The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 856 France's Real Rival
In fact, Mozibu underestimated the fighting strength of the French army at this time and the poor performance of Prussia, or rather, the whole world underestimated the strength of the former and the poor performance of the latter.

In the defeat at Jena-Aulstädter, not only was Prince Friedrich Hohenlohe captured, but in the subsequent pursuit, Prussian Field Marshal von Blücher, a military genius, was also captured.

Karl William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, who had suppressed the Dutch riots and led the early intervention against the French revolutionary government, was seriously wounded and died on the battlefield of Jena.

At the same time, Prince Louis Ferdinand, the nephew of Frederick the Great of Prussia, was also killed in the earlier Battle of Salfield.

Immediately afterwards, William I, the nephew of Frederick William III, King of Prussia, who had just inherited the title of Prince of Orange and who had historically unified the Netherlands and Belgium, led more than 10,000 soldiers belonging to the Prince of Orange and made a grand appearance.

Upon arriving in Erfurt, the Prince of Orange lost control of his army. More than 10,000 Austrian Prussian troops surrendered to French Marshal José Murat without any fighting, fully demonstrating why Murat had looked down on this young man when he was in England.

That wasn't the end of it. On October 17, Duke Eugen Frederick of Württemberg was brutally beaten by French Marshal Bernadotte in the Halle region.

In this battle, the Prussian army suffered nearly 10,000 casualties and were captured, almost annihilating the entire army. The French army, including the wounded, only lost 800 men, more than half of whom returned to their posts after a short rest.

The Franco-Prussian War, the fourth anti-French war, began on October 9 and has continued until now, October 22. The Kingdom of Prussia has lost a large number of princes, dukes, marshals and generals, suffered 47,000 casualties, and more than 160,000 were captured. Prussia's so-called 200,000-strong army has basically been wiped out.

As for France, including the wounded, the number of casualties was only around 20,000, making the losses unbelievably minor.

This is outrageous! In just thirteen days, the Prussian army lost their kingdom at a ratio of ten to one. The speed of their collapse makes one wonder if they were cooperating with the French in a military exercise.

On October 24, Napoleon entered Berlin. After proudly reviewing the French army, his soldiers began to sack the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia.

The Hohenzollern family's centuries-old wealth was completely looted by the French, and all the assets of the Prussian nobles in Berlin were confiscated.

The few remaining industrial machines in the city were all dismantled and transported to France. Even the citizens of Berlin were forced to pay large occupation taxes to avoid being looted.

On October 26, Napoleon issued the Berlin Edict, which stipulated that no ship of any kind from England or its colonies was allowed to enter the European continent for trade, and merchant ships that originally belonged to the Kingdom of England would be sunk if discovered.

On the continent, Englishmen would be immediately treated as prisoners of war and arrested, and the property of English subjects on the continent would be immediately confiscated.

Of course, they would not allow English ships to purchase any products from the European continent; their plan was to completely blockade the British Isles and wear down England.

The mainland blockade order, or the mainland system, was thus formed.

Of course, Napoleon still left room for England at this time, because he did not prohibit ships from neutral countries, such as the Kingdom of Sweden-Norway, the Kingdom of Denmark, and the Kingdom of Portugal, from trading with England.

This left a loophole, for example, Portuguese ships could bring goods to England, stop in North Africa outside Europe, and then transfer to another ship to avoid the Continental Edict and continue selling the goods.

Napoleon's plan at this time was simply to teach England a lesson, and then have them obediently kneel down to France, especially since he, Napoleon the Great, was acting as his lackey. Therefore, he did not kill them.

After issuing the Berlin Edict, Napoleon continued eastward, joining forces in Poland to pursue King Frederick William III of Prussia, in order to defeat the last rival of the French Empire on the European continent, the Tsarist Rus' Empire.

Meanwhile, Frederick William III, the Prussian king who had effectively lost his country, rushed to East Prussia with a large number of nobles and a small number of guards.

This place, near Kaliningrad, which later became Russia's exclave in the Baltic Sea, was then called Königsberg, the birthplace of Prussia.

Frederick William III was at his wit's end. The entire Kingdom of Prussia could only muster about ten thousand troops, which was no match for the French Empire's attack. So he pleaded earnestly, almost begging Tsar Alexander I to send troops.

