In the early morning of July 14, the follow-up troops of the Pyrenees, who had arrived lately, joined the reserve ranks of besieging Manresa town. Compared with the vanguard, the corps had not had many reinforcements, only the direct management mixed brigade of the headquarters, an infantry brigade of the Dawu Division, the corps artillery column and a large number of logistics and logistics teams, which could directly participate in the battle less than 16,000 people.

At 6:20, Commander Andrew sat in the temporary command center and listened to the battle report of the day before yesterday by Major General Massena, the former commander of the enemy. Brigadier Mura stood aside, staring at the commander's expression with some fear. Andrew, who had just entered the room, only brows were solemn at first, then clenched his fists and began to feel angry, but in the end, he was going to be completely violent.

“…

By around 1 noon on July 13, we had completed the encirclement of Manresa Town, and at 3 pm, the attack on the periphery of the city began. Colonel Rana was responsible for the first attack mission.

...

The battle was not going well, and the cavalry in the village suffered despicable ambush by Spanish soldiers and civilians, losing 150 people.

...

The battle at the monastery hill was even more tragic. Most of the joint infantry brigade of the cavalry regiment launched four attacks in succession before finally occupying the hill.

...

Colonel Rana was bravely injured, including lieutenant colonel of the Cavalry Regiment, a total of 1,526 people were killed, and another 845 were seriously injured, with more than 1,300 minor injuries. All 2,478 Spanish defenders were killed in battle, none of whom survived.

…”

"Enough, enough, enough! I've heard enough of the damn casualties!" Andrew jumped up from his seat like a roaring lion and shouted loudly at the two commanders in front of him.

"At the beginning of the war, I repeatedly emphasized that artillery is the god of war and your real mother! We must use overwhelming artillery fire to restrain, consume and destroy the enemy, rather than simply relying on courage and bayonets to charge forward!

...

Your artillery is blocked by the river, this is an excuse, an absolute excuse! Major General,

Why don't you use snipers in your division?

Why not climb from behind the mountain and go around!

Why not wait until dark to launch an attack to reduce casualties!

...

Of course, you must think that the Spanish are soft-boys, but it was this damn soft-boy who crippled your brigade and the brigade general, and your cavalry regiment number can almost be cancelled.

…”

Of course Andrew was angry. He only captured three villages and one mountain, and the total casualties were as high as more than 2,600 (regardless of minor injuries). Especially in the battle on the hills of the monastery, the casualties ratio between the two armies was as high as 1:1, which was an amazing loss that the legion had never been before. The incompetent Spanish general was always his "good helper", and the excellent enemy commander could only cause constant trouble for the legion. If such a "heroic battle" was once again, God knew how much casualties would be waiting for him.

The Spanish's desperate resistance was indeed beyond everyone's expectations, but Andrew was extremely clear. This was a fanatical passion for patriotism and a violent release of the hatred mentality of the invaders. Unlike other generals, Andrew did not pay much attention to the significance of the battle itself, but was more willing to look at the problem from the impact of the battle and considered it more profoundly.

"This passion and mentality must be strangled in the cradle, and it must be fast, accurate and cruel!" Andrew gradually regained his rationality from his hysterical scolding. "Once all the Spaniards learn about the heroic behavior of Manresa and, under the willful incitement and encouragement of those who are interested, Spain's depressed and dying aging kingdom will gain a powerful new life. No, we must never let the legion fall into the whirlpool of national guerrilla warfare..."

Andrew made up his mind, put away his previous devilish manner, returned to his position, signaling the two subordinates in the room to sit down, and continued, "Generals, please transfer your command to the commander. Massena, how many Spanish resistance forces have we captured?"

"There are only 35 people, all women, children and the elderly, most of whom were injured."

"Leave it to the gendarmerie to execute all secretly! Burn it together with other villagers, throw the bones onto the Ebro River, and cover up all the evidence. In addition, I will ask the gendarmerie to inspect the military camp, and no one can talk about the facts of fighting with civilians. Do you understand?!"

Andrew's extremely cruel command made a deep chill in Massena's heart. When he looked up tremblingly, there was the commander's smile, handsome face and snow-white teeth. But when the Major General saw it, the scene in front of him was the incarnation of the legendary devil Satan. He quickly suppressed his inner fear and answered in a tone without any resistance:

"Yes, yes, Your Excellency Commander."

"Very good, you, Brigadier Mura, let your knights search within a radius of 30 miles of Manresa town, arresting everything you suspect is the Spaniard who has witnessed the massacre performance, no matter who he is. The gendarmerie will cooperate with your actions, and this battle will not leave any prisoners." Andrew turned his head and gave orders to Mura.

"As for the order, Commander." Mura's answer was obviously much louder than Massena, because the Brigadier himself had long known that the commander's hobby of blood.

