Like most French generals fighting on the Iberis Peninsula, the British did not believe in Desay's oath. In their eyes, the Duke of Hruna seemed to be better at political speculation and economic life than military talents.

In February of last year, everyone knew that the commander Marshal Rana was well-instructed; the record of encircling and annihilation of thousands of Spanish mountain rebels was not worth mentioning in the eyes of the arrogant generals; as for occupying Hruna and annexing the entire Catalonia and Aragon region, it was just that Desay was lucky, picking peaches at the foot of the mountain and taking advantage of opportunities.

But they don’t know a military motto from the East: Those who are good at fighting have no great achievements. Desai always believes that all work should be done before the war. When the war begins, all favorable conditions are on our side and all unfavorable factors are on the enemy.

Desai never cared about the unfair evaluation of his friendly forces and enemies for himself. As a time traveler who is familiar with the development of history, he knew how to hide his weaknesses and confuse others. If necessary, even his own people can be kept in the dark.

Unlike Desnuet, who was brave but simple-minded, Barbanegel was calm when encountering problems and then acted. He was skeptical about his oath. He neither sneered at outsiders, looked down on others, nor did he imitate the soldiers' fanatical and unthinking belief. Therefore, Barbanegel went all out to try to draw the truth from the division commander. His purpose was to understand the future combat strategy, but Desai only pointed it out and always avoided talking about other topics extended by the commander of the Third Infantry Brigade.

It is not that Desai did not trust Barbanegel, but the former believed that there was no need to reveal the mystery. At least before arriving at Badajos Fortress, all combat plans were not yet mature. At present, only Desai and his chief of staff, General Rusti, knew about it.

"Familiar with the division's military orders, manage your own troops well, and continue to listen carefully to the lectures at the regular meetings of the division headquarters. As for the others, wait until the situation comes naturally." This is the last sentence left to Barbanegel before Desai left.

Looking at the back of the division commander who was leaving, Barbanegel felt a little depressed. His conservative personality and cautious words and actions not only apply to him, but also to General Desai. But when he thought of his old superior and the content of the letter written to him by Marshal Dawu, Barbanegel slowly calmed down his mind and then let go.

Marshal Dawu once said: "A good commander must not only know how to lead the army on the battlefield, but also learn how to govern, consolidate the army, intelligence analysis and overall planning. In this regard, Desai will be your good teacher and friend."

In Barbanegel's eyes, Desai's army was indeed strict in military discipline, well-equipped, and had strong logistics. It was unmatched in health management and medical security. In this regard, it was the best French army he had seen. Moreover, the soldiers were well-trained, loyal, and powerful, comparable to the emperor's guards.

If you want to find the shortcomings, it is that officers, especially senior officers, do not have rich experience in commanding division and brigade-level troops to fight. This is also the main purpose of Desai's strong invitation to Barbanegel and Desnuet to join the Desai Division.

As a senior general in the army, Barbanegel also knew the existence of the mysterious Military Intelligence Agency. Every once in a while, like all senior officers, he would also receive a military information briefing. In addition to detailed descriptions of Portugal's human geography, climate characteristics, and religious customs, it also reproduced the latest updates of the British-Portugal coalition forces intercepted by the Military Intelligence Agency, including officer resumes, troops mobilization, defense measures, enemy military morale and morale analysis, all kinds of things are available.

Barbanegel didn't know how much the Military Intelligence Agency had spent to obtain these precious information, but he believed that Desai seemed to have focused on a battle with the British as early as the Hruna period. Because the above military secrets could not be given to the enemy, the spies collected them overnight and would have to make long-term infiltration and careful deployment.

What’s more interesting is that at the routine officer meeting, General Desai always leaves 30 minutes to allow Chief of Staff Rusti to combine the intelligence collected by the Military Intelligence Bureau to analyze the character characteristics and combat style of each middle and senior commander of the British and Portuguese coalition forces, understand their advantages and explore their shortcomings, in order to play to their strengths and avoid their weaknesses in the future battlefield, and defeat the enemy and win. To apply the military motto that Desai himself often quotes, it is "Only by knowing oneself and one's enemy, one can he be defeated in a hundred battles!"

Among the many enemy generals, the chief of staff of the division was more analysed, in addition to the commander-in-chief of the British and Portuguese coalition forces and General Wellington, one of Wellington's main assistants, William Carl Bellsford, the British Army General, and the Portuguese Field Marshal.

Referring to the coalition's troops mobilization and combat arrangements, General Rusty once warned the officers present that this General Bellsford may be the main opponent that the Desay Division will face in the early stage on the battlefield in the eastern Portugal.

"The 41-year-old British One-Eyed Dragon, like Russian Marshal Kutuzov, has extensive military knowledge and rich combat experience. He attaches importance to artillery combat, is good at training soldiers, emphasizes logistics support, and is proficient in six languages, including English, French, Irish, Spanish, German, and Russian.

...As a personal friend of the Regent of Portugal, General Bellsford, who had a mild habit, had a natural affinity for this British allied state. The series of military reforms he engaged in in the Portuguese military camps were deeply welcomed and supported by ordinary local soldiers.

