The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 916 Heaven has forsaken me

A troop of Hungarian cavalry galloped across the flat plains of the middle Danube River.

They wore European-style cloaks adorned with Hungarian eagle patterns, but on their heads they wore Chinese-style black flying saucer helmets reminiscent of the Ming Dynasty.

The clothes were a typical European-style double-breasted shirt, but over the trousers he wore a leash, and a belt was tied around his waist, with one side securing the leash and the other holding a pistol and ammunition pouches.

This fusion of Eastern and Western clothing styles and development trends perfectly aligned with the cultural transformation of the Hungarians, who were gradually becoming the Western Xia people at that time.

"There are enemies, but for His Majesty the King!"

A loud roar echoed across the field, and more than a hundred cavalrymen immediately dispersed, their hooves kicking up clouds of dust. The hundred-plus men actually ran with the momentum of a thousand troops.

A series of crackling sounds rang out. Just as the six or seven French cavalrymen on the outpost were about to pick up speed, the Hungarian light cavalry charged in front of them. A burst of carbine fire ensued, and the French cavalry were wiped out in an instant.

But the deaths of these French cavalrymen gave the supply convoys they were covering time to react.

The two or three hundred French infantrymen transporting grain, who were advancing close to the Danube, quickly moved to the front of the grain wagons and formed a line.

The dozen or so Hungarian light cavalrymen hadn't yet recovered from the thrill of the killing and rushed forward somewhat recklessly. Several of them were quickly shot down by the infantry's rifled muskets, which had a longer range.

The rest quickly returned to their units. Amidst the captain's angry shouts, these Hungarian cavalrymen took up advantageous positions, even dismounting to conserve their horses, and then simply watched the French transport convoy without advancing.

It was as if a pack of patient wolves were staring at a wounded, strong bison.

Five minutes, fifteen minutes, half an hour.

The French infantrymen, forced to stand under pressure, could no longer concentrate; their backs and waists ached terribly.

Some of the more timid ones even moved their feet stealthily, wanting to get closer to the carriage so that they would have an obstacle to protect them in case of a fight.

Fortunately, the officers were quite responsible. They waved their batons vigorously, quickly 'injecting' some energy into the soldiers that could boost their morale.

But after another fifteen minutes, the officers could not hold on any longer and could only divide the three hundred men into three teams, taking turns to form ranks, hoping to hold out until nightfall or when friendly forces arrived.

The Hungarian light cavalry captain saw through the French officer's plan. Under his command, dozens of cavalrymen remounted and made a show of charging, even rushing within 90 meters at one point.

This immediately put the French troops, who had just relaxed, on high alert, and many poorly trained recruits fired their lead bullets in quick succession.

"Idiot, idiot! You can only fire after I give you my order!" The officer gave him another pep talk, but it was clearly less effective than it had been a quarter of an hour earlier.

When people are extremely tired and stressed, they gradually become less sensitive to physical pain.

Seeing that this was not working, the French officers had no choice but to stop rotating, because at this point the rotation was no longer effective in providing rest.

In such a tense environment, it's impossible for anyone but a veteran to get a proper rest when the enemy could rush up and kill you at any moment.

Anyway, these soldiers aren't getting enough rest, so it's better not to rotate them. If there aren't enough soldiers in front, it would be bad if they were overwhelmed by a wave of attacks.

However, there were still some people who could rest, namely the twenty or thirty veterans in the team.

Time ticked by, and the situation began to rapidly deteriorate in a way that was unfavorable to the French.

Because they cannot be rotated, but the Hungarian cavalry can be rotated.

Cavalry doesn't need to worry about infantry's ability to close the distance quickly, so they naturally have little burden.

Just then, a commotion broke out. The French recruits' eyes lit up with surprise, but the veterans' faces darkened.

It's simple: the enemy is cavalry. They heard the commotion but didn't leave, which proves that the reinforcements coming aren't from our side.

Sure enough, as the commotion drew closer, what appeared in the French army's view were groups of Hungarian farmers carrying muskets, spears, and even farm tools.

They were dressed in tattered clothes, their faces were pale and sickly, and their faces showed extreme hatred.

These people kept cursing and, without needing the cavalry captain's command, spontaneously dispersed and continued to approach.

