Chapter 348 25 vs. 6, I have the advantage

Chapter 348 25 vs. 6, I have the advantage

Chapter 348: vs. , the advantage is mine
The high-spirited Prince Alfonso led the First Bourbon Restoration Army of 142,000 troops northward to take over the southern half of France where all the troops had been transferred away and left unattended.

Along the way, he was warmly welcomed by French peasants who had always supported the monarchy.

One hundred and four hundred and two thousand troops attacked from multiple directions, advancing rapidly along the railway line by train. Without fighting a single battle, two-thirds of the southern half of France was quickly and peacefully taken over by the Bourbon royal family, which began to rule effectively.

Just twelve days later, on October 1870, 10, Prince Alfonso's troops arrived in Poitiers.

They could not go any further. Two hundred miles ahead, Gambetta, one of the heads of the pseudo-republican government, gathered 250,000 men in Tours and formed the Loire Army, blocking the way of the Bourbon Restoration Army.

Gambetta was not trying to stop Prince Alfonso. He gathered troops to counterattack the Prussians and lift the siege of Paris.

But Alfonso was trembling. He led 142,000 men to the battle, divided them up to occupy territory, and the number of troops under his direct command dropped rapidly, and now there were only 60,000 left.

Even if 142,000 men were there, he would still feel unsure about facing the opposing army of 250,000.

At this time, Shao's brother-in-law, Marshal, who also had the title of "Prince of Spain" and wore the Order of the Golden Fleece, the Order of Carlos III, and the Order of Isabel the Catholic Church awarded by the Spanish royal family on his chest, arrived with his troops.

The railway capacity connecting France and Spain was limited, and the Bourbon Restoration Army was given priority in transportation. The Huai Army had too much equipment, and it took more than a week to transport it from Cadiz to San Sebastian, so Marshal Shao arrived late.

Marshal Shao's troops got off the train and set up camp outside Poitiers. They quickly communicated with his brother-in-law Alfonso XII. The Huai Army was responsible for attacking the Loire Army, and you just need to follow behind and take over the territory.

Alfonso gave Isabel behind Shao Quanzhong a thumbs-up. His sister's influence was really strong. At the critical moment, this relative was really useful.

Marshal Shao convened a combat meeting at the Huai Army camp to prepare for the first battle since entering France.

"Report, Prime Minister Bismarck called and Marshal Bazaine just surrendered to Prussia with 133,000 Rhine Army troops and 600 cannons."

"The Prussians have now captured all of France's best troops, 250,000 men, including an emperor, four marshals, 140 generals, and 10,000 officers."

"Alas," Shao Quanzhong sighed. "We are too late. The Qing Dynasty is too far away from France, and the Prussians are too good at fighting. All the meat will be eaten by the Prussians."

"Report, the Toulon fleet announced that it would obey the leadership of the Bourbon royal family and would no longer attack Cadiz."

Well, this is not good news. The Toulon fleet has a total of three ironclad ships, all of which are old and outdated. They are of no use whether they go to Cadiz or not.

"Report, Brigadier General George Dewey led the American Atlantic Fleet to escort 130,000 Cuban Taiping mercenaries and 28,000 Irish youth volunteers to the port of Cadiz. They are urgently forming the second legion of the Bourbon Restoration Army and transporting them to the front line."

"Report, the French Channel Fleet and the former Mediterranean Fleet, which are carrying out the blockade mission in the North Sea, have departed from the Cherbourg naval base and are heading for Cadiz, under the joint leadership of Charles Rigaud de Genoilly, commander of the Channel Fleet, and Martin Frischon, commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, in compliance with the orders of the pseudo-republican government."

Go ahead, the navy is waiting for your military merit.

"Report, Prussian Chief of Staff Moltke has ordered the troops besieging Metz to participate in the siege of Paris, and sent General von der Tann to lead five Bavarian divisions with 60,000 men to advance to Orleans, preparing to join forces with our army to attack the Loire Army in Tours."

