we three provinces will work together to find a solution."
Before he finished speaking, a deafening explosion suddenly came from outside. As the advance team sent by Albrecht, his 5,000 cavalry had arrived outside the city of Namur.
The commander, Major General Gabrenz, found that the French army was resting and unprepared, and seemed to be holding a celebration party, so he decisively launched a surprise attack.
These five thousand elites carried cavalry cannons and rocket launchers with them. After all, cavalry attacking the trenches was tantamount to death. Soon, fifty arranged rocket launchers and thirty six-pound cavalry guns launched a fire coverage on the French army's north gate position.
Who would have expected that at this moment, the "powerful" enemy, instead of hiding in the trenches, would be swaggering in the open space, singing, dancing, drinking and having fun.
When rounds of rockets exploded above their heads, there was no way they could find anything to cover their bodies.
The sudden "fireworks show" instantly caused the French army outside the North City Gate to lose a lot of effectiveness, and then the sharpshooters began to count the remaining enemies.
The stunned French army was unable to organize an effective counterattack. The most ridiculous thing was that the Prussian officers in the city actually thought this was just a fireworks display.
The Prussian troops admiring the fireworks at the top of the city and the Austrian troops chasing the remaining enemies below the city formed a strange and ridiculous scene.
When French troops from other places arrived to support, a deafening explosion sounded again on the west side of Namur.