Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2446 Refueling Tactics

On February 1702, 2, in the western suburbs of Alexandria, an important town in the west of the Principality of Milan, an army with high morale was ready to go.

This is from the "Florence Division" under the Ministry of Army of the Northern Italy Federation. It is named after most of the soldiers come from the city of Florence and nearby towns in Tuscany.The division is currently stationed in the west of the Principality of Milan, and has undergone training at the Eagle's Nest Fortress. At this time, there are still dozens of East Coast Army advisors working in the army.

Today, the division marched to Alessandria. It was also ordered by the Ministry of Army of the Northern Italy Federation to cooperate with a cavalry battalion of the East Coast Army from the Eagle's Nest Fortress to march into the Principality of Savoy together. Italian merchants seek justice.

According to the latest news, Turin detained a caravan from the Principality of Parma and executed its leader as a spy. The rest were imprisoned and their property confiscated.Although the Principality of Savoy is said to have produced "conclusive evidence", there have been several incidents in a row that hurt the business people of North Italy, and the city of Milan, the temporary capital of the Federation of Northern Italy, has long been agitated.The local people feel particularly empathetic to the murder of the Parma businessman, because this duchy, like the Duchy of Milan, is the territory of the former Kingdom of Spain. When the Parma people died, the Milanese certainly felt the same.

Therefore, after a heated debate, the Federal Assembly of Northern Italy passed the decision to send troops by 36 votes to 33 votes, and decided to send a division of troops to the border area to put pressure on the Principality of Savoy.And because of the efforts of the East Coast Army Advisory Group, this division has successfully obtained a certain degree of freedom of action-many congressmen tried to cancel this agreement, because even for this reason, they still don't want to tear their faces into war with the Principality of Savoy. Sending only one division is a manifestation of this weak thinking.

But many things are not under their control.After the 7500 troops of the Florence Division arrived in Alexandria, the 550 cavalry of the Sixth Cavalry Battalion of the East Bank Army also arrived there and joined the Italian army.After a night of plotting, Alberto Montini, the division commander who had studied on the east coast, decided to march into the Principality of Savoy and "leave them a lesson that will never be forgotten."

The time for the march was set for the early morning of February 2. After Commander Montini gave an order, the heavily armed Florentine division set off along the main road and marched westward under the horrified eyes of farmers on both sides of the road.And the cavalry on the east bank followed far behind, serving as a hold-up.

After half a day of marching, the first wave of enemies finally showed up.It was a small town in the Principality of Savoy, with about 2000 residents. There was a military camp at the far east, where hundreds of people were stationed, and it also served as a bank gate.

Speaking of which, this bank has a bit of grievances with the Northern Italian Federation.They often extorted and blackmailed the businessmen who came to trade. Even during the last war (the War of the Anti-French Coalition), because the Duchy of Savoy ceded land and paid compensation, they did not receive military pay for eight consecutive months, so these soldiers They pretended to be bandits and wantonly attacked passing merchants and looted their goods.Naturally, many of the victims were businessmen from Milan, Genoa, and Parma. After the survivors fled back, they pointed out that these soldiers of the Principality of Savoy had done evil things, but in the end they failed to kill these bandit soldiers. Bring to justice.

As the saying goes, Skynet is not missing, so isn't the opportunity for revenge now coming? At noon on February 2, after several cannon shots, the large spire of the Savoy barracks was completely smashed, and a magical shell even penetrated into the window, and it bounced inside for a long time before making a few loud noises. There was silence amidst the screams.

"Forward!" Division Commander Montini pointed forward with his command saber, and a regiment of Italian infantry pressed forward in a long line.What they hold in their hands are all flintlock rifles imported from the east coast. After a long period of rigorous training, they are already very familiar with the performance of this kind of musket, and at the same time the combat formation is also very good. And the movements were stiff (after all, it was the first time on the battlefield), which caused a little confusion in the queue, but overall it was satisfactory.

Intensive bullets hit the exposed Savoy soldiers, causing a large number of casualties.The soldiers of the Florentine Division removed the barricades, set fire to the outposts, surrounded the barracks, and bombarded them with artillery.

More than [-] cannons (at least [-] of which were purchased from the east bank, and the rest were manufactured by the Milan Arsenal) caused an effect of shaking the ground. The wooden fence of the barracks was first smashed, and then the brick and stone walls.The Savoy soldiers relied on the barracks to resist, but their firepower was too weak and they fell into chaos. The only few small-caliber artillery were left in the collapsed warehouse, so they suffered heavy casualties.

Finally, after paying the death and injury of nearly a hundred people, they finally collapsed and begged for surrender with a white flag.Commander Alberto Montini graciously accepted the surrender of these men and asked them to lay down their arms and come out in formation.The surrounding northern Italian soldiers pointed at them and humiliated them to their heart's content.When you were asked to join the Federation of Northern Italy, you didn't do it, and you said that the political system is different. Didn't Grand Duke Cosimo join?He is now highly respected and honored in the Federation, but it is a pity that you, the Duke of Savoy, cannot enjoy such honor.

