In fact, as early as the way from Zaragoza to Hruna, the General Staff advised the brigade commander Desai not to participate in the battle of Hruna. Only by blocking and besieging Hruna for at least half a year, gradually cutting off external troops and logistics supplies, and waiting for a large-scale famine and various epidemics to occur in the city is the best way to seize the strong fortress.

Historically, Hruna was besieged by the French army for nearly half a year. When the defenders were exhausted from ammunition and food, and the city was full of dysentery and septicemia, they finally fell in December 1809. In October, the French commander was appointed by Marshal Ogero, replacing General Saint-Sil, who was weak in siege. The latter was driven back to his manor to recuperate because of disobedience.

As for General Vedier, as early as mid-September, he saw that the situation was not good, so he deliberately had a big fight with General Saint-Sil. After writing a letter to the Madrid General Staff, he led his troops to the central and southern theater in Spain.

Desai naturally accepted the correct proposal of the General Staff. After rushing to Hruna, he thought about not working hard. It happened that Marshal Rana was seriously injured and unconscious on the Austrian battlefield. General Desai, who was a disciple of his children, naturally took advantage of the situation and left Lieutenant Colonel Rusty to deal with it. He ran to the small chapel in the mountain village to take refuge. He claimed to the outside world that it was to pray to God so that Marshal Rana's injuries could stabilize.

During this period, no matter how General Saint-Sil urged the Mixed Brigade to join the battlefield, Lieutenant Colonel Rusty, who replaced General Desai to attend the meeting, said that when he reported to Desai, the latter pretended to be deaf and dumb, and only wanted to chat with God in his dream. After receiving General Desai's promotion order, the Chief of Staff took the initiative to hint to General Saint-Sil that if some legitimate requests of the Desai brigade were not met, General Desai would take the initiative to transfer to the battlefield, such as choosing to station near Barcelona.

"Indeed, as a real general, there is another benefit. If necessary, you can file a complaint with His Excellency Chief of Staff in Madrid, reject some wrong orders from the Commander of the War Zone, General Saint-Sil, and ask for a war." Lieutenant Colonel Rusty said.

This is a strange phenomenon on the Spanish battlefield. In addition to Napoleon himself, the relationship between his marshals and generals under him was not harmonious, perhaps the result of the emperor's conscious indulgence. When a general was given the order to command another general of the same level, if the former did not overwhelm the latter in terms of military achievements, qualifications, knowledge, military strength, etc., at least enough money and logistics should be provided, otherwise, you should not let the general at the same level obey the order.

Among the ranks of generals in the Napoleon era, there were only brigade generals and major generals. As for lieutenant generals, the generals were mostly nonsense (naval exceptions), and the marshal was not a rank, but just a kind of glory. When Desai was promoted to major general, it meant that he could lead the army to fight. In other words, Desai was also qualified to not listen to the orders of General St. Cial, who was on par with him.

The personnel appointment power of the Desai Brigade belongs to the Paris Army Department or the Chief of Staff of Madrid, and the emperor behind the two. When Desai was a brigade general, Saint-Sil could also have command power and demand the Desai Brigade to quickly reinforce in an orderly tone. After the two have the same military ranks, even if Saint-Sil has a higher position than Desai, he only has the right to guide. If the latter wants to be obedient, he can only share the benefits and bring out some benefits.

Lieutenant Colonel Rusty's arrival indicated that General St. Cial had compromised. The latter agreed to pay the 3-month logistics supplies to the Desai Brigade and the 1 million riyals to change the task of attacking Hruna to block the periphery. Go east to prevent the harassment of the British fleet, and go north to encircle and suppress the local mountain guerrillas. In addition, all spoils will be left to the Desai Brigade to handle it themselves.

On June 12, the military camp of the Desai Brigade moved from the southern suburbs of Hruna to the northeast of the city, downstream of the Francoli River, less than 5 kilometers from the Western Mediterranean and adjacent to the Bay of Rosas. Their combat mission was to defend against the British in the Mediterranean and clear out nearby guerrillas.

The Desay Travel Department is set up in a hill on the alluvial plain of the Francori River. There is a village that can accommodate thousands of people, but now it is empty. The villagers either fled to the north or moved to other villages. Standing on the high ground and looking forward, there is the blue Mediterranean Sea, on the left is the quietly flowing Francori River, and on the right is the small basin connecting the city of Hruna several kilometers away. On the side and back are the Santa Barbara Mountains and the Francori River.

Two kilometers away from the brigade headquarters, the First Infantry Regiment was stationed near the entrance to the Francori River, mainly guarding against the British landing at sea. Fortunately, the Francori River was not deep enough, so there was no need to worry about the threat of the British fleet. Behind the brigade headquarters was the Second Infantry Regiment, mainly based on the Irish, relying on the Santa Barbara Mountain and the Francori River to cut off the transportation line between the mountain guerrillas and Hruna; the Cavalry Regiment was located in the basin on the right wing of the brigade headquarters, and was responsible for quickly supporting the two infantry regiments and the brigade headquarters.

