The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 959 Street Fighting

"Damn academic waste!"

Although Lamosilière cursed, he knew very well in his heart that Bono de Cullen was not a useless waste.

The difficult bone in Alsace was deliberately thrown to Bonneau de Coulen by Lamosilière, but the difficult bone in Alsace was not Celestadt, but Strasbourg.

In Lamosilière's original plan, the two armies should drive straight into Strasbourg like two sharp swords, and then encircle the point for reinforcements.

However, the Alsace region is like an iron bucket that cannot be penetrated at this time.

The reason for this situation is closely related to the long and narrow geographical location of the Alsace region, with the Rhine River to the east and the Vosges Mountains to the west.

If the French army wants to enter Alsace, it must pass through Salburg in the northwest and Celesta in the south. As a result, these two strategic locations are like fish bones stuck tightly in the upper and lower jaws of the French giant beast. It cannot be closed.

Lamosilière immediately realized the seriousness of the problem. If the German coalition could not be prevented from crossing the river, the originally planned encirclement and reinforcements would turn into a large-scale battle.

So how many troops will the angry German Allied Forces send? Three hundred thousand? Four hundred thousand? Or half a million?

In short, at this time, his three legions with less than 150,000 people are impossible to resist.

By that time, let alone his future career, I am afraid that someone will be dragged out to take the blame at an early age, and he may even end up like Oudinot and Grouchi.

Thinking of this, Lamosilière felt like he was struck by lightning. He finally understood why Bellevue made him the main attacker and why he launched the attack in advance.

Underneath this overwhelming wealth, there are actually such sinister intentions, even at the expense of the interests of France and the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

Lamosilier couldn't help but gasped and cursed angrily.

"This damn guy Bellevue! These damn guys will destroy France sooner or later!"

If Bellevue knew about this, he would definitely cry out that he was wronged. He really didn't have that idea, but once suspicion arose, everything else would slowly become "reasonable".

However, at this time, Lamosilier had no time to fight. He immediately decided to ask for help from Paris and was prepared to conquer Salburg and Celesta at all costs.

Lamosilière turned to the messenger and said.

"Tell General Cullen that if he cannot capture Celesta, then I will send him to a military court even if I die!"

On the other hand, Bono de Cullen did not wait for Lamosilière's order to start the onslaught, because he also knew that time is everything.

If he could not reach the Rhine before the arrival of the German Allied Forces, then Lamosilière could retreat to Metz and at least regain Lorraine.

And he must face the main force of the German Allied Forces and fight a large-scale battle on the front. Once the war fails, he will have to take full responsibility.

That kind of result may be more terrifying than death. Not only will he suffer torture that is worse than death, but he will also bear an eternal infamy after death or his family will be humiliated because of it (to put it bluntly, he may be excluded from the family). Upper class).

Bono de Cullen tried various methods to capture Celesta, but in the end the most effective method was to dig in and attack the city.

The defenders in the city did not have very effective countermeasures and could only watch the trenches approach little by little. However, the progress of this method of siege was too slow.

Bono de Cullen planned to capture some strong men in order to speed up the progress, but what he didn't expect was that the nearby villages were already empty.

As the casualties continued to increase, the bloodiness of both sides was aroused, and the battlefield instantly turned into a purgatory. Both sides first began to massacre the prisoners in public, and then did not even allow the other side to take back their own bodies.

The high temperature in summer caused the untamed corpses to quickly swell and smell, adding a bit of purgatory flavor to the place.

Urban street fighting has always been a pain point for academics, and the same is true for Bono de Cullen. Most of the tactics learned in the academy were ineffective at this time, and the usual drills were completely useless. For soldiers, such a war is also a nightmare. Both sides will do anything to kill each other. Their usual training is completely meaningless. The enemy will not line up in a square formation. The enemy may hide in any corner and use any possible means. weapons to launch an attack.

Not only muskets and bayonets, but also sticks, stones, and even kettles filled with boiling water could become deadly weapons.

Bono de Cullen did not realize that the war was turning into a national vendetta, and he became almost crazy.

"Attack! Attack! No retreat! Let me attack! All deserters will be dealt with by military law!"

Wave after wave of French troops were filled into the battlefield.

A veteran of many battles, Benoit Valentin was a standard mid-nineteenth century line infantryman.

Benoit Valentin was surrounded by men like him, who habitually advanced in close formation.

The collective gives them a sense of security, and the neat queue can also deter the enemy.

However, the queue they were proud of at this time actually harmed them. The narrow streets restricted their movements. Enemies popping up from all over the place from time to time eliminated the firepower advantage of the queue. Instead, they became a living target.

Under the guidance of mercenaries, the local militias in Alsace used the walls of houses and ruins as bunkers to attack the French army. They even planted explosives on the roads and among the ruins and lit fuses when the French army passed by.

Benoit Valentin's team experienced such a battle firsthand, and they had to deal with attacks from all directions.

Those Celesta militiamen were hiding behind bunkers and would only emerge to shoot when they had loaded their bullets.

"Stay in formation! Don't mess up!"

Captain Pierre shouted, but the soldiers fell one after another, and panic continued to spread among the ranks.

"Shoot! Shoot!"

The entire platoon of soldiers raised their guns at the same time, but before Captain Pierre could give the order, Celesta's militiamen retreated after firing once.

At the same time, the captain's order came, and Benoit Valentin maintained his past muscle memory to raise his gun and fire. After all, if he didn't fire, he would be whipped in normal training.

But he knew very well that he could not hit the militiamen behind the wall.

After a round of meaningless shooting, the smoke made Captain Pierre cough repeatedly. The militiaman behind the wall poked his head out and threw a stone, which directly hit a French soldier.

Captain Pierre watched another soldier fall in front of him and couldn't bear the curse anymore.

"You damn bastard, you have the ability to come out and fight! Whoever hides is a rat in the gutter!"

The militiamen behind the wall responded also in French.

"Only an idiot would stand there and get beaten! Come over if you can!"

"Fix bayonets! Hand-to-hand combat! Catch that bastard! I'll pay you ten francs!"

In fact, soldiers like Benoit Valentin had long been holding back their anger. At this time, when the commander ordered them, they were naturally willing to vent their anger and get some drink money.

However, just after they rushed to the ruins, they heard a loud "bang" and Benoit Valentin felt himself flying up, and then fell heavily to the ground together with a pile of masonry debris and broken limbs. .

(End of this chapter)