Before the ridge defense finally collapsed, General Hill was leading more than 700 British troops to cover the coalition command, the baggage team and the field hospital retreated to the port of Setubal. Less than two miles from the Monsanto Pass, a messenger brought bad news: more than ten minutes ago, three French cavalry captured the last line of defense set up by the coalition at the cost of their own casualties.

Among them, Captain Hesel, the officers in charge of the team, either died in battle or were injured or captured; and most of the more than 3,000 Portuguese soldiers in charge of the palace surrendered. In addition, a team of engineers responsible for laying minefields at the exit of the mountain pass collapsed due to accidental attacks by French light cavalry and failed to complete the mine laying mission.

At this time, less than 3 miles behind the British, more than a thousand French cavalry were pursuing victory and trying to encircle and annihilate General Hill and his coalition command in one fell swoop. To this end, General Hill had to ask all combat and non-combatants to speed up the evacuation. At the same time, he realized that it was impossible to continue to retreat with huge supplies.

Immediately, the British general decisively ordered the majority of the carriages and all the materials to be piled up on a wooden bridge and burned them. Hill set fire to the carriages containing various documents of the command center, and the extra horses formed a team to take turns to pull the wounded chariots. This practice did increase the speed of retreat. Similarly, the burning of the bridge could also delay the pursuit of the French cavalry.

Despite the lack of the burden of the large carts, this seemed to be far from enough. As the roads along the way were still winding and poorly traveled, the transfer speed of the already unmoving battlefield hospital became slower and slower, and they landed hundreds of meters behind the cavalry.

Looking at the endless retreat team in front of him, General Hill's expression became helpless. At this time, the sunset began to sink, and the dark clouds on the horizon slowly climbed up, but the sky seemed to be brighter. Hill understood that this ghost weather was obviously not a good sign. Adequate light means that the French cavalry had a lot of time to surround the evacuated British defeated soldiers.

An ambulance ran over from the moving field hospital and reported to the commander that Major Alvin had awakened and that the adjutant hoped to be received by General Hill. Soon, in the white canvas cart that was hauling the seriously injured, Hill saw his adjutant. Although Alvin was still weak and extremely pale, he was at least out of danger of his life.

"General, please allow me to stay with other wounded soldiers in the field hospital!" Alvin lay in the carriage paved with straw cotton. He continued to explain to the commander in front of him in a weak tone: "Just now, I already knew the unfavorable battle situation ahead. At the current marching speed, perhaps the French cavalry would catch up with us in just half an hour. However, due to the departure of the hospital, we were disintegrated and low in morale and were unable to fight at all. So, please agree to my request! In addition, the military officers and other medical staff of the field hospital also agreed with me, and they all believed that the French army would not make things difficult for these non-combatants."

The major adjutant's heartfelt words naturally touched Hill's heart. In fact, he also understood that Alvin's words were still unsatisfied and there was still one reason that he could not express it in detail. That is, after suffering repeated heavy blows from the Desay Division, the British Expeditionary Force and the British Cabinet could no longer bear the bad fact that another senior commander was defeated and captured.

The military situation was urgent, Hill did not feel too pretentious. He held the major's hands tightly. After letting go, he simply said "Thank you!" and turned around and left. The British general was unwilling to expose his weak side in front of his subordinates.

The move of abandoning the battlefield hospital and a large number of wounded soldiers to survive was no longer burdened by hundreds of British troops on the horse. Their retreat speed on the rugged mountain roads suddenly increased to 12 miles per hour, making the infantry and cavalry of the rifle regiment following him far beyond the reach of. As Alvin and others expected, Andrew Desay and his French army had always respected the civilized fighting rules between the two powerful countries, and did not abuse the captured British wounded soldiers, nor did they make things difficult for medical staff who remained voluntarily.

After running out of the mountain pass, Colonel René took the lead and led more than a thousand subordinates to chase him, rushing to less than 3 kilometers from the Port of Setubal. However, he captured only more than 200 coalition soldiers who fell behind due to exhaustion. More than 300 British officers and soldiers, including General Hill, were finally able to escape from the sky under the cover of powerful artillery fire in the British fleet.

During the battle of Mount Monsantu, the British and Portuguese coalition forces were hit hard again. The 6,000 coalition officers and soldiers commanded by General Hill were almost destroyed. The personnel losses were almost gone, 1,200 soldiers were killed in battle, and 4,500 were injured and captured or surrendered. The French army also successfully destroyed and seized more than 50 artillery pieces, thousands of firearms and sabers, as well as a large number of food, fodder and supplies that were not destroyed in time. In addition, dozens of medical staff at the coalition field hospitals and hundreds of Portuguese workers who were voluntarily left behind were not included in the list of captured.

