Dominate the Country

Russia is really awesome. With the help of its two allies, weather and space, Russia defeated Hitler's 5.5 million troops, who were even more arrogant than Napoleon.

Many people in later generations worship Napoleon and Hitler, even though the latter was a murderer. But many people also think that Napoleon and Hitler are both super idiots after seeing the time when they attacked Russia. The war was launched at the end of June, which was too late for the Russian battlefield.

Chen Ming was also a member of the latter group. It was only after he grew up and the advent of the Internet age that he realized that the harsh environment in Russia caused difficulties for the war not only in winter.

In the western part of Russia, that is, the Nordic region, there are continuous autumn rains in autumn, and the roads are muddy; it is cold in winter and snowy; when the snow melts in early spring, there are also mud everywhere, and the traffic conditions are very unsatisfactory. Only three or four months from May are suitable for marching and fighting. It was a little late for Hitler to attack the Soviet Union in late June, but it could not be said to be a mistake. After all, defeating Yugoslavia to ensure the absolute safety of the Balkan Peninsula was also very important for the Axis powers.

As for Napoleon, Chen Ming still remembered that an article he read at that time said that the reason why Napoleon did not officially launch a war against Russia until the end of June was not that he was purely seduced by the "hope of a conversation" given by Alexander I, but that it would take too long to assemble an army of 600,000 under the transportation conditions at that time.

You know, more than a month before the war started, in early May, Napoleon and Queen Louisa left Paris and went straight to the front. His army had been divided into several routes through German countries, advancing towards Poland, and gradually concentrating on the Vistula River and the Neman River.

The Vistula River is in Poland, and the Neman River is in Lithuania.

Napoleon decided to launch an attack on Russia early, but the season for large troops only began in May, because of the poor transportation conditions in Poland, Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine in spring.

But no matter what, history judges heroes by victory or defeat. Napoleon and Hitler in the original time and space proved with the two wars they launched that it was impossible to occupy the vast territory of Russia/Soviet Union in a limited time by relying on the old transportation methods, that is, horses or walking. Neither Napoleon's powerful cavalry nor Hitler's motorized troops were sufficient in number to occupy and control its countryside.

Before launching the attack, Napoleon tried to persuade the Tsar to surrender for the last time. He sent Count de Narbonne to meet with Tsar Alexander. The Tsar said to the French envoy: "I have no illusions. I know your emperor is a great general, but I have two allies - time and space. In this vast country, I will retreat to any remote corner to continue fighting, and I will guard every remote position, but I will never sign a humiliating peace treaty. I am not the one who wants to launch an attack, but as long as there is a foreign soldier left on Russian territory, I will not lay down my arms."

So, when Chen Ming in the East was enthusiastically trying to establish a great alliance of the Eastern world headed by China, on June 16, 1812 in the Western calendar, Napoleon came to Lithuania and signed the order to the army there.

To be honest, this day was a few days earlier than Napoleon in the original time and space.

"Soldiers, the Second Polish War has begun. The First Polish War ended in Friedland and Tilsit. In Tilsit, Russia swore a permanent alliance with France and swore to fight against Britain. And now, it has broken its oath. When the French eagle did not cross the Rhine again and left our allies at the mercy of Russia, Russia did not explain its strange behavior. Russia is doomed, and its fate should be over. Does it think we have degenerated? Are we no longer soldiers on the battlefield of the Battle of the Three Emperors? It gives us a choice: shame or war. Our choice will not arouse doubt. So, go forward, cross the Neman River, and bring the war to Russian territory. For the French army, the Second Polish War will become a glorious war, just like the First Polish War. And the peace treaty we will conclude later will win its guarantee and end Russia's arrogant influence on European affairs for 50 years."

The world is so magical.

When the history of the East ushered in a new page and ushered in a future that was destined to be more glorious, the fate of Europe also came to a new turning point.

In a sense, a new chapter was opened in the East and the West at the same time.

The fate of Europe will be determined by the Franco-Russian War, and the fate of the East will also be determined by the Franco-Russian War. If Napoleon unexpectedly conquers Russia, it will be another new fate for the East; and if Napoleon fails in the war against Russia as in history, the whole world is destined to be conquered by Chen Han!

In the Old Summer Palace, Chen Ming waited for the news from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs while looking at the map of Europe from time to time. It's time to fight!

On the night of June 18, Napoleon's headquarters crossed the Neman River. There was a dead silence on the Neman River side. There was no one in the vast land. What appeared in front of the French army was brown land, withered plants and woods on the distant horizon. The scenery in front of him made Napoleon feel a little uneasy. He was worried that the Russian army would withdraw from Vilna, the capital of Lithuania, without fighting, and abandon the entire Russian Poland, thus luring the French army away from the rear base. At this time, none of the French spies in Poland sent back intelligence, and the French army knew nothing about the enemy's movements, which made Napoleon feel even more depressed.