Among these newly liberated Hungarian serfs were fathers, husbands, sons, and brothers who had been conscripted by the French army to work as laborers and never returned.

Some resisted the French army's grain collection and had their close relatives killed.

There were cases of mothers/sisters/daughters being raped by French soldiers sent to the countryside.

There were also families who starved to death because of the famine created by the French army.

In less than two years, the French army caused the deaths of more than 200,000 people in Hungary, a country with a population of five or six million. With such deep hatred, there was no need for anyone to drive them.

For many, the only desire to survive was to wait for the king to return so they could take revenge on the French.

'ho ho ho!'

As they drew closer, the raggedly dressed Hungarians began to roar like wild beasts, sounding remarkably like the howls of the Qin people.

These Hungarian poor people numbered at least a thousand, and once they dispersed, they almost completely filled the French army's field of vision.

Even though many of them were elderly, weak, or even women, no one would doubt their destructive potential.

Because the Hungarian cavalry were hiding behind them, waiting for these men to draw the French fire before charging in.

'Ho ho ho!'

The sound grew louder and more unified, transforming into a warhammer that relentlessly pounded on the French people's already collapsing hearts.

"Ahhhhhh!"

Some new recruits couldn't bear the oppressive atmosphere and pulled the trigger when the Hungarian civilians were about to enter within 100 meters.

The gunshot quickly replaced the officer's order, and many soldiers who could not withstand the pressure opened fire.

The gunshots replaced the shouts of the Hungarian civilians as they charged forward with a collective roar, brandishing a jumble of weapons.

Blood splattered onto the ground beneath their feet, and Hungarian people fell in droves, but the thunderous sound of horses' hooves also rang out.

Completely out of command, with only twenty or thirty veterans calmly opening fire, over a hundred cavalrymen charged in furiously.

Once they were within range, the cavalrymen in front raised their lances and opened fire, but not on the Frenchmen; instead, they targeted the oxen and horses pulling their carts.

The cattle and horses were already terrified by the guns and cannons, and only with the help of the groomsmen did they manage to stay in place. But when they were suddenly hit by bullets, the pain caused them to immediately lose control.

The sudden gallop of one horse immediately threw the entire convoy into chaos, completely shattering the French formation.

Then it was the cavalry's turn to reign supreme, with swift and fierce Hungarian cavalry cutting and slashing back and forth.

Hungarian civilians, their faces contorted in agony, rushed in, pinning down a French soldier and letting out a beastly howl; soon, the soldier's severed limbs would fly into the air.

"Everyone should carry some, but not too much, or we won't escape the French."

The cavalry captain thoughtfully distributed grain to the people, and then, amidst their reluctant gazes, burned the grain, carts, and oxcarts that he could not take with him.

As for livestock like cattle and horses, they took them away; these things served as both transportation and provisions, and they couldn't have too many.

This situation has been occurring repeatedly along the more than 400-kilometer route from Novi Sad to Budapest, and the closer they get to Budapest, the more destructive and frequent the attacks become.

This is a true national war!

Inspired by the French Revolution and accurately positioned by the westward migration of the Seresian people under Mogonze, the Hungarians, who were the first in Central and Eastern Europe to enjoy the emancipation of serfs, became one of the earliest ethnic groups in Europe to awaken to national consciousness.

Mo Gongze probably doesn't even know how many people attacked the French convoy. He will only find out when many people come to him with the heads of French soldiers to claim their rewards.

These frequent attacks made the French retreat extremely difficult.

Although cases of hundreds of people being wiped out at once are not common, many ants can kill an elephant. Losing ten or so people here and seven or eight people there can add up to a lot.

1814, April 7.

The main French forces reached south of Budapest, but the situation was very unfavorable for them.

Murat and Bruner's vanguard of 40,000 men has dwindled to just over 30,000, and they are struggling to survive.

The main force heading north numbered only about 160,000, because Napoleon needed to arrange for people to cover the rear and block the main force of the anti-French army south of Novi Sad.

Meanwhile, the French army only had enough food for about twenty days. In other words, if they did not capture Budapest and cripple Morgentheucker's forces within twenty days, the army would collapse.