At the same time, among the two main participating troops of the Desai Division, the total losses of the Guards Brigade and the Cavalry Brigade were also astonishing. Among them, there were more than 700 casualties, nearly 1,000 injured officers and soldiers, and more than 2,000 war horses. There were 300 captured cavalry brigade officers and soldiers (Captain Cedro and others who were deceived) who were still imprisoned in the coalition prisoner camp near Lisbon.

Of course, the above-mentioned prices paid by the French army are worth it. The two most important points are: one is that the Desai Division completely opened the road to victory to Lisbon; the other is that after witnessing the extraordinary feat of the Polish cavalry, Desai's inner world was deeply touched. He no longer regarded saving the fate of Poland as a heavy burden, but a supreme glory.

...

As soon as the battle at the pass ended, Desai, who was anxious, rode forward, and the subordinate adjutant followed closely with the guards. He forgot all kinds of physical discomfort and galloped up along the winding and bumpy mountain road. Along the way, Desai saw the bodies of Portuguese soldiers all over the ground, and some people were lying in pools of blood to survive. The French battlefield rescue strictly stipulated: the first thing to rescue is the soldiers of the Desai Division, the British soldiers were the turn, and the last one was the Portuguese soldiers.

When arriving at the last line of defense at the Pass, with the efforts of many followers, Desai finally found the Polish warrior, Girlovsky, who led more than 200 suicide squads to charge into the dead.

However, the Polish cavalry did not notice the arrival of the monarch at the first time. At the beginning, he refused to bandage his wounds on the battlefield, and then climbed into the trench with a bloody river to find the long-dead war horse. He hugged his big head with his eyes closed, and he sat like a child in the blood-stained soil, crying bitterly.

Desai was also deeply moved. He rode his horse, stood quietly by, silently watching everything in front of him, and did not allow the guards to come forward to disturb him. Until Gillowsky turned around and saw His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was above his head.

Girlovsky, covered in blood, supported himself with his elbow. He stood up staggeringly, and pointed to the destroyed enemy positions on both sides of the trench, panting: "Your Highness, the great crown prince! Your loyal subject and brave soldier, Mazar Girlovsky, captured two cannons and seized eight cannons. In addition..." Before he finished speaking, the Polish cavalry, who was always in a shaky state, could not hold on. He turned black and fell heavily to the ground, unconscious.

Desai hurriedly ordered Adjutant Mardan to call the military medical officer and the ambulance. He turned over and got off the horse, jumped into the trench himself, knelt beside the soldier with both knees, held his hands tightly, and thanked the soldiers for their heroic dedication during the battle of the mountain pass. When the two ambulances used stretchers to take away the injured and unconscious Polish cavalry to the battlefield hospital, Desai took off a silver cross necklace hanging around his neck, wrapped it around the right wrist of the unconscious soldier, and prayed to God to bless the brave cavalry.

Ten minutes later, but the 600 warriors of the Guards Cavalry Regiment, including those who had been simply bandaged and could stand alone, lined up again and was about to be inspected by the division commander, Andrew Desay loudly praised in an enthusiastic tone: "You are the bravest knights I have ever seen; and I will give you the highest honor!"

Despite physical and mental exhaustion and serious physical overdrawn, all the officers and soldiers of the Cavalry Regiment still cheered their majestic oath when charging: "The Guard Brigade, move forward, and always move forward!"

The sun sets, and in a grand and solemn atmosphere, Desai first awarded the Guards Brigade flag to the brave and fearless cavalry regiment. Two hours later, when Colonel René led his troops to escort the prisoners back, he personally presented the flag to the remnants who had outstanding military achievements. Night fell, Desai temporarily decided to stay overnight on the mountain pass where the war was tragic, waiting to award medals to the meritorious soldiers tomorrow morning.

The next morning, the top of the Mengsangtu Mountain Pass was open.

Duke Hruna, dressed in military uniform, stood under the Guards' flag, with violets on the top of the flagpole, with rifles and sabers in the patterned signs. The flag fluttered in the wind and made a rustling sound. The superior stood with his legs spread apart, and his military boots seemed to be firmly rooted in the soil. He resisted the raging mountain wind with his majestic body in order to award the Guards' Brigade the medal of honor.

Desai shouted loudly that every advance officer or soldier who received the award was a grand ceremony for the monarch to award the Knights. Major Mardan, the adjutant standing next to him, held a tall military cap that had been inverted, and he took out medals from it to award.

...
Chapter completed!