Thanks guys! Here's another one for ya!
Chapter 53, Crossing the Rubicon
Napoleon hadn't realized how well the death of Baulesingaie would be percieved. Apperaintly, every one hated him! Morale was higher than ever, and on June 16, 1753, he decided to make his move.
He had 85,000 soliders under his command, and the Americans had about 110,000. As was mentioned before, the French camped on the banks of the Rebeux River, north of New York City. The name Rebeux derives from the Latin name Rubicon, which was the ancient name of this river.
King Gaius-Julius III Caesar built a hamlet here before being expulsed by the English in 2278 B.C. And now, 4031 years later, Napoleon had to expulse the Americans from their camp, 3 miles away.
Napoleon decided that the best option for attacking the Americans was suprise. The American 1st Army consisted mostly of SAM infantry, so the tanks would have an advantage there, as well. The battle was to be held around a bridge crossing the Rebeux near-by. It was large enough for the Americans to cross easily, but was surrounded by woodland, so it was perfect ambush country.
That night, Napoleon led his troops into the woods, keeping the tanks in the rear covered by brush, to appear later. On the morning of the 17th, as Napoleon had predicted, the Americans began to stride confidently across the bridge. At his signal, Napoleon ordered the charge, and about 55,000 SAM infantry appeared out of the woods, along with the all sword unit.
Chaos insued as the Americans were fighting on the middle of thee bridge. Napoleon leaned over to the officer who was beside him and said, "At least with the bridge it is easy to tell who is winning!" The Officer laughed and continued conversing with Napoleon until a shell from an American tank struck the officer and blew him to bits. Napoleon, needless to say, was shell shocked.
He immediatly felt his face, and their was a long scratch extending from an inch below his left eye to the back of his jawbone. He hurridly ran to a medic, who patched it up with speed and efficency. Napoleon ordered the Tanks to come from the wood with all haste. The shells hit the back of the American line, who now realized that their line was about to be heavily assaulted. They threwdown their weapons and ran, some hopping on the tanks as they fled.
The Americans ran the three miles back to their camp. At the same time, Napoleon held a great celebration for the first major French victory in a long time. The final statistics are: French casualties: 9,000 dead, 11,000 wounded.
American casualties: 26,000 dead, 19,000 wounded. Total dead: 35,000. Total wounded: 30,000. Total casualties: 65,000 troops. Leaving 65,000 in the French army and 65,000 in the American. Finally, Napoleon gets an even match-up...
Edit: Yay! This is my 200th post!