However, the French spies quickly sent back intelligence and reported to Napoleon the deployment of the Russian army on the Neman River front. At that time, there were three troops on the Neman River front. One was the Russian First Front, commanded by Barclay, with about 18,000 people. This was the main force in the war against France. The right wing was commanded by General Wittgenstein and stationed on the Baltic coast; the left wing was commanded by Dokhturov and deployed on the outskirts of Grodno. The headquarters was located in Vilna. The second was the Second Front, commanded by Bagration, with 80,000 troops, deployed on the Grodno-Muchavik River line, with its headquarters located in Volkovysk. The third was the 20,000 Cossack cavalry led by Platov, also deployed in the Grodno area. However, the Russian army assembled in Vilna had withdrawn to the Drissa camp three days ago. What Napoleon was worried about finally happened. He ordered Oudinot and Ney to lead their troops to pursue Barclay, and other troops advanced quickly. On June 20, the French army entered Vilna without firing a single shot. But Napoleon was not happy at all. Here, Napoleon received another bad news: due to fatigue, lack of fodder, and the cold wind and rain at night, more than 2,000 horses died on the march. Also due to hunger, cold and excessive fatigue, many young guards soldiers also fell down during the march. Napoleon began to realize the difficulty of this expedition.

At this moment, Xie Qinggao in London was also looking at the map of Poland. Napoleon's war against Russia has begun, so he needs to give Napoleon the first and last suggestion in this war.

Soldiers from Prussia, Austria, the Rhine Federation, Flanders, Poland, Switzerland, Italy and other countries recruited by Napoleon into the army should be consumed as much as possible. Ensure the strength of the French army as much as possible, and focus on consuming Prussian and Austrian soldiers...

In 1941, the main supply problem faced by the German army was to provide enough ammunition for the troops and enough fuel for the motorized troops. In 1812, 129 years ago, the biggest problem facing the French army's supply was to find enough fodder for the horses. Napoleon's nearly 200,000 war horses could not survive on the kind of grass that Cossack ponies were accustomed to. In the battles and marches, Napoleon's cavalry suffered heavy casualties, and the loss of horses was also increasing.

Napoleon stayed in Vilna for 18 days. He anxiously waited for news from various corps every day. Every time he saw people from various corps, the first sentence he said was: "How many prisoners have you captured?" But the answer he got always disappointed him. The French army had not encountered the Russian army yet. One day, there were bursts of roars in the distance. Napoleon thought that the French army and the Russian army had exchanged fire, and he jumped up with joy. He pricked up his ears and listened carefully to where the cannon sound came from, but soon found that the roar just now was just thunder. Then, the sky was dark, and a rare heavy rainstorm poured down from the sky. Soon, the surrounding area was a vast ocean, and the roads and fields were all flooded. Thousands of war horses and soldiers were buried in the flood, and a large amount of supplies were destroyed in an instant.

The main forces of the two Russian armies continued to retreat. Bagration had retreated to Minsk, and Barclay also abandoned the Drissa camp and retreated to Vitesk. As the French army pursued fiercely, the Russian army's retreat speed was also accelerating. Napoleon was determined to eliminate the two Russian armies one by one before they met. He urged his troops to speed up so that they could catch up with the Russian army and fight to the death. He himself left Vilna on the night of July 6.

On the first day of the seventh month of the Eastern lunar calendar, Chen Ming perfectly convened the Alliance Conference to establish the Huaxia Alliance headed by China, and signed more than 50 agreements and covenants in the afternoon. The French and Russians finally met in Smolensk.

Napoleon had been attacking the Russian army for a month and a half, but this was only the second battle they had fought.

In Vitesk before, the French pursuit troops finally caught up with the Russians. Seeing the French army chasing them, the Russian army immediately dispersed a large number of cavalry and rushed towards the light infantry regiment of the French vanguard like a tide. The French army was hastily engaged in the battle and retreated one after another. However, after retreating for a distance, the French light infantry lined up along the stream, or arranged in the bushes and houses, and fired fiercely at the Russian cavalry. The Russian soldiers were shot and fell off their horses, and were forced to retreat. That day, the French army spent a tense march and fierce artillery bombardment. Napoleon did not dismount for a day. He was sure that the great battle that the French army had longed for would take place at dawn tomorrow. He compared the strength of the two sides and was full of confidence in victory.

But the next day the Russians disappeared. They disappeared without a trace, and the Russian army gave up Vitesk. Napoleon's disappointment was beyond words. The French army could not find a single person, not even a local farmer. After dawn, the French army had to send people to search for the enemy's traces from all directions like hunters. However, it was impossible to know which route the enemy's main force withdrew from, because there were a lot of traces of carriages and horses passing by on each road. The French army was like a ship that lost its compass in the vast ocean, with no goal.

However, the Russian army's retreat again and again also made Alexander I feel a little unhappy. Although the Russian Imperial Conference had long determined the strategic resolution of resistance, stretching the French supply line, and clearing the fields, the continuous retreat still aroused widespread dissatisfaction within the army.

Is it going to retreat all the way back to Moscow?

So, just when Chen Ming was full of pride, Napoleon also ushered in the first battle after entering Russia.

Chen Ming didn't know whether the European Office had reminded Napoleon, nor did he know whether Napoleon would really take the European Office's reminder to heart. Anyway, he had already ordered Wei Baocheng to prepare for war.