Fox of France

So Joseph was forcibly labeled as a "commander", and then took the Red Army and a batch of materials donated by the "military-industrial complex" to Verdun.

When Joseph arrived at Verdun, the defenders of Verdun were also in a state of panic because of the loss of their commander. Fortunately, the surname "Bonaparte" helped Joseph a lot, because indeed, as Carnot said, although Joseph has not had much contact with the combat troops for a long time, there are indeed legends about him everywhere in the army . Because all kinds of weapons used in the army bear the surname "Bonaparte".

In addition, General Joseph Bonaparte is the eldest brother of the famous God of War Napoleon Bonaparte, and it is said that he was Napoleon's direct superior before. Napoleon is so powerful, his elder brother, the founder of the Red Army, the initiator and leader of military reform, no matter what happens, he will not be bad, right?

What's more, Joseph also brought a lot of new weapons to support. It is said that these weapons were donated free of charge by the "military-industrial complex" to defend the motherland. And these things are indeed much better than those of the Northern Legion.

"Look at this authentic 'Bonaparte Little Melon', the notch is so beautiful, it feels comfortable to the touch. Look at this Minie rifle again, the rifling is smooth and neat, it is much more authentic than our previous ones It's already..." A veteran, while counting the weapons issued to them, boasted to the supplementary soldiers next to him.

"What is this?" A soldier of the "Red Army" happened to pass by, and when he heard the old soldier blowing there, he said, "We brought more things that are more powerful than these things... Don't worry, we have it." These things are definitely enough for those British guys to eat."

A general surnamed "Bonaparte", plus a large number of weapons with the same surname "Bonaparte", immediately raised the morale of the Verdun defenders. In addition, everyone knows another exciting good news. General Napoleon Bonaparte is now on his way with more than 100,000 troops of the most elite Italian army in France. The fortress group, hold it for a while, the Italian army can arrive, and then... France will be saved.

"Little General Bonaparte will kick those British and Prussian asses so hard that they will be kicked into eight petals. It is enough for us to hold out for a few days." Among the defenders, the first For the first time, such an optimistic voice appeared.

After raising the morale of the defenders, Joseph immediately put all his strength into perfecting Verdun's defense. All kinds of new gadgets, such as barbed wire, trenches, shrapnel, mines, especially broadsword mines, and even flamethrowers (the land-based version of Lavoisier's version) and "little melon catapults" (large slingshots) ) are quickly ready in place.

Originally in Joseph's plan, these things were reserved for Napoleon. Since ancient times, soldiers have been very fast, but now it has come to the rainy season. Napoleon's troops returned thousands of miles away. If they brought a lot of weapons and equipment, their marching speed would be greatly affected. Therefore, according to Napoleon's request, Joseph had already prepared a large arsenal near Paris, so that Napoleon could allow his soldiers to drop some heavy weapons and luggage and rush to Paris as quickly as possible.

But now, a large part of the ammunition in this large arsenal has been embezzled by Joseph. There is no way, after all, life is important, isn't it? Although Kano thinks that Joseph should be able to fight; although the veterans of the Red Army and the soldiers of the Northern Army also think that Joseph must be able to fight; although everyone in Paris believes that the surname "Bonaparte" will definitely fight; But Joseph himself didn't believe that he could fight at all.

"Although his father is good at swimming, how can his son be good at swimming?" Joseph said to himself, so he made up his mind to make his tortoise shell hard.

Although these days, Verdun's defenses are getting stronger and stronger, although many experienced officers feel that Verdun is already impenetrable, and they even believe that it is impossible for any army to be able to defeat such a defense. No matter how powerful the British and Prussians are, they can only look at the walls of Verdun and sigh. But Joseph still didn't feel safe enough.

"It's a pity that our technical level is still too low." Joseph said to himself, "If we can create armor that is maintained by strong interaction forces like water droplets, then I can really sleep peacefully."

Of course, Joseph is able to manage his tortoise shell so wholeheartedly, thanks to the British. Although the British and Prussian troops had chased Verdun, the British cannons were still crawling slowly on the road.

The British army has a lot of cannons, which are very powerful. However, those cannons were originally prepared for the navy, but the rapid expansion of the army could not produce so many cannons for a while, so they threw all the spare cannons of the navy to the navy. took them. Navy guns are good for everything, but they are too heavy. It happened to rain twice a few days ago. The roads of this era were all loess roads covered with dust on sunny days and muddy on rainy days. As a result, the marching speed of the British cannons suddenly dropped to less than 300 meters per day.

