Verdun Meat Grinder

Joseph was thus forcibly given the title of "commander," and then, with the Red Army and a batch of supplies donated by the "Military-Industrial Consortium," he headed to Verdun.

When Joseph arrived at Verdun garrison was in a state of panic due to the loss of their commander. Fortunately, the surname "Bonaparte" proved to be a great help to Joseph. Indeed, as Carnot had said, although Joseph had not had much contact with combat troops for a long time, his legend was widespread in the army. This was because the various weapons used by the army bore the surname "Bonaparte."

Furthermore, General Joseph Bonaparte was the elder brother of the famous military strategist Napoleon Bonaparte, and reportedly Napoleon's direct superior. Given Napoleon's prowess, his brother, the founder of the Red Army and the initiator and leader of military reforms, couldn't have been anything less, right?

Moreover, Joseph brought a large number of new weapons with him to provide support. It is said that these weapons were donated free of charge by the "Military-Industrial Consortium" to defend the motherland. And these things are indeed much better than what the Army of the North had before.

"Look at this genuine 'Bonaparte's Little Melon,' the grooves are so beautiful, it feels so good to touch. And look at this Minié Rifle, the rifling is so smooth and neat, it's much more authentic than ours before..." an old soldier said to the replenishment soldier next to him as he counted the weapons he had been issued.

"What's so special about this?" A Red Army soldier happened to walk by and, hearing the old man boasting, said, "We brought much more powerful stuff than this... Don't worry, with this stuff, we'll definitely have enough to feed those Britain."

A general named "Bonaparte," along with a vast array of weapons bearing the Bonaparte name, instantly boosted the morale of the Verdun garrison. Adding to this, everyone learned of another exhilarating piece of news: General Napoleon Bonaparte was now on his way with over 100,000 of France's most elite Italian Legion. If they could hold out for a while using the Verdun fortresses, the Italian Legion would arrive, and then... France would be saved.

"General Bonaparte the Younger will kick those Britain and Prussia in the backsides, he'll kick them to pieces. We just need to hold out for a few days." For the first time, such an optimistic voice emerged among the defenders.

After boosting the morale of the defenders, Joseph immediately focused all his efforts on improving the defenses of Verdun. All sorts of new contraptions, such as barbed wire, trenches, shrapnel, mines, especially Claymore Mine, and even flamethrowers (the land-based version of Lavoisier's ) and "Little Melon Catapult" (large slingshots), were quickly prepared.

Joseph had originally planned to reserve these items for Napoleon. Since ancient times, speed has been crucial in warfare, and now that the rainy season had arrived, Napoleon's troops, traveling a long distance to reinforce the capital, would face significant delays if they carried large quantities of weapons and equipment. Therefore, as per Napoleon's request, Joseph had already prepared a large armory near Paris, allowing Napoleon to have his soldiers leave behind some heavy weapons and supplies and reach Paris as quickly as possible.

However, nowadays, a large portion of the munitions in this massive armory has been misappropriated by Joseph. What can he do? After all, life is more important, isn't it? Although Carnot thought Joseph should be a formidable fighter; although the veterans of the Red Army and the soldiers of the Army of the North also believed Joseph was certainly a capable fighter; although all of Paris believed that the man named "Bonaparte" would definitely fight; Joseph himself didn't believe he could fight at all.

"If his father is a good swimmer, how can his son be a good swimmer?" Joseph said to himself, so he made up his mind to make his tortoise shell hard.

Although Verdun's defenses had grown increasingly stronger in recent days, and many experienced officers believed it to be impregnable, even concluding that no army could breach such a defense. They reasoned that even the mighty Britain and Prussia could only look upon Verdun 'Verdun walls with despair. Yet, Joseph still felt unsafe.

"Unfortunately, our technology is still too poor," Joseph said to himself. "If we could create armor like the teardrop, sustained by strong interactions, I could finally sleep soundly."

Of course, Joseph was able to focus on managing his tortoise shell with such dedication thanks to the Britain. Although the British Army and Prussian troops had already caught up with Verdun, the Britain artillery was still slowly making its way up the road.

The Britain army possessed a large number of powerful cannons, but these cannons were originally intended for the navy. However, the army expanded rapidly and couldn't produce enough cannons in time, so they were given all the navy's spare cannons. The navy's cannons were excellent in every way, except they were too heavy. And then, a few days ago, it rained twice. The roads of that era were mostly dirt tracks, dusty on sunny days and muddy on rainy days. As a result, the Britain cannons' marching speed suddenly dropped to less than 300 meters per day.

