18th century total war

Chapter 239 The Heroes of France

"General, the enemy is coming up again, and there are a lot of them!"

General Campbell, who was appointed during the former Robespierre administration, held up the binoculars and saw that the opposite side was densely dressed in different styles of military uniforms, and various colorful military flags were fluttering in the wind. He simply calculated the number of opponents in his heart, and his face suddenly became serious stand up.

"These damned Italian traders send so many people up every time!
All ready to fight, bring the artillery forward, use the shot.

Those Italian traders are cowards, spray them with cannon and we will win! "

General Campbell shouted to the orderlies around him.

If you observe carefully, you will find that among the soldiers stationed in the defense line of the fortress, only a small half of them are wearing the military uniform of the original National Salvation Revolutionary Army, and most of the soldiers are wearing all kinds of civilian clothing, with civilian-style three-cornered hats on their heads. This is a mixed force of the militia and the original National Salvation Revolutionary Army!
At this time, General Campbell's troops were only more than 2000 people, but they were facing the attack of tens of thousands of Italian coalition forces!

"General, we have run out of shotgun, and the ammunition behind has not been delivered yet..."

With a loud bang, Campbell slammed his fist on the wooden table with a ferocious face, and cursed: "Damn Levi!

At this time, the ammunition in the rear is still stuck. He wants to watch us, the troops of the former revolutionary government, be annihilated by the anti-French alliance!
Li Wei is not worthy to be the chief executive officer of the French Republic at all. How did he deceive the members of the Republic Assembly and become the Speaker of the Republic Assembly?

Could it be that Li Wei bought the entire French Republic Parliament? "

General Campbell knew that he could not rely on the rear now. Since the war broke out, not a single soldier, a soldier, a gun, or a bullet had been sent to the rear!
If there hadn't been a firearms arsenal in the city where he was stationed, there might even have been a shortage of muskets and ammunition.

"Let everyone prepare for hand-to-hand combat. Our hometown is behind us. We have no way out. Long live the French Republic!"

General Campbell personally raised a red, white and blue tricolor flag, pulled up all the remaining non-combatants around him, and rushed towards the forward position that had already fallen into bayonet hand-to-hand combat.

Relying on the tactics of the sea of ​​people, the Italian coalition forces have begun to gradually devour the entire forward position. If this fortress falls, their hometown city will face the burning, killing and looting Italian coalition forces!

The militiamen and soldiers of the National Salvation Revolutionary Army who had begun to retreat saw their supreme commander, General Campbell, appearing on the battlefield in brightly colored uniforms, and their morale was immediately restored.

On the entire battlefield, the revolutionary slogan of "freedom, equality and fraternity" suddenly sounded, and more than 2000 soldiers began to launch a fierce bayonet countercharge against tens of thousands of Italian coalition forces!
After just half an hour of bayonet fighting, all the reserves of the Italian Allied Forces were repelled. The army of tens of thousands dropped more than 1000 corpses, and they were defeated and left the battlefield without any system. In the follow-up pursuit, General Campbell Regardless of his own dangers, he led his troops to capture more than 5000 prisoners of war from the Italian Allied Forces!
Among the Italian coalition forces, the Sardinian Kingdom has the highest proportion of soldiers, followed by those northern Italian states that still maintain their independence. The farther south the Italian peninsula is, the fewer troops are sent.

In this battle, General Campbell, despite being extremely short of ammunition and troops, turned the tables and successfully annihilated the main force of the Italian coalition. He immediately became a hero in the entire southeastern French theater!

A large number of disbanded soldiers from the southeastern theater of France gathered towards the city where General Campbell was stationed. It took General Campbell just a week to increase the number of troops under his command to more than 8000 people. Continue to improve!
Under General Campbell's onslaught, the French cities already occupied by the Italian coalition forces fell one after another. Compared with the successive defeats in the northeastern theater of France, General Campbell's reverse push record in the southeastern theater immediately became the backbone of the entire eastern France.

However, after gaining personal fame, General Campbell continued to point out in public the inaction of the Levy government in this anti-French coalition invasion war.

In the newspapers and periodicals of the French cities under his control, Campbell published a large number of stories about the plight of frontline soldiers who lacked clothing and food, and even had empty cannons but no shells. Used to support the Patriotic War on the front lines!

After Li Wei got the news, he immediately became upset.

In the Tuileries Palace in Paris, now the office of the Li Wei cabinet government, Li Wei slapped a newspaper in front of the Minister of Propaganda Department.

"How is this going?

We have already controlled the central power in France, but now there are so many local newspapers openly slandering the central government!
What is that Campbell? !

A general conferred by the old Robespierre government has not been recognized by the Directory, and I have never recognized it!

What qualifications does he have to criticize the central government?
Campbell's actions are a warlord and must be taken seriously! "

"Yes, my lord Chief Executive Officer.

I'm going to have the news published in the National Honour that Campbell is embracing himself and trying to divide France! "

Li Wei nodded slightly after hearing this, and looked at his Minister of War.

"Although Campbell had the self-respect of the army and slandered the central government's mistakes, he repelled the Italian coalition forces and deflated many Italian states, including the Kingdom of Sardinia, and indeed made due contributions to the French Republic.