"What should we do next, Instructor Wang?" Division Commander Alberto Montini quietly came to the station of the Sixth Cavalry Battalion to discuss with Commander Wang, who used to be his teacher.

Battalion Commander Wang, named Wang Zhen, is a disciple of Army University President Yang Liang. He has served in the army for many years and has helped the Free State, Courland, Portugal, Northern Italy and other countries to train their troops with rich experience.Three years ago, he was transferred to be the commander of the Sixth Cavalry Battalion. He participated in the previous battle in Morocco and is currently a major in the army.

Major Wang Zhen came to Alexandria under the order of Bai Chuanping, and accompanied by a low-level official from the diplomatic system.But although his rank is low, he speaks very impolitely. He has been chattering all the way, accusing Bai Chuanping of instigating the Northern Italian Parliament to engage in "military adventures" and threatening that "there will be a price to pay."At the same time, he also scolded the new ambassador to Milan, saying that the young man was "young and never serious" and talked nonsense in the newspaper all day long. He acted like a "militant" and had no regard for the overall situation.

Major Wang Zhen is very annoying to this person, but because they belong to different systems, and this person was resident in Eagle's Nest Fortress before, helping to coordinate local relations, and has been very pleasant to cooperate with, so he doesn't want to speak ill to each other.But he was always whispering in his ears, and he was extremely overwhelmed. He was about to send him away, but after hearing the first cannon fire, the man suddenly shut up and didn't say a word. .

Wang Zhen was overjoyed, and after thinking about it in his heart, he became somewhat clear.The Florentine division has already started fighting with the Savoys, and there is no room for change in this matter. Instead of continuing to complain, it is better to calm down and think about what to do next.

Therefore, when Commander Alberto Montini came to the cavalry garrison on the east bank, he also let go of his prejudices. Although his face was still dark, he also participated in the conversation and tried to help the staff. Of course, it was not military. But how to clean up aftermath.After all, you only sent one division over, and the cavalry on the east coast only had [-] soldiers and horses. Could it be possible that you want to take down the important town of Turin in one go?

"You can continue to march forward, make a gesture of intimidating the city of Turin, and put enough pressure on the Savoy side. But you must pay attention to intelligence work, the number of Savoy troops in Turin is still quite large, at least More than 5000 people. They can also temporarily mobilize a large number of militias to participate in the war, and the total force may be doubled. Although the weapons are old and the level of personnel training is different, the combat effectiveness should not be underestimated in the case of defending the country. And this It is said that the city is not large in size, but it is extremely strong and there are quite a number of fortresses. A strong attack will cause great casualties, and your troops are not enough." Battalion Commander Wang Zhen was very clear-headed and did not suffer from the battle. Dominated by desire, in fact he still knows how to choose.

In fact, in another time and space, because Austrian Prince Eugen blitzed and occupied northern Italy, Savoy fell to their side, and then the French army attacked Savoy, and once surrounded the city of Turin.At that time, there were only more than 5000 people in the city, but they were very tenacious when faced with the siege of the French army several times their size. They persisted until Prince Eugen led the army to help and defeated the French army.So it would be foolish to underestimate their determination to defend their homeland and pay the price for such arrogance.

"In addition, I request Milan to send two or three more divisions. One of the divisions will start from Corsica, and the other will start from Genoa soon." Battalion Commander Wang Zhen said: "Of course." And get the reserves ready, it's time to mobilize now."

"Isn't this a refueling tactic?" The special commissioner accompanying the army said, "You are a battalion commander and a soldier. What is your purpose? You increase troops, and the Savoys also increase troops, and then you increase troops, The Savoys will increase their troops again and use it as a refueling tactic, it's just messing around!"

"I said, do you have a clear strategic goal? Or do you think it's a one-off? Anyway, you just want to fight, you just want to make trouble, right? Things get bigger, and then force the Federal Parliament to approve an increase in troops, and then Is it necessary to force Special Envoy Sheng to change his strategy?" He continued angrily: "This time, the Principality of Savoy was deceived by France and did some very bad things. Is it to this level? Special Envoy Sheng still wants to persuade the Principality of Savoy to join the Federation of Northern Italy, if you do this, is there any hope of achieving this goal?"

The commissioner's words made Wang Zhen's veins blunt, but it was not easy to refute directly.So he simply ignored this person, and said directly to Commander Montini: "Send a capable force to search westward, and all the cavalry are scattered to collect intelligence on the enemy. The rest of the main force should rest in place for two hours. In addition, send return to Alexandria, and ask for ammunition and other necessary equipment."

Commander Alberto Montini stood at attention almost subconsciously, his dog legs were like a puppet army officer, and he immediately went back to deploy.Seeing the two East Coast officials arguing in front of him, to be honest, he was rather embarrassed. He might as well leave this place of right and wrong as soon as possible and go back to adjust the deployment.Well, the soldiers have fought a battle, and they have to make some money. This small town seems to be quite rich, so they have to make a good money, but I don't know if two hours will be enough.

(End of this chapter)