Chapter 798 The bloody first day
However, it is unlikely that the situation like the previous situation where the enemy commander played with his own cannon and exploded himself to death will happen again.
However, it is still very feasible to use a surprise force to attack from both sides, or to rush directly into the city of Lucerne to capture Constantine Sigwalt alive.
Unfortunately, his vanguard of surprise troops only knew how to rush on their way and did not discover the small Austrian army hidden in the valley.
The small vanguard of the Freedom Alliance even lit a bonfire, which actually sent a signal to the rear that it was safe here.
The smoke that rises is similar to the smoke from the fires of ordinary hunters and shepherds. Only they can distinguish it.
On the cliff, groups of Austrian soldiers were lined up in a row, heading towards the designated area with a long rope tied around their waists.
Dufour's main force responsible for the surprise attack, led by Colonel Korbel, did not have much preparation. After all, the previous battle was too smooth, and the previous vanguard also sent a signal of safety.
Colonel Korbel feels that he will become a hero because he will catch the traitor Konstantin Sigvort, and then he will become a real colonel.
(At this time, he was still a lieutenant, but was temporarily promoted to colonel.)
However, General Dufour did not allow the looting, which in the eyes of Colonel Korbel was an insult to the war.
After all, many people join the army just to make money, and the most profitable thing about joining the army is war, and the reason why war is profitable is because it allows looting.
Colonel Korbel has already thought about it. He can go to the capital of Lucerne to plunder first. If Constantine Sigwart knows how to bribe him with money, then Colonel Korbel can think about it carefully.
At this moment, a gunshot broke the tranquility of the valley, and the orderly soldier next to Colonel Korbel fell down at the sound.
The battle broke out, and many Swiss soldiers were killed before they could load their rifles with gunpowder.
In fact, in the panic, more soldiers forgot to charge their muskets, and just held the guns and pulled the triggers crazily, making the sound of "biubiu" in their mouths.
The attackers' gunshots came one after another, which made Colonel Korbel feel that he must have encountered the main force of the Orthodox Alliance.
A one-sided massacre was taking place in the valley. Colonel Korbel ordered a retreat. However, he was hit by a bullet and fell to the ground in disbelief as he covered his chest with a bullet before running a few steps.
An officer with some gray hair put away his smoking rifle and handed it to the soldier next to him.
"They're finished. Remember, you can only chase them one after another and don't engage the enemy head-on."
"yes!"
It can be seen that the soldiers around him respect this old officer very much.
The enemy commander here has been killed and morale has collapsed. Sigismund will rush to the next battlefield and repeat the killing.
Although it is a bit shameless to hit an officer, it is very efficient to destroy the enemy's command system in this way.
"Sniper rifle? If this thing had been born decades earlier, maybe the anti-French war would have been much easier."
Sigismund said to himself, but no matter how shameless it is to use a sniper rifle, he will do it. After all, he is not a knight, just the captain of the guard of Archduke Karl.
Several surprise attack troops suffered the same fate one after another. The commander was killed after giving the order to retreat, and the remaining soldiers fled without a trace.
After fighting for a whole day, nearly 8,000 people were lost. Dufour didn't even know how many people were ambushed in the valley.
Not only that, the number of people killed is unknown, the number of enemies killed is unknown, and the number of people on our side who escaped is unknown.
Dufour only knew that half of his most elite shepherd army was directly scrapped. The shepherds in the Swiss mountains often have to deal with wild wolves and bandits, and occasionally engage in some unprofitable business, so they are considered to be the most effective warriors. .
However, it was only one battle at this time. In less than a day, eight regiments of sheepherders were wiped out.
Dufour immediately ordered the storming of the most important fortress outside Lucerne, the bridgehead on the Reuss River. This fortress was not protected by mountains, but it was a standard bastion.
What's even more disadvantageous is that if you want to attack this bastion, you must first pass the Royce Bridge or cross the Royce River.
This section of the river is not too wide, but hiking across it in the winter is not a good idea.
Then we can only attack head-on and use our one hundred and thirty cannons to clear the way.
In fact, the main reason why Dufour stormed the bridgehead was that he felt that the commander of Lucerne must have deployed a large number of troops in the valley, so he could break up his own formation so quickly and effectively.
However, reality gave him a blow. The defenders hiding in the bridgehead did not engage in an artillery battle with Dufour, but aimed their artillery at the soldiers preparing to cross the bridge.
The soldiers on the bridge were crowded together like minced meat, and shells flew into the crowd and created bloody alleys. There were broken limbs and broken arms everywhere, wailing sounds could be heard one after another, and the whole bridge was covered with flesh and blood.
Looking at the hell-like scene in front of him, Dufour realized that he was actually at war.
The fantastic start made him forget the cruelty of the war, and he even fantasized about doing what he did in Friborg.
After thinking about this, Dufour ordered the war team to rush more soldiers to the front line. The farmers who were digging in the fields more than ten days ago couldn't help but tremble when they saw the bridge covered with fresh blood and flesh in front of them.
The Supervisory Team had served as mercenaries and had extensive experience in fighting in all directions. The soldier on the far left fell to the sound of a gunshot.
"superior!"
The recruits still couldn't stop shaking. There was another gunshot, and then a row of gunshots.
"Listen, those who retreat will die! Those who hesitate and do not move forward will die! Those who are afraid of the enemy and cowardly fight will die!"
"superior!"
"ah!"
Finally, some soldiers couldn't bear it anymore and rushed onto the slippery bridge with their guns in hand, but they soon fell down and did not know whether they were alive or dead.
More recruits were then driven onto the bridge, and the brave soldiers used the corpses to create a path, but the bridge collapsed just before reaching the other side.
The dead and the living fell into the icy Reuss River together, which soon dyed the river red, and finally merged into Lake Lucerne.
Dufour beat his chest when he saw it, but he knew that this was the true nature of war, that's why he hated war so much.
The Battle of the Reuss River was one of the most brutal battles in the Swiss Civil War in the previous life, but this time the casualties on the Free Alliance side alone exceeded 2,500, which was a hundred times the number in history.
Counting the shepherds' regiment lost in the western valley, Lucerne's First War Free Alliance suffered losses of more than 10,000 people (in fact, most of them were deserters), while the Orthodox Alliance lost less than 100 people, including 10. Seven people lost their footing and fell into the valley while pursuing.
(They were tied together when walking on the cliff, but not tied together after the war started.)
Archduke Karl looked at the bloody battlefield through the telescope and did not show much emotion. On the contrary, Konstantin Sigwart and Ulrich Sallis looked very excited.
"What a miracle! If we continue to fight like this, our counterattack on Geneva will be just around the corner!"