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

Chapter 994 Siege

Celesta.

Bono de Cullen wanted to have a bloody battle with the main force led by Franz in the ruins.

However, Franz did not want to kill too many French people because it seemed meaningless to him.

However, Franz's request made things difficult for his staff. At this time, the German Allied Forces had an absolute advantage. At the same time, there were residents of Celesta City as internal agents. It was only time to annihilate the French army. question.

The staff had countless ways to kill all the French, but it was difficult to send these French back to France safely.

The strength of the French army in Celesta City is unknown. Although a large number of hot-air balloons were sent for reconnaissance, it was impossible to confirm the number of enemy troops due to the obstruction of the buildings.

As for the captured prisoners, their confessions were also different. The information did not match up at all, so it was impossible to judge the authenticity.

This made the Austrian reconnaissance troops very depressed, because they had never encountered such a ghost situation, and the information provided by each French prisoner was different.

The most important thing is that based on their experience, these French prisoners did not lie.

The final data given by the coalition intelligence department was that the number of French troops in Celesta City ranged from 40,000 to 80,000.

In fact, Bono de Cullen didn't know how many troops he still had at this time, because the previous battle was defeated too quickly.

Franz has always believed that professional matters should be left to professionals. Before he came, he recruited ten people from each of the three major military academies of the Austrian Empire and twenty senior staff officers from the army.

In addition, the fighting in the city has never stopped. At this time, the French army in Celesta City was extremely chaotic, so the French prisoners could not explain clearly.

There are too many variables in a naval battle. If Britain's new Mediterranean fleet cannot be annihilated, Austria will fall into endless troubles. The war may drag on for one or two years, and the Crimean War may even start in advance.

Then there was the sound of "beep, pop, pop" champagne being opened. Fortunately, this is the champagne production area. Fortunately, local celebrities had just sent a batch of champagne, otherwise it would not be enough for these guys to waste.

When the news of the victory in the Mediterranean naval battle came, everyone in the German coalition looked in disbelief, and then became ecstatic.

However, Franz did not want to spoil everyone's good mood by making a long speech. In addition, his identity and position determined that he was not suitable to speak more on this occasion.

"Gentlemen! Here's to the victory!"

"We are invincible!"

This time, even Franz raised his wine glass for a rare occasion. Seeing the nominal supreme commander of the coalition raise his wine glass, everyone immediately fell silent and waited for Franz's lecture.

Coupled with the military talents of the vassal states in the German Confederation, Franz felt that these one hundred elites would be able to give him a satisfactory answer.

In fact, he was more concerned about whether Friedrich's navy could defeat the British's new Mediterranean fleet than the European battlefield.

"To victory!"

"Victory!"

Although it can be said that Franz did almost everything in order to win this naval battle, nearly ten years of preparation, coupled with various new weapons and tactics, buying, bribing, and even inciting British allies to rebel.

Everything is for this naval battle, but we are still not completely sure.

"Long live!"

Even if Franz didn't say anything, his identity and status alone were enough to detonate the atmosphere at this time. The news quickly spread throughout the army, and the Austrian navy completely annihilated the invincible British Empire fleet in the Mediterranean naval battle, which made the soldiers of the coalition very excited.

Not to mention the Austrian soldiers, there were a large number of nationalists in the armies of the German states at this time, and they would naturally be proud of Austria's achievements.

After all, Austria was the leader of the German states at this time, and their sentiment quickly spread among the army. The German allied forces outside the city of Celesta cheered, and the French army inside the city looked confused. Fortunately, this was not the first time. They only regarded this as some special habit of the Germans.

It's just that some noble officers and soldiers who understand German don't look very good. How is it possible that the Austrian Navy defeated the British Navy?

But if this is true, does it make sense for them to continue to garrison Celesta City?

But before they could be frightened and confused, the German Allied Forces' attack began.

The staff group of the German Allied Forces finally came to only one conclusion regarding Franz's request, which was to fight first and then talk later.

The German Allied Forces first used reconnaissance hot air balloons to identify the relatively weak points of the French army's defense, and then sent skirmishers to feign attacks in other directions. They waited until the French army was attracted by the skirmishers, then used heavy artillery and rockets to greet them. At the same time, they sent the main force to defend the French army. Attack the weak points.

Since the Austrian reconnaissance balloons cannot be eliminated, the French can only keep fighting enemies with the entire map open.

This made the French army in Celesta City extremely frustrated. On the one hand, they had to be careful about being called out by the coalition's skirmishers, and on the other hand, they had to reduce their gathering to avoid being greeted by the coalition's firepower.

And no matter how hard they tried to move, the battle was always very passive.

The coalition forces had an absolute advantage, so they were not in a hurry. The staff divided the French army's position into hundreds of pieces, and they were ready to eat them piece by piece.

As for Franz's order to reduce casualties, they chose to selectively ignore it. At most, they only symbolically asked whether to surrender before the final attack, and gave the other party ten seconds to think about it.

Many French soldiers were killed before they could figure out what the German allies said.

There are many people in the German Allied Forces who can speak French, but most of them are officers, while the top soldiers only know the dialect of their hometown or 20 words on the battlefield.

Therefore, this style of fighting almost never captures prisoners. The tactics are very successful. The French have no countermeasures. France will surrender in a week or two at most.

However, Franz still called a halt to this style of fighting. On the one hand, it caused too much damage to weapons and troops, and on the other hand, the French would definitely be annihilated if they continued to fight like this.

At this time, the Austrian frontline commanders were all confused, but since it was an order, they would execute it immediately.

Colonel Heslett is the commander of the 46th Infantry Regiment in Graz. His regiment is one of the earliest elite units to receive new weapons and street fighting simulation training.

With the help of new weapons, new equipment, new tactics, and full-scale hot air balloons, Colonel Heslett did not feel that street fighting was cruel. Instead, he felt that the French were a bunch of pigs who could not move or ran around.

"Go to the reserve team!"

"Are you going to end the battle in one fell swoop before formal orders arrive?"

the adjutant asked cautiously.

The so-called formal order is actually one of the stubborn problems of the Austrian Imperial Army. There has been an unwritten rule in the Austrian Imperial Army since the Middle Ages.

Officers above the regimental level have the right to question their superiors and refuse to execute orders from their superiors. They require secondary confirmation before executing them.

This is the so-called "formal order", but after Archduke Charles's military reforms and a series of disastrous defeats in the anti-French war, few people emphasized this right anymore.

Franz felt that the original purpose of the Austrian Empire's acquiescence in its existence should be to win over the small nobles and monks who had fallen with the wind, but over time it became a cancer that was difficult to remove.

(End of this chapter)