18th century total war

Chapter 281 The vassal state of Switzerland is established

"Boys, what are we fighting for!"

"For the king! For the hometown not to be invaded by the French!"

"Very well, in the forest ahead, there are thousands of French stragglers, so-called mountain divisions, how should we treat them?"

The Swiss soldier with high morale shouted at the top of his voice.

"very good!

Now I command, all follow me, to kick the Frenchman's balls! "

"Long live Switzerland!
Long live the king! "

Teams of Swiss soldiers carried flintlock guns and marched towards the forest battlefield in front of them. On the way they passed, there were constantly broken and wounded soldiers withdrawn from the front line, passing by the Swiss soldiers who had supported them in the past.

A wounded soldier was carried on a stretcher by two rout soldiers, humming in pain, and when he saw the reinforcements not far away, he shouted loudly: "Don't bayonet the Frenchman, don't let the Frenchman approach!
They are crazy, they will charge into our crowd with dynamite packs on their backs!

And the French are very good with bayonets, so don’t attack with less than three people..."

The advancing Swiss privates all looked here, and the officer next to them quickly ordered: "No noise during the battle, everyone looks forward!"

Then, the officer glared hard at the wounded soldier lying on the stretcher. If the wounded soldier was not too seriously injured, the officer would have sent someone over to deal with the noisy soldier.

After all, what the other party said can easily have a bad impact on one's own morale.

After hearing the cries of the wounded soldiers, many Swiss soldiers' originally determined eyes became wandering. Especially when they heard that the French soldiers were rushing into the crowd carrying explosive bags, they became even more panicked.

After all, no one wants to face a desperate lunatic!
A broken soldier who was carrying the wounded smiled wryly and shook his head, and asked his comrades on the stretcher, "Aren't you afraid that those officials will write you down if you shout like that?"

"My legs are all blown up, so what's so scary!

Even if I go back to the wounded barracks in the rear, I don't know if I can survive. I always feel pain in my thigh, probably because some shrapnel hasn't been taken out...

I don't have a long life. Before I die, tell the soldiers of other teams to save them from dying. What's wrong? "

"You are really noble enough."

"I'm not noble, I just don't want to see too many Swiss killed by Frenchmen.

Ever since I got hurt, I've been thinking, why are we fighting that tyrant of the French Empire?
If there was no war, I wouldn’t be like this..."

oh~~~
The two defeated soldiers who were carrying the stretcher sighed helplessly, and after an unknown period of time, one of them suddenly said, "If Switzerland had no king, would we not have to fight?
Anyway, we have to pay taxes to whoever rules, so why pay our lives here?
Are our bloodshed and sacrifices just to pay taxes to the King of Switzerland and not to the tyrant of the French Empire? "

After hearing this, the wounded soldier lying on the stretcher suddenly widened his eyes, as if he even forgot the long-term pain for a short time.

"That's right!
Brother, you awakened the dreamer with just one word!
I shouldn't have lost this leg!

No, I'm afraid I have to lose my life here!
Damn it, just for the sake of the king's throne, I have to meet God without even marrying a wife..."

"Haha, maybe what you saw was not God but Satan."

quipped another.

"Go, go, I haven't done anything bad, how could I meet Satan, I must go to heaven when I die, I heard that there are free wives there, I have never tasted a woman before I was alive, and it would be good to taste it after I die .”

While the three were chatting, the supporting troops had already exchanged fire with the mountain division of the French Defense Forces.

Fighting in this mountain forest, both sides did not form a dense line of square formations, and it was impossible to form them. At most, the teams gathered together and advanced.

Of course, since the marksmanship of both sides in the war was not bad, neither the army of the Kingdom of Switzerland nor the mountain divisions of the French Empire did that. They just formed lines of skirmishers and rushed forward, shooting while advancing.

On both sides of the war, the Swiss army was significantly more numerous than the mountain divisions of the French National Defense Forces.

Therefore, during the exchange of fire, you can often see groups of Swiss troops, holding the Swiss king's flag, rushing up in skirmish lines and shouting.

Of course, the skirmish line in this era is much denser than that during World War I and World War II, just a few people are left between the soldiers.

