While An Ning was busy expanding his army and battling wits with the Parliament, Napoleon finally saw the flag of the Prussian-Austrian coalition in Sedan.
"I thought they were going to drown in the mud of early spring in France." Napoleon muttered while using his binoculars to observe the enemy's transformation from marching columns to horizontal formations.
France's current infrastructure is very bad - well, it has not yet entered the industrial age, and its infrastructure certainly cannot be compared to what it was after the Industrial Revolution.
After all, cement had not been invented yet, and asphalt was a rare paving material that could only be used in places where asphalt was produced.
The rural roads in France are specially smoothed, but they cannot withstand the spring rain.
The mud caused the Prussian-Austrian coalition forces to advance slowly after crossing the border, and they only now reached the Sedan Fortress.
Napoleon even suspected that the Prussian-Austrian forces were not willing to fight and were deliberately trying to exploit foreign workers.
He put down the telescope and said to the adjutant beside him: "Quick, let everyone get ready. Today the enemy should only make a tentative attack to test the strength of our defense. We have hurt them, and there will be more of them attacking tomorrow."
concern!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the cannons of the Prussian-Austrian coalition fired.
Napoleon quickly raised his telescope: "Fire from such a distance?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of cannonballs piercing the air came, and then they hit the slope of the fortress wall with a dull sound.
The outer walls of the bastion are all sloped and have a very high defense against artillery shells.
Urban's cannon might be able to blast through the walls of Constantinople, but it could never break through the walls of the bastion.
Napoleon looked in the direction of the rising smoke: "Okay, it turns out to be a 24-pound cannon. No wonder they are advancing so slowly. It turns out they are pushing this thing forward."
24-pound heavy guns are usually installed on warships, and the bottom deck of first-class battleships will be equipped with such heavy guns.
This thing is extremely troublesome to use on land because it is so heavy.
I don't know if it was the Prussians or the Austrians who pushed this heavy artillery to the front line and fired at the fortress.
On the sea, this kind of heavy artillery may destroy the wooden deck of the battleship, but on land, facing the thick sloping outer wall, even such a cannon is not painful.
In this era, attacking a fortress was a pure battle of flesh and blood. The defenders could rely on cleverly designed fortifications to kill a large number of enemies.
To conquer a solidly fortified fortress like Sedan, the attackers also had to carry out soil work, which would be a long process anyway.
Napoleon was now full of confidence: "Huh, no reinforcements are needed at all. With the troops I have now, I can hold off the Prussian-Austrian coalition until the counterattack begins in July!"
**
Archduke Karl was observing the Sedan Fortress with a telescope, and while observing, he praised: "The French military engineers have done a great job, this fortress is very well built. I am afraid that the siege will be extremely long, and I can only hope that hunger and disease will make the French
Gave in."
Karl's chief of staff said worriedly: "The nobles who escaped from Paris to guide us said that the French army was gathering in Paris, and the delay was long. It is estimated that we will have to face a huge French army.
"Although most of them may have received little training, a musket in the hands of a new recruit is almost as deadly as in the hands of a veteran."
The accuracy of the musket is poor, and there is not much difference between veterans and recruits. Although veterans can theoretically reload smoother and faster, the inherently poor rate of fire of the musket makes this advantage less important.
Karl: "No, that's not what I'm most worried about. What I'm most worried about is the enemy generals!"
The chief of staff asked with some disdain: "That cobbler?"
"He may have a humble background, but he can defeat so many veteran generals, so he must have outstanding military talents! And he has always been very good at commanding this kind of miscellaneous army. He turned the miscellaneous army into an elite division!
"If we delay in these fortresses for too long, I'm afraid what we will face in Paris will not be a mob, but elites trained by fierce generals. We will be drowned by the vast French army."
The chief of staff did not believe it: "The news came yesterday that the entire west of France has been in rebellion. Marshal Alvinzi and the Duke of Brunswick both believe that the French army we face is at most 200,000 people, and we are evenly matched. Everyone
Think this estimate overestimates the French!”
Karl didn't answer, just stared at the battlefield.
The newly arrived Prussian-Austrian coalition launched a tentative attack on the fortress, and the coalition's battle infantry was approaching the bastion of the fortress.
The troops at the front of the line had entered the trench, and the French troops on the fortress were firing continuously. The entire fortress was shrouded in smoke from the shooting.
Karl: "There will be no results, no, it won't. I am opposed to such a waste of troops. We should first surround the fortress, garrison it, and then approach it bit by bit through earthworks."
Chief of Staff: "You just said that we have to move quickly, otherwise we will be drowned by the French army..."
"Moving quickly is not the same thing as wasting troops like this!" Karl sighed. He was not the supreme commander in this battle.
He could only watch the coalition forces try to storm the fortress in accordance with the orders of the headquarters, because both Marshal Alvinzi and the Duke of Brunswick felt that the French might not be prepared in a hurry.
How the hell is this possible!
Archduke Karl cursed in his heart while watching the lives of Austrians and Prussians being wasted in front of the strong fortress for no reason.
**
At nightfall, Napoleon ordered to bring out precious dried meat and wine to reward the soldiers who had killed a large number of enemy soldiers today.
During the banquet, Napoleon came to the soldiers in person - he was imitating General Frost, whom he most admired. The general liked to walk around his military camp in an approachable manner, greeting the soldiers with greetings.
"Everyone!" Napoleon said as he stood on a heavy carriage and stood on the wine barrel. "Today's attack by the coalition forces was easily resolved by us. They left a large number of corpses under our city. In the future, they will
Every day's attack will definitely suffer a heavy setback like today! We will be here to block them until the General's counterattack arrives!"
As he spoke, Napoleon took a big sip of wine, then smashed the iron wine glass on the ground and said loudly: "Your Majesty the General told me that there is a way to hold on firmly! After the war is won, he will personally take over for me!"
"Think about it, that's the French God of War, a figure like Caesar. He personally came to us, it makes me excited just thinking about it!
"Of course, the General never skimps on material rewards. When he was in Italy, he promised everyone the glory of conquest and the wealth of Italy, and he did it!
"Comrades! For the general, for the republic, and for yourself! Cheers!"
Under the magic of wine, the soldiers shouted together: "For the general, for the republic!"
At this moment, neither Napoleon nor Archduke Karl knew that this was just the beginning of their fateful showdown.