...He cherishes the lives of soldiers and is good at using fortresses to organize defense; but in terms of offense, he reacts slightly slow. When he is not sure, he would rather give up victory at his fingertips. This made the middle and lower-level British officers who advocated maintaining the offensive very dissatisfied. During the war in 1809, some British officers led their troops to attack privately because they were dissatisfied with the commander's conservative style.

...It is particularly worth mentioning that General Bellsford seemed to regard himself as a Portuguese, and then often forget his true nationality and true mission. Although he was subject to strict military discipline and rank, the British officers under his command never liked such compatriots and generals. Even his staff officer Major Henry Harding dared to boldly cross the ranks and wrote a letter to the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, complaining that General Bellsford was kind to Portuguese soldiers, even more than the British officer.

… When attacking General Bellsford's troops who were hiding in a strong fortress and refused to take the initiative to fight, you can consider focusing on the unruly British officers, luring the latter to not comply with the instructions of the superiors and boldly enter the ambush zone set by us. Of course, the liaison officers set up by the Military Intelligence Bureau in various brigades will provide you with information and provide timely assistance.”

General Barbanegel, who was a sailor, did not like this kind of paper talk, but he firmly obeyed the request of the Chief of Staff, listened carefully in class, and read materials in his spare time to make up for the lack of a lesson in military life in his military career.

...

When he returned to the barracks from the fishing pond, Barbanegel saw the soldiers of the North Aragon regiment, and underwent passionate line-up conversion training amid the hard shouts of the barbarian soldiers.

"Bastard, trash, idiot, cowardly!" Such dirty words kept resounding over the military camp.

Barbanegel frowned slightly. He really couldn't figure out that this rifle regiment, which was preparing to engage in mountain combat missions, had to follow the British training methods and constantly make complex queue conversions day after day.

Major Mardan, who was watching the soldiers training, saw the brigade commander's doubts, stepped forward to salute, and explained: "General, according to the requirements of the division commander and the chief of staff, frequent queue conversion training can not only cultivate the team's coordination ability, but also faster and more efficiently familiarize and master the British combat mode, which is conducive to blocking and killing the enemy on the future battlefield. In addition, after arriving at the Badajos Fortress, our regiment will also play the role of the British army and conduct a series of practical military exercises with friendly forces."

Practical military exercises were a new term learned by Barbanegel in the Desay military camp. Previous French recruits usually practiced on war, and gained various combat experience at the cost of their own casualties in frequent confrontations with the enemy.

But Desai did not want this. In his opinion, the life of every soldier is precious. It is necessary to replace some meaningless military squandering on the battlefield through strict training and strengthening practical exercises.

General Barbanegel smiled and made any judgment on Major Mardan's report. At present, the command of the Third Infantry Brigade Commander only has one Irish regiment and one Catalan regiment. The Northern Aragon regiment in front of him is still in the training stage of the military camp. Only after completing all basic subjects and passing the inspection will it be officially awarded the military flag and placed under the command of Barbanegel himself.

"Oh, what are you going to do after the queue?" asked General Barbanegel.

"Report to the general, we will organize soldiers to learn French in platoons!" Major Mardan replied honestly.

In the French barracks, one of the primary conditions for ordinary soldiers to become promoted to sergeants or even officers is to be able to read, write, understand and draft documents. Barbanegel also became a senior officer in the barracks through mutual assistance and self-study.

"What subjects did you do before the queue?" General Barbanegel found that many soldiers were covered in mud.

"Report to General, two hours ago, we assisted the brothers of the Engineering Corps to arrange the division camps, set up barbed wire mesh, dig trenches, build chest walls, and build fortifications." Major Mardan replied.

The standards for battalion defense during the march refer to the detailed provisions in the Regulations of 1791. Of course, barbed wire is not included, which is the unique battalion rule of the Desai Division. Within 100 yards outside the military camp, a comprehensive defense system surrounding the entire military camp is formed by 2-meter-high wooden stakes taken locally and wire wrapped with spikes, combined with chest walls and trenches.

The barbed wire mesh is used as a camp defense, which is not only simple to disassemble and assemble, but also convenient to transport. Although it is expensive, Barbanegel also believes that it is worth the money. The existence of barbed wire mesh allows the troops to quickly build camps in the field. Even if they do not build chest walls and dig trenches in time, they can resist several times the large-scale attacks of the enemy. Especially at night, the tinplate cans hanging on each barbed wire mesh can achieve the best warning effect, and any movements can be detected in time by the defenders.

However, according to Desai's idea, in the camp's fortifications, minefields of 300 to 500 meters should be set up in front of the outer barbed wire. Although the mines filled with black gunpowder are not very powerful, the iron fragments produced by their explosions rarely cause soldiers to die, but they can also cause effective lethality and add more wounded soldiers to the enemy's rear hospitals.

The chest wall, trenches, barbed wire mesh, and combined with deep minefields, this is the relatively perfect field defense system in Desai's mind.

After finishing the conversation with Major Mardan, General Barbanegel returned to his tent, took out his diary, and wrote down everything that happened inside and outside the military camp today, and more of it was his own profound insights.

During this period, he wrote in his diary: "...This is not the French army that I am familiar with, but it is actually a multinational force composed of different ethnic groups, but it is strictly disciplined... What impressed me the most was the strategic intention mentioned by General Desay in his oath, not a arrogant lie... I look forward to testing my confidence erected today with great victory on the battlefield in Portugal!"
Chapter completed!