Flowers, Swords and France

In the dusk near sunset, an army was marching between the hills of the Balkan Peninsula.

This army formed several long marching columns, and the formation was very strict. It can be seen that after a long period of training, the infantry and cavalry were gathered together. Thousands of triangular bayonets shone with golden luster in the light of dusk. The whole queue was in order, revealing the solemnity of the army with strict military discipline and long-time battles.

Looking from the end of the queue, thousands of soldiers' leather boots and uniforms were mixed into a blurred color, as if they were integrated into one through the strict training of the army. Looking around, it was like a long blue and red dragon, winding through the hills.

At this time, the sun was setting in the west, and the shadow of the hills was stretched, covering the whole army. The golden clouds floated in the sky, making the surrounding fields more or less stained with some golden brilliance, and also made the world seem to become a huge stage, full of illusion.

The hot summer wind blew across the soldiers' caps, caressing the feathers and brown hair on the officers' and cavalrymen's caps, like a breeze sweeping across a pond, creating ripples. Although it was already afternoon, the wind still brought some unbearable heat, making everyone a little anxious. It was for this reason that the officers and soldiers on the march loosened their clothes, making the originally strict military appearance become a lot more relaxed, and even the originally loud military songs on the march became a little low.

However, no one would doubt that when faced with a challenge from the enemy, their relaxed spirits would immediately tighten up, and then they would throw themselves into the battle with great enthusiasm.

These silent marching troops, because of their different weapons and uniforms, plus the flags of different colors, looked a little messy, but still strict. Between the various columns, some dragoons were walking around, acting as messengers, passing various orders between the various columns, and trying to help the commanders maintain the strict formation of the entire army.

At the front of the column, the flag bearers held the flags of their respective troops and the eagle flag of the imperial army, marching forward to the sound of drums and music by military musicians. The flags in their hands fluttered in the wind, and their dark faces were full of energy, not slacking off at all because of the sultry weather at this time.

The commander of this unit was also at the front of the team.

He rode on a tall warhorse with a black body and white hooves. His tall body was set off to be more majestic. Like his soldiers, he also wore a blue military uniform and red breeches, riding boots, and a cylindrical military cap. The red ribbon of the Legion of Honor was pinned on his chest, and a small sword was hung on his waist. The eyes of countless people around and behind him were focused on him from all corners at the same time, but he seemed to be unaware.

He was Colonel Lucien Leflair, the commander of the 4th Brigade of the 2nd Division of the French Army and the commander of this unit.

He had been in the army for many years, but he had always been frustrated. However, later, because of good luck from nowhere, he first won the favor of a lady from a wealthy family, and then won the favor of the Treville family.

Thanks to the care of the Montreville family, he quickly entered the circle of Bonapartists and became one of the confidants of the Bonaparte family in the army. In the end, he also participated in the coup that made His Excellency the President become His Majesty the Emperor.

Relying on such merits, since the reconstruction of the empire, he has been promoted in the army and finally became a brigade commander.

Now, he is only one step away from becoming a general, and everyone believes that he will become a general sooner or later.

However, despite having such enviable luck, the colonel was not arrogant and domineering like the upstarts. He was still humble, and paid great attention to maintaining relationships with his colleagues and caring for his subordinates.

It was for this reason that he was rarely hated, and his subordinates loved him very much.

After the outbreak of the war between the Empire and Russia, the Second Division was quickly selected as the first batch of members of the expeditionary force, and his brigade set foot on the land of Turkey as a pioneer.

After a period of rest and assembly, the entire division was fully equipped, and the British also rushed over. After coordination between the two commanders-in-chief of the coalition forces, they finally reached a consensus plan - with the goal of a decisive battle with the Russians as soon as possible, first seek to land in the Odessa area to cut off the Russian supply line, and if conditions are not ripe, land in Bulgaria, and then go north to meet the Russian army heading south.

According to this plan, the British and French fleet bombarded Odessa to test the Russian defense strength. However, although the fleet destroyed most of the Odessa port, it found that the Russian defense strength should not be underestimated. It was impossible to land directly, so it had to settle for the second best and landed in the Balkan Peninsula first according to the second half of the plan, and then seek to fight with the Russians.

After the coalition forces reached a consensus, the entire war machine began to operate step by step, and soon the coalition forces landed in Varna, a famous port in Bulgaria.

Most of the troops of the French Second Division to which Lucien belonged landed at this time. After landing and taking a short rest, they immediately followed the order of the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces to attack northward.

It is no wonder that the top leaders of the coalition forces were so anxious. In fact, their troops were firefighting teams, and they had no time to wait for the rear to slowly gather troops - because at this time the Russian army was besieging the local Turkish garrison, and according to the garrison's report, the situation was already quite critical.

