Merida City, the temporary command post of the Desay Division.

After negotiating with Marshal Viktor, the Desai Division successfully took over the city of Merida and its surrounding areas and obtained the command of the sailor battalion under the First Army for 3 months. This insider transaction naturally had to pay the price. In addition to bearing the military pay for the sailor battalion, Desai also gave the First Army a batch of military supplies, especially the cans and cigarettes required by Marshal Viktor.

Since the advent of cigarettes, it has not only been well received by the soldiers of the Desai Division, but also made other friendly officers and soldiers salivate. However, because cigarettes are listed as military combat readiness substances and the current production capacity is not high, they are usually given priority to the Desai Division. Only a small amount of cigarettes are sold on the market through various underground channels. Therefore, the actual cost is only half a riyal and 20 cigarettes per package are sold in the market, and the market price is as high as 10 riyal (equivalent to 2 francs), which is not something ordinary soldiers can enjoy.

Fortunately, the Manresa Cabinet in the rear has made full preparations, absorbed a large amount of private capital, and invested in the expansion of cigarette processing plants. By the second half of this year, the cigarette production capacity will increase to 10 times the current one. Large-scale production can not only greatly reduce the cost of cigarettes, meet the military supply of tens of thousands of soldiers, but also put it on the market in large quantities. What makes Say and others most happy is that the Duke of Hruna has even agreed to the proposal of the Manresa Cabinet to impose a special consumption tax of up to 300% on cigarettes.

...

On June 29, after listening to the military information report of Corporal Jacques, Desai, Rusti and others were first happy, and then shouted "It's a pity, a pity." If the command could get news of the internal strife of the Spanish army from the intelligence personnel in time, the Desai division would have been able to travel to the vicinity of Barros Town to encircle and annihilate more than 10,000 rebels who suffered heavy casualties and lacked fighting spirit due to internal friction.

However, the time traveler quickly felt relieved, saying that "I am lucky if I get it, and I am lucky if I lose it."

It is enough to be able to eliminate three thousand rebel soldiers in one fell swoop without taking a shot or hurting a person, and to force them to strife and divide, greatly shaking the morale of the Spanish rebels. This is enough. Even God will become jealous if he makes harsh and shameless demands. After all, it was the era of the black powder war in the 19th century, and communication technology could not reach the point of instantaneous transmission and reception.

After laughing, Desai signed a promotion order to Corporal Jacques in public and promoted him to the rank of lieutenant in an extraordinary manner to commend his outstanding contribution. Desai ordered a meeting of senior officers to discuss the encirclement and annihilation of the troops heading north to Galicia.

In the combat deployments formulated by Chief Rusty, the main participating troops included: General Dernie's First Infantry Brigade, General Barbanegel's Third Infantry Brigade, General Hugo's Fourth Infantry Brigade, General Desnuet's Cavalry Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel's Artillery Regiment, and a battalion of engineers, a sailor battalion seconded from Marshal Viktor.

The total force of this battle was as high as 20,000, including 15,000 infantry (including naval battalions and engineer battalions), 4,000 cavalry, and the number of artillery of various calibers was 30. In comparison, the Spanish Northern Advance Corps commanded by Galicia had only less than 7,000 people, including 3,000 cavalry and more than 3,000 infantry, and the number of artillery was even short of. The only artillery company was only equipped with 2 3-pound and 1 4-pound artillery.

In terms of troop comparison, our side is three times the enemy, and the number of artillery fire and caliber accounts for 10 times the absolute advantage. In addition, our own soldiers have extremely high combat qualities, the participating troops have high morale and sufficient logistics supplies. Finally, there is no problem in fighting on the battlefield we preset. The current problem is how to achieve a complete victory of gathering and annihilation, and not letting a Spanish rebel out.

Chief of Staff Rusti made a careful arrangement. But before that, General Barbanegel, who was steady in character, raised an objection at the meeting. He believed that our army had such a great advantage, even if the operation was carefully and concealed, it was difficult for the Spanish rebels to detect. However, the enemy commander General Galicia was not stupid. He was a vigilant after more than 10 years of service. His troops may be named North, but in fact he shot a shot, following other Spanish rebels, fled to hide elsewhere.

Faced with Barbanegel's doubts, Rusty smiled slightly. After obtaining Desai's acquiesce, the chief of staff of the division handed over his voice to Major Passel, the head of the intelligence department, to give the latter a detailed answer.

