Napoleon II Reborn

Chapter 335: march to london

(The earthquake in Sichuan was so sudden this time. Xiaoyu is doing well now, but was just a little frightened, but the hardest-hit area is really miserable, and more than 10,000 people have died.)

The supreme commander of the Dover theater is Marshal Wellington. He has 6 divisions and 3 brigades in his hands. Even the most elite British 1st Infantry Division has been assigned to him. It can be seen that the British government treats him And the value of the Dover area. Dover is the closest area to France in the UK. If France lands here on a large scale, it can reduce a lot of consumption. At the same time, it is also very close to London. As long as the defense of the British army can be defeated, London can be easily threatened. So even though the French army had landed in Plymouth and Portsmouth, Wellington still did not take it lightly. He always believed that the French would definitely land in Dover. After all, the tens of thousands of French troops stationed in Calais have not made any other moves yet.

On the morning of June 22, the French 1st Marine Division officially landed in Dover with the support of some warships of the Channel Fleet. The British 2nd Infantry Division stationed in Dover actively resisted, but after its shore defense was destroyed by the French Navy, It was also successfully landed by the French 1st Marine Division. At noon that day, more than 15,000 people from the French 1st Marine Division landed, and established a landing field that was two kilometers long and three kilometers wide. Behind them, the 4th Infantry Division of the 89th Army was landing. At the same time, they were also facing attacks from the British 2nd Infantry Division and the British 3rd Infantry Division that arrived later, and more British troops were on their way. They desperately wanted to drive the French army into the sea.

After receiving the French landing at Dover, Wellington urgently ordered the 3rd Infantry Division stationed in Folkestone to rush to support. At the same time, the 1st Infantry Division and 3rd Independent Artillery Brigade, stationed at Maidstone, were ordered to Dover. Other divisions are also ready to support. Wellington knew that the current battle situation was very unfavorable to Britain. With more than 100,000 French troops landing in Plymouth and Portsmouth, the British army suffered heavy losses and retreated across the board. If even the Dover theater he was defending was landed by the French army, it would be hard for him to imagine how long the British army could last under the three-way siege of the French army.

"No matter what, we must repel the attack of the French army and drive them into the sea to feed the fish." Wellington said to himself. However, the reality is very cruel. Despite the best efforts of the British 2nd and 3rd Infantry Divisions, they were unable to break through the defenses of the French 1st Marine Division and instead suffered heavy losses. Slowly, the 4th Infantry Division of the French 89th Army also landed successfully, battalion after battalion of the French army went into battle, and the pressure on the British army gradually increased. When all the 4th Infantry Division landed at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the French army had already begun to shift from defense to offense.

At 6 o'clock in the afternoon, under the fierce attack of the French army, the British army had to retreat to the urban area of ​​Dover to organize a defense line, while all the suburbs fell into the hands of the French army. Subsequently, the British 1st Infantry Division rushed to the battlefield. After the most elite British troops joined, the British army recovered its decline. But it is also quite difficult to launch a counterattack. The British 3rd Artillery Independent Army could not arrive until the morning of the second day, because the cannons they carried were too heavy. The remaining two infantry divisions of the French army are also landing non-stop, and it is expected that they will all land in the morning of the second day. At that time, the large-scale attack of the French army will begin immediately.

At the same time, after a day of fierce fighting, the battle in Portsmouth was basically decided. After a day of onslaught, Bill's army lost tens of thousands of people and finally broke through the defense of the French 7th Marine Division. However, just two hours later, the French 3rd Marine Division and 4th Marine Division launched a full-line counterattack. Bill's army only resisted for an hour before collapsing across the board. As a last resort, Bill had to lead the remnant army to retreat to Havant again. But how long he can stick to Havant, even he himself does not know. Because now he only has 50,000 remnants and defeated generals, which is more than half of the time when he launched the attack in the morning, and his morale is extremely low. More than 32,000 people from 3 marine divisions of the French army also resisted the outskirts of Havant, posing an offensive posture.

In Southampton, the French 5th Marine Division also launched an attack on Easterly that afternoon. The British 5th Infantry Division stationed here resisted the French army for 3 hours without assistance. In the end, due to excessive casualties, he had to withdraw from Easterly and retreat to the north. There are only more than 4,000 people left in the British 5th Infantry Division, and the establishment can almost be cancelled.