Being in the mountainous areas of the enemy country, it is a laborious and unpleasant job to collect information. The intelligence officer from the General Staff of the Catalonian War Zone was unable to give enough information to the Desai Brigade. The number of rebels in the mountainous areas, weapons and equipment, who the leader is, and their personalities and hobbies were all unknown. Desai sent a military police team to ask the nearby villagers, and they would pretend to be deaf and dumb, whether in French or Spanish, they would only know in Catalonia. What's more, they would guide the French to fall into the ambush circle of guerrillas.

Three days later, Desai abandoned his gentle and civilized practices. After some consideration, he drew on the notorious "strategic village" plan of the US military during the Vietnam War and asked the staff to formulate a "safe village" plan, implement appeasement policies in mountainous rural areas, completely isolate the rampant rebels from villagers everywhere, and effectively control the supply of materials between the two sides.

According to Desai's idea, at least 30 safe villages will be built near the three regiment stations and within a radius of 10 kilometers, with each village being assigned a capacity of 2,000 to 3,000 people (equivalent to the size of a small town). A guard tower is set up around the safe village and surrounded by wooden fences, stone walls, and trenches filled with bamboo nails and traps. The daily affairs of the safe village are the responsibility of each village maintenance committee. Each regiment stations a small army in the safe village, and the military police are responsible for the entry and exit identity review and arresting suspects. Within 40 kilometers of each regiment in the Desai voyage, all villagers will be forcibly moved to the safe village.

A curfew is imposed in the safe village, and the military police team creates an identity wooden sign for each villager. The identity sign is composed of a series of password numbers and letters, which records the age, gender, characteristics, and occupation of the villagers in detail. Every villager who walks out of the safe village must strictly register and will also encounter a military sign when returning to the village to compare whether the identity sign is in line with his or her.

Desai finally added: "Outside the safe village, within 30 kilometers, it is a blank area and no village shall appear. Each regiment must send patrol teams to clean up regularly, search for fugitive villagers, encircle and suppress transit rebels, and cut off any attempt to trade; outside the 30 kilometers, it is a dangerous area, below the company, it is not allowed to cross the border and pursue the enemy."

After explaining the idea of ​​the safe village, Desai made the staff members express their opinions and found that everyone was stunned. Before, everyone had been respectful to the young general on the surface, but did not agree with it in his heart. He always believed that Desai was able to achieve today's achievements with his father's mercy and a little luck. Now it seems that the title of "Devil Desai" is indeed worthy of its name. The staff members expressed their convincingness and praised the general's vision and knowledge, and encirclement and suppression of the rebels is just around the corner.

Desai is not a saint who is sacred by everyone. He is content with his heart and is also a little sober. He knows that the so-called safe village has an effective shelf life of only about two to three years, and it is difficult to maintain after a long time. However, it is also said that when Hruna is captured, he will return to France, and there is no need to care about the floods in Spain in the future.

Based on Desai's idea, the General Staff quickly formulated the detailed action plan of the "Safe Village Plan" and after being signed by General Desai, it became an effective military order. At the subsequent convened battalion-level officer meeting, the "Safe Village Plan" was deployed in detail to the combat tasks of each regiment and battalion. From June 16th to the end of the 30th, it must be completed within 15 days. General Desai authorized all officers and soldiers to use all means, including force, to strictly follow the plan.

After the meeting, Lieutenant Colonel Carls, who had just returned from Barcelona, ​​told General Desai that they had conducted secret investigations and searched most of the city, and finally found the baubles named Monica Acoreda, but could not bring her to the camp of the Desai brigade. Because the baubles happened to be pregnant for ten months and were about to give birth, Lieutenant Colonel Carls could only leave a team of military police near the Baroness's house to monitor and come back to report.

"Why don't you ask me, why do you send you to find the baubles?" Desai pulled the head of the military police battalion who was about to leave.

Karls squeezed out a smile on his shriveled face. He took out a secret letter from his arms, handed it to Desai, and turned around and left.

"Monica Acoreda Bohelin, female, 32 years old, from Barcelona, ​​widow of the late Baron Bohelin, after Baron Bohelin died of illness, he changed his name to Monica Acoreda...Acoreda likes dance parties and salons, and in recent years, he has had close contact with a former Spanish captain named Jose Pascell. The baby in her belly is also her combination with Captain Pascell...Captain Pascell is currently the adjutant of General Alvarez de Castro, who is the supreme commander of Fortress Gruna."

Desai folded the secret letter, lit it in the candlelight, and burned it all.

In history, the Baroness Monica Acoreda successfully persuaded her lover, Captain Jose Passel, while General De Castro was sick and in bed, he privately opened the gate of the Fortress of Hruna and led his troops to surrender to the French army.

Now, it is not the time to use chess pieces. After all, the time when the Fortress of Hruna is about to end, the young and handsome Captain Jose Passel may still want to act as a hero of the Catalan people and may not necessarily obey the surrender advice of his lover. So wait first and wait until the time is right.
Chapter completed!