When Europe is overcoming the cold winter and feeling the warmth of spring, Algeria, located on the southern coast of the Mediterranean, is quietly awakened by the warm winds surrounding the Mediterranean.
However, unlike Europe, spring in Algeria has always been dry and rainless, so people living there cannot feel the humidity in Europe and can only silently endure the dryness and anxiety in the air.
At this time, General Treville was leading his carefully selected troops to carry out the "reconnaissance operation" proposed by himself and approved by Marshal Moncey.
Although it is a reconnaissance operation, it is essentially an advance operation from the coast to the inland areas. Although no one has ever said it clearly, the main goal is not for reconnaissance, but to try to expand the French army's occupation area, and
Be the first to defeat all the tribal armed forces that may have gathered to fight against the French army.
Counting from the day of departure, General Treville has led his improvised troops to march inland for several days. They did not encounter much fierce resistance along the way. The tribal warriors on horseback were obviously against the French.
The action of the French army was extremely unexpected and they were not prepared, so while they went further south and inland to avoid the French army's edge, they also sent flexible and fast teams to monitor the French army's movements around the perimeter.
General Treville and the officers under his command were not surprised by this. They continued to march while on alert in order to find suitable opportunities for fighting.
Of course, "looking for suitable fighting opportunities" does not mean that they do nothing else. On the contrary, General Treville's troops were quite busy along the way.
When the plan was approved, Marshal Moncey stated that he could only provide the general with a mobile force of about 3,000 men among the garrison, and the general also selected his own soldiers based on this quota.
He now had close to ten squadrons of hussars and dragoons, as well as horse artillery carrying a small number of light artillery. The total number of cavalry was almost equal to the number of infantry.
The reason why the ratio of cavalry and infantry appears to be so "unbalanced" is because North Africa is vast and sparsely populated, and the terrain is flat and vast with few rivers. Therefore, cavalry that can maneuver quickly is crucial, as it can not only cover the flanks of the troops, but also be able to respond flexibly.
Each unit can drive away the surrounding tribal cavalry and detect the enemy's situation.
It was precisely under the cover of a large number of cavalry that this army was able to penetrate deep into the interior so smoothly.
The infantry also performs another important task.
At this moment, General Treville, together with his adjutants and staff, were riding horses on a high ground, overlooking a village below them.
The village is small and the houses are quite simple. The center of the village is a well and a small mosque, as well as several farmland surrounding the well.
As the general and his party watched, a group of uniformed soldiers rushed into the village. While driving the villagers away from their houses, they set fire to the simple houses made of thatch and stones. Some people also knocked down the walls of the houses and used them with
Stones and gunpowder sealed the well.
All in all, they are carrying out a methodical and ruthless act of destruction with the goal of completely destroying the village.
Compared with Western Europe where the climate is humid and there are dense streams everywhere, the climate in North Africa is dry, so the well can be said to be the lifeline of the village, and everything is attached to it; especially now that it is still in the dry season, its importance is self-evident.
Metaphor.
After the well was filled up, even if the villagers escaped this disaster, they would not be able to resume the operation of the well in the short term. They had to find a way to migrate in order to survive - and this was the general's purpose.
His march is to destroy the vital survival resources along the way, and the residents of various villages and tribes will be driven into the wilderness to fend for themselves - and with their homes burned and food preparations severely insufficient, all of them will accept the consequences.
Coming down will inevitably face an extremely serious test of survival.
And this is precisely the purpose of the initiator.
The people on horseback stayed on the high ground upwind, so they could easily hear the burning fire coming from below, the sound of houses collapsing, and the heart-wrenching cries of old, young, women and children.
The miserable scene touched the young captain's adjutant beside the general.
The young adjutant looked around and saw another village being brutally and mercilessly destroyed. The scene was so miserable that his eyes showed some unbearability.
As a soldier who values honor, he does not lack the courage to fight the enemy to the end, and will never show mercy to the enemy. However, the victims in front of him are not the enemies he imagined, but ordinary civilians, even full of...
The wailing old, young, women and children naturally made him feel a little hard to accept.
Amidst the tangle of conscience, he looked at the general's profile from behind, only to find that this resolute and cold-blooded soldier was just indifferently watching everything that had happened before, watching the disaster caused by his personal orders, and even his eyes were closed.
Without blinking.
The cries grew louder with the light of the fire, but it was all in vain. During General Treville's special reconnaissance operation, another village near Algiers was completely destroyed, and the remaining villagers were bound to be displaced.
How could a general who didn't usually seem bloodthirsty and violent do something like this with peace of mind? He thought to himself.
"Jule, have you been to Spain?" At this moment, the general asked suddenly and coldly without looking back.
The young adjutant named Yule was stunned for a moment, and then immediately shook his head. "No, General. I was still young in 1808 and had no chance to participate in this expedition."
"Then I'm really happy for you." The general was not surprised at all by the adjutant's answer. This was just an excuse for him to say, "What you witnessed today is not even one-tenth of what we did in Spain. If
If you feel disgusted here, then the scene at that time may make you unable to sleep..."
Although he did not participate in that war, the adjutant had of course heard more or less about what his predecessors did in Spain.
Robbery and extortion, taking hostages, killing each other's captives, burning mansions and churches, massacring villages and towns... everything seemed to be commonplace, bloodshed gradually became a daily routine, and there was no place for the so-called "honor" anymore.
Just when the adjutant felt terrified about this, General Treville spoke again, "The important lesson I learned in Spain is that we should never expect that we will be loved by the locals. No one will like us.
Uninvited invaders, they will try their best to retaliate against us. They will organize themselves, kill lone soldiers, and even poison them... To be honest, I will not blame them. This is their natural right. They
I just did what I should do.
