Fox of France

In order to bluff, General Delacortri declared that he had an army of up to 100,000 men under his command. He hoped to use this number to intimidate the enemy facing him, at least to damage their morale. However, Napoleon is not such a person who is easily intimidated. On the contrary, when he heard this number and saw his subordinates change their faces in shock, Napoleon laughed.

"Master, what are you laughing at?" A young officer who was a little bald asked.

This young officer is called Louis Nicolas Davout. He is one year younger than Napoleon, but he is already a battalion commander by virtue of his bravery in combat. He is also one of the "stronger" mid-level commanders specially equipped by Joseph and Carnot for Napoleon.

Napoleon smiled and replied: "Davout, the Vendée is one of the poorest places in France. Can it support an army of 100,000? If Dracote really has 100,000 troops, then we don't have to So busy getting ready for battle. Go back to sleep, everyone. Because before his army gets to us, they'll starve to death without food."

Although this answer did not make the officers under him completely relax, the tension dissipated a lot.

"Then, master, how many rebels do you think there are under Dellatri?" Davout asked again.

"Ah, that's a good question." Napoleon folded his hands on his chest, held his head up, and replied while pacing, "If I were De La Trie, I would bring up to twenty thousand people out—this It is already the limit that the Vendée region can bear. If there are more, it may be okay for a short time. If the time is a little longer, their logistics will not be able to support it; if they go a little farther, their logistics will have problems. But According to the information I got, that idiot brought 40,000 people."

"40,000 people? Commander, we only have 5,000 people. Moreover, judging from the previous battles, the combat effectiveness of the rebels is very good." Another lieutenant named Charles Augereau said.

"Augereau, you are right. At least in the Vendée, the rebels are fighting well. They are like the volunteers on our side. They are extremely brave when they fight in their hometown. But if they leave their hometown, then That's another story. What's more, they have some weaknesses that are very obvious and difficult to overcome."

Speaking of this, Napoleon glanced at everyone, and continued: "The training level of the rebels is actually far inferior to ours. This can be seen from the previous battles, most of them can only conduct ambushes and skirmishes. And their The level of equipment is also very limited. They lack artillery, let alone qualified artillery. This means that their ability to attack is quite limited. Their logistical supplies are not good enough. Therefore, as long as we hold the key points and continue to harass their supply lines, defeat Rebels, it's only a matter of time."

"And if the English support them?" Augereau asked again.

"It's also difficult for the British to help them, because although the Vendée is close to the sea, it doesn't have any decent ports. Just relying on the small fishing ports in the Vendée where only small sampans can be docked, how many things the British can bring ashore Come? Of course, the army can go ashore, but the more troops come, the less supplies will be available. Therefore, we must be able to stop them here, in Angers."

This analysis boosted the morale of the officers. Napoleon made another arrangement for the defense, and then announced the adjournment of the meeting.

After the meeting adjourned, the officers would go to their own units to prepare for the defensive battle, but Napoleon left Davout and Augereau behind.

"Davout, Augereau, you performed well today." Napoleon said with a smile. Obviously, today's conversation was discussed by the three of them.

"Master, the members of the Friends of the Constitutional Government said that there are frequent activities of royalists in the city. To fight against foreign enemies, we must ensure internal stability. Now that the enemy is approaching, should we clean up the royalists in the city first?" Davout But another thing was mentioned.

"Let the city council handle this kind of thing by itself. We are a combat force, so don't get involved in these things." Napoleon shook his head and said.

Davout frowned slightly, he thought: "If the Friends of the Constitution can control the city council and solve this problem, why do they need to find the army? I'm afraid that in the city of Angers, there are no people who secretly support the royal party. Not much. However, with the wisdom of the teacher, he should not fail to understand this point. What is he doing this for?"

Davout was young after all, thinking of this, his face changed unknowingly.

Although Napoleon was young, he was a fine individual. Looking at Davout's face, he knew that Davout was suspicious, so he said with a smile: "Davout, Augereau, take a look at the map."

Napoleon led the two of them to the map, pointed to the map, and asked them, "Do you think, if you only think about it militaryly, where do you think defeating the enemy will hit them the hardest?"

Davout and Augereau froze for a moment. This... what does this mean? Didn't you agree to fight in Angers?

However, Davu reacted quickly, and then a sentence popped up in his head: "This dwarf is so bold, and... black, so fucking black!"