Passel stood up and said, "Dear Duke and generals, based on the analysis and demonstration of the Intelligence Department, we unanimously determined that the remaining 7,000 rebels led by Galicia can only and must also capture the quarry in the south of Melda. There are three reasons:

First, fight to rescue relatives and friends. The rebels have learned that all kinds of false news spread by the Intelligence Department. With reason, Galicia must come to rescue the surviving relatives and friends in Montijo. What's more, we also told the Spanish general that there was only a sailor camp with less than 600 people near the quarry. Haha, with 6,000 to 600, Galicia will make up the accounts in his heart;

Second, fight for the morale of soldiers. Due to the division and internal strife between the rebels, after losing the support of the rear base, the morale of the rebels will gradually weaken. Galicia cannot see or imagine. In order to boost the morale of soldiers and reshape the morale of the troops, the most effective way is to win a victory, because the army is a monster that is constantly raised with victory. So in the quarry, we have prepared an excellent opportunity for Galicia to create victory;

Third, fight for the future of the army. First, he lost the protection of his father, General Gesta, and then broke up with the three nobles. Galicia, who was rebelling with the army, could no longer turn back. The noble parliament of Cadiz would even declare him a national traitor to Spain. In this unfavorable situation, the only way out for the Galician rebels was to surrender to the British in order to obtain military aid. By capturing the naval battalion of the quarry, he raided the supply lines of our division, and while saving surviving relatives and friends, he actively showed goodwill to the British.

At the same time, the Intelligence Department successfully instigated a coalition spy. At present, this person has contacted the Galician rebels. With his assistance, the rebels will march and fight according to our established lines."

Passel's explanation made the generals present relieved and all turned their attention to Chief of Staff Rusty, waiting for his combat deployment. Everyone can see the outstanding contributions of the intelligence department. Just an inconspicuous intelligence corporal was able to provoke a fierce battle between two Spanish rebels and killed more than 3,000 people.

While everyone praised the Intelligence Department, they felt a little savory. Before the battle was fought, a mere intelligence department was specialized in the past and made great achievements. However, as the commander of each main combat unit, they have not made any achievements. The generals planned to never let a Spanish rebel on the battlefield in the future. Otherwise, not to mention themselves, even the soldiers under their command would not be able to raise their heads.

When the brigade commanders volunteered to fight and asked his troops to take on the main force of encircling and annihilation of the rebels, Desai did not give a reply. He had delegated his responsibilities to his chief of staff, and the latter would make specific arrangements.

It is almost a foregone conclusion that it is necessary to encircle and annihilate the Galician rebels. All it takes is time and patience, plus a little bit of good luck. In the noisy meeting, Desai sat firmly in the chief, turning his ears down, holding his chest with his hands, and he was quietly thinking about the battlefield situation of the Portuguese Legion commanded by Marshal Massena on another battlefield.

On May 31, 1810, the Sixth Army (18,000 soldiers) led by Marshal Ney arrived at the city of Rodrigo in Spain as the vanguard of the Portuguese army. The city was located on a hill in the middle of the plain terrain and was the first pass for the French invasion of Portugal. On the opposite side, there were only 7,000 Spanish defenders defending the city of Rodrigo.

In mid-June, when the main forces of Portugal arrived, the Sixth Army had cleared the outer fortifications of the city of Rodrigo and surrounded the Spanish defenders.

A few days later, nearly 70,000 French troops immediately launched a powerful offensive against the 7,000 Spanish troops stationed in the city of Rodrigo. With the help of the parallel trenches, the absolute superior force of the enemy was 10 times the enemy's absolute superior force, and the bombardment of large-caliber siege artillery, on July 10, the Portuguese army successfully captured the city of Rodrigo and eliminated 5,400 Spanish defenders. The remaining more than a thousand remnants broke through the French army under the cover of a British light-dressing division and retreated to Portugal to rest.

This British light-equipped unit led by General Roland Hill had already conducted warning activities in the western Portuguese border before Marshal Ney's Sixth Army arrived at Rodrigo. Following the "Space for Time" combat training order by Commander Wellington, Hill's British troops kept hiding in the jungle and sat quietly watching the fall of Rodrigo. Only at the end of the French army, they led their troops to meet the remnants of the Spanish defenders who broke through the encirclement.

Marshal Massena also noticed this British army, so he sent General St. Croix to lead 5 battalions of infantry and 6 cavalry squadrons, carrying a small number of light artillery to chase the British on the border between Portugal and Spain. However, the British light-dressing division commanded by Hill did not engage in a head-on battle with the French army. Along the way, there were only minor conflicts between the two armies and no major wars. From the beginning to the end, after the British soldiers fired 2 to 3 bullets, they began to evacuate in an orderly manner under the command of the officers.

After marching along the western Portuguese border for 30 kilometers, General San Croix understood that the strong defense of Almeda Fortress was not far away. At the same time, he was worried about the safety of his retreat, so he immediately ordered to give up his relentless pursuit of the British army and led his troops back to defend the city of Rodrigo.

After listening to General St. Croix's report on the battle situation and combining the information collected by various patrol soldiers, Marshal Massena analyzed that the British and Portuguese coalition forces were not prepared to send heavy troops to assist in defense of various border fortresses, so they could formulate the next goal of the Portuguese Legion: to go south to the Almeda Fortress and open the door to Portugal territory.

After a week of rest in Rodrigo, Marshal Massena left 2,300 soldiers (including two infantry battalions, a cavalry regiment, and two artillery companies) to garrison the city. The rest of the troops continued to advance and move towards the northwest Almeda Fortress.

...
Chapter completed!