Louis II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, rode a horse and looked at the scorching sun in the sky.
They had been fleeing for a day and a night without a moment's rest for fear of being overtaken by the Han army.
The French army fled all the way to a small river.
The horse of Louis II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, commander-in-chief of the European Allied Forces, fell directly from his lap.
The war horse fell to the ground and was foaming at the mouth. It was obvious that it was dying.
He looked at the French soldiers beside him. Their faces were all pale, and beads of sweat were constantly appearing on their bodies.
In order not to be overtaken by the Han army, they sent some unpopular soldiers to command the second-line army and cut off the rear.
But even the elite troops could not defeat the Han people, and these people could not resist for long.
Prince Louis II de Bourbon of Condé's consideration at the time was to evacuate to the hilly areas in time.
With such ups and downs, there are almost no smooth roads.
They spent a lot of effort transporting supplies from Western Europe.
The Han people's steel mobile forts looked heavy at first glance. They speculated that these things were not strong enough to climb hills and retreating was the only way to survive.
In the plain areas, they could not think of any way to deal with these steel mobile turrets that could not be penetrated by artillery shells.
What frightened them even more was that the artillery on the Han's steel mobile fort had a longer range than their commonly used artillery.
France has obtained a full set of Fujian artillery manufacturing technology, but it does not have the propellant technology.
Louis II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, ordered him to rest where he was.
French troops came to the creek one after another, and they saw the cavalry troops resting here.
Panting heavily, these people stopped by the river to rest.
Some people just lay on the ground and didn't want to get up; some people came to the river, held water in their hands and drank heavily; some people took out the bread and started eating.
Louis II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, was riding on another horse as he inspected the French army.
The French army was completely defeated, and its morale was very low.
They carried guns on their backs and a small amount of personal supplies.
A large number of weapons and supplies in the army were all abandoned.
Especially the cannons made in France, after entering the hilly areas, the cannons that were inconvenient to transport have been abandoned by the artillerymen.
Prince Louis II de Bourbon of Condé called General Dis and asked: "What is our situation? What is the situation of the Allied Forces?"
General Dis said with a frustrated look: "Your Excellency, when the Chinese army and the Han army attacked, we responded quickly.
On the way to escape, our army lost approximately 20,000 people.
Friendly forces may suffer more losses, especially the Russians and people from the Holy Roman Empire on the front lines.
There were more than 100,000 people left to block the Han army, and tens of thousands may have been separated during the escape.
Especially the Russian serf soldiers, once they lose the control of their officers, these serf soldiers will look for opportunities to escape.
A large part of the Holy Roman Empire's army was captured strong men.
The officers were all running for their lives and ignored the captured young men, who would also take the opportunity to escape."
Prince Kong Dai frowned when he heard that more than 100,000 people had been lost.
The European Allied Forces totaled more than one million men, and more than one-tenth of them were lost in one battle.
In their current situation, they simply cannot fight a few battles of this scale.
This battle in particular allowed Prince Kong Dai to truly see the power of the Han army.
With his many years of military career, he has realized that the Han army cannot be resisted by numbers.
Prince Kong Dai explained: "I think the morale of the army is already poor and they have basically lost the ability to resist.
If there is a short-term conflict with the Han army, defeat is inevitable.
Let the army eat quickly and regain its strength. We will continue to run westward.
In this situation, once we are overtaken by the Han army, what awaits us is the complete annihilation of our army."
When the French army was resting by the river, scattered cavalry arrived one after another.
They are all commanders-in-chief and senior officers of various countries. Even if the hilly areas are not suitable for war horses, these people can run faster on horses than on two legs.
When the commanders-in-chief of various countries saw Louis II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, they immediately surrounded him.
They sat around, drinking rum and eating steak.
They discussed the battle that took place in the morning.
Russian commander-in-chief Vladimir Ivanovich said with a horrified look on his face: "The Han people's steel mobile forts are too terrifying.
I have never seen such a monster.
It is equipped with artillery and machine guns, and its firepower is very sufficient. We are no match at all.
The most terrifying thing is not the firepower of the steel mobile turret, but its protective capabilities.
The Han people must have used very thick steel plates. I saw one of the cannonballs hit the target, and the monster only left a small dent, allowing it to continue moving.
According to my observation, the only effective way is to hit the steel wheels of the steel mobile turret."