In early November, before Tsar Alexander I had decided whether to help King Frederick William III of Prussia, Napoleon lost his temper.

Instead of restraining the French army, he took the initiative to work with the generals to develop a plan for the next attack on the Russian army.

Perhaps in Napoleon's view, the Battle of Austerlitz had already proven that the Russian army was nothing but trash. If he could destroy Prussia in thirteen days, he could also crush the Tsarist Russian Empire in thirteen days.

However, in reality, after entering Polish territory, the French army's fighting spirit and operational capabilities were already nearing their limits.

Admittedly, an army composed of many good French men eager to defend the fruits of the Revolution was far more powerful than the feudal armies of Europe, but the limits of human endurance must also be considered.

After capturing Berlin, the French army generally felt that the objectives of this phase of the war had been exceeded and that the war was over.

Moreover, during these ten days of fighting, the soldiers looted or plundered a large amount of money, which they were waiting to take home to enjoy with their families, or even to buy land. At this time, how many people would be willing to go to Poland to fight the Russians?

Moreover, it was already December, and Poland was bitterly cold. The roads were starting to freeze, the weather was bad, and it was difficult to move around. The whole army was full of complaints.

Even though Napoleon increased the bonuses for fighting the Russians and did everything he could to provide thick trousers and boots, the voices of war-weariness in the army grew louder and the discipline of the troops deteriorated.

In late December, French troops encountered Russian troops at Charnowo on the banks of the Fokla River in northeastern Poland, and a fierce battle ensued.

This battle was no longer a resounding victory; the French vanguard, led by Louis Davout, failed to completely defeat the Russian army commanded by Ostermann Tolstoy.

After both sides lost 1,500 men, the Russian army retreated on its own initiative because reinforcements had not arrived and the situation in France was unclear.

In fact, Napoleon should have been on his guard by this point, because it was clear that the Russian army in Poland was far more powerful than the Russian army in Austerlitz.

This is because the Russian army was the occupier in the Polish territory they had partitioned, and the East Slavs were superior to the West Slavs.

These East Slavic soldiers were extremely determined and had a strong will to fight in order to protect their own interests, a quality they displayed far beyond what they had shown when fighting on Austrian soil.

At the same time, the war-weariness of the French soldiers also reduced the fighting capacity of the French army to a much lower level compared to when they attacked Prussia.

Over the next month, French and Russian troops engaged in a series of small-scale battles in Govimin, Grodens, Arunstein, and other locations, with both sides experiencing wins and losses, and their losses being roughly equal.

Then winter came, and both sides temporarily ceased hostilities, facing off in the icy wilderness of Poland.

A month later, Tsar Alexander I finally arrived at the front lines.

Following the disastrous defeat at Austerlitz, the Tsarist Rus' Empire underwent some military reforms, including the establishment of sixteen standing elite divisions, which the Tsar brought with him, and the opportunity for a counter-offensive had ripened.

On January 15, 1807, Count Bennissen, a renowned German general loyal to the Rus' Empire, led 70,000 elite Russian troops and nearly 10,000 Prussian troops from Königsberg (Kaliningrad) to launch an offensive against the French forces in Berthier and Bernadotte.

The French army quickly discovered the Russian army's movements. Napoleon immediately mobilized 70,000 troops to cut off the Russian army's retreat route, intending to have Berthier's troops withstand the damage before encircling and annihilating the Russian army.

However, the French army's actions were quickly noticed by the Russian general, Count Bennissen, who decisively abandoned the plan to attack Berthier and immediately changed the direction of advance to intercept the French army in the operation.

They attempted to find a weakness in the French army marching through the snow and ice, hoping to buy time and launch a brilliant skirmish.

In order to accomplish this strategy and fully utilize the Russians' fighting prowess in the icy and snowy conditions, Count Benihissen ordered Prince Bagration to lead 6,000 elite Russian troops to intercept the French vanguard that was approaching him, thus obscuring the movement of the main force.

On February 5, Prince Bagration of Russia, a Georgian who was always assigned to high-intensity tasks such as covering the rear and blocking attacks, once again demonstrated his heroic prowess.

He successfully blocked Joachim Murat's pursuit of the main Russian army in an open area covered by ice and snow.

At a critical moment, Napoleon, relying solely on battle reports from the front lines, astutely discerned the true intentions of the Russian army. He immediately ordered the French army to cease its pursuit of the Russians in the icy wilderness and instead head towards Eylau, a major town about forty kilometers south of Königsberg.

