To make it clear, Brigadier General Barbanegel of the Third Infantry Brigade and Major General Desnuet of the Cavalry Brigade were both famous French generals in the Napoleon era. They were also the only senior commanders in the Desay Division who are currently in history. As for the resumes and personalities of the two generals, please refer to Chapter 2, Section 65.

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The emperor was not afraid of hungry soldiers. This was the consensus between the Eastern monarchs and generals, and the same was true in the West. In the "Regulations on Infantry Mobile Training on August 1, 1791", the commanders repeatedly emphasized the importance of good logistics support to the morale of soldiers. However, in the Napoleonic War era when troops were frequently mobilized, logistics affairs, including supply and transportation, were always a big problem.

In addition to the large number of non-combat reductions in soldiers due to hunger, there were frequent incidents of soldiers fleeing due to hunger. In 1812, when Napoleon ordered an expedition to Russia, 500,000 troops entered Russian territory, but three months later, the number of French expeditionary forces had dropped by less than half. The main reason for the huge reductions was that the soldiers fled privately, and the hunger caused by food shortage was the common reason told by the escapees at the time of battle.

Although Napoleon and his Army Department, with the help of mathematicians, used complex mathematical formulas and clever structural models to accurately calculate the amount of consumption of the army in marching and combat, in actual operations, it was difficult for the directors responsible for logistics transportation to meet the strict requirements of the emperor and the commanders in front of the army for various military supplies.

Due to the simple and slow transportation (mainly four-way vehicles) and extremely poor road conditions (limestone Avenue), even if the military supplies in France are piled up, they cannot be transported to the front line in time. This is especially true on the Spanish battlefield.

Therefore, Napoleon said to his marshals and generals: "When a large number of troops are concentrated in one place, the supply method of marching will not work, so food and fodder must be collected directly nearby." In this way, on the Iberis Peninsula, the originally disciplined and brave French-army became hungry and relied on robbery to make a living.

Before becoming Duke of Hruna to control Catalonia, the Desai Division also followed Napoleon's logistical amnesty order, but after that, things changed. Following the Duke of Desai's advice, General Rusti, the General of the General Staff, and the Military Intelligence Agency, invited many scholars and experts, including mathematicians, economists, and clergy, to conduct a very interesting case study based on the 300,000 French troops in the battlefields of Spain and Portugal since 1808.

They found that during the Spanish War, if the French army did not arbitrarily requisition the food and fodder of the residents of the occupied areas, but instead through appropriate purchase or equivalent exchange, the armed resistance of the local residents could be reduced by nearly 60%; if the commander used reliable clergy to conduct food transactions with Catholic residents, then this number would be reduced by 90%. The cost savings include preventing the rebel forces, pensions for the fallen officers and soldiers, and various military supplies generated during the encirclement and suppression process. The above total is equivalent to 3 to 5 times the cost of purchasing food and fodder from the residents of the occupied areas at the beginning of the period.

Living here, Duke Hruna decisively ordered the two rules of this division to include "no private property of residents but must be purchased or exchanged" and "respect the Catholic priest who becomes a military priest" in the military rules of our division.

Soon, after the French Revolution, the army had been reinstated, and the army had been banned in the army holding the Bible and wearing black robes. These Catholic priests would not only assist the officers in handling religious, moral, moral, and moral affairs, and managing the military's religious activities, including baptism, presiding for weddings, praying and confession, funeral requiem, regular religious education, etc. They would also teach religious lessons before and after the battle as "God Messenger".

Not only that, the Desai Military Rules also give the priests more roles, including acting as psychologists and political commissars. The priests have a lot of contact with officers and soldiers in daily life, understand and grasp their ideological dynamics and living conditions, grasp their various problems in personal life, family life, interpersonal communication, moral qualities, political tendencies, religious emotions, etc., and provide timely guidance and assistance to the actual thoughts of officers and soldiers, help commanders prevent various negative phenomena in the army and promote military stability.

Although he was a little resistant, General Barbanegel had to admit that the existence of the priest of the army had prevented commanders at all levels from a lot of trouble. The soldiers with faith were not only loyal to Duke Hruna, but also feared military law and respected officers. The plunder of local residents was no longer savage and vulgar, and they acted recklessly in a legal, orderly and seemingly fair way.

During the march, whenever he needed food and fodder to a town, General Barbanegel would always see a certain Catholic priest who entered the city alone as a local liaison officer. He had no weapons with him, except for a hard-skinned Bible that was half old and not new.

Half an hour later, the priest accompanied the town officials out of the city to communicate with the quartermasters responsible for logistics supply. Soon, the town officials would reach a compromise and accept the quartermasters to purchase the food raw materials in the hands of the town residents at half of the market transaction price; and the other half of the expenses would be amortized through the town public property to make up for the price difference caused by the grain-selling residents.

However, in many cases, urban residents are happy to use stored flour, potatoes, various vegetables, as well as pigs, cattle, sheep, wine, etc. to exchange canned tin dishes mentioned by the quartermaster. That is, the latter tastes more delicious and lasts longer.

According to the marching supply standard plan, a unit with 17,000 people is required to carry 300 large trucks (the capacity is about 1 ton) for 10 days of supply. Most of the supply teams of the Desay Division are canned food, and only 3 days of ordinary ingredients are retained (flour, potatoes, vegetables, fresh meat, and barrel wine, etc.).