Alfred Hohenzollern, the commander-in-chief of the Holy Roman Empire, agreed: "Margrave Ivanovich is right.
There are two reasons why we failed so miserably this time.
The first reason was insufficient preparation, which allowed the Han army to find opportunities for sneak attacks.
If it's an ordinary sneak attack, we still have a chance to react.
But the Han army's powerful firepower and steel mobile forts were beyond our expectations.
We were immediately stunned and failed to resist the Han attack immediately, resulting in the camp being divided and surrounded by steel mobile forts.
I suggest that we fight the Han in a decisive battle in the future, and we must not do it in open areas until we find a way to deal with weapons like the Han."
Otto von Schmidt, the commander-in-chief of the German Federation, remained silent, listening to them discuss the reasons for this failure.
Louis II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, discovered something strange about Otto von Schmidt, the commander-in-chief of the German Confederation.
He asked: "Count Schmidt, do you have any opinions?"
Otto von Schmidt, the commander-in-chief of the German Confederation, had the lowest title among all the people.
The strength of the German Federation is also the lowest among all countries.
Even though he had a lot to say, he never expressed himself.
The country is weak and what he says has basically no weight.
Otto von Schmidt, the commander-in-chief of the German Confederation, heard Prince Condé's inquiry.
He then responded: "Your Excellency, I think it is too early for us to discuss the gains and losses of this war.
Our most important thing now is to find a way to stop the enemy's pursuit.
With the current morale and material reserves of the Allied forces, it will be very difficult for them to encounter a Han attack, and the entire army may very well be annihilated."
Otto von Schmidt, the commander-in-chief of the German Federation, stated this situation bluntly.
The expressions of the commanders-in-chief of various countries, including Prince Kong Dai, changed drastically.
In this war, all countries have suffered heavy losses. If they do not perform well in the next war, their political future will be basically lost.
Once they are overtaken by the Han army and cause more serious losses, even if they can escape, they will definitely be hanged by the monarchs of various countries.
Prince Kong Dai snorted angrily and said: "The situation is urgent now. We should discuss more about how to escape safely."
Russian Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Ivanovich suggested: "I think all countries should send more troops to break up the rear."
Prince Kongdai waved his hand and said: "This suggestion is inappropriate. When we evacuated, I discovered that the troops behind us did not have a strong will to fight.
What's more, our armies have experienced rout.
The defeated soldiers under his command have already had the joy of escaping, so let them go and break up the rear.
They will become frustrated and more likely to surrender, and they will not be able to stop the Han army for long."
Alfred Hohenzollern, the commander-in-chief of the Holy Roman Empire, thought carefully about how to stop the Han army.
The Han people were heading west, crossing this mountainous and hilly area, which was the Austrian Great Plains, the core area of their Holy Roman Empire.
Alfred Hohenzollern, the commander-in-chief of the Holy Roman Empire, his eyes lit up and he pointed to the dense jungle on the mountain.
"If we want to stop the Han army's attack, apart from powerful fortresses like the Rock Fortress, we can only rely on the power of nature.
If we set this forest on fire, the wildfire will burn for at least several days.
With these few days, it is enough for us to reach Austria safely.
Then we can use the fortresses in Austria to resist the attack of the Han army."
Russian commander-in-chief Vladimir Ivanovich said in surprise: "This method is simple and effective. I think it can be implemented."
Louis II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, stood up and looked at the wind direction around him.
After igniting a wildfire, the fire will not engulf the European Allied forces.
As for the Yugoslavs living in this area, he didn't consider it at all.
Louis II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, made up his mind: "This is a good idea, let us soldiers stay with a group of confidants.
Wait until we are farther away and light the mountain fire.
I don’t believe that the Han people’s steel mobile forts can withstand the burning of raging fire.”
The commanders-in-chief of each country unanimously agreed. In order to prevent other countries from failing to do their best, they specially sent their own confidants to set fire to the jungle.
After the European Allied Forces took a brief rest, they continued westward with weary steps.
Someone just proposed to use the strategy of setting fire to the mountains to ambush the Han army.
But it ran aground because no one was there to implement it.
To adopt this strategy, it is necessary to leave a relatively elite army behind, let them sacrifice themselves, light mountain fires, and perish together with the Han army.
If no army wants to make self-sacrifice, they can only choose to evacuate the army and light mountain fires in advance to stop the enemy.