In the previous battles, whether it was the British or the Prussians, they were used to having a lot of great cannons on their side, but now, they are facing a fortress that is stronger than Liege. For those cannons, just go straight up, how can that be done.

So with the concerted help of God and the British Navy's cannons, Joseph gained a lot of time to continuously consolidate his defenses. And his serious and meticulous attitude, and his practice of considering the safety of the soldiers at all times, has also won the widespread love of the soldiers.

While Joseph was busy organizing the defense, he also hurriedly sent someone back to ask Napoleon for help: "Hurry up and find some reliable generals, rush over here in advance, and help me organize the defense!"

Napoleon couldn't help laughing after receiving the urgent report.

Berthier, his chief of staff, asked: "Why is the general laughing?"

Napoleon laughed and said, "I laugh at the incompetence of the British-Prussian coalition forces, and Joseph has no courage. My elder brother Joseph is now acting as the commander of the Northern Army, responsible for the defense of Verdun. He feels that there is no one under his command to give him courage, so he wrote to Me, let me quickly send him a few advisers. Who do you think we will send?"

"Should we let Davout go? It should be good." Berthier suggested.

"No..." Napoleon shook his head, "Davout is very capable, we have to keep it for ourselves...or let Murat go."

"Mura?" Berthier was very puzzled, "Although Murat is very brave, let him go..."

"Do you really think that bastard Joseph needs someone to teach him how to defend? That guy is a big turtle, and he has a lot of tricks in defense! He is purely timid and needs someone to strengthen his courage. Believe it or not, you are really Just run over and have a look and you'll be sure to see that this guy has turned Verdun into a steel turtle shell covered in spikes. I bet you we don't need our help Joseph himself In fact, Verdun can be guarded until the end of the world... By the way, change the marching plan..."

"What?" Berthier asked.

"That coward Joseph dragged to Verdun the cannon and all the other things that were prepared for us in Paris. Are we going to Paris empty-handed? He embezzled our cannon, and of course we have to Bring the cannons. Well, let’s stop the army for repairs first, so that the cannons and other baggage can catch up...We can just relax, why don’t we go out for a picnic in the afternoon?” Napoleon replied.

So Napoleon's marching speed suddenly dropped to the point where it was not much better than the British. Only Murat, who was "the most courageous", was entrusted with an important task, and hurried to the north to serve as an advisor to Joseph.

Joseph happily received the "military advisor" sent by his younger brother. He took Murat around the entire Verdun Fortress and explained to him his various defense facilities and ideas. They returned to the headquarters together, entered Joseph's office, and sat down.

"General Murat, do you have any suggestions on how to strengthen Verdun's defenses? You know, I have never commanded such a large army before. I have faced such a large-scale battle, and I am quite inexperienced in many places. ” Joseph asked first.

"Ah, General Bonaparte, you are too polite. The defense of Verdun Fortress is actually very good, but in my opinion, there are indeed problems." Murat replied honestly.

"What's the problem?" Joseph asked quickly. At the same time, I thought in my heart: "I have known for a long time that talking about war on paper is not worth it. I thought about it, and I think it should be a solid defense system with almost no loopholes. Let an experienced general see the problem immediately. It's okay. , I’m smart enough to ask Napoleon for a think tank.”

"General Bonaparte, I think that the defense of Verdun Fortress is too much, and the defense is a bit too strong. In fact, some defensive forces can be reduced and used for counterattack or even offensive operations. And there are some defense facilities such as here, here, and here... You see, if you counterattack like this, I think you can get greater results, so although these facilities have greatly enhanced the defensive capabilities of the fortress, they are also to a certain extent It interfered with our army's counterattack, I think it is completely unnecessary, it should be dismantled, anyway, the defensive capabilities of Verdun Fortress are a bit redundant." Murat pointed to the map and said.

"Then if the enemy army quickly flanks us from here when we are off work like this, what should we do?" Joseph asked.

"It is very difficult to complete such a side attack at the right time. I think the enemy should not react so quickly. The possibility of this situation is very low. Besides, in war, how can you not take some risks? ..." Murat replied nonchalantly.

After hearing this, Joseph replied with a smile: "Okay, General Murat, I will consider your suggestion."

At the same time, he said in his heart: "What are you doing to counterattack? Wouldn't it be nice to hold on to it and wait for Napoleon to come? What does Napoleon mean by sending such a guy whose mind is full of fierce attacks?"