Before the Russians began to attack, the Turks had already predicted that a war would come, and under the leadership of their commander Omar Pasha, they were also mentally prepared to fight the Russians.

Omar Pasha was a smart and calm general. He knew in his heart that the quality of his troops could not be compared with that of the Russian army, so he did not intend to lead his army to fight the Russians directly. He decided on a defense-oriented strategy from the beginning, intending to use a defense strategy to consume the Russian army's strength while waiting for domestic reinforcements to be mobilized.

After the Russian army launched the attack, the Turkish army began to retreat, and then retreated to various fortresses in the rear, especially the Rushuk and Silistra fortresses on the right wing of the Russian army, which were even more highly expected by the Turkish army, hoping to use them to contain the Russian army, so that the Russian army could not directly advance to Sumla and Varna, two decisive strongholds in Turkey's defense in the eastern Balkan Peninsula.

The deployment of the Turkish army certainly did not escape the attention of the Russian army. After crossing the border, the Russian army marched forward, occupied the land abandoned by the Turks, and then immediately launched a siege of the Silistra fortress.

The fierce offensive and defensive battles have lasted for several months, and during this period, the participation of Britain and France in the war has become the most exciting news for the Turks. This news has made the Turkish army trapped in the fortress more motivated. They know that as long as they can continue to hold on, the final victory will definitely belong to Türkiye.

However, although the Silistra Fortress is still in the hands of the Turks, according to the intelligence obtained by the British and French coalition forces, the situation of the fortress is not particularly ideal and there is a risk of falling at any time. Therefore, the coalition forces did not want to delay time and directly sent the first batch of troops that landed in Varna to rush north to rescue the besieged Silistra Fortress.

The order they received was to do everything possible to help the fortress hold on. If they could not rescue it, they would try to contain as many Russian troops as possible to share the pressure on the fortress; if the worst happened and the fortress fell before the rescue troops arrived, then this unit would hold on and wait for help, waiting for the coalition's follow-up troops to go north to reinforce.

There is no doubt that this order put Colonel Lucien Leflair into a dangerous place. They had to face the front of the Russian army first, and then pray that the people they wanted to help would not fail before they arrived. However, orders are orders after all, and they must be executed no matter how difficult it is, so Lucien and his men embarked on the journey north without any complaints.

After two days of marching, they were very close to Silistra, that is, very close to the Russian corps. Although Lucien was very calm on the surface, he was very alert and never relaxed his investigation of the surrounding situation. He approached the predetermined destination carefully but firmly.

In the desolate valley, the troops marched silently. Except for the inadvertent metal clashing of weapons and the rumble of horseshoes hitting the ground, the whole army was silent. These gentle sounds were like thunder foreshadowing a storm, announcing the vigorous vitality of a military empire and its determination to destroy all obstacles.

This was originally a sparsely populated area, with only a few farmhouses dotted along the way. After the war broke out, most of the local farmers chose to hide or simply choose to flee their hometown, so the scene along the way was even more desolate.

Although this meant that they had difficulty collecting food and other supplies from the surrounding villages, it also made Lucien feel more at ease, because it meant that the Russians could not collect information about the French army through the surrounding villagers.

Unfortunately, although this was Turkish territory, Lucien knew that the Slavic residents here were more inclined towards the Russians, so he did not have any hope for the help of the locals at the beginning, and only expected them to be neutral. To be honest, even within the French army, many officers and soldiers were dissatisfied with the Empire and the British standing together, and then helping a pagan country to fight Christians. Fortunately, through strict military discipline and punishment, such remarks were suppressed and did not shake morale.

Of course, the difficulties encountered by the French army were not just this.

They encountered some unexpected harsh conditions, so that they found that these harsh conditions, not the Russians, were their biggest enemies.

Because of the hot weather and the fatigue of the boat, many officers and soldiers suffered from heatstroke during the repeated landing and boarding. These dehydrated soldiers lost their combat effectiveness, and Lucien had to leave them in Varna Port and prevent them from participating in the next battle.

What made Lucien even more uneasy was that along with the hot weather, diseases began to run rampant in the army. Malaria, cholera, dysentery and other diseases had begun to attack his troops, making the officers and soldiers who were already weak even more miserable. Lucien's own troops had a large number of soldiers reduced due to disease, and he almost lost a battalion of troops before engaging the enemy.

Even his immediate superior, the commander of the Second Division, General Michel Ney, Duke of Elchingen, was infected with the disease after landing in Varna, and then fell ill on the bed, temporarily unable to command the battle, which made the whole division uneasy.

Ney, this heroic surname, can still inspire the spirit of officers and soldiers even fifty years later, making them understand the inheritance they carry on their shoulders, and the absence of General Ney has indeed made the French army a little uneasy.