However, I must also fulfill my duties! The late Emperor sent me to Spain and His Majesty sent me to Algeria. They all entrusted me with their responsibilities and expectations, and the soldiers under my command also placed their lives on them.
I have to take responsibility for all this, so I will do whatever it takes, even if I commit any crime, I don’t care.”
The adjutant swallowed softly, and his throat, which was already dry, suddenly became tight.
Indeed, we have already reached here and are destined to occupy and conquer. It is naturally impossible to expect others to "welcome the king's master". King Joseph issued so many so-called "benevolent government" decrees in Spain back then, and he can
What to change?
Not to mention, the indigenous people here are completely different from our own race, culture and religion. Before a thorough force is used to suppress them, any kindness and gentleness will not help.
At this point, the general suddenly lowered his voice again, "Moreover, this time we are different from the one in Spain. We only wanted to suppress the resistance in Spain and let Prince Joseph secure the Spanish throne; but this time, His Majesty and the French people
I hope we can carve out a land that belongs to us French people here and a living space that belongs to us French people!”
Having said this, the general raised his hand and pointed at the burning flames in the distance with his horsewhip. The rafts collapsed and the wells were filled up, as if it had become a ruined village. "Yes, we have just created a disaster, but
On the other hand, we have also cleared the ground for those who come after us. It won’t take long for the villages here to be rebuilt, and they will be more beautiful and richer, but they will be rebuilt by our French farmers.
Only the imperial eagle will fly above it!"
At this point, the general's calm expression became a little more passionate, "Do you understand, Second Lieutenant? I am fulfilling my mission and developing our country. Although this will inevitably cause bloodshed and tragedy, I don't care at all.
Now that Paris has decided to conquer this place, my task is to do my best to fulfill the country’s wish!”
After a pause, he sneered slightly, "Yes, this is indeed harsh, but then again, what conquests have not been harsh since ancient times? Those Spanish, Dutch, and British, what they did
Is it any better than us? Apart from that, is there any way to achieve conquest? Let those boastful gentlemen discuss our rights and wrongs. We only need to do our duty as soldiers
Enough."
Although the general's explanation seemed a bit unreasonable, it unexpectedly calmed the adjutant's mood a lot.
Indeed, the conquest of Algeria was decided by the imperial government and parliament, and he was nothing more than the executor. Even if it caused disasters and sacrifices, it was just a matter of course.
Although the so-called living space is straightforward, it is enough to explain the essence of this kind of conquest.
Therefore, the young adjutant realized at this time that the general was so cruel along the way and destroyed almost all the villages along the way. This was not to satisfy his excessive desire for killing or destruction, but out of cold and calm rational thinking. It had nothing to do with it.
Love it or hate it, he just thinks that he is fulfilling his duties and accumulating merit for himself.
Of course, neither the general nor the adjutant realized that they were "ahead of their time" in using words from more than a century later - this theory and idea did not appear suddenly out of thin air, but was rooted in the long history of mankind.
Although he still resists this kind of "rationality" in his heart, at least he can't come up with any effective rebuttal.
After all, as an imperial soldier in the 19th century, his moral sense was definitely not strong enough to resist the expansion and conquest of the empire - in this era, no matter what class he was, he would only cheer for this kind of conquest, no matter how much he lost.
Blood.
While the general and the adjutant were talking, the planned destruction below the highlands had come to an end. The entire village had been destroyed almost beyond recognition, and could only be restored after a long period of labor by the latecomers.
There were ruins all over the ground, thick smoke billowing from them, and a few corpses of resisters mixed in among them. More people could only flee in a hurry, their figures getting farther and farther away and finally disappearing into the vast wasteland.
The Marquis of Treville, who had already been hardened by bloody battles, would certainly not be moved by the small disaster he had caused this time. He was just planning his next move.
This march was indeed quite smooth, destroying a large number of villages along the way, greatly advancing the "buffer zone" between ourselves and the enemy tribes for a long distance, and indeed expanding what he called "the buffer zone" for future immigrants.
living space".
But there is still some way to go before this achievement that he dreams of in his heart. If he goes back home with these "results" so far, although he is good enough in front of the marshal, he will definitely not make the adults in Paris think that General Treville is "very good".
”, let alone arouse applause from the domestic people. After all, for the people, burning a few villages is nothing worthy of applause.
So, what if you keep moving forward?
This is in North Africa, not in Europe. In Europe, as long as you push forward, you can find enough food even in the wastelands of Russia (this is how he led his remaining subordinates all the way back from Russia to France).
But it's different here. The further Algeria goes from the coast to the interior, the barren the land becomes. Even after a while, you will reach the Sahara Desert, which is nothing but sand and scorpions. His army is very
It will soon fall into a dilemma of running out of supplies, and it will fall apart on its own without even engaging in battle.
So, should he move forward or prepare to return to the army? Under the same cold appearance as before, he was hesitant in his heart.
But after a while, he finally made up his mind.
I can't risk the lives of so many people. If there is no chance of fighting tomorrow, I will take them back. I can find another opportunity next time.
Just when he made up his mind, he looked up at the northern sky. It was already dusk, and the edge of the sky had turned dim yellow. The golden clouds filtered the light and dyed the earth.
golden.
Nothing here is as good as France, but the outline is worth savoring.
I don’t know what’s going on with Edgar now? He’s probably left Paris with his old lover, this worthless thing!
Sentiment, anger, hatred, and a little longing made this seemingly emotionless general suddenly fall into deep thought.
However, the current environment is destined not to allow him time to think about this.
Under the cloudless and dark sky, several gunshots sounded like thunder, reaching the general's ears from a distance.