This would prevent a surprise attack by Russian forces in the freezing cold if the pursuit continued, and Eylau would be the southern gateway to Königsberg, forcing the Russian army to return to its aid.

On February 7, thanks to the fierce resistance of Prince Bagration, the Russian army arrived in Eau before the French army. Lieutenant General Mikhail Barclay seized the crucial half-day difference, took the high ground north of Eau, and dug some trenches and other defensive fortifications.

Although Lieutenant General Barclay was defeated by the elite Imperial Guards of the Great Yu in the first Yu-Russia War on the northern shore of the Caspian Sea, he was ultimately forced to surrender Astrakhan.

However, he was not responsible for the war. Instead, because he opposed the wrong decisions such as holding Guryev (Atyrau) before the war, he was regarded as very capable by Tsar Alexander I and promoted from major general to lieutenant general.

However, Prince Bagration bought the Russian army only a limited amount of time. So, just as Lieutenant General Barclay finished digging the fortifications and sent troops to occupy Eau, the French army under Jean Soult arrived.

Marshal Jean Soult knew the situation was urgent, and without pause, immediately ordered his troops to launch a bayonet charge. In just over ten minutes, they drove the Russian troops out of the city, leaving only the newly dug fortifications on the northern high ground in the hands of the Russians.

Lieutenant General Barclay dared not be negligent. If the city of Elau were lost, the Russian army would be forced back to Königsberg and trapped. So he immediately organized a counterattack and even personally rushed to the front line.

The Russian troops charged down from the high ground north of the city. Both sides were advance troops with few artillery pieces, and could only engage in close combat in Eylau with rifles, bayonets, and a small number of bombs.

By nightfall, both the Russian and French armies had lost over 3,000 men each. The French army failed to capture the high ground north of the city, and the Russian army failed to retake Eau. The two sides were once again tied.

But the situation changed after nightfall.

It turns out that the Russians live in a place even colder than Poland. While the Polish region has some access to the warm Atlantic currents, Moscow and Kazan don't enjoy any of that. As a result, the Russians have a wealth of experience in dealing with the cold, and their physique is more resistant to cold, with an astonishingly high ice resistance.

The French were at a disadvantage. They had no resistance to ice, and even though they lived in the city and had rooms where they could burn firewood for warmth, they still suffered greater losses than the Russians who were holed up in the trenches.

Thousands of wounded French soldiers froze to death overnight due to hypothermia. If the main force had not arrived quickly, they might have been driven out of the city by the Russian army the next day.

On the third day, the main forces of both the Russian and French armies arrived in Eau. The main Russian force, numbering over 60,000 men, lined up in two columns along the fortifications built by Lieutenant General Barclay, stretching for four to five kilometers. Villages on both flanks provided cover, greatly reducing the risk of a French rear attack. The French, on the other hand, were forced to form ranks outside Eau, with their backs to the city, and launch an uphill attack on the Russian forces positioned on higher ground to the north of the city. The open area between the two sides became the main battlefield.

Around 10 a.m., the Russian army used artillery set up on high ground north of the city to bombard the French troops in Eylau from above.

The French army did not expect the Russian army to have more than 400 artillery pieces. They were unprepared and suffered heavy casualties in a short time.

Subsequently, the French artillery also began bombarding the Russian positions, but due to the uphill attack and the fact that the French had fewer than 150 artillery pieces, they were clearly at a disadvantage.

Therefore, after about two hours of artillery battle, the French army could not hold out any longer. With only 45,000 troops, which was more than 20,000 fewer than the Russian army's 67,000, the French army was forced to launch an uphill attack.

Fortunately, Marshal Louis Davout arrived at this moment and led 15,000 men to attack the Russian left flank from a new direction.

This caught Count Benihissen off guard, leaving him no choice but to deploy his reserve cavalry.

He ordered Dmitry Golitsyn, a famous Russian noble general, to lead four thousand Cossack cavalry to delay Louis Davout's offensive by attacking.

General Golitsyn completed his mission perfectly. By the time he was repelled by Louis Davout's heavy artillery fire, the Russian army had already completed its deployment on the left flank.

Louis Davout's troops launched several subsequent attacks, but were met with heavy casualties from the Russian artillery fire from higher ground.

