Chapter 798 The Bloody First Day

However, it is unlikely that the situation like the previous situation where the enemy commander played with his own cannon and exploded himself to death will happen again.

However, it is still very feasible to use a surprise force to attack from both sides, or to rush directly into the city of Lucerne to capture Constantine Sigwalt alive.

Unfortunately, his vanguard of surprise troops only knew how to rush on their way and did not discover the small Austrian army hidden in the valley.

The small vanguard of the Freedom Alliance even lit a bonfire, which actually sent a signal to the rear that it was safe here.

The smoke that rises is similar to the smoke from the fires of ordinary hunters and shepherds. Only they can distinguish it.

Teams of Austrian soldiers were lined up on the cliff, heading towards the designated area with a long rope tied around their waists.

Dufour's main force responsible for the surprise attack, led by Colonel Korbel, did not have much preparation. After all, the previous battle was too smooth, and the previous vanguard also sent a signal of safety.

Colonel Korbel feels that he will become a hero because he will catch the traitor Konstantin Sigvort, and then he will become a real colonel.

(At this time, he was still a lieutenant, but was temporarily promoted to colonel.)

However, General Dufour did not allow the looting, which in the eyes of Colonel Korbel was an insult to the war.

After all, many people join the army just to make money, and the most profitable thing about joining the army is war, and the reason why war is profitable is because it allows looting.

Colonel Korbel has already thought about it. He can go to the capital of Lucerne to plunder first. If Constantine Sigwalt knows how to bribe him with money, then Colonel Korbel can think about it carefully.

At this moment, a gunshot broke the tranquility of the valley, and the orderly soldier next to Colonel Korbel fell down at the sound.

Fighting broke out, and many Swiss soldiers were killed before they could load their rifles with gunpowder.

In fact, in the panic, more soldiers forgot to charge their muskets, and just held the guns and pulled the triggers crazily, making the sound of "biu~biu~" in their mouths.

The attackers' gunshots came one after another, which made Colonel Korbel feel that he must have encountered the main force of the Orthodox Alliance.

A one-sided massacre was taking place in the valley. Colonel Korbel ordered a retreat. However, he was hit by a bullet and fell to the ground in disbelief as he covered his chest with a bullet before running a few steps.

An officer with some gray hair put away his smoking rifle and handed it to the soldier next to him.

"They're finished. Remember, you can only chase them one after another, and don't engage with the enemy head on."

"yes!"

It can be seen that the soldiers around him respect this old officer very much.

The enemy commander here has been killed and morale has collapsed. Sigismund will rush to the next battlefield and repeat the killing.

Although it is a bit shameless to hit an officer, it is very efficient to destroy the enemy's command system in this way.

"Sniper rifle? If this thing had been born decades earlier, maybe the anti-French war would have been much easier."

Sigismund said to himself, but no matter how shameless it is to use a sniper rifle, he will do it. After all, he is not a knight, just the captain of the guard of Archduke Karl.

Several surprise attack troops met the same fate one after another. The commander was killed after giving the order to retreat, and the remaining soldiers fled without a trace.

After fighting for a whole day, nearly 8,000 people were lost. Dufour didn't even know how many people were ambushed in the valley.

Not only that, the number of people killed is unknown, the number of enemies killed is unknown, and the number of people on our side who escaped is unknown.

Dufour only knew that half of his most elite shepherd army was directly scrapped. Shepherds in the Swiss mountains often have to deal with wild wolves and bandits, and occasionally do some business without money, so they are considered to be the most effective warriors. .

However, it was only one battle at this time. In less than a day, eight regiments of sheepherders were wiped out.

Dufour immediately ordered the storming of the most important fortress outside Lucerne, the bridgehead on the Reuss River. This fortress was not protected by mountains, but it was a standard bastion.

What's even more disadvantageous is that if you want to attack this bastion, you must first pass the Royce Bridge or cross the Royce River.

This section of the river is not too wide, but hiking across it in the winter is not a good idea.

Then we can only attack head-on and use our one hundred and thirty cannons to clear the way.

In fact, the main reason why Dufour stormed the bridgehead was that he felt that the commander of Lucerne must have deployed a large number of troops in the valley, so he could break up his own formation so quickly and effectively.

However, reality gave him a blow. The defenders hiding in the bridgehead did not engage in an artillery battle with Dufour, but aimed their artillery at the soldiers preparing to cross the bridge.

The soldiers on the bridge were crowded together like minced meat, and shells flew into the crowd and created bloody alleys. There were broken limbs and broken arms everywhere, wailing sounds could be heard one after another, and the whole bridge was covered with flesh and blood.

Looking at the hell-like scene in front of him, Dufour realized that he was actually at war.

The fantastic start made him forget the cruelty of the war, and he even fantasized about doing what he did in Friborg.

After thinking about this, Dufour ordered the war team to rush more soldiers to the front line. The farmers who were digging in the fields more than ten days ago couldn't help but tremble when they saw the bridge covered with fresh blood and flesh in front of them.

The Supervisory Team had served as mercenaries in various battles and were very experienced in this. When a gunshot was heard, the soldier on the far left fell down.

"superior!"

The recruits still couldn't stop trembling. Another gunshot was heard, followed by a row of gunshots.

"Listen, those who retreat will die! Those who hesitate will die! Those who are afraid of the enemy will die!"

"Go!"

"Ah!"

Finally, a soldier couldn't stand it anymore and rushed onto the slippery bridge with his gun, but soon fell down and didn't know whether he was dead or alive.

Then more recruits were driven onto the bridge. The brave soldiers used corpses to open a path, but the bridge collapsed before reaching the other side.

The dead and the living fell into the cold Reuss River together, and soon the river water turned red and finally merged into Lake Lucerne.

Dufour beat his chest and stamped his feet, but he knew that this was the true face of war, so he hated war so much.

The Battle of the Reuss River was one of the most tragic wars in the Swiss Civil War in the previous life, but this time the casualties on the side of the Free Alliance alone exceeded 2,500, which was a hundred times the historical number.

Including the shepherd corps lost in the western valley, the Free Alliance lost more than 10,000 people in the first battle of Lucerne (most of them were actually deserters), while the Orthodox Alliance lost less than 100 people, of which 17 fell into the valley during the pursuit.

(They were tied together when walking on the cliff, but not tied together after the war.)

Archduke Karl looked at the bloody battlefield through the telescope and did not show much emotion. On the contrary, Constantine Sigwart and Ulrich Saliss seemed very excited.

"What a miracle! If we continue to fight like this, our counterattack on Geneva will be just around the corner!"