Andrew nodded with satisfaction. After all, he was an old subordinate who understood his thoughts and knew how to obey orders unconditionally. However, Massena in front of him was still holding his head, and it seemed that he was reluctant to accept the orders in his heart.

"He must be convinced to surrender to himself." As the thought changed, Andrew pointed to Murah beside him and said, "Brother General Murah, please explain the meaning of the order, for our General Massena, perhaps he still has doubts."

"Yes, Commander," Murah stood up and continued, "The Commander once said that to conquer a country or nation, not only to eliminate their vital forces in military terms, but also to kill their consciousness of resistance in thought and spirit. The behavior in the town of Manresa is based on this consideration. Other Spaniards cannot see the heroic deeds being staged in the land, and to encourage them to have the confidence and determination to resist the French invaders in their hearts, but to make all Spaniards feel that their country and army have abandoned them. The French army is the merciful and protective messenger sent by God. The desperate Spanish can only accept everything we have arranged in a tacit way."

"Thank you, Brigadier General Mura. Actually, I have said a lot of things before, Massena, do you understand?" Andrew looked straight at the Major General.

"Yes, Lord Commander!" Massena stood up and replied loudly.

His subordinates were so determined that they were much stronger than the indecisive words before. So Andrew began to smile again and said, "Well, okay, today's complaints are over. Don't mind the two generals. After Andrew walked out of the room, he would not remember anything. I hope you don't think too much about anything except the mission."

The commander's words made the two of them feel a little frightened, and they quickly stood up and tried to confess. Andrew waved his hand to stop the boring narrative, and then said, "You guys are going down and prepare now. In more than an hour, that is, at 8:30 am, I will invite the officers to watch a wonderful fireworks performance. Unfortunately, it may not be good during the day."

...

After seeing off the two generals, Andrew came to the field hospital again to visit the injured soldiers. He praised the warriors on the bed with extremely passionate words.

“…

Your extraordinary bravery is incomparable to any enemy. Even God Zeus will sigh, you are the cutest people in France.

...

When you return home the next day, you should proudly say to everyone around you: 'I am Andrew's soldier, I have followed the commander to participate in the Spanish War. I have won supreme honors for France, the legion, and the commander!'"

...

"Long live the commander!"

"Long live the legion!"

"Long live France!"

...

"Hi, hey, hey! For God's sake, please speak softly, Dean Renek is coming."

"Hahaha!"

...

Finally, with the help of the doctors, the frenzy of the wounded soldiers was calmed down. Andrew then walked to Colonel Rana's room. When the colonel himself heard the cheers of the soldiers, he knew that the commander was coming. He struggled to get up, but Andrew pressed him back to the hospital bed.

After some comfort, Andrew said to the crying iron man: "

...

Please always remember that fighting on the hill is our victory. My Colonel, the Commander, appreciate your heroic spirit of fearlessness and selflessness. Let me tell you something exciting in advance. In Madrid, you will step into the ranks of generals, haha."

"Thank you, Commander!"

"Now your task is to take care of your illness, and there are also British people waiting for you to fight!"

...

When Andrew came to the front line command, the Spanish commander of Manresa had received a letter of persuasion. In the letter, the commander of the French Legion highly praised the Spanish defenders' heroic fighting spirit with unscathing words, and suggested that General Boca give up resisting the surrender before 8:30 in the morning, and so on.

Just when Boca himself finished reading the book of surrender, it was also the end of the life of the letter. A fierce colonel ran over and grabbed the book of surrender from the commander's hand, and violently turned into pieces, and continued to ravage it under his feet. The colonel's actions won the enthusiastic response of other officers. Everyone rushed forward together, waved their arms, and shouted in unison: "Kill the Frenchman," and "Long live Spain" various slogans, as if they had won the final victory of the entire war.

But General Boca was very clear. He knew what he was going to face. Victory was too far away or it might be death in a few hours. He walked out of the command post silently, but no one cared about the general's heavy mood. Both sides of the road were cheerful soldiers and civilians, both men, women, young and old. Everyone was excited to celebrate the commander's heroic choice. Countless faces with extremely exaggerated expressions came to General Boca. It was tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians who were expressing to the commander the strong determination to fight the French invaders to the end. Sacrifice themselves, save the motherland, or cry out the fall of the motherland.

Boca squeezed out of the crowd and continued to walk quietly to the northwest of the town alone. The soldiers on duty continued to greet him but did not receive the general's return gift.

After the morning light, the red clouds still gathered above the city. There was a little breeze in the air, which was floating from the west, mixed with the blood from last night, as if God wanted to relieve the irritability caused by the dry weather. The breeze began to turn into a breeze, and the strength continued to increase, and the wind speed continued to increase. The sky became brighter and brighter, and the curly grass always grew on the road extending in front of me. Because it had not rained for a long time, they all bowed their heads and were speechless, as if mourning something.