Upon seeing this, Napoleon immediately adjusted his strategy. Since the Russian army had deployed a large number of artillery pieces to bombard Louis Davout's forces, their central area would certainly be vulnerable.

He ordered French Marshal Charles Augerault to lead 20,000 elite troops to attack the Russian center, while Marshal Jean Soult led 10,000 troops to support the attack on the Russian right flank.

Napoleon was indeed very talented in warfare. He keenly perceived the changes in the Russian army, and at this time, the Russian army's central area was indeed very vulnerable.

However, the French army was rather unlucky. Just as Marshal Augereau was getting closer and closer to the Russian army's undefended central area, a blizzard suddenly swept across the battlefield.

The biting wind made the soldiers stagger, and the heavy snow completely obscured their vision, reducing visibility to less than two meters, making it impossible for them to see where they were going.

Although such a blizzard could provide cover for the attacking side, because the Russian army's equipment was outdated and the flintlock flints were of poor quality, resulting in a less than 50% success rate in ignition during the blizzard, the blizzard also caused the French army's attack to deviate from its course due to poor visibility.

After more than half an hour, the blizzard subsided, and Marshal Augereau was horrified to discover that the French army had actually run headfirst into the left flank of the Russian army.

It should be noted that 70% of the Russian army's artillery was deployed here in order to repel Louis Davout's forces.

Meanwhile, the Russian troops on the hillside suddenly realized that the main French force had run into their guns, and immediately launched a fierce bombardment in high spirits.

Although Augereau ordered an attack as soon as he realized something was wrong, and the French army did indeed display its traditional tenacity, with two divisions even breaking into the Russian lines, the power of hundreds of artillery pieces was still too great.

In just one hour, Marshal Augero's 20,000 men suffered more than 6,000 casualties. Augero himself was hit by a cannonball, his warhorse was instantly destroyed, and Augero was seriously injured.

At 1 p.m., Augereau's troops could not hold out and began to retreat, which in turn affected the entire French central army. Taking advantage of this, the Russian army pursued with 25,000 infantry and cavalry.

In an attempt to salvage the situation, Napoleon had no choice but to order Murat to lead 5,000 cavalrymen to attack and block the Russian army's pursuit of the French central army.

Despite the severe snowstorm that slowed down the cavalry, Murat, with his 5,000 cavalry, not only successfully halted the Russian pursuit but also disrupted their formation, causing great chaos and nearly driving back more than 20,000 Russian troops.

This is practically a battle scenario tailor-made for a world-class fighter like Murat from the neck down.

Not only because he was brave and fearless, defeating the Russian pursuers with fewer troops, but also because he got carried away and chased the Russians all the way to their positions.

Just then, the Russian artillery moved over, and Murat charged headlong into it, getting hit by a full hail of shot.

A hail of grape-sized lead bullets rained down on Murat's five thousand cavalry, causing heavy casualties, and even the valiant General Doppel was killed by artillery fire.

At this moment, the Russian army, which had just been scattered by Murat, began to regroup. Murat also found himself surrounded by the Russian army, and the situation was very dangerous.

Fortunately, Napoleon commanded brilliantly and immediately ordered Marshal Béciel to lead three thousand Imperial Guards cavalry to provide support. Together, the two repelled the Russian army once again and successfully escaped danger.

At this point, the Russian army deployed nearly 30,000 elite troops, but they were repelled by the French army with 8,000 cavalry, and even scattered at one point. They immediately suffered a backlash.

On the right flank of the French army, Louis Davout took advantage of the Russian army's large-scale offensive to infiltrate the Russian central forces and begin a counterattack.

The Russian commander, Count Benihisen, had difficulty moving his artillery, and the infantry alone could not hold out for long.

An hour later, Marshal Louis Davout's troops, who had replaced Marshal Augereau, broke through the Russian defenses and captured the high ground north of Eau, thus saving the French army.

Subsequently, Marshal Louis Davout began to set up artillery on the high ground to bombard the retreating Russian troops. Count Benihissen organized three counterattacks, all of which were repelled, and his reserves were almost exhausted.

The situation began to deteriorate rapidly for the Russian army, and there was a risk of the entire army collapsing.

At the critical moment, the last Prussian army, eight thousand Prussian soldiers led by General Anton Lestoker, arrived.