More importantly, as the main French forces marched toward Budapest, the situation in Europe was rapidly deteriorating in a direction most unfavorable to the French.

In early June, the Kingdom of Sweden, under the command of Lieutenant General Carl Lowenhill and with Major General Qin Sanqin Dingyang as the corps commander, mobilized 6 Swedish troops and, under the cover of the English Navy, landed on the European continent.

Lieutenant General Carl Lowenhill is the illegitimate son of the now-dying King Charles XIII of Sweden.

His formal appearance among the major nobles of the Kingdom of Sweden signifies that Da Yu has reached an agreement with King Charles XIII.

This army was nominally commanded by Lieutenant General Karl Lowenhill as a guarantee for his future high position, while the actual commander was Qin Dingyang. Simultaneously with the Swedish landings, King Frederick William III of Prussia issued a national mobilization order, quickly mobilizing 30,000 troops led by Duke Gebhard von Blücher of Vastatt.

Prussia's sudden defection dealt a heavy blow to France on German territory.

The Treaty of Tilsit was too humiliating for Prussia. In addition, France had been conscripting grain and laborers on Prussian soil for years, treating Prussians as second-class citizens.

These actions successfully aroused the indignation of all Prussians. Provoked by the French army, the national consciousness of Prussians began to awaken, and they had been waiting for an opportunity to take revenge.

Therefore, as soon as King Frederick William III of Prussia issued the order, the whole of Prussia was in an uproar, and the nobles in the Prussian territories that had been ceded immediately declared their allegiance to the King of Prussia once again.

In mid-June, the Przewalski's coalition forces recovered the entire territory and then marched south, causing the Confederation of the Rhine, which Napoleon had painstakingly built, to collapse instantly.

The Kingdom of Bavaria, into which Napoleon had invested heavily, immediately turned against him. King Maximilian I signed the Treaty of Reid with Austria, announcing his withdrawal from the Confederation of the Rhine.

He promised to relinquish most of the lands annexed through the French Empire, demote himself from king to grand duke, provide money and food, send people to follow the anti-French coalition, and recruit 10,000 Bavarian troops from the French army.

Only Frederick I, the king of Württemberg, known for his large belly, had sunk costs too high to turn back after marrying his daughters to Napoleon's brother, Jerome Napoleon, leaving him with no choice but to put up a stubborn resistance.

At the end of June, the Prygian army of 6 men stormed Stuttgart. Frederick I, who resisted for more than ten days, suffered a far worse fate than in history. He could not even save his country and had to flee in disgrace to France.

Subsequently, the Kingdom of Württemberg, controlled by the Rhineland-Palatinate coalition, announced its withdrawal from the Confederation of the Rhine.

At this point, the Confederation of the Rhine existed in name only; no, it should be said that after Bavaria and Württemberg withdrew, its name essentially ceased to exist.

As for the 7 Austrian troops, they entered Budapest as early as July 15, led by Archduke Karl.

Therefore, the French army is currently facing a situation where 25,000 elite troops from the Three Feudatories are constantly attacking their supply lines, and 45,000 troops from the Three Feudatories in Belgrade are attacking Novi Sad.

As for Budapest, there were a full 60,000 Hungarian troops and 60,000 Austrian troops. Although they were mostly conscripts, apart from a few thousand Austrian veterans, they were not elite in terms of equipment and training.

But with 120,000 men, they were not an enemy the French could defeat in a short time.

Outside the city, at least tens of thousands of Hungarian militiamen were continuously gathering. They lacked the ability to fight head-on, but they could still cause the French army a lot of trouble. At least, they could forget about procuring food locally.

On July 24, Napoleon hastily launched an attack on Budapest. The four French corps used more than 7 cannons to bombard the city day and night. The intervals between each artillery barrage were when the French launched their Bastille Charge.

This time, Napoleon showed no mercy, bringing in core officers like the Young Guard, and quickly captured Pest on the east bank of the Danube in just two days.

The Austro-Hungarian forces defending Pest suffered heavy casualties, with over four thousand killed or wounded and several thousand captured, bringing the total losses to at least ten thousand.

The reason for such serious consequences was that the Austro-Hungarian army lacked both training and artillery.

