“Are you kidding, I guess it’s Circassian! (Caucasus region)”
In the Zouav Army, which is known for its (relatively) freedom, the relationship between the regiment commander and the soldiers is not as strict as in other armies, so the two Zouav soldiers asked Brigadier General McMahon one by one about the purpose of their upcoming trip.
land.
"Both of you guessed wrong!" Brigadier General McMahon shook his head and replied calmly: "The place we are about to go to is Yevpatoria on the Crimean Peninsula, which is not far away from us.
A small town 3 miles (about 12 kilometers) away, you must capture it before 12 o'clock tonight!"
"What! Just a small town? Marshal and the others underestimate us too much!" one of the two soldiers of the Zhongafu Regiment complained.
"No! You really underestimate us!" Another Zhuav soldier also echoed.
"This is our first battle to land on the Crimean Peninsula, and it is also a crucial battle, so we must win!" Brigadier General McMahon said to them with a stern expression: "Any mentality of underestimating the enemy will lead to this war.
Failure! Do you understand?"
The two Zhuav soldiers also nodded to McMahon with serious faces to express their understanding.
"Okay! Go quickly! Don't make me wait too long!" McMahon waved his hand and said to the soldier.
Under McMahon's gaze, the two soldiers disappeared on the deck, and McMahon stood alone on the deck looking into the distance.
After a while, a battalion commander and eight company commanders from the troop carrier appeared in front of Commodore McMahon. They all stood in front of Commodore McMahon with their chests raised and their heads high and full of energy, like a group of waiting people.
Just like the soldiers inspected by Brigadier General McMahon.
Looking at the energetic group of "wolf cubs" in front of him, Brigadier General McMahon nodded with satisfaction and said loudly: "You know what I want to do when I call you here!"
"I know!" Nine middle-level and lower-level officers at the battalion and company level responded briefly to Brigadier General McMahon in unison.
Long before they reached the uppermost deck, the Zhuav soldier who was responsible for delivering the news had told them everything.
"Very good! Very energetic!" Commodore McMahon issued the order clearly: "I only give you one hour. In this hour, you have to organize the soldiers on the ship. One
After an hour, I will return to this transport ship. By that time, what I want to see is an army that can be put into battle at any time! Do you understand? "
"Understood!" the nine commanders and fighters immediately responded to McMahon.
Subsequently, McMahon left the troop carrier in a steam speedboat and went to another troop carrier carrying the Zhuav regiment to carry out mobilization work
The nine battalion and company level officers who watched Brigadier General McMahon leave returned to the interior of the troop transport ship one after another and woke up all the soldiers in the troop transport fleet.
…
"Wake up! Wake up quickly! Sergeant Baptista, it's time for us to gather!"
Just when Baptista was about to lead the French army to attack the Odessa Bastion, a voice seemed to reach Baptista's ears from outside.
I remembered! I was dreaming!
Baptista immediately realized that he was in a dream, and he tried desperately to wake up from it.
After trying again and again, Baptista reluctantly opened his sleepy eyes.
The dense jungle, ferocious beasts, and the bastion of the capital of Odessa located deep in the forest... all disappeared, leaving only the sticky feeling transmitted from the epidermis of the skin to the brain nerves, and the sweat on the forehead
.
It was obvious that Baptista was still in the cabin, and his comrades lying on his left and right were now putting sheets into their backpacks, as if they were ready to set off at any time.
"What happened?" Baptista grabbed his comrade next to him with a puzzled look on his face and asked.
The comrades beside him stopped what they were doing and said to Baptista: "I don't know the specific situation! However, they said we are about to launch a landing operation!"
"Landing? Landing where? Odessa?" Staff Sergeant Baptista blurted out and asked his comrades.
"It seems not!" The comrade shook his head, then shook off Baptista and grabbed his hand and responded: "Anyway, we have to clean it up as soon as possible!"
"Oh!" Sergeant Baptista quickly stood up and folded the sheets flat, then opened the rucksack and stuffed the sheets into the rucksack.
Sergeant Baptista, who had a backpack on his back, followed the large troops to find his company. As a sergeant, he stood at the end of the row. (Lieutenant-level officers generally stand at the end of a row.
At the head of the line, ordinary soldiers stand in the center of the line.)
It was divided into three platoons, each with about 39 people, and the total number of people including the company commander was 118.
The entire troop transport ship has a total of 960 combat personnel.
By the time all 960 soldiers were assembled, 40 minutes had passed.