Prince Condé walked out of the valley. He looked to the east and saw several plumes of thick smoke rising from the forest in front of him.
The sky gradually darkened, and Prince Kong Dai looked to the east again.
The sky in the east was originally a bit gray, but it was reflected red by the mountain fires.
Louis II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, said with confidence: "Even if these Han troops are possessed by Satan, they will be burned to ashes by the raging fire."
…………………………
Chen Zhongwen, commander of the First Army of the Imperial Army.
He held a telegram and said to Wei Xiaoyong, commander of the tank regiment, and Zhang Wenliang, commander of the self-propelled artillery regiment: "This is a commendation telegram sent by His Majesty the Emperor.
His Majesty commended the entire First Army.
Special awards will be given to the tank regiment and the self-propelled artillery regiment."
When Wei Xiaoyong and Zhang Wenliang heard the good news, they both had smiles on their faces.
This is an army-wide commendation personally issued by His Majesty the Emperor. With this qualification, promotion will become much easier in the future.
Chen Zhongwen finally encouraged: "I hope you will continue to work hard and make more achievements.
His Majesty the Emperor is very generous and will not treat meritorious officials ill.
When this war is over, I will most likely be promoted to Duke, and you are also looking forward to becoming Marquis, or at least earl.
Lay a solid foundation for your family."
After the two of them heard it, they were both in a state of excitement.
Most people join the army not just to make contributions and to honor their ancestors.
They are not too far away from achieving this achievement.
Wei Xiaoyong said worriedly: "The European Allied forces fled to the mountains and hilly areas of Eastern Europe.
Our chariot regiment is in the plain area and has nothing to fear.
But in mountainous and hilly areas, our performance is not as good as that of our infantry brothers.
We don’t know where the empire is planning to fight, so we must not just fight a few wars, have European countries surrender, and then withdraw our troops.”
Wei Xiaoyong thought about the battle between China and Russia, when the empire had gained a huge advantage, but it held on to the original line of actual control and stopped advancing.
The seniors who were preparing to make great achievements back then all retired with depressed expressions.
Wei Xiaoyong didn't want him to end up like this, it would be really uncomfortable.
He knows that the empire has overall strategic considerations, but if it falls on an individual, it means missing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Chen Zhongwen smiled mysteriously and said: "Don't worry, there will be many wars in the future, just don't think there are too many."
When Wei Xiaoyong heard the military commander's words, he finally let go of his worries.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! There will definitely be no shortage of wars to come.
Thinking about this situation, the empire dispatched three armies to attack. This was a big move that had not been made in a long time.
This cannot end in an anticlimactic manner, and some results must be achieved.
Song Yunqiao, Chief of Staff of the First Army, opened the door and walked into the room.
Commander Chen Zhongwen saw that his face was not very good and asked: "Chief of Staff Song, what happened?"
Chief of Staff Song Yunqiao said angrily: "The European Allied Forces are so evil-hearted. In order to prevent our army from attacking, they even set fire to the mountains in an attempt to use fire to block our army's advance."
When Commander Wei Xiaoyong heard these words, his eyes lit up and he said: "Set fire to the mountains. Without the obstruction of the forest, our chariot regiment can exert its full strength."
Commander Chen Zhongwen glared at Wei Xiaoyong.
Wei Xiaoyong immediately lowered his head and leaned to the side. He knew that he might have said the wrong thing because of his quick words.
Commander Chen Zhongwen sighed: "The European Allied Forces are a more traditional feudal army. They use all means to achieve their goals.
In order to stop His Majesty the Emperor's army, the Ming army prepared to blow up the Yellow River.
In order to stop our army's attack, the European Allied Forces set fire to the mountains. I'm not surprised at all.
This is also a very effective method, water and fire are ruthless.
We cannot brave the raging flames and continue the attack.
We suffered some military setbacks, but the European Allies lost the hearts and minds of the people here.
After setting fire to the mountain, it is unknown how many local indigenous people died in the fire.
This will greatly ease the difficulty of managing this area.
Our First Army may as well wait for the Second Army and the Seventh Army to join together and defeat the European Allied Forces with a huge advantage."
Chief of Staff Song Yunqiao was convinced, he nodded and said: "Then I will report this matter to Commander Lu Chenyang.
When the three armies join forces, the mountain fire should be extinguished, and then we will lead the war."