However, it is precisely because of such difficulties that Lucien understands that he must show the most resolute attitude in order to stabilize the morale of the army. It is also because of the friendship he usually has with his subordinates that his troops can overcome all the above difficulties so quickly and re-enter the march with high spirits.

At present, the sky has become very dark. Lucien picked up the telescope to observe the surrounding situation and prepared to find a suitable place for his troops to camp in the wild. According to his calculations, if he marched at this speed tomorrow, he would probably reach the Silistra Fortress tomorrow afternoon, and they would definitely face a terrible test at that time, so it was extremely important to conserve their energy now.

Soon, he found a flat highland outside the valley, where the terrain was open, the view was good, and it seemed that the area was large enough to accommodate his troops.

While he was still judging in his heart, he suddenly heard a whistle, which was the whistle of the light cavalry he left on the periphery to scout the enemy.

He immediately raised the telescope again and looked in the direction of the sound. In the telescope lens, the sky and the earth had turned dark gold, and the yellow shadow made the lens seem to be covered with a layer of curtain, and on this layer of curtain, there were many shadows that seemed to be shaking.

The shadows were getting bigger and bigger, and with the help of the dark color of dusk, Lucien finally saw the situation on the opposite side clearly.

It was a group of cavalry, who rolled towards him with a whistle, but the queue was not strict, but it could be seen that everyone was proficient in riding.

The original text is available at Six # 9 @Books/Bar!

Gradually, the people on horseback became more and more visible. They were wearing red coats, black round hats with feathers, holding sabers in their hands, and pistols on their waists.

They were exactly the same as the images he saw in the comic books when he was a child.

"Cossacks!"

Not only Lucien, but also some officers behind him saw the true identities of the people opposite them, and then they all took a breath of cold air.

Ever since Napoleon's army was ruthlessly pursued by the Russians in the ice and snow of Russia, and was divided and destroyed bit by bit, and finally almost annihilated, the image of these Tsarist guards who were skilled in riding, rough and barbaric, left a heavy shadow in the hearts of the French. Even if there was only a small group of people in front of them, these French soldiers couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts.

Lucien stretched out his hand and immediately stopped the commotion of the officers, and then gave an order to his messenger.

"Order all troops to stop advancing and prepare to set up camp and rest."

"Yes!" The herald immediately took the order and rode away. Soon, the troops behind also received the order and stopped.

This long queue of thousands of people stayed in place, looking like a long blue-red snake lying stiffly from a distance.

At this time, the Cossacks were getting closer and closer. They seemed to want to investigate the specific situation of this sudden army, which also reminded the French soldiers that they were very close to the Russian army.

"Sir, let my people keep the guests?" Major Samuel, the commander of the cavalry battalion, looked eager to try.

"No, we have to wait for them to come." Lucien replied calmly, "They are just flies. If we drive them away now, they will run away."

Then, he immediately ordered Major Micha, the commander of the 9th Battalion beside him. . "Let your men prepare to meet them, and you need the best marksman."

"Yes!" The soldiers who followed the brigade commander in the front row all took action. They skillfully changed their columns into horizontal columns at a very fast speed, raised their guns horizontally, and aimed at the Cossacks on the opposite side.

Seeing that the enemy on the opposite side was ready, the Cossacks also slowed down their horses. They stopped at a distance they thought was safe, and then wandered around the front of the French army, preparing to observe the total strength and composition of the army.

This arrogant attitude made the French officers and soldiers quite angry, but Lucien was not fluctuating. He looked carefully at the Cossacks on the opposite side. The bright red on their bodies magnified in his eyes, like a leaping flame.

The Cossacks were still approaching little by little. They thought they were safe, but they had no idea that the French army was now equipped with rifled Giverny 1850 rifles, whose accuracy and range far exceeded the general estimate of the distance between the two sides.

Enough.

When they reached the distance Lucien had determined in his mind, the colonel said silently in his heart.

"Fire." Then, he whispered.

"Fire!"

The company commander shouted loudly.

"Bang!" As the officer shouted, dense gunfire rang out almost at the same time, and a large number of bullets whizzed and rushed towards the opposite side...

Blood flashed on the red clothes, and the horses neighed miserably. Suddenly, several Cossacks fell off their horses, as if they were hit hard by a heavy hammer in the air.

Like frightened gulls, these Cossacks screamed horribly, and then the surviving Cossacks reined in their horses and turned their heads, and then rushed back desperately, without even having time to take away the bodies of their comrades.

Looking at this miserable and messy scene, the French officers and soldiers cheered.

However, Lucien, who had experienced many battles in North Africa, knew that this was not even a dessert before the big meal.

"Order the whole army to prepare for rest." He said to the herald. "We will camp here tonight."