The speech of the commander of the Mengtuo class shocked the officials present, and no one spoke for a long time.

Not only did no one speak, many officers also lowered their heads desperately, as if they had not heard the plans of Major General Mengtuoban, and some of them had a smile on their lips.

Russians... For the French, especially the French in the Napoleon era, there was not much feud with them. Therefore, the mobilization of the Crimean War could achieve such a response in France, and no one would mind cheating the French.

But this statement can only be said by Mengtuban himself. No one else can bear such a responsibility. Mengtuban's eyes were red. He looked at the entire venue trembling under his own decision and said very decisively: "Yes, the Russians may have some losses, and may lose one or two hundred people or a little more, but their sacrifices are not meaningless and will open the door to victory for us."

This is not as simple as losing one or two hundred people. Based on the combat experience in the past two months, even with the full support of the French main force, the Russians have to pay a loss of from dozens or more than a hundred people. If they are now sitting on the verge of their front line, they will have to pay at least one infantry battalion.

Therefore, the mind of the Franchise official also became active, and the adjutant of the Mengtuo class put forward his own suggestions: "Then what we need is not just as simple as opening the door to victory, but also achieving a decisive victory!"

Although it suffered several setbacks, it also established an absolute battle between the French officers for the main decisive battle. If the French army and the Hong army were evenly matched in the first-level confrontation of the regiment battalion, then the French army had never failed in the first-level battle of the division and brigades, and this time the troops dispatched by the Mengtuo squad would reach the first-level military scale.

That would be the greatest victory after the Crimean War. The officers in high spirits stood up unconsciously. But one officer asked: "If Russia suffers a major loss, then who will bear the diplomatic responsibility!"

Mengtuban's face became extremely serious and serious. He said for a while: "I bear all the responsibility for this battle. If it fails, I will bear all the responsibility in the military court."

If you don’t win, you can only go to the military court. Before Mentoban knew it, he actually fell in love with the scorching sun in Algeria.

This is the most painful memory of his life. He wasted his youth year after year in the desert. If it weren't for Napoleon III, he would have probably become an old colonel who recalled the past in tears. The position of the commander of the Expeditionary Force, regardless of victory or defeat, was his last military resume in his life.

Therefore, he looked at the French children with relief and decided to face the anger of St. Petersburg calmly: "What you need is to hunt as many war results as possible. I will solve the bad emotions of the Russians."

Another colonel asked loudly: "Sir Commander, where will our goal be?"

For a long time, most of the main forces in France have been deployed near Jiaxing Prefecture, but now the Mentor team has changed their minds: "We march towards Suzhou Prefecture, and the Hongjun there is weaker!"

The troops stationed in Suzhou Prefecture are the main force of Bao Mei-English troops and the Third Division. Recently, they have also received support from some infantry battalions, but compared with the elite Hongjun concentrated in Jiaxing Prefecture, their strength and combat effectiveness are significantly inferior, not to mention that after Jin Peilun took office, he drew troops several times to counterattack the coalition forces. Although the results of the battle were quite serious, his own combat losses were also quite serious.

Therefore, the choice of the Mentoban was unanimously supported by France. Suzhou Prefecture can be said to be one of the richest regions in the world. It is the most suitable choice to march towards Suzhou Prefecture. However, an officer asked: "What should I do if the enemy does not defend Suzhou Prefecture and flee in a hurry? You must know that Napoleon also occupied Moscow!"

For an extremely sloppy enemy like the Hongjun, this is indeed the most worrying issue. For a long time, the French army has not found a chance to fight with their opponents because of the relative avoidance of war. But Mengtuoban smiled and said, "In that case, we will attack Suzhou Fucheng. They can give up individual county towns, but they will never give up Suzhou Fucheng!"

That's right, every prefecture and county in Suzhou Prefecture is the richest area in China, let alone Suzhou City. What's more, this is not going deep into Russia, but just pushing dozens of kilometers straight towards Suzhou Prefecture. Mengtuoban said in a very resolute tone: "I will create an opportunity for you to let go of the attack, and I hope you will prepare everything within a week!"

He had already set a name for this battle, that is "Joan of Arc".

...

After Christmas and the New Year of the Gregorian calendar, the frequency of the main French forces' dispatched decreased greatly. Even if they were dispatched, they were often limited to one or two infantry battalions, and at most no more than three infantry battalions, which obviously attracted the attention of the Hongjun intelligence department.

You should know that during this period, the strength of various Hongjun troops entering Shanghai to fight was not reduced, but instead increased significantly. In addition, the information obtained from the Shanghai Concession was that the French army was storing materials and purchasing a large number of mules and horses. The information of the Hongjun has determined that the arrival of the next battle will only be a matter of time.