General Barbanegel did not know the value of the canned food loaded by a large cart, but he knew that a ton of canned food could easily be exchanged for 10 large carts, that is, 10 tons of transport supplies. 20 days later, the Desay Division successfully arrived at its destination and when the Badajos Fortress, there were still 60% of the canned tinplate in the baggage convoy before departure.

Of course, the actual cost of canning is a secret that Desai ordered to abide by. Even the chief officer in charge of the division's baggage and logistics, Lieutenant Colonel Deva never figured it out.

In fact, the canned cost of a large truck (a cargo of about one ton) is only 1,500 riyals, and the total value of 120 canned trucks is only 180,000 riyals. If we include the money to purchase military supplies in the towns along the way, the cost of 300,000 riyals at half price will be 300,000 riyals, and the cost of soldiers' rations for the entire Desai Division within 20 days is only 480,000 riyals, equivalent to 96,000 francs.

In addition to obtaining military supplies through purchases and exchanges along the way, General Barbanegel discovered that the Desay Division also had a special food supply method, fishing.

In fact, Desai originally wanted soldiers to hunt in the jungle, which was more convenient and fast, but the lawyers in the military warned Duke Hruna that most of the animals in the forest were regarded as the private property of towns and hunters. It is seriously illegal to catch prey on a large scale in the forest without the owner's permission and pay a certain fee, which is no different from condolence to soldiers to publicly plunder the residents' personal property. Finally, the lawyer suggested that the Duke of Desai choose wild fish that no one cares about.

There are many rivers and lakes on the Iberis Peninsula, and many river fish grow in it all year round, some of which weigh more than tens of kilograms. However, in Spain, except for coastal fishermen, inland residents rarely catch and eat these aquatic fish, which makes it cheaper for the officers and soldiers of the Desay Division, especially those from Marseille and Barcelona, ​​who are fishermen.

Soldiers usually start marching at 6 a.m. after breakfast, and set up camp at around 3 p.m. Soldiers who do not participate in duty or do not have training tasks can voluntarily apply to the military police. After approval, they will go to the engineering regiment's garrison to report to the station. They will be led by sergeants with fishing experience, drag fishing nets and other tools from the cart to salvage big fish in rivers and lakes near the camp.

Fishing and shrimp may be the happiest and exciting moments for soldiers after a boring hiking day. Although many of them do not like to eat fish, the supply of fresh meat is always lacking during the marching in the wild, and it is impossible for pork and lamb chops to be supplied every day (the officers and wounded soldiers are given priority).

So for most of the time, the meat protein that soldiers need to supplement is the canned Spam that is the one that is the same as the one that is disgusting and hard to swallow. Therefore, they would rather pinch their noses, drink fish soup (porridge), and eat fish meat.

Fishing in rivers and lakes is not limited to soldiers, but officers will also participate. When they have nothing to do, General Desai came to join in the fun. One day, when Duke Hruna, who was thinking of catching fish with bare hands and accidentally fell into the river pond, climbed back to the shore with sludge, the onlookers laughed wildly at the supreme commander.

Desai shrugged helplessly and smiled with a self-deprecating smile, as if he didn't mind the rude behavior of his subordinates. General Barbanegel was also at the scene, and he handed a blanket to Duke Hruna who walked beside him.

Desai nodded and thanked him, and then wrapped the blanket tightly around him. Then, the soldiers who were still working hard in the river pond not far away and played with each other from time to time laughed and scolded at Barbanegel: "Look, these damn bastards always like to see their superiors make a fool of themselves. When they return to the camp, they must let these guys eat more cans!"

Duke Hruna's words made Barbanegel laugh and cry after hearing this. He asked: "Hisser Duke, our army's food reserves are enough to support the division's arrival at its destination. Why do you let the soldiers catch fish to replenish their food?"

After a moment of silence, Desai began to tell his infantry brigade commander bluntly, saying: "General Barbanegel, it should not be difficult for you to notice that the troops' marching routes, supply points, camp locations, and even the areas where rivers and ponds are fished strictly follow the corresponding schedule and proceed step by step. Of course, most of this is attributed to Lieutenant Colonel Ultrasle and Major Simertz.

After more than five months of field investigation and detailed research, they assisted the General Staff to formulate a marching route for the division. However, when our army penetrated deep into Portugal, we will definitely face the enemy's defensive strategy of strengthening the walls and clearing the fields. The food supply along the way cannot be so smooth, so the officers and soldiers must learn to use various means to ensure their own survival.

Of course, fishing in river ponds is just one of the forms. Before arriving at the Badajoz Fortress, the soldiers were already and were about to learn more survival skills in the wild, including: how to obtain clean water sources, how to prevent and control the hazards of diseases, how to harvest food, how to make fires and cook, how to hide whereabouts, how to identify the location, etc.

Barbanegel asked in confusion: "But the task of our division is only to restrain the British. There is no need to go deep into the enemy's depths and shoulder the responsibilities of the Portuguese Legion?"

Desai shook his head, then took a step forward, and said softly: "No, General, please remember! As I said to all the officers and soldiers before going to war, the final task of the Desai Division was to occupy Lisbon and drive the British into the sea, not just to release smoke bombs for Marshal Massena's main legion so that the British could divide the troops."
Chapter completed!