Chapter 1979: Special Action

After Li Hongtian, located in Saxony, received such information, he was very surprised by the speed of Frederick II.

Although Frederick II was defeated in this war, the speed at which he assembled the remnants of the Prussian troops was extremely fast, exceeding his imagination.

At this time, Li Hongtian also received a secret message from Liu Zheng.

Upon seeing the information above, Li Hongtian was furious!

"How dare the French kidnap our people!"

What was recorded above was exactly how the French had kidnapped the scientists and engineers that Longyan had sent to Australia.

Li Hongtian took a deep breath and began to think of a strategy.

After Saxony came under the control of Longyan, their king basically became a figurehead; now, the important powers of Saxony, such as diplomacy and military affairs, were all in his hands.

It was their Outpost in Europe.

It was also a military force that Longyan used to keep the various European nations in check, but against the French, Li Hongtian could not directly use diplomatic means to crush them with sanctions.

Without ensuring the safety of these scientists and engineers, he could not do such a thing.

He had to find a Method to rescue these people from prison first.

Only then could they properly impose various sanctions on the French troops.

After thinking of this, Li Hongtian immediately issued a secret order to assemble a special unit from Ling Chen's squad to infiltrate the interior of France and find out where those scientists and engineers were.

Ling Chen sent a unit.

It was formed from the most elite Special Forces among the troops he currently possessed.

It was led by the former Special Forces captain, Feng Zhenyun.

Li Hongtian was very satisfied with this arrangement by Ling Chen.

He ordered the merchant Jiang Xuelan to take Feng Zhenyun to infiltrate the interior of France and investigate where their people were currently being held.

……

At this time, in Australia.

Li He's troops, after finishing off Delu's ambush force.

Obtained a large amount of supplies, which brought them a glimmer of hope; relying on these supplies, Li He's troops were able to leave the Grassland.

However, this battle had been extremely costly for them.

One-third of their troops had been killed in action, and more than half had lost their combat capability and needed care.

Calculating the total, this force of ten thousand people had only three thousand left who could continue to fight.

The others had no combat capability at all.

Medical personnel like Ge Dazhuang's wife, Jiang Yuyan, could not continue to march and had to rely on Ge Dazhuang for care.

On the eve of leaving the Grassland, Li He held a tree branch and drew a rough map on the ground.

In this area, there was simply no detailed map of Australia.

After some personal reconnaissance by Li He, they used this rough map as a reference to create the following action plan.

The firelight in the room looked as if it could be extinguished at any moment.

Everyone present held their breath and looked at the rough map Li He had drawn on the ground.

Li He spoke in a deep voice: "According to our observations, after leaving the Grassland, if we head east for about three thousand meters, we will be able to reach the city our government built there."

"The enemy will definitely intercept us again on this road, and we do not know if that city has been occupied by French troops."

A staff officer interrupted Li He and said: "General, do you mean that the crisis our troops are currently facing is that the destination may have already been occupied, and there are ambushers on the road?"

"And our supplies have bottomed out, there is a large group of wounded waiting for treatment, and even the medical staff accompanying the army have fallen ill during the march. Next, we still have to face a fierce battle... no matter how you look at it, this is a dead end!"

Everyone looked at Li He, silent.

The candlelight flickered, and after a moment of silence, Li He nodded and admitted: "Yes, officers, this is our current situation; you know it better than I do."

Once these words were spoken, the already heavy atmosphere became even more oppressive, so stifling that it was impossible to breathe.

"Then, are we going to fight this next battle?"

"This is just going to our deaths!"

Li He gritted his teeth and said: "Even if it is going to our deaths, this is the only path we have to take."

"Staying in this lifeless Grassland is also going to our deaths; if we fight the French troops with everything we have, we still have a chance of victory."

"My plan is this: send out a vanguard unit to scout whether there is an ambush on this road. After confirming there is no danger ahead, we will move out from the Grassland, first reach a nearby village to settle the wounded and obtain supplies, and then find a way to attack the French troops."

Everyone smiled bitterly; they felt despair at this plan of Li He's.

"General, we cannot accept even the slightest loss now, and I must remind you that the number of troops we can currently mobilize is at most three thousand. How many people are you going to send out in the vanguard squad?"

Li He gritted his teeth and said: "Five hundred people, I will lead the team myself!"

"If I do not return, you will hide in the jungle. There are at least wild fruits there, and you can eat wild game. When the situation improves slightly, you can choose to attack!"

Everyone sighed and said: "This is the best choice for now."

"We have no better Method than this."

"General, you need to return within a week..."

Li He said in a deep voice: "If I have not returned with the troops after a week, you will take the troops into the jungle and wait for an opportunity!"

……

Just on the eve of Li He's departure, Ge Dazhuang came before Li He, fully prepared.

His waist was as straight as a spear that would break before it bent, and he shouted loudly: "Longyan Army assault unit, Captain Ge Dazhuang reporting, requesting to go to the battlefield!"

Seeing it was him, Li He frowned and said: "Why are you here? I thought I told you to stay with Jiang Yuyan."

Jiang Yuyan had fallen ill after arriving at the Grassland and had not fully recovered yet; she had been cared for by Ge Dazhuang the whole time.

Ge Dazhuang said with a silly smile: "Yuyan told me to follow the General to fight the French, and that she didn't need to be worried about."

"Was it Jiang Yuyan who said that, or was it a decision you made yourself?"

Li He stared at Ge Dazhuang's simple, smiling face, chuckled, and said, "General, you know that I don't lie."

"Ha, if someone with thick eyebrows and big eyes like you doesn't lie, then how did you manage to trick our most beautiful doctor into being with you?"

These words made everyone burst into laughter, and Ge Dazhuang felt even more embarrassed as he scratched his head.

"General, just let me go; you only have five hundred soldiers, it definitely won't be enough."

"Ge Dazhuang!" Li He barked.

"Here!" Ge Dazhuang straightened his back once again.

Li He stared at him from his horse and ordered, "I command you to stay behind and continue looking after Jiang Yuyan; you are not to set foot on the battlefield without my orders!"

Ge Dazhuang wanted to say something more, but was stopped by Li He's sharp gaze.

He steered his horse around to the front of the vanguard he had selected and shouted in a deep voice, "Everyone else, move out with me!"