I am a very tolerant person. The Ministry of War sent a document to Campbell, telling Campbell that if he still admits that he is a French general, he will come to Paris alone to report on his duties. At that time, I will personally award it to him. The rank of Major General of France!
And as long as he came to Paris to prove that he has no idea of ​​self-respect, he is a real hero of defending the country of France! "

Li Wei felt that whether General Campbell was really capable of fighting or not, his reputation now played a significant role in appeasing the French Eastern Theater, and it was worth Li Wei's administrative quota to control General Campbell.

At that time, not only the anti-central situation in southeastern France will immediately stabilize, but Campbell's army can also be transferred to the northeast theater to delay the attack of the Prussian-Austrian coalition forces.

Compared to the Italian coalition, the Prussian-Austrian coalition had significantly better combat effectiveness. The revolutionary cities in northeastern France had revolutionary generals like Campbell, but they all failed without exception. In the end, they were either killed or turned away. General...

Due to the short period of Li Wei's government, most cities in the northeastern and southeastern regions of France are still using the military and political system during Robespierre's administration (the governor's government has been in power for too short a time, and there is not much adjustment to the military except for disarmament) , so there are still many "former generals" in eastern France.

These former generals were only deprived of command in name, but the government that overthrew the Robespierre government did not appoint a new military chief. When the anti-French coalition invaded, among the generals who were deprived of command, In the patriotic sentiment of the Great Patriotic War, many people called up the old troops and militia to resist foreign enemies.

This is why Li Wei still has time to slowly train his [-] troops in Paris.

However, Li Wei did not expect that some of these generals left over from the Robespierre era would really become famous, and even beat the Italian coalition forces out of the border of the two anti-French alliance armies!

You must know that in the southeastern theater of France, since the Li Wei government did not have the authority to establish a unified command, all provinces and cities fought against the enemy independently. And other bad factors, vulnerable to the Italian coalition forces.

Unexpectedly, under such a bad situation, a leader-level figure who turned the tide appeared in the southeastern theater of France.

General Campbell has the ability to integrate the southeastern French theater and hold high the banner of national justice. If he goes one step further, he will become a real warlord!
Naturally, Li Wei would not allow General Campbell, who stepped on the 'corpse' of the Italian coalition forces, to become a phenomenal leader of the French Republic.

As for the newspapers and periodicals published by General Campbell in the major cities in southeastern France, every sentence is indeed true, and there is no intentional exaggeration, but as a shameless... well, as a central government with an orthodox name, it is naturally impossible to admit this kind of slander.

You know, except for the northeastern and southeastern regions of France, people in other regions of France do not know Livy's strategic plan at all. They still think that the war with the anti-French alliance at this time is a national Patriotic war!
This is the benefit of not having a network, the central government can easily cut public opinion.

Now the news from the Southeast War Zone is still under the control of public opinion in Paris. Except for the high-level government, ordinary Parisians have no idea that their French compatriots are fighting the enemy alone in the southeast of France, and they are being used as cannon fodder by the central government. Do not give any support to the front!

Otherwise, the people of Paris with a strong revolutionary atmosphere would have erupted long ago.

Of course, the entire parliament of the French Republic is now under the control of Li Wei. Those parliamentary bosses are all leaders of public opinion in Paris. .

Even now, most Parisians don't know the name Campbell. At most, they know that the situation in the southeastern theater of France is better than that in the northeast. Many Parisian civilians who have no news don't even know the news of the defeat of the Italian coalition forces.

After receiving Li Wei's order, the Minister of War hesitated for a moment and asked, "My lord, if Campbell refuses to enter Paris alone, what should I do?"

"reject?
Oh, at this time, if Campbell refuses to enter Paris alone and ignores the orders of the French central government, it is treason!
At that time, we will have solid evidence to prove that Campbell is a traitor who wants to split the great France by taking advantage of the opportunity of the Great Patriotic War.

Put the charges first, and after our military preparations are over, we will catch Campbell and his accomplices. "

Li Wei is now more and more mature in the use of politics.

To attack one's own enemy is not only to destroy the other party physically, but also to discredit the other party mentally.

To be precise, it is to take the scapegoat first, prop up the opponent's stigma, and then learn from the reputation to eliminate the opponent. In this way, doesn't Li Wei firmly occupy the moral high ground?
This is what a qualified politician should do. There may be voices of opposition, but in the face of the Li Wei regime, which controls the general trend of public opinion, sooner or later the voices of opposition will be drowned out by spit stars, and even Li Wei does not need to do it himself.

The document issued by the Army Department of the Li Wei government was quickly delivered to General Campbell, who was confronting the Kingdom of Sardinia on the front line in southeastern France, under the baton of the horse-riding messenger.

After reading the documents of the Paris War Department, General Campbell locked himself in the room for several hours before coming out.

Then, he did what all patriotic French generals of this era would do—obey the Paris government, insist on maintaining the unity of France, and go to Paris alone with only a few servants to report on his duties!

As for the front-line command, Campbell handed it over to his cronies and adjutants. Anyway, the Italian coalition forces have been frightened, and it is estimated that there will be no new offensives.

Thank you for being blocked with a small account and rewarding 8000 starting coins, becoming the first Dharma protector in this book!
Thank you Shangshan Ruoshui for rewarding 500 starting coins.

Thanks to Taoists from all over the world for rewarding 100 starting coins.

Thank you Sanshi Daojun for the reward of 100 starting coins.

　
(End of this chapter)