The so-called Hungarian army consisted of noble guards and volunteers who had escaped serfdom after Mogonze's return.

Austria fared no better. After Vienna was captured for the second time, most of the Austrian veterans were taken prisoner and not released. Instead, they were detained by the French army. Those who were willing to pledge allegiance to Napoleon were incorporated into the army, while those who were unwilling became forced laborers.

The Second Treaty of Pressburg, signed at the same time, stipulated that the Austrian Empire was not allowed to have arsenals capable of manufacturing artillery, and the machine tools and engineers of the original arsenals were taken away by the French army.

Therefore, the Austrian army was no longer the same as the one during the Aspern-Essling era. Most of them were new recruits, they were severely lacking in artillery, and their combat effectiveness was only slightly better than that of the Hungarian army under Mogonse.

On July 26, an impatient Napoleon ordered the main force of his army to cross the river and attack Buda, leaving Marshal Brune with 7 men to defend Pest.

The reason for this urgency was that the French army had not obtained much food in Pest and needed to capture Buda to alleviate the food crisis.

The French operation was also very swift. Napoleon even sent Joachim Murat to lead cavalry around Buda to explore the upper Danube River, hoping to seize some Austrian military supplies and cut off the Austro-Hungarian army's retreat.

But this only angered the more than 100,000 Austro-Hungarian troops in Buda.

Mo Gongze seized the opportunity to incite the soldiers, saying that they had no way out now, and that France was clearly going to kill them all. If they did not want to suffer humiliation again, they had no choice but to fight to the death.

Archduke Karl also announced that 200,000 Swedish and Prussian reinforcements were on their way and had already passed Salzburg. They could hold out for a maximum of a month before reinforcements arrived and the French were defeated.

After Archduke Karl finished speaking, Mo Gongze immediately took out all the gold and silver treasures from the treasury and piled them in the square outside the Summer Palace, indicating that as long as they held out until victory, he would give all his wealth to reward the three armies.

Finally, after employing a three-pronged approach, the morale of the Austro-Hungarian recruits was thoroughly boosted.

The French offensive also began to falter as it had been in the attack on Pest.

Not only were the morale of the new Austro-Hungarian recruits boosted, but Buda was also built on a hillside, and its main target of defense—the Austro-Hungarian Empire at its peak—had a large number of cannons.

From July 26 to July 30, Napoleon launched a series of attacks with 130,000 troops over four days, including several attempts to capture Buda. However, the troops were driven out by the frenzied Austro-Hungarian army in street fighting and hand-to-hand combat.

For the first time, Archduke Karl was free from constraints and fully displayed his talent for command.

As an enhanced version of Nathaniel Götterdämmerung, he delegated all power to Archduke Karl, allowing Götterdämmerung to focus on logistics and morale-boosting work.

The two complemented each other perfectly, and the new recruits of the Austro-Hungarian army also honed their skills in the war, becoming increasingly adept at urban warfare and large-scale hand-to-hand combat.

On August 3, the French army suffered tens of thousands of casualties, while the Austro-Hungarian army lost at least 20,000 to 30,000 men, but Buda still stood firm.

Meanwhile, Joachim Murat's cavalry encountered great difficulties. Murat had only a little over 10,000 cavalrymen under his command, but he was facing hundreds of thousands of Austro-Hungarian militia.

In particular, the 70,000 to 80,000 Hungarian civilian cavalry, taking advantage of their high mobility and familiarity with the terrain, put Murat's forces in a very passive position.

Although Murat won a series of victories, killing tens of thousands of Austro-Hungarian militiamen in just over ten days while suffering only a few thousand casualties himself, even with this exchange ratio of more than ten to one, he could not afford to make any more trades.

Then, Napoleon received another piece of news that filled him with despair.

On July 18, Li Xingtai commanded the anti-French army to capture Novi Sad.

Joseph Poniatowski, the newly appointed French marshal in charge of covering the rear, was killed by Han Zaibai, a fierce general of the Great Yu, a cavalry major general, with a saber during the pursuit.

The Polish army under the Prince's command, numbering over 20,000, was almost completely wiped out. Li Xingtai assembled an anti-French army of 65,000 men and was rushing towards Budapest day and night.