It's a bit like the pig charge formation in Little Japan later.

To put it bluntly, Little Japan also learned its pig-like charge from the big European countries.

"For the king! Kill!!!"

After the reinforcements arrived, the Swiss army launched another general attack, and the mountain forest was suddenly filled with dense Swiss soldiers.

They screamed wildly, holding bayonets and flintlock guns, and rushed to the French front, which seemed to have a small number of people on the opposite side.

Accompanied by a series of volleys of guns, the French army suddenly rushed out of the front line with soldiers who were far away from each other and smoked behind them.

Immediately afterwards, a series of explosions sounded!

However, since the Swiss soldiers charging in the mountains were all skirmishers and not too dense, casualties were much less than those in normal terrain operations.

Even so, it suppressed the offensive momentum of the Swiss army.

The sharpshooters at the back have already changed into flintlock guns, reloading and shooting continuously, while the sharpshooters in front choose to shoot or throw grenades according to the distance of the enemy's attack. If the enemy is too close, a group of people will rush out and detonate the explosive packs behind them.

Before the start of the battle, the sharpshooters of the mountain division had already assigned groups, and every ten people formed a combat team, which was also a team that rushed forward and blew themselves together!
If the Swiss army does not attack, the sharpshooters of the Mountain Division will continue to use their superb shooting skills to consume the Swiss army's fresh forces bit by bit.

The two sides relied on obstacles in the mountains and forests to shoot at each other. The Swiss soldiers were no match for sharpshooters. Due to the poor visibility in the mountains and forests, the Swiss army's artillery was unable to pull in. Even if they were pulled in, it would be difficult to hit the enemy.

The only ones that really worked were some straight-firing mortars, but because the range of the mortars was too close, many mortar gunners in the Swiss army would be killed by sharpshooters equipped with front-loading rifles, which had no effect at all.

On the contrary, the mortars of the Mountain Division of the French Defense Forces have been outputting steadily under the protection of sharpshooters.

After repelling the offensive of the Swiss army, these mortars will rush forward and form an offensive sequence with the sharpshooters on the front line. A wave of bombardment will be fired, and a wave of sharpshooters will shoot. Follow them forward.

They didn't stop until the fresh force of the Swiss army came up.

It was this simple tactic that made the generals of the Swiss army miserable. Waves of reserve troops went up to the top, and every attack failed. Instead, a large number of new troops were killed and wounded. It's useless except for being powerful.

In this way, the two sides fought from morning to night, and the fighting did not stop. After night, the mountain division finally launched a full-scale general offensive. , was still defeated by a wave of mountain divisions with only a few thousand people!
Similar battles are constantly being staged on all fronts of the Kingdom of Switzerland. The Kingdom of Switzerland thought that they could use their local troops, familiar with mountain forest operations and terrain advantages, to successfully block the invasion of the French Defense Forces.

Unexpectedly, there are a large number of sharpshooters in the French Defense Forces. The combat capabilities of these sharpshooters in the mountains far exceed those of the Swiss army who are familiar with the terrain!

Although there are elite soldiers with the same level as sharpshooters in the Swiss army, the number is too small, and they can only play an insignificant role in the entire battle...

As a result, the resistance of the Swiss army could not stop the French Defense Forces at all except for causing some casualties to the French Defense Forces.

And because a large number of regular army troops were defeated or even annihilated in the field battles in the mountains and forests, the inland cities of the Kingdom of Switzerland lacked defense forces. When the French Defense Forces approached the city, the cities of the Kingdom of Switzerland often chose to surrender without a fight...

This greatly preserves the wealth of the Kingdom of Switzerland.

Compared with plain battles, mountain warfare was boring and cruel in this era. In the spring of 1799, after several months of fierce fighting, the King of Switzerland finally had to admit the fact of defeat.

Even though the French Defense Forces had not yet arrived in his capital.

The French Defense Forces adopted an offensive method of encircling on all sides. Although the capital of the Kingdom of Switzerland was not surrounded, all major cities and transportation points in all directions had been occupied by the French Defense Forces.

The King of Switzerland didn't even have a place to escape!