On this day, the war on the Western Front also changed. First, more than 60,000 people from the 21st and 22nd Infantry Divisions of the British Army and the remnants of the 27th, 28th, and 29th Divisions of the British Army were rushed to Newell by the troops directly under the French 89th Army Corps and the 2nd Infantry Division. The 2nd Marine Division was defeated and had to retreat to Salisbury after losing more than 20,000 men. Subsequently, this French army gave up the pursuit of the British army and turned to march south, because in the Poole area, the battle between the 1st and 3rd Infantry Divisions of the 89th Army and the British army had entered a fierce stage. Despite the naval artillery support, they were unable to break through Poole, which was defended by 3 British regular divisions and the remnants of two recruit divisions with more than 60,000 troops.

The battle then moved on to June 23. On this day, first in the Dover theater, 60,000 people from 4 divisions of the French army have all landed and launched a fierce attack on Dover with the support of the navy. The British 3rd Independent Artillery Brigade also rushed to Dover and went into battle, but they have been suppressed by the French Navy since the start of the war, and they have not played their due role at all. What it did was only to contain most of the firepower of the French Navy. Under the fierce attack of the French army, even with the most powerful British 1st Infantry Division, the battle was still very unfavorable to the British army. By the evening of June 23, the French army had completely broken through the British defense, entered Dover, and fought fierce street battles with the British army. Under the attack of the French army, the British army retreated steadily. If there were no reinforcements, it would be a matter of time before they were driven out of Dover. Wellington also misjudged the battle situation. In his opinion, it is obviously impossible to completely defeat the French army with 3 infantry divisions and 1 brigade of more than 50,000 people, but it is impossible to resist the French army's attack. It's not very difficult either. When the two armies are exhausted, the remaining 1 division and two brigades in his hands with more than 30,000 people can appear in the form of a surprise army. By that time, defeating the French army will not be just speculation on paper. However, the plan was far from keeping up with the changes. He did not expect that the French army's attack power would be so powerful, or that the British army would be so miserable. At that time, he sent all his troops to Dover, but it was too late now. The British army was completely unable to withstand the pace of the French attack.

The battle situation in Portsmouth also changed dramatically on this day. Bill's remnant army was defeated again, making him have to abandon Havant and retreat towards London. More than 30,000 people from the 3rd, 4th, and 7th French Marine Divisions also began to march towards London, becoming the first force among the various forces to approach London.

The 5th Marine Division did not march towards London because they had new missions. There are still 60,000 British troops in the Poole area, and 40,000 British troops in Salisbury. If the British troops in these two places come together, it will be a very huge threat to the French army. So the task of the 4th Marine Division was to march west, interspersed between Poole and Salisbury, and prevent the confluence of these two armies. They must be there at least until the British in Poole are wiped out.

In Poole, the 1st and 3rd Infantry Divisions of the French 89th Corps joined the 2nd Infantry Division of the 89th Corps from Newell and the regiment's direct units and the 2nd Marine Division re-launched an attack on Poole with naval artillery support. . If during the battle on June 22~www.wuxiaspot.com~ the British troops stationed in the Poole area were still fighting high, then today, after learning that the British army has completely failed on the southern front, they have become a lone army , and even the back road was cut off by the French army, they no longer had the courage to continue fighting. Under the fierce attack of the French army, they only resisted for 3 hours before being broken across the board. Most of them chose to break through to the north, but the 4th French Marine Division stood there. In the end, only more than 10,000 people succeeded in breaking through, and the others were either killed or chose to surrender. The 4th French Marine Division also suffered heavy losses in this battle. People's survival instincts are very strong. When their lives are in danger, they often show very large attack power. Therefore, after the battle of the French Marine Division, there were only more than 4,000 people left in the whole division.

The French General Staff couldn't bear the fact that the division was wiped out like this, and asked them to withdraw to the country to rest. However, this order was strongly opposed by all the officers and soldiers of the 4th Marine Division. They asked to stay in the UK until the end of the war. At the last moment, even if there is only one soldier left, he will not hesitate. In the end, the General Staff agreed to their request and allowed them to continue to fight in Britain.

After the victory in the Poole area, the main force of the French 89th Corps and the 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions immediately launched an attack on Salisbury. But they came up short. When the defeated soldiers in the Poole area fled to Salisbury, the British troops retreating here hurriedly retreated and retreated directly to London. The French army also launched a pursuit and began to march towards London.

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