Angers is still too close to the Vendée. Even if the enemy is blocked here, if the enemy is well organized, it is still very possible to retreat safely. If the enemy army is allowed to continue northward, stop them in the Le Mans area, and defeat them, it will be almost impossible for them to return to the Vendée safely. If it is not done well, it is difficult to say whether there will be a few people left in the 40,000 army under the pursuit all the way.

But to lure the rebels north to Le Mans, Angers, the capital of the Loire, must be abandoned. This is almost politically unacceptable. Davout also immediately understood why Napoleon allowed the royalists in Angers to act.

"Master, do you want to give up Angers?" Davout asked after thinking clearly.

Napoleon did not answer, but said to himself: "Our army is still in the city, and the royal party dare not make trouble easily. We will rely on the city's defense for a while, and when we have almost consumed the supplies in the city, we will The defense of the entire city was handed over to the National Guard, and we moved outside the city, pretending to be preparing to launch a counterattack. At this time, something might happen...

Our army then turned to Le Mans. The enemy army also won't get much supplies in the city, but they will get some artillery. These cannons will give them the illusion that 'we also have the ability to attack fortifications', and just taking Angers is not enough to disturb the whole situation. They are bound to continue to go north.

Then we can beat them all here one by one, and chase them all the way so that none of them can run back! "

"Master, above, will the above agree to such a battle plan?" Augereau opened his eyes wide.

"This plan was personally approved by General Carnot, but it needs to be kept strictly confidential. Besides, there are so many royalists in Angers, wouldn't it be good to let them jump out first? In Angers, there are so many royalists The party is full of fantasies, think about it, what will those royal party rebels who have a tight logistics enter the city, what will they do? Let them receive the education of the royal party and feel the love from the Bourbon family, wouldn't it be good? So General Carnot very much agrees with this plan." Napoleon opened his eyes wide and said a bunch of nonsense.

If Kano knew about Napoleon's move, he might change horses and rush over overnight, and then use his fists to reason with Napoleon. Even Joseph didn't know that Napoleon would play such a trick, otherwise he would have sighed and said, "You are no longer a staff officer, how can you be more showy than me who is still a staff officer?"

However, both Davout and Augereau were just low-level officers, and they didn't know that Napoleon was falsely preaching the imperial decree. On the contrary, from this arrangement, I felt the firm determination of Paris to completely resolve the Vendée rebellion. At the same time, a strange sense of satisfaction and happiness called "I'm relieved to see my superior is such a hooligan" suddenly filled their hearts.

A few days later, General Dracotelli's army approached Angers, and fighting broke out. In the contact battle outside the city, Dracotelli's rebels repelled Napoleon's defenses one after another, pushing the front line to the city of Angers step by step.

Although in those battles outside the city, the losses of the rebel army were obviously greater, but relying on the information provided by the royal party inside the city, General Dracotelli learned that the number of government troops was only more than 5,000, and the number of soldiers in the city There are not many material reserves, and it won't last long. So although he suffered a small loss in the battle outside the city, General Dracotri didn't care too much.

However, the ensuing siege was quite a headache for General Dracotri. Some of the defenders were stationed in the city, and some were stationed on the hills outside the city. These two strongholds are quite strong and can support each other. Because of the existence of these troops outside the city, it was impossible for him to completely besiege the city of Angers, which meant that even if his attack was effective, most of the enemy troops would be able to escape smoothly. And considering the marching ability of his army, if the enemy flees lightly, they probably won't be able to catch up with these guys.

"These rebels really have no guts. They have prepared so well for the escape route before they have fought much!" General Dracotri couldn't help but say this. However, he also understood that under the condition that the number of enemy troops was several times that of his own, no matter who it was, they would take a firm view of the way out.

The second headache is that the attacking ability of his army is really terrible. He didn't have many cannons, and his soldiers also lacked training in tough battles, (in fact, they not only lacked training in tough battles, they had almost no decent training) and the blue army defending the city (the Republic has uniformed their uniforms as blue Colored) The cannon in the hand is like gunpowder without money. Therefore, although the hit rate of the enemy's shelling is quite low, his army suffered a lot of losses during the attack in the past few days, but the progress was very limited.

Fortunately, the King's Party in the city can always send some key information, allowing General Dracotelli to understand that the situation on the Republic Army's side is actually very bad, and the supply is getting tighter and tighter.

"After fighting like this for a few more days, their gunpowder should be tense. Hehe, the army that lacks training will often fire indiscriminately. Hehe, maybe when I was complaining that our soldiers were poorly trained, their child teacher , Are you also complaining that the level of training of your soldiers is too low?"

Inexplicably, General Dracotelli felt a little bit of sympathy for Napoleon.