The Voronezh salient defended by the British on the southern front was wiped out in just four days.

The British casualties reached more than 37,000, and the number of missing or captured people reached nearly 20,000.

Napoleon was extremely nervous. He knew that although the quantity of the British army was not large, it was better than the quality.

Moreover, the British were even superior to the French in some equipment.

Even they suffered such a big defeat under the attack of the Ming army. The French army...!

Worthy of being a military god, Napoleon was keenly aware that the main problem of the Ming army was the shortage of troops.

The Prussians on the northern front were enduring a large-scale attack by the Ming army.

The Ming army on the southern front was also launching an offensive. In terms of the strength of the Ming army, this had seriously exceeded the Ming army's capabilities.

There must be a feint in one direction, but the question is which direction the feint is in.

The way to crack the Ming army's attack is very simple. As long as the southern and northern fronts launch counterattacks against the Ming army at the same time, you can know where the Ming army's real main attack is.

And this can also quickly disintegrate this Ming army's offensive!

But Napoleon did not dare to do this, because it would be a gamble, and if the main force of the Ming army's attack was on the southern front, then the French army would use up all the main force of the French army and fight the Ming army to the death, leaving no room for anything.

Really, if the Ming army was defeated, then the French army would also be severely damaged.

Nothing happened when it came to rebuilding European order after the war.

The distribution of benefits after the war is not about whoever sheds more blood will get more.

It's about who has the strongest strength after the war, who has the final say, and who can get the biggest piece of cake.

It was because of this that Napoleon thought for two days and could not make up his mind whether he wanted the French army to launch a full-line attack!

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When Napoleon was looking at the map of Russia in a daze, Li Xiu was also in a daze looking at the southern coast of France.

The Ming army launched a new offensive in Russia, and as a containment force it also wanted to take action on the Mediterranean coast of France.

But the question now is where to land in order to maximize Napoleon's energy.

"Second Master, don't think about it, just Marseille." Chen Laohu kept encouraging Li Xiu to attack Marseille.

His reason is simple: Marseille is relatively close to the port of Ajaccio on the island of Corsica.

This reason is very good. Being close means fast support and fast supplies.

Even after the construction of the Corsica airport is completed, aircraft can take off directly to participate in combat operations.

But the problem is that now Li Xiu can only mobilize one division to fight.

And this division is also a Marine Corps division.

The establishment of a Marine Corps division is much smaller than that of a normal Army division.

Even if it is a temporary army division, it will require about 18,000 to 9,000 men at full strength.

But Marine Corps divisions generally only have about 9,000 men.

Attack Marseille with nine thousand men...!

Come to think of it, let's forget it. Marseille's militia has 100,000 people.

If you add the regular army, the number of people would be more than ten times larger.

Even if the Ming army could fight one against ten, there would still be several times the regular army.

"I still don't know that fighting Marseille can involve the French army, but... you have no idea how many soldiers we have?"

Li Xiu looked at Chen Laohu dissatisfied.

In fact, the Ming army's Mediterranean strategy was very dangerous.

Because the Ming Dynasty in the Mediterranean only relied on the tyranny of naval power.

The land defenders at various ports have reached a dangerous situation.

Several Marine Corps divisions seemed to have a lot of people, but after being allocated to several islands, they seemed to be a little insufficient.

There are many islands. Although they are said to be islands, they are actually not small at all.

Just like the island of Crete, thirty to fifty thousand people were stationed there just for fun.

Sicily, Corsica...!

Looking at the map one by one, Li Xiu couldn't understand why there were so many large islands in the Mediterranean Sea.

Sometimes, the French army would send commandos to the island at night.

Carry out some assassinations, capture prisoners and other terrorist activities.

As a result, Ajax has not lifted the state of martial law until now.

The destroyers on the sea kept cruising around all day long, as long as they saw French ships.

Even if it was a small sampan, it would have to be sunk directly.

Li Xiu's order to them was to sink any French ship they saw.

"Second Master, we can pretend to attack Marseille.

You see, this protruding place is called La Ciotat.

My subordinates sent people to investigate and found that there is a small fishing port here. In the past, small fishing boats were parked, but it is no problem to park small boats with dozens to one hundred tons.

Let's occupy this place. It doesn't take much, and a Marine regiment can be rich.

You see, this place is a little more than 20 kilometers away from the center of Marseille, and the road conditions in between are not bad.

Besides, we are just showing off, how can we actually attack Marseille?"

"La Ciotat?" Li Xiu followed Chen Laohu's hand and looked at a prominent seaside area next to Marseille.

This place is a protrusion on the south coast of France, a suburb of Marseille.

It is only about 20 kilometers away from the city of Marseille.

The 120mm howitzer is a bit difficult, but the 155mm howitzer has no problem at all.

Not to mention, the place Chen Laohu chose is quite poisonous.

"Have you investigated the defenders there?" Li Xiu nodded, preliminarily acknowledging the location provided by Chen Laohu.

"After investigation, there are more than 3,000 defenders.

However, most of them are civilian troops, and the regular army only has two to three hundred people.

There are no heavy weapons except mortars!

Now the French have also learned to be cunning, and their artillery no longer reaches the coast as before.

Instead, they are all hidden deep in the air. Normally, when our reconnaissance planes fly overhead, the anti-aircraft artillery is not used to fire.

As long as the bombers are gone, their anti-aircraft fire will fire.

And it’s better to change places. I will definitely move next time I go there.

I think it will be no problem for our regiment to capture this small fishing port under the cover of naval guns."

Li Xiu stared at the map for a long time and nodded.

"Dry!"

This small port was captured not to attack Marseille, but to scare Marseille.

Although the Ming army was struggling in the Mediterranean, it actually had little impact on the French people's psychology.

After all, Ming's military boots have not yet set foot on their soil.

But it would be different if we really captured La Ciotat. The Ming Dynasty's position was right next to Marseille, which would put great psychological pressure on the French.

Get two more 155 artillery pieces up there, and fire two shots if you have nothing to do.

Then the psychological pressure on the French will be even greater!

What satisfied Li Xiu the most was that this was an open sea and the draft was generally not deep.

Even if the French wanted to lay mines, they would not be able to lay mines in such an open sea.

Laying mines in open water and mines in narrow waterways are two different things.

Li Xiu made the decision, this matter is considered a done deal.

After two days of reconnaissance and formulation of combat plans, the landing operation codenamed Spring Thunder officially began.

Midnight on the fifth day of the first lunar month!

The dark water laps on the French coast, and several militiamen patrol the beach with guns.

Although it is still winter, the climate along the Mediterranean coast is very good.

Today's temperature is over 19 degrees. Compared to the cold Russia, this place is like paradise.

"Hey...! When will this war end? If this continues, we will starve to death."
To be continued...