"The enemy has recently received support from two infantry battalions!" Zhu Jinlei has already pointed out the French deployment on the map very skillfully: "And they have completed the assembly of troops, and it is very likely that there will be major operations in the near future!"

"That's right." Fu Wendao said skillfully: "There are at least ten infantry battalions of Yi soldiers, and there are nearly ten thousand demons, and there may be more..."

The largest scale of the French army that can concentrate its forces can be described as "Rainbow Army" can already be described as "Liujiezhu". The French army originally had about 16 to 18 infantry battalions near Shanghai, and the Russian army had about ten not-so-enriched infantry battalions, which is the entire force. The front-line garrison forces must occupy at least eight infantry battalions of the coalition forces, and the second-line garrison troops occupy four infantry battalions, which means that the limit of the coalition's mobile force is only fifteen infantry battalions.

These fifteen infantry battalions must have at least two to three infantry battalions as mobile troops for garrison operations in Shanghai, that is, the actual limit is twelve infantry battalions. However, most of the time, the French army would only dispatch ten infantry battalions, but Zhu Jinlei quickly refuted Fu Wendao's view: "There may be twelve to thirteen infantry battalions, and the French used all their strength to feed themselves!"

Qu Jie, who was standing by, was very optimistic: "What, no matter how powerful they are, the strength of the troops they can fight our army will not exceed eight battalions."

This is why the French army was exhausted. Once the direction of France's main attack was determined, the Hong army immediately launched a large offensive on the flanks, forcing the French army to use troops. In the end, the French army could be put into the battlefield only had about half of the original force, and the huge decisive battle could only end in fruitlessness.

However, Nanbohang felt that the French would not obey the deployment of the Hong Army this time: "This time, all the strength has been used, and there are some news that there are landing French infantry battalions. If these troops are added, the French can dispatch fifteen infantry battalions!"

"Fifteen French infantry battalions?" Qu Jie sucked in air conditioning: "This battle is not enough by our First Division!"

Although the First Division, as the top main force of the entire Hong Army, has long been known for ignoring other troops, the French troops, which have been based on fifteen infantry battalions, are indeed not something that a single infantry division of the First Division can bear on its own.

Liu Chang suddenly added: "Not only can the First Division not stand it, but also all our troops in Jiaxing Prefecture are pressing forward. If they face each other head-on, it will be difficult to withstand it! Mengtuo's team is anxious!"

Everyone was surprised to Liu Chang's pessimistic judgment. Qu Jie asked directly: "So do it? We have nearly 40,000 troops in Jiaxing Prefecture, and we can't even support this. Is there any good way?"

Liu Chang keenly judged the direction of the main attack of the French army: "What we have to worry about now is not Jiaxing Prefecture, but Jin Peilun of Suzhou Prefecture, Yucun and Bao Meiying!"

Jiaxing Prefecture has nearly 40,000 Hongjun troops. Although Suzhou Prefecture has undergone several reinforcements, the total strength is nearly 16,000, but its combat effectiveness is much worse than that of Jiaxing Prefecture. Therefore, Qu Jie immediately proposed a method that the Hongjun was unsatisfied with all his might: "Then our defenders in Jiaxing Prefecture attack with all their strength, trying to pull Mengtoban back!"

"Take it back?" Nan Bohang interrupted and said, "How to pull it? Now confronting our army on the border is the Russian army. If the Mentorban is anxious, they may not be willing to return to aid."

After thinking about Nanbohang's judgment, everyone agreed to it after thinking for a while. Qu Jie asked: "What should I do? If the troops in Suzhou are too weak, they will be easily damaged. Should we take our First Division..."

"The First Division will not move for the time being." Liu Chang pointed Fu Wendao's name: "Fu Wendao, you have performed very well recently, so I will hand over the most difficult task to you. Is the Land War Team available now?"

When the Land Army Retreat from Fengjing Town, the entire regiment could only temporarily form two infantry companies, but after that, they had been training in Jiaxing Prefecture. Not only did the people and equipment that were behind, but a large number of wounded people also returned to the team, and a large number of new recruits and new equipment were also received. Therefore, the entire regiment has now changed from a light infantry regiment to a top-level heavy infantry regiment of the Hong Army. Fu Wendao said confidently: "The whole regiment is waiting for attack, with high morale, and can be dispatched at any time. Please rest assured His Highness the King of Yan!"

"Okay!" Liu Chang replied immediately: "You take the 11th regiment to Suzhou Prefecture, and at the same time tell Bao Meiying and Jin Peilun that you must be brave and determined to give up when dealing with the French. If you can seize the fighter plane, you must attack resolutely. If you don't have the chance, you will create fighter planes. I will give them a franchise and you can give up Suzhou City when you have to!"

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