Chapter 78 Exercise (Part 1)

As the clouds of war gradually formed, the exercises between the 88th Legion, the Imperial Guard and the Guards Legion also began. Xiao Jie was full of confidence in the exercise. The entire 88th Legion was almost armed to the teeth according to the standards of this era. Each soldier was equipped with a Type 1806 rifle and 300 bullets, 6 grenades, a multi-function bayonet and engineer shovel, and some other things that were better than the back. Each squadron was also equipped with two Maxim heavy machine guns and two mortars. Each brigade was equipped with two brigades.

It is equipped with three 75mm field guns as heavy firepower support. The artillery brigade also has a total of 100 75mm field guns. Such powerful firepower equipment is unprecedented in the whole of Europe and the world. After nearly half a year of hard training, the soldiers of the 88th Legion have completely changed compared to before. After familiarizing themselves with the advanced weapons they have mastered, they are also full of confidence in this exercise. Think about it, what a great honor it is to defeat the two most elite troops of the empire at the same time.

As the days of the exercise gradually came, Xiao Jie was full of confidence and always had a smile on his face. He knew that if the 88th Legion of this exercise could win, he could justify the expansion of the legion, and then there would be more troops in his hands. Although the production efficiency of the Andresey Arsenal is still not very high now, and he can only produce 20 heavy machine guns and 30 75mm field guns per month, after half a year of accumulation, nearly 100 heavy machine guns and 75mm field guns were piled up in the arsenal warehouse, which was enough for his legion to expand. Now that the war is about to be fought, he knows that he wants to

In less than two months, the empire was about to start a war with Prussia and Russia and Britain. There is no doubt that the final winner of this war was still the French Empire. So he wanted to seize this opportunity and make more contributions in the war. At that time, the legion could be expanded into a standard legion like other legions. According to the firepower equipment of the 88th Legion, the trained 88th Legion would definitely have enough strength to defend two to three legions of the empire at the same time. At that time, he would not only be a nominal crown prince, but others would also have to consider whether they had this strength if they wanted to compete for the position of the crown prince.

The exercise was set at Saudi Arabia, about 70 kilometers southwest of Paris, on the edge of the Normandy hills. On August 5, the 88th Legion set out from Paris to Saudi Arabia. According to regulations, they will enter the predetermined position on August 7. Their position is two hills adjacent to each other and about 100 meters high. Perhaps this cannot be called a mountain at all, but just a higher mound of soil. They have three days to build the position.

Two days after the 88th Legion set out, the Imperial Guards and the Guards Legion immediately set out for Chartre. They will arrive on August 9 and prepare for the attack. After they leave Paris, the Paris defense will be taken over by the 1st Legion to ensure that there will be no problems in Paris during the exercise.

Napoleon, his main government officials, the marshals, generals will also set out with the Imperial Guards and the Guards Corps. The exercise officially begins on August 10 and ends on August 13.

At noon on August 7, Xiao Jie and the others arrived in Chartre. He ordered the soldiers to camp and rest, while he led their officers to climb the two hills as their position. Looking at the small hills with only a few sparse trees, Xiao Jie couldn't help but smile bitterly: The guys from the Army Department really know how to choose places. These are basically two mounds of soil that are basically safe to defend. It is not easy to block an enemy that is 7.5 times higher than his own. Fortunately, there is a small river on the left side of the mountain. Although the river is not very wide, it is still very difficult to swim. This makes Xiao Jie and the others only need to defend the front and right wing.

The other generals of the 88th Legion also looked bitter, and it can be seen that they were not optimistic about the upcoming exercise. What Xiao Jie and the others didn't know was that Napoleon personally approved the exercise location. He learned from some aspects the power of the new weapons of the 88th Legion. Although it had not been tested in actual combat, its terrifying power still left a deep impression on Napoleon, so he posed such a problem for Xiao Jie and the others.

All the bullets used in the exercise were empty bullets without warheads, and all the bayonets were made of wood chips, which effectively avoided accidental injuries. The lethality of the weapons of both sides was carefully demonstrated by a group of experts and handed them to Napoleon in a table after careful argumentation. During the exercise, the casualties of both sides were judged by the staff members who memorized the data based on the current situation. Although there was a large error, there was no way to do so.

After lunch, the soldiers of the 88th Legion began to build positions under the leadership of their respective officers. The 88th Legion built a 1.5-kilometer-long defense line in front of the two mountains, as the first defense line of the position. The second defense line is in the middle of the two mountains. The first defense line is composed of two trenches, about 1 kilometer away from the second front line. Xiao Jie arranged the 2nd Battalion here. In order to prevent the impact of the enemy cavalry, they pulled two wire mesh 300 meters in front of the defense line.

.If the enemy wants to pass through these two barbed wire, it will definitely suffer heavy losses from the attack of heavy machine guns and mortars. Not to mention that they can also get the firepower support of the powerful artillery behind at any time. If the enemy breaks through the barbed wire in front, the grenades in the hands of the soldiers of the 88th Legion are not vegetarian. Within a short distance, this weapon has great lethality to the enemy's infantry and cavalry. It can be said that it is completely impossible for the Imperial Guard to pass through the first line of defense of the 88th Legion without paying the price of bleeding.

The second line of defense is much more stable than the first line of defense. It consists of three trenches 50 meters apart, and the guards are the 1st battalion of the 88th Legion. All the heavy machine gun bunkers are poured with concrete. Although they are not as strong as those large fortresses, there is no problem with one or two shells from the artillery of the Imperial Guards and Guards Legion. In addition, there is a 3rd mountain on both sides of them.

A squadron of the brigade, including all heavy machine guns and mortars of the transport brigade (the cavalry brigade is not equipped with heavy machine guns, mortars and field artillery since it wants to ensure its mobility). It will provide strong support to the 1st brigade. The 100 75mm field artillery of the artillery brigade and 75mm field artillery of each brigade, forming 4 artillery positions. They will suppress the enemy's cannons and provide artillery fire support to their own sides.
Chapter completed!