In this desperate situation, the Swiss King sent someone to negotiate with the First Army, wanting to surrender.

But Karl rejected the Swiss king's surrender conditions, because now that the victory is set, it doesn't matter whether the Swiss king surrenders or not.

Livy wanted to create a Swiss Confederation.

Of course, this was not decided by Li Wei, but when the French Defense Forces invaded the Kingdom of Switzerland, when the French army occupied the cities of the Kingdom of Switzerland, the city nobles and city government officials who surrendered asked for letters, hoping that the emperor of the French Empire could After defeating the King of Switzerland, form a federal state.

This was proposed by the surrendered cities themselves, and this is even the condition for the surrender of many cities!

There are many representatives from various industries. Although the industry committees of this era cannot represent public opinion, they represent the belly of the people!
An industry committee is an organization that gathers together in the same industry or similar industries. This organization often manages a large number of people working in that industry.

Therefore, it is very easy for them to mobilize the masses, which is the same as the boss mobilizing employees to fight Xixi.

Unless you don't want the job, you follow your boss's orders.

Although the representatives of these guilds could not ask the workers below to fight the French army, they could deliberately guide the workers below to make them hate the French army from the bottom of their hearts, thus triggering the revolution.

Switzerland was separated from the rule of the Holy Roman Empire, and among them were the behind-the-scenes hands of the rich merchants in the guilds of these cities.

The so-called public opinion is actually their will!
After receiving this report, Li Wei immediately ordered Manid to dispatch spies from the General Administration of Military Intelligence to investigate the 'popular sentiment' in Switzerland.

Soon, Li Wei was reported that the land in Switzerland was not very interested in the monarchy!

The most important thing is that the failure of this Swiss war, most of the rich and common people, put the responsibility on the head of the Swiss king, they think it is the war caused by the king.

The Swiss don't mind that their suzerain is France, but they don't want a monarch who doesn't know how to be fatuous or wise!

Therefore, the various states and cities in the Kingdom of Switzerland intend to form a federal state, with decisions made by the Federal Parliament.

The majority parliament will not be confused.

At least, from the perspective of probability, the decision-making of the majority is definitely less error-prone than the decision-making of one person.

As for the problem of low military and political management efficiency, it is not a big problem for a vassal state that does not need to bear international military obligations.

Of course, there is another crucial factor in Li Wei's agreement to establish the Swiss Confederation. Those city representatives who surrendered are willing to provide an additional considerable political contribution to the French Empire after the establishment of the Swiss Confederation.

And because the Swiss Confederation is under the protection of the French Empire, it does not need to maintain too many troops, and can submit more taxes to the French Empire every year.

This war made the Swiss generally war-weary and anti-war. Because of the full-scale invasion of the French Empire and the compulsory military system promulgated by the Swiss King, most Swiss families had family members join the army on the battlefield.

As a result, after the war was over, not only did they lose everything, but the Swiss were also immersed in the pain of losing their family members.

Therefore, the Swiss would rather recognize the boss of the French Empire than continue to face wars in the future.

To put it bluntly, the Swiss were overwhelmed by Levi!
Afraid of war!

After the Swiss king received the public request of the French Empire to establish a federal state, he was completely desperate.

In the end, the Swiss king was only allowed to take away his daily necessities, leave all his personal and family wealth, leave Switzerland with his relatives, and vowed never to set foot in Switzerland.

Saving the lives of the Swiss king's family was the condition Li Wei offered.

If one less city can be hit, unnecessary casualties can be reduced.

At this point, the Swiss campaign ended, and various cities in Switzerland elected representatives, entered the Swiss capital Bern, and formed the Swiss Federal Assembly as the country's highest authority.

The Swiss Confederation legally exists as a vassal state of the French Empire. It has strict restrictions on the size of the army and police, and is not allowed to research military weapons-related technologies. The French Empire will send a suzerain state inspection team to stay in the capital of the Swiss Confederation.

In addition, the General Tax Administration of the French Empire will set up a branch in the Swiss Confederation to supervise and collect the taxes paid by the Swiss Confederation. The Swiss Confederation needs to hand over half of all taxes collected to the French Empire.

(End of this chapter)