In the distance, the French were busy at the forefront of the position. They shouted slogans, raised their whips and tried their best to drive away cattle, horses or mules, and dragged hundreds of artillery large and small caliber artillery to the top of the mountain to be placed in the mountains. A large number of cavalry patrols were scattered around, alerting to all movements in the city. The battle was about to break out.

"Architecture wins!" Boca murmured in his heart. This was the conclusion he learned from the defeated troops on the front line. The hundreds of cannons in front were the hell demons in Andrew's attack on the town of Manresa. And there were only dozens of small-caliber artillery guns below 12 pounds, which could not resist the rapid artillery attacks of the French.

The commander had the only hope that the reinforcements of His Highness of the Duke could come quickly so that the people in the city could escape the upcoming misfortune. As for General Boca, together with other Spanish defenders, he had already made the worst plan to sacrifice his life for the country, and hid a suicide note in his arms, wrapped in a glass bottle.

"Although the city is full of wooden houses and it is easy to catch fire, we are very lucky because the Rotala River is right next to it, and the French's solid incendiary bomb cannot cause a large fire." This is General Boca's comforting words to himself before the battle. But ten minutes later, the cruel reality made his expectations vain. The French did use incendiary bombs, but it was not an ordinary incendiary bomb. It was

...

"Yes, my officers, the shells in front of you are the new incendiary bombs just developed by the Ordnance."

Andrew stood on the hill, and the swaying branches were blown by the strong wind. Behind him were a neatly arranged large-caliber cannons of more than 12 pounds. Under the sunlight shining through the thick clouds, these quietly placed killing weapons looked majestic and extremely terrifying. The black muzzles, the shiny cannon chamber, and the frame pressed deep in the turf, seemed to be a sign that the devil was about to flap his wings.

Andrew pointed to the round shells on the ground that looked ordinary, and continued proudly at the puzzled subordinates in front of him: "This is not a burning bomb that is usually heated by high temperature. Its internal structure is somewhat similar to the flowering bombs you are commonly known as. This is a burning bomb with excellent performance and high quality. Its interior is filled with gasoline after several refinings and has a high combustion value.

gasoline?!

Haha, don’t ask what it is, you will see its powerful power later. Another characteristic of gasoline is that it never dies when it encounters water, but it burns faster and more violently. In order to increase lethality and ignition ability, and speed up the volatility of the ignition agent. In particular, some good things have been added to gasoline bombs as additives. The temperature of ordinary flame is several hundred degrees, and this additive can reach 1,000 degrees, 1,500 degrees, and the high may be close to 2,000 degrees. There are also impurities such as turpentine oil. The toxic gas released by these unpleasant and pungent annoying things can smoke all those who attempt to extinguish the fire.

…”

Andrew was chattering about the power of the burning shells, but his officers obviously did not believe that what the commander said would allow them to conquer the town of Manresa without any effort and eliminate all the Spanish defenders and thugs. No matter how confused he was, no one wanted to raise his abnormality, at least he had to wait until the performance was over.

Andrew saw the expressions of his subordinates. He smiled to answer everyone's confusion, but he sang loudly in his heart the greatness of Director Lavashi.

It was just a common exchange with him on weekdays. After Andrew described the huge power of the gasoline bomb, Ravasey ran to implement it in a hurry. He ignored the solemn protest of the old housekeeper of Sandro, and spent a lot of money to buy seemingly useless oil from Egyptian merchants. After hundreds of tests, he successfully extracted high-purity gasoline from the oil. According to the commander's suggestion, he also added raw magnesium powder to the gasoline bomb as a combustion aid, and added grease, rosin, egg white, soap, paraffin and even animal blood as carriers of poison gas.

It was because the development time was too long and the production time was too short, so only now could the emergence of high-explosive gasoline bombs that could be used for actual combat. The thousands of shells on the ground were Ravash's masterpiece for months, and also cost Andrew more than 100,000 gold coins. When the commander learned about the entire cost of developing the incendiary bomb, he was so distressed that he almost fainted on the ground.

But now, I feel very similar today. Andrew thought that after the battle, he would prepare to award Director Ravaschi a gold medal. It was a victory that was exchanged for countless soldiers' blood in front of the united Spanish defenders, and it was better to use expensive incendiary bombs. After all, in comparison, the pension for the fallen soldiers would be astronomical.

...

At 7:50, the instructor in charge of surrender informed Andrew of the Spanish defenders' refusal to surrender.

"Lieutenant Colonel," Andrew ordered Lieutenant Colonel Lisdori, who was on standby, and said, "Your mission has begun." As soon as he finished speaking, Andrew retreated aside, stood with other observers, waiting for the battle to come.

"As for orders, Commander!" Lieutenant Colonel Li Shidori commanded the gunners and began a series of preparations before launch.

...

"Everyone, everyone is here! The goal is ahead of Manresa Town!"

...

"Observer reports target parameters!"
To be continued...