Chapter 351: Iron Torrent
Chapter 351: Iron Torrent
Led by Ivan, six thousand Cossacks rushed to the town of Versailles with great enthusiasm.
This time we robbed a rich family, even though Boss Shao didn't want it, we still had to give him the lion's share. After all, we don't need to fight, we just want to rob things, so we have to show our professional level, right?
We are professionals in robbery. After the fall of the Mongol Empire, we Cossacks are undoubtedly the best in the world.
The streets of Versailles were deserted. Well, the French beauties were hiding, and maybe the treasures were hidden too.
It's useless. For a professional robbery team, finding hidden treasures is our special skill. After the robbery, set a fire, and it will be perfect. Well, don't set a fire this time. Burning down the Palace of Versailles and letting the boss lose face in front of William is not acceptable.
Huh? Is there anyone who is not afraid of death?
At the deserted entrance of the town of Versailles, a middle-aged man in a suit stood alone, with his chest held high and his head held high, in the middle of the road.
Yoho? Who do you think you are? You want to stop our 6,000-man army from looting just by yourself?
Besides, you must at least have a knife and a horse. What's the use of holding a broken jar in your hand? Even if it contains nitroglycerin, it won't be of much use.
Ivan waved his Chakshi saber, "Brothers——"
"Wait a minute!"
Hmm? Who dares to stop Master Ivan? Uh, the Huai Army Military Police, it's okay.
Ivan ran to the captain of the gendarmerie who was in charge of monitoring them and asked, "What do you want me to do? Do you want me to rob each of you of a French beauty?"
The captain of the gendarmerie ignored him and walked up to Erisson and saluted.
"Excuse me, are you Mr. Elison?"
Elison made a boast. The villagers were hiding behind the windows and watching him. He was trying with courage, but he didn't expect that the Cossack Huai Army supervisor would salute him.
"My name is Elison. My family and I live in this town. General Wu Ziyi told me that..."
The military police captain waved his hand to stop him, and turned back to give an order, "Everyone stand at attention and salute China's most distinguished guest!"
The Cossacks had not seen the Hui Opera compiled by Ping'er, but all the Huai Army soldiers had seen it. Wasn't the protagonist in the play "Reporting with a Spring" standing right in front of him?
The gendarmes saluted Elisson together.
"Turn back and protect the town of Versailles!"
The captain of the military police shouted at Ivan, "Our Chinese benefactor lives in this town, don't rob him, go back!"
Well, it's okay. We can't rob this town. Let's go to another town where we can set fire. Ivan led the team away, and the Cossacks left in an instant.
The captain of the military police turned back to Elison and said, "Tell the townspeople to do what they should do. We will stand guard here for you until we withdraw our troops. From now on, not only will the Cossacks not be allowed to come, but if the Prussians come to rob, they will also be enemies of our Huai Army. The Huai Army has saved the town of Versailles!"
Countless villagers suddenly rushed out of the town. Erisson was not bragging, what he said was actually true! Versailles is saved!
The crowd chanted, "Vive la Elisson!"
He grabbed Elison and threw him into the air excitedly. Elison screamed in the air, "Hey, hey, be careful with my can!"
The gendarmes stood guard at the town entrance with guns in hand. Soon, flames shot up into the sky from the neighboring town in the distance, mixed with shrill screams.
…………Early the next morning, after communicating with Prussia in advance, the Huai Army began to bombard the French fortress on Mount Alven.
The Prussians were prepared to see the joke. According to the calculations of their staff, even if the Prussians used 500 heavy artillery and mortars to attack the fortress on the mountain, it would take two days to destroy it.
The Huai Army had one hundred heavy artillery pieces, which meant at least ten days.
This is just an appetizer. There are many more fortresses behind. Don't be afraid of wasting shells. Before you blow up all the fortresses blocking the way, Paris will surely be too hungry to surrender.
But after the first cannon shot, Moltke was the first to rush out of the command post, staring at the fortress on the mountain, stunned.
As one of the best commanders in the world, Moltke immediately heard that the sound of the artillery was wrong. Could this be the explosion sound of an 150-pound shrapnel shell fired by the mm caliber Krupp heavy artillery?
On the top of Mount Alvin, huge columns of smoke rose up, and everywhere there were flying rocks and gun fragments. The explosions did not emit the black smoke of black powder, but a strange white smoke.
In just one hour, the fortress on the mountain that could withstand two days of bombardment from five hundred cannons was destroyed.
Moltke stood stupidly in the cold wind for an hour. I have always believed that the Prussian Army is invincible, but others don't know it. I want to prove this to the world, and I have succeeded.
However, it turns out that I am a frog in a well. The fact that the Huai Army defeated 250,000 troops with 50,000 troops was not what I thought. The Loire Army was too weak, but the Huai Army was too strong.
Suddenly someone patted his shoulder. Turning back, he saw Bismarck and His Majesty standing behind him, also looking at the ruins of the fortress on Mount Alvin.
Moltke said excitedly, "Mr. Prime Minister, our Qing allies are hiding a secret from us. Please contact them as soon as possible and ask for the secret of their new high explosives."
Bismarck and William I smiled at each other, and William patted Moltke on the shoulder again, "My Chief of Staff, our allies are strong, which is a good thing. Who doesn't have secrets? Have we shared the secrets of our Krupp gun steel with them?"
Bismarck looked at Moltke meaningfully, "You are a pure soldier, you don't know the rules of international communication, it is very rude to ask for other people's secrets directly."
Looking back at William I, "Your Majesty, we have underestimated the power of the Qing Dynasty and adopted some impolite practices. I need to correct them personally."
"After this battle, please allow me to visit the Qing Kingdom. I will bring you the secret of their high-explosive gunpowder and make Prussia's military even more powerful."
William I nodded and said, "Come here, send a telegram to the capital and ask our ambassador to communicate with their Prime Minister's Office of Foreign Affairs and ask them to invite Bismarck to visit."
"By the way, my coronation ceremony may not need to be held during the siege of Paris. Instead, we should contact journalists and diplomatic envoys from various countries as soon as possible after the fall of Paris."
While the two Prussian decision-makers were chatting and laughing, the Huai Army's steam tractors were pulling artillery forward to bombard more distant fortresses.
Then Moltke saw something even more novel: an entire tank division passed by him, fully mechanized, with even the infantry sitting on wheeled personnel carriers.
The sight of the three hundred ferocious armored beasts made Moltke's heart surge, and he shouted in his heart, "Yes! This is the taste! This is what we Prussians desire most!"
If our Prussian army had this kind of armored vehicle in the previous battle, why would it have taken so long?
Once we in Prussia have this kind of steel torrent, we will definitely not be satisfied with just conquering Paris. The steel torrent will trample over the whole of Europe!
(End of this chapter)