The Prussian troops that were originally operating with the Russian army were stationed more than 30 kilometers away from Eylau. Napoleon also sent Marshal Bernadotte to keep an eye on this Prussian army to prevent them from joining the battle.

After the battle began, General Anton Lestoker led the Prussian army, taking advantage of their familiarity with the terrain, across a frozen swamp, leaving the French army behind, and arrived at the battlefield.

The arrival of this new force immediately forced the French army to retreat repeatedly.

Because the Russian and French armies had been fighting for more than six hours, and had started with the most intense fighting tactics, both sides were running out of ammunition and their soldiers' morale was about to give out.

Napoleon knew the situation was extremely critical, so he personally went to the front lines to boost morale. The French army fought to the last breath and managed to avoid being crushed by the newly joined Prussian army, but that was all; they had no ability to launch a counterattack.

At 5 p.m., the French troops under Marshal Bernadotte, who had been outmaneuvered by the Prussian army, arrived and drove off the Prussian troops under General Anton Lestoker.

As darkness fell and the snow intensified, the exhausted Russian and French armies unanimously chose to retreat, ending this terrifying and bloody decisive battle.

In this battle, the French suffered more than 8,000 dead and seriously wounded, and another 15,000 lightly wounded and captured. For the French army, which had a total strength of just over 60,000, this was a devastating blow that made it impossible for them to continue fighting.

The Russian army fared much worse, with nearly 10,000 killed or seriously wounded, and over 10,000 lightly wounded or captured. They also suffered heavy losses and were unable to continue fighting.

After the battle, both sides were shocked by the bloodshed. In less than eight hours, nearly 50,000 people were killed or wounded on both sides, with losses reaching almost 50 percent. The officers suffered even greater losses, with several generals on each side killed in action.

The following day, the French army retreated to the lower reaches of the Vistula River to rest and recuperate. Napoleon convened a military conference with all the marshals to discuss the next course of action.

Joachim Murat, who had nearly ruined things on the battlefield due to his reckless charge, was a little guilty. He was the first to stand up and say to Napoleon:

"Your Majesty, I believe we are the victors in this battle. If it hadn't gotten dark, the Tsar's army would have been completely annihilated by us."

Because the poor Prussian army was clearly no match for the powerful Sixth Army of Marshal Bernadotte.

Murat's statement wasn't entirely wrong. General Lestoker's Prussian army only managed to outmaneuver Bernadotte and arrive at the battlefield ahead of time thanks to the locals' familiarity with the terrain. In terms of combat effectiveness alone, the remaining Prussian troops were certainly no match for the French army.

“Yes, Your Majesty. The Tsar’s army couldn’t defeat us even in the icy and snowy conditions they are good at, so they will surely lose when the weather warms up.” Bernardot naturally had to agree with this viewpoint since someone was praising him.

The other French marshals echoed their sentiments, and an atmosphere of smugness began to fill the conference room.

Napoleon did not express his opinion, but he secretly agreed with this view.

Because Napoleon knew that, as the first war since his ascension to the throne in which he did not achieve a decisive victory, he had to make choices in propaganda that would benefit himself, otherwise the image of the French army as invincible would be tarnished.

However, Napoleon had not completely lost his mind. After the marshals spoke, he stood up and pointed to the location of China on a world map with his baton.

"I personally very much want to continue the attack on the Tsarist Rus' Empire with you all and our brave soldiers, and make them completely submit as well."

But we must not forget that there is another, even more powerful enemy in this world: the Seris Empire, whose civilization is said to burn eternally!

Historically, Napoleon was very dissatisfied after the Battle of Eau and maintained a high-pressure stance against the Tsarist Russian Empire until he finally realized that it was impossible to defeat the Russian army and then made peace with Tsar Alexander I.

However, in this timeline, the existence of Da Yu prevented Napoleon from being as arrogant as he was in history.

With clear eyes, he realized that the Tsarist Rus' Empire was not France's most powerful rival; the Seres Empire and the Great Yu Dynasty were.

“Joseph, my brother, please send someone to Königsberg to explain our position to Tsar Alexander. I hope that all Westerners can unite and fight against the powerful Eastern dragon.”

Having recognized his true rival, Napoleon did not allow his subordinates to discuss the matter and directly ordered his brother Joseph Bonaparte to send someone to negotiate with Tsar Alexander I.

(End of this chapter)