The company commander of each company conveyed to them the tasks assigned to them by Brigadier General McMahon, and then asked the company members if they had any questions they wanted to ask. In the following period, they could speak freely.
Valley
As soon as the company commander finished speaking, the company immediately exploded.
The members of the company once again asked their company commander if he had heard the wrong landing location.
The company commanders assured the soldiers that they had definitely heard correctly and it was indeed the Crimean Peninsula.
After hearing the company commander's affirmative reply, some of the soldiers felt like mourning, while others were beaming with joy.
Those smiling soldiers were not happy because they could participate in the war, but because they could win the losers' money.
…
Sergeant Baptista, who was standing at the end of the row, suddenly thought that the letter he was about to send home said he was going to Odessa, and the place he was going to now was the Crimean Peninsula. He was
It shouldn't be changed.
Thinking of this, Sergeant Baptista subconsciously touched the envelope on his chest.
"Okay! I don't want to say any more! You are about to face a battle, so if any of you have written a letter, you can give it to me now!" Sergeant Baptista was there.
The company captain said loudly.
Forget it! Crimea is Crimea! It’s still important to send letters!
After Sergeant Baptista comforted himself, he left the queue and handed the letter to the company commander.
There were several others who sent letters to him, and they were all at the head (lieutenant) and last (non-commissioned officer) of their respective companies. This is enough to show that the basic education of the French army has only reached the officer level, and the vast majority of soldiers
Most of them are peasant children and idle people in society who are illiterate, and only peasant children and idle people in society will join the army.
Because neither of them had much extra money, especially after Jérôme Bonaparte followed Niel's order and increased the amount of exemption from military service, those peasants who could have gritted their teeth and handed over the qualifications for exemption from military service are now
There is nothing that can be done now.
Although the proliferation of farm children in the army has reduced the literacy rate in the army (some veterans have gradually learned how to write letters because they stayed in the military camp for a long time), it has increased the purity of the army, making it full of
The army, which practiced various bad habits, has undergone some slight changes.
Looking at the officers in front of them who could send letters, the soldiers' eyes showed a hint of envy.
These soldiers who are about to enter the battlefield know nothing about the battle they will face next. They long for a spiritual sustenance to keep their souls from getting lost on the battlefield.
However, they were destined to be unable to send their thoughts back to their hometown in the form of letters as they could not write letters. They silently prayed to God in their hearts to allow them to get off the battlefield smoothly.
After collecting all the family letters in the company, the company commander handed the letters to their battalion commander, who would then hand them over to the supply ship traveling between France and Crimea.
After returning to France, the post office personally delivered the letters to their respective homes.
After the battalion commander got the letters home from all the companies under his command, Brigadier General McMahon appeared in the stairwell between decks.
"Captain!" Upon seeing this, the battalion commander hurriedly ran to McMahon, saluted and reported: "All 960 members of the first battalion of the Zhuav Regiment are here. Please give your instructions!"
"Not bad!" Looking at the energetic soldiers in front of him, McMahon gave the order with a smile: "Let your people wait here for the next order! Come with me!"
"Yes!" the battalion commander responded loudly, then turned around and trotted to the soldiers, asking them to sit down cross-legged and rest.
The battalion commander led his eight company commanders and set out with Brigadier General McMahon.
Sergeant Baptista, who was sitting cross-legged near the left porthole, looked out the window. The troop carrier was moving forward at a constant speed, and next to the troop carrier was a steam sail battleship with a single-layer cannon. What is strange is that this
The style of this battleship is very different from the traditional sailing battleship. There is a layer of iron wrapped under the gun muzzle.
The iron sheet glowed silvery white under the sunlight.
That's right, this is the latest modified ironclad ship of the French Empire.
The iron sheet covering the hull can effectively resist the damage caused by enemy artillery, and the artillery located on both sides of the ironclad ship can also bring devastating blows to the enemy.
Although this ironclad ship (iron sailing ship to be precise) sacrifices its firepower advantage to strengthen its defensive capabilities, in a navy that is commonly equipped with explosive ammunition, the firepower needs are far less than the defense needs.
After all, solid cannonballs are different from explosive shells. It takes multiple cannonballs to completely destroy a ship.
It only takes two or three rounds of explosive shells to completely sink a ship.
Half an hour later, the main fleet and a large number of troop carriers stopped.
The three troop carriers of the Zhuav regiment continued to move forward under the escort of the armored ships. The troop carriers sailed for about more than an hour.
Land could be vaguely seen in the distance, and the battalion commander and the company commanders of each company also returned to the team at this time.