Marshal Lewis's major counterattack went very smoothly in the first few days on August 15.
His long-planned attack panicked the Bili people.
The large force of the Western Front, nearly 20 divisions, launched an attack at 5 a.m. on the 15th, tearing apart the long-established defense line of the Belis people in one fell swoop. By nightfall, the most forward troops of the Western Front had advanced fifty kilometers.
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By noon the next day, they had wiped out all the Belis troops on the original defense line, annihilated at least 50,000 Belis troops and their servants, and seized a large amount of weapons and ammunition.
By the evening of August 17, the Europas suddenly stopped because the soldiers were very tired, and a sudden heavy rain gave the soldiers reason to stop the attack.
The heavy rain came at the wrong time. The troops in front could not get rations, and they almost ate up the few rations left in their backpacks.
Lewis found that he had lost control of some troops. The victory had caused these troops to run too fast, and heavy rain also cut off his contact with these troops.
With an army of 300,000 and a front line covering hundreds of kilometers, at least 50,000 troops have lost contact with their headquarters. Only the most optimistic people attribute this to bad weather.
Lewis listened to the storm almost all night in his temporary headquarters, and he had some kind of ominous premonition.
Because this well-planned counterattack has always attracted the attention of the Holy City, he would not be able to accomplish this without the support from the Holy City. Half of the empire's war resources have been invested here.
However, since August 15, he has received no instructions from the Holy City for three consecutive days, not even a private message from a cabinet minister complaining about the excessive spending on the front line.
In the early morning of August 18, the weather finally cleared up. The soldiers almost spent a difficult night in mud and water. A large amount of gunpowder was soaked by the heavy rain. Under the scorching sun during the day, the hot and humid air rising from the ground made people feel uncomfortable.
Lewis decided to gather his troops, which took him almost a day and a night. At this time, he received the news that the 1st Infantry Division serving as the vanguard was completely wiped out, and only a small number of the division's cavalry fled back in embarrassment.
Several other troops suffered varying degrees of losses between the day before and noon on the 18th.
While Marshal Lewis was reorganizing his army, he also sent a large number of cavalry out to observe. These scout cavalry seemed to have entered an uninhabited land, and the Billis seemed to have disappeared. This unusual phenomenon alarmed Marshal Lewis.
At 7 o'clock in the evening on the 18th, Marshal Lewis urgently ordered all the troops to stop advancing. However, the slow response and inefficiency of the staff and intelligence system delayed his order for at least one night.
At 7 o'clock in the morning on the 19th, the Belis suddenly appeared. Most of them confronted Lewis's main force and concentrated three divisions to attack the left flank of the Western Front.
On the left wing of the Western Front was Lieutenant General Crozier's corps, which had weak combat effectiveness. This corps had 3 light infantry divisions. The corps was located too far forward. In fact, at the beginning of the 15th, the corps was too aggressive.
When the cavalry regiment he served as the vanguard marched to a river valley, it was suddenly shelled by the Belis. The entire cavalry regiment was wiped out within twenty minutes.
Immediately afterwards, the Belis cavalry appeared, and a total of two thousand cavalry caught Crozier's regiment off guard. At this time, most of the regiment's last meal was lunch the day before, including Lieutenant Crozier.
I will be treated similarly.
Apparently the logistics system ignored the impact of weather on supply delivery, and some supplies were even blocked in certain places without knowing where they were shipped.
They were hungry, tired, and scared.
Seeing the black mass of Belis cavalry crossing the hills, and the menacing infantry behind the cavalry, this legion collapsed too quickly, and Lieutenant General Crozier was also trampled to death by the Belis cavalry in the chaos.
Only a few of the 30,000 troops were actually killed or captured at the beginning of the encounter. Most of them fled across the mountains and plains, bringing their fear to Marshal Lewis's headquarters.
Marshal Lewis made an immediate decision. He asked his three most effective Guards divisions to serve as rearguards, and the entire army began to retreat. After all, the city of Yobosa was only less than 100 kilometers away.
At this time, he had realized that his carefully planned counterattack had failed. When the loss was not greater than that of his opponent, what he should do was how to exit gracefully.
However, the counterattack of the Belis was more violent than he expected. The Belis cavalry always came suddenly from unexpected places, making the Europeans unable to guard against it. This ancient arm still played a role in the fusilier era.
extremely important role.
Fear and spreading fear have become the biggest enemies of the Europeans. Without good organization and coordination, and without the cooperation of various forces, the retreat turned into a rout. This was something Marshal Lewis had never encountered in his forty-year military career.
of.
The Europas lost most of their artillery and baggage vehicles. This did not allow the Belis to win easily. The Guards formed a tight matrix formation and fought and retreated, showing the ability of the most elite troops from the Holy City.
With their fighting power, they inflicted heavy losses on the Belis people.
This provided the strongest support for Marshal Lewis, who spent two days and one night retreating to Tudela in the early morning of the 22nd.
This is a small town about fifty kilometers away from Yobosa, located in a narrow valley and guarding an important transportation hub.
At this time, many troops had successfully passed through here and fled towards the city of Yobosa. Marshal Lewis refused to leave the Guards who served as rearguard. When he arrived here, the Bili people bypassed the mountains on both sides and moved
This town is surrounded by people.
At this time, except for the infantry division left behind in Tudela, Lewis had less than 20,000 men in his hands. He deployed one brigade each at several high places outside the town and barely stabilized the position.
Marshal Lewis was helped off his horse. He was almost paralyzed from exhaustion. He poured some water into his mouth and asked the subordinates around him:
"How many people fled back to Yobosa?"
"I don't know, maybe 100,000, maybe only 50,000. The retreat of the troops turned into a rout. We should actually be able to escape unscathed." A major general replied, "We are now surrounded. Unless the city of Yobosa can
Send troops to relieve us."
"I remember I gave an order to the Genoese National Army to occupy the city after we set off." Marshal Lewis said.
"Yes, Your Excellency," the major general said, "but the Genoese have never fought in a war. The news brought back by the deserters may make them wet their pants."
However, this is not a good joke. Lewis wanted to attribute this disastrous defeat to a "non-battle defeat", but he could not deceive himself like this. The generals he usually praised so much behaved like timid rabbits when they retreated.
The battle on the high ground outside the town was still going on. There was a quarrel outside the temporary command post, and Marshal Lewis shouted angrily:
"Idiot, what are you arguing about?"
Someone ran in and reported: "Your Majesty, Marshal, there is a messenger claiming to be His Majesty requesting to see you."
"Let him in quickly." Lewis said urgently.
The intense thinking these days made him almost forget that he had not received any news from the Holy City for a week.
A man dressed as a businessman came in from outside and fell to his knees:
"Your Majesty, Marshal, there is a riot in the Holy City, and Your Majesty is in danger!"
I know the visitor, Marshal Lewis, as he is an officer of His Majesty's bodyguard and has also served under his command.
"Oh my god!"
Lewis only felt that his eyes were going dark, and his chest felt like a big mountain was being pressed up.
Amid the exclamations of his subordinates, Marshal Lewis fainted.