In previous battles, both the Britain Prussia had become accustomed to having many, many excellent cannons on their side. But now, facing a fortress even stronger than Liege, how could they simply charge in without those cannons?

With the combined help of divine intervention and the British Navy's cannons, Joseph gained ample time to continuously strengthen his defenses. His serious and meticulous attitude, and his consideration for the safety of his soldiers, earned him widespread respect and affection.

While Joseph was busy organizing the defenses, he also hurriedly sent someone back to Napoleon for help. "Quickly find a few reliable generals and get them here in advance to help me organize the defenses!"

Upon receiving the urgent report, Napoleon couldn't help but burst into laughter.

His chief of staff, Berthier, asked, "Why is the general laughing?"

Napoleon laughed, "I laugh at the incompetence of the Anglo-Prussian Allied Forces and the cowardice of Joseph. My elder brother Joseph is now the acting commander of the Army of the North, in charge of the defense of Verdun. He feels he has no one to embolden him, so he wrote to me, asking me to quickly send him some advisors. Who do you think we should send?"

"How about we Davout? That would be a good idea," Berthier suggested.

"No..." Napoleon shook his head. "Davout is very capable; we should keep him for ourselves... or perhaps we should let Murat go."

"Murat?" Berthier asked, puzzled. "Murat is very brave, but sending him..."

"You really think that bastard Joseph needs someone to teach him how to defend himself? That guy's a giant tortoise, he's got tons of defensive tricks up his sleeve! He's just a coward, he needs someone to bolster his courage. Believe me, if you went over there right now, you'd see he's turned Verdun into a steel tortoise shell covered in spikes. I bet you, Joseph could hold Verdun until the end of the world without our help... Oh, and change the marching plan..."

"What?" Berthier asked.

"That coward Joseph has taken all the cannons and other supplies that were prepared for us in Paris to Verdun. Are we going to Paris empty-handed? He misappropriated our cannons, so of course we have to bring them ourselves. Hmm, let's stop the army for a rest so that the cannons and other supplies can catch up... We can also relax a bit, how about we go out for a picnic this afternoon?" Napoleon replied.

As a result, Napoleon's marching speed suddenly dropped to a level not much faster than that of the Britain. Only Murat, the "most courageous," was entrusted with the important task of riding quickly north to serve as an advisor to Joseph.

Joseph was pleased to receive the "military advisor" his brother had sent him. He showed Murat around the entire Verdun fortress, explaining his various defensive facilities and ideas. Then the two returned to headquarters together, went into Joseph's office, and sat down.

"General Murat, do you have any suggestions on how to strengthen the defenses of Verdun? You know, I have never commanded such a large army or faced such a large-scale battle before, and I am quite inexperienced in many areas," Joseph asked first.

"Ah, General Bonaparte, you are too kind. The defenses of Verdun are actually very good, but in my opinion, there are indeed problems," Murat replied honestly.

"What's the problem?" Joseph asked quickly. At the same time, he thought to himself, "I've always known that armchair strategizing is useless. I thought it was an impregnable, almost flawless defense system, but an experienced general would immediately see the problem. Luckily, I'm smart enough to ask Napoleon for a strategist."

"General Bonaparte," Murat said, pointing to the map, "I think the defenses of Verdun are overstretched, too heavily fortified. We could reduce the defensive strength and use that power for counterattacks or even offensive operations. And some of the defensive structures, like here, and here, and here... you see, would be more effective for a counterattack. So while these structures greatly enhance the fortress's defenses, they also hinder our counter- Murat to some extent. I think they're completely unnecessary and should be dismantled. Verdun's defenses are already somewhat superfluous."

"What if the enemy launches a surprise attack from the flank while we're finishing work like this?" Joseph asked.

"To execute such a flanking maneuver at the right time is extremely difficult. I think the chances of the enemy not reacting quickly enough are very low. Besides, in war, there's always some risk involved..." Murat replied nonchalantly.

Joseph smiled and replied, "Yes, General Murat, I will consider your suggestion."

At the same time, he thought to himself, "What's the point of a counterattack? Wouldn't it be better to hold our ground and wait for Napoleon to arrive before making a move? What does Napoleon mean by sending such a guy whose mind is only on aggressive attacks?"