As Napoleon was calculating the arrival time of Li Xingtai's army, another piece of bad news arrived.

The Ruipu Allied Forces, numbering 45,000, arrived earlier than Li Xingtai's anti-French army, and were less than 60 kilometers from Buda City.

This caused even fierce generals like Marshal Charles Augereau and Marshal Adolphe Mortier to change their expressions drastically; it was too dangerous.

"Your Majesty, we must find a way to retreat. Our army cannot withstand the combined attack from the north and south by the Rip Alliance and the Seris army," Marshal Augero said worriedly.

Actually, the Rip Alliance was alright, but the Seris army, which had been entangled with them all the way and had no worries about their rear, was really difficult to deal with.

They were the only elite troops in the allied forces capable of fighting against the French.

"If we can't withstand a pincer attack from the north and south, then we should crush one of the routes first." In this desperate situation, Napoleon made the right decision, and his talent as a commander once again came to the fore.

"Send 50,000 elite troops with me to march north and defeat the Rip coalition." Napoleon looked at Marshal Augereau.

“Charles, my Duke, you will continue to command the siege of Buda, and you must perform as before.”

On August 5, 8 elite French troops, under the personal command of Napoleon, marched lightly and at double speed, bypassing the front and suddenly appearing behind the Ripple coalition forces.

The French army, with the Old Guard as its vanguard, launched an attack as soon as the artillery fire stopped, followed by a volley of gunfire and then a bayonet charge.

The Prussian army was severely weakened in the previous Franco-Prussian War and consisted mostly of new recruits.

Among the generals of Dayu, Qin San and Qin Dingyang's abilities could only be considered average, and even calling them above average was a stretch.

Of the 15,000 troops he commanded, the majority were Swedes and Portuguese, while the Shangchuan garrison from Dayu numbered only a little over 1,000, so their fighting strength was not strong.

Soon the Rip army was divided. Napoleon used a small force to keep watch over the divided Rip army, and then personally directed the artillery to conduct targeted bombings point by point. The allied army had almost no ability to resist.

Qin Dingyang witnessed the power of the French emperor for the first time. Unfortunately, he did not have many elite troops. After defeating two French armies and rescuing two or three thousand soldiers, he was unable to launch another attack.

Fortunately, at this time, Duke Blücher of Vastatt, who was leading the vanguard of the army, finally received the news and returned to reinforce them. The two of them worked together to repel the French attack and retreated to the north bank of the Danube overnight.

After a final count, the Rip coalition, which numbered nearly 50,000, was reduced to just over 10,000. They had lost almost all of their heavy weapons and food supplies and had no choice but to retreat to Pozzoni (Bratislava) to resupply and rest before heading south again.

Napoleon was overjoyed and ordered his men to raise the various flags of the Preux Army and display them to the Austro-Hungarian army in Buda from the upper reaches of the Danube, in order to demoralize them.

This indeed severely damaged morale in the city. The Austro-Hungarian army was mostly composed of new recruits, and their morale rose quickly, but it also fell just as fast.

At this critical juncture, veteran General Ryanstein suddenly appeared in Pest, which was occupied by the French army, leading tens of thousands of men.

It turned out that after Rinstein arrived in Transylvania, he quickly defeated Marshal Soult, who had only 30,000 old, weak and disabled soldiers, and even captured Marshal Soult himself.

After conquering Transylvania, Reinstein recruited a large number of soldiers in the Duchy, gaining 30,000 infantry and cavalry. Together with some German soldiers from the Confederation of the Rhine who had been inspired by him, a total of 55,000 men swooped down from the Transylvanian plateau and finally arrived at the battlefield in time.

Ryanstein was highly respected, renowned, and a skilled commander who caught Marshal Bruna, who was left to defend Pest, off guard from the flank.

The French suffered thousands of casualties out of 20,000 troops and were forced to flee across the river; Marshal Brune himself was almost captured.

Faced with this unexpected result, Napoleon, who had just defeated the Ripple coalition, was stunned. His mind was buzzing, and his energy seemed to have been drained away in an instant.

If he were Chinese, he would surely say, "It wasn't a fault of our fighting spirit; it was Heaven's will that brought us here!"

(End of this chapter)