Well, now on the battlefield, there are four groups of people: the Prussians, the pseudo-republican government, the Bourbon Restoration Army, and the Huai Army, and the relationship is quite complicated.

However, this complexity was caused by Shao Quanzhong, who is the core figure.

After the combat meeting, the Huai Army and the Bourbon Restoration Army formed an alliance, and together with the 60,000 Prussians attacking from the north, a total of 170,000 troops attacked the Loire Corps with 250,000 troops.

The Prussians had just arrived in Orleans after a long journey and were currently resting and not ready to attack.

The restoration army hid behind and had no plans to attack.

The Huai Army of 50,000 men, riding on wheeled steam troop carriers, quickly attacked and arrived at Tournans in four days, facing 250,000 French troops. "Report to the Marshal, the Loire Army on the opposite side is all newly formed troops by the pseudo-republican government, including the French 15th, 17th, 18th, 20th and the newly formed 21st Army."

"Gambetta appointed Louis Aurel de Paladin as the commander of the French army. Paladin ordered the most elite 15th Army with 60,000 men to build fortifications to block our advance."

"In the 15th Army, there are two elite French regiments, and there are also 3,000 black soldiers from Africa. The total number is 10,000 veterans with combat experience, and they are also well-equipped."

Shao Quanzhong was very surprised. "Didn't they say that the French elite troops were captured by the Prussians? How come there are another 10,000 elite troops on the opposite side?"

"Report to the Marshal, the Kingdom of Sardinia is taking advantage of the Franco-Prussian War to attack the Papal States and unify Italy. These two regiments were sent to Rome by Napoleon III to protect the Pope, and now they have been recalled."

Well, the father is dead and the mother is remarried, everyone is looking after themselves, France can’t take care of itself, so the Pope can only wish him good luck and pray to God for protection.

We have travelled thousands of miles to France, just waiting for the day when the battle will begin.

At the French position, Commander Paladin was boosting morale. "We French infantry are the most elite. If we can't beat the Prussians, how can we beat the weak Qing army? 250,000 versus 60,000. The advantage is on my side."

Huai Army position, "Brother Tian, ​​it's time for you to become famous around the world."

Tian Xing laughed loudly, "Huai Army's First Tank Division, attack!"

The Huai Army Tank Division, which had been trained for a year, began to enter the battlefield in an orderly manner, but another force was faster than the tank division.

The right wing of the Anhui New Army advanced, and the soldiers quickly ran off the wheeled personnel carrier and stopped two kilometers away from the enemy trenches.

The engineering battalion dug trenches, put up barbed wire, and took a defensive stance.

At the same time, a hot air balloon rose behind the trench, and Zhou Shengchuan led the Krupp heavy artillery brigade to the location.

"Boom! Boom!"

The artillery went first, and the 150-pound shells from one hundred 4000mm Krupp heavy artillery flew over a distance of meters and accurately hit the French artillery positions.

The French army had experience of being beaten by Krupp artillery, so they deliberately placed their artillery 3500 meters away this time. Unexpectedly, the Huai Army showed no martial ethics and the first weapon to open fire was not the six-pound light field artillery with a range of 3500 meters, but the 150mm siege heavy artillery. How did you get the heavy artillery to the front line so quickly?
Commander Paradan raised his telescope and immediately saw the numerous steam tractors on the opposite side.

The British only used a dozen of these in the Crimean War. How could a small country like you have so many? This is unscientific.

There were so many unscientific things. The commander suddenly realized that the enemy's shrapnel shells were so powerful. Did they put nitroglycerin in the shells? Why didn't the barrel explode?

In a blink of an eye, the French army's carefully arranged artillery positions had been cleared.

Then the enemy's six-pound field guns opened fire, and the Williams rapid-fire guns also began to suppress the elite French troops in the trenches.

The damn six-pounder was so powerful? The Qing people must have mastered gunpowder technology that we don't know about.

Before the commander could sigh, his telescope fell from his hand and dangled around his neck.

Without a telescope, he saw three hundred steel behemoths that he had never seen before, spewing black smoke and driving towards their own trenches.

(End of this chapter)