Chapter 401: Non-professional "player" (seeking for further reading)
Said asked someone to get a map and look at it, then said to Agold: "Order the forwards to arrive at Tamirai before this afternoon. Rest there. One day, the whole army attacked Cape Serrat the day after tomorrow.”
Cape Serrat is the only town west of Bizerte. According to intelligence, there should be three to four thousand Tunisian troops stationed there. After occupying Cape Serrat, it will be a smooth road to the Port of Bizerte.
The black officer bowed down to accept the order and quickly conveyed the order of the Moroccan Guards Commander.
…
Ney followed the soldiers and hummed Sal's country tunes - these soldiers had only trained for less than 4 months and knew only these songs - and estimated in his mind how long it would take to reach Tamirai.
At this moment, his company commander galloped towards him on horseback and shouted: "The Moroccans have been discovered, and there are only less than 4 kilometers left to Tamirai!"
They were severely short of cavalry, so they had to rely on company commanders and other officers who could ride horses to serve as hussars for reconnaissance.
When Nei heard this, her heart suddenly tightened. It seemed that he would arrive at Tamirai later than the enemy.
In this way, it will become a tough battle.
He hurriedly asked the company commander: "How many people are there in the enemy army?"
"At least two thousand, maybe three thousand."
Ney frowned even more. He didn't even have a thousand soldiers in his hands. It might be okay to defend Tamirai, but it would be difficult to win if he attacked.
Should we retreat to Cape Serrat?
He turned his head and looked behind him. If he did, he would definitely be laughed at by the nobles.
He gritted his teeth and shouted to the soldiers: "Speed up the march! We want to show those nobles who is the real warrior!"
The soldiers immediately cheered:
"Let the noble gentlemen have a look!"
"Victory belongs to us!"
"Long live His Majesty the King!"
Most of these people are farmers whose families have purchased land. After they heard that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince called for civilians to join the army, as long as their families had spare labor, they all actively signed up.
They originally just wanted to repay His Majesty the King for realizing their dream of obtaining land. After understanding France's current military policy, they realized that they could also be promoted to officers through military merit. And if you make meritorious deeds, your life will be worry-free.
Therefore, although the training level of this "rookie" army is limited, its morale is extremely high.
This is the fundamental reason why Joseph resisted huge resistance to engage in land distribution - only by enhancing the identification of the vast majority of the bottom people in France with the country can the country's power be truly unleashed.
The population of France during the Emperor's time was not much larger than it is now, but he could easily mobilize an army of 600,000. But now France cannot even mobilize an army of 160,000. This is because the French Grand Order greatly aroused the enthusiasm of the people and completed the task. National consciousness awakened, and national affairs were no longer just the obligations of the nobles, but something that every Frenchman cared about.
If France could mobilize 600,000 troops now and ensure logistical supplies, it would be able to sweep across Europe in no time.
You know, the current British, Austrian and Prussian forces together can recruit more than 400,000 troops, which is completely insufficient.
Of course, land policy alone is not enough to give the French people an absolute national identity, but it is already a very big step.
Ney looked at the obviously accelerated pace of the soldiers, loudly encouraged their morale, and kept telling the officers to pay attention to the stragglers.
Two kilometers away, Victor Moreau also received reports of Moroccans approaching Tamiray.
He looked at the messenger sent by Ney: "How far are your people from Tamirai?"
"More than 6 kilometers, Lieutenant." Victor Moro frowned and thought for a moment, then asked: "I remember that there are 300 Tunisian soldiers in Tamirai?"
"Yes, Lieutenant."
Moro nodded and said: "That's good. Order them to go forward to the west side of the town to set up a defense line and do their best to delay the Moroccans."
"Yes!" The messenger responded subconsciously, but immediately realized, "But, sir, you have no right to mobilize them..."
"Just say it's General Scherer's authorization. The document will be given to them after the battle."
"this……"
"Don't delay, or Tamirai will lose it!"
The messenger was excited, and he puffed up his chest and said, "Yes, Lieutenant!"
Looking at the back of the messenger who was urging his horse to leave, Victor Morrow's staff officer whispered: "Sir Lieutenant, you will go to court-martial in this way."
"As long as we can save Tamirai, we will only get medals." Victor Moreau smiled, "And even if there is a problem, it will be Lieutenant Ney who goes to court-martial. The one who lied about getting the authorization from the general is his people."
"..."
Ney sneezed loudly and rubbed his nose, but suddenly he heard what sounded like gunshots coming from the west, and his heart suddenly tightened.
He looked at the formation that had been completely disrupted by the rapid march, and loudly ordered the team to reorganize on the spot and continue to advance in four rows.
It was less than half a kilometer away from Tamirai, and the gunfire was probably from Moroccans looting the town.
"We will teach those infidels a profound lesson..."
Before he finished speaking, he heard a company commander who went to conduct reconnaissance report:
"Lieutenant, it's the Tunisian border guards who are fighting the Moroccans. But they seem to be unable to withstand it anymore."
Ney's eyes widened immediately. According to his guess, the hundreds of Tunisian soldiers should have escaped long ago. He had heard rumors about the Tunisian army at home, saying that they could not even form their formation well and were almost vulnerable.
In fact, he did not know that Tunisian soldiers were used as elites by Lafayette in India...
"Quick! Rush for reinforcements immediately!"
Ney shouted, and took the lead to rush to Tamirai with the first and second companies that had been lined up neatly.
One-third of these two companies are soldiers he brought from Saar, and their abilities are much stronger than the others. Originally, he was going to take them to register for a military school - civilians can attend the military school for free, and accommodation and food are all included - but there is no military school in Saar, and the military schools in other places that accept civilians have already passed their enrollment season.
Finally, on the advice of a relative who had joined the Guards, he decided to come to North Africa for development. Along the way, many civilians who planned to go to fight in North Africa learned that he was an officer and took the initiative to follow him. This team actually expanded to eight companies...
The vanguard of the Moroccan Guards did not expect to encounter resistance at all, and their scout cavalry reported that the defenders of Tamirai had all left.
So when the Tunisian soldiers hiding outside Tamirai suddenly opened fire on them, they were temporarily thrown into chaos.
The Moroccan Guards, composed entirely of blacks, quickly stabilized their position and launched a counterattack. However, just as they were pushing more than 300 Tunisian soldiers back and almost collapsing, a slender line array of soldiers in white military uniforms appeared in their field of vision.
(End of chapter)