"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

With the calls ringing in his ears, Jerome Bonaparte slowly opened his bleary eyes and saw Trocch standing by his camp bed.

Yawning lazily, he asked, "What happened?"

"Your Majesty, the time you set for the artillery attack has arrived! Should we launch an attack on Bakhchisaray now?" Brigadier General Troche hastily replied.

"Has it been four hours already??" Jerome Bonaparte widened his eyes slightly, speaking in disbelief.

He clearly remembered that he had just fallen asleep not long ago!

"Your Majesty, see for yourself!" Major General Trox hurriedly handed Jerome Bonaparte a pocket watch.

When Jerome Bonaparte glanced at the pocket watch, it was already around 11:15, and 15 minutes had passed since the four-hour bombardment he had ordered.

The sound of cannon fire outside the window hadn’t stopped, so Jerome Bonaparte asked again, "Is our artillery still attacking?"

"Yes! Your Majesty!" Brigadier General Troche nodded and answered Jerome Bonaparte.

"Let’s go! To the front line!" Jerome Bonaparte quickly got up from his camp bed, walked to the coat rack, put on the Napoleonic cap hanging there, and left; Trocch, seeing this, followed closely behind.

About 10 minutes later, Jerome Bonaparte appeared at the command post of the Third Division on the Bakhchisaray front line.

"Telescope!" As soon as he entered the command post, Jerome Bonaparte reached out to a nearby staff officer and said briefly, without waiting for the officer to salute.

"Yes!" The staff officer quickly agreed and then handed the telescope to Jerome Bonaparte.

Through the telescope, Jerome Bonaparte observed the situation of the entire Bakhchisaray position from a nearby bunker; at this point, the small forts (also called nipple forts) on the outskirts of Bakhchisaray were almost destroyed under nearly four hours of concentrated fire from the French Empire.

The whole defensive position was now filled with rocks and dust, and whether it was a psychological effect or not, Jerome Bonaparte could vaguely hear moaning coming from beneath the shattered stones in the distance through the telescope.

Looking at the ruined scene before him, Jerome Bonaparte’s face showed a satisfied smile; this bombardment had obviously met his expectations.

So, Jerome Bonaparte issued another order to Trocch, "Have the artillery halt for now!"

Major General Trox immediately received the order and left, and 10 minutes later, the bombardment ceased abruptly.

After a while, Trocch returned to the command post and, on behalf of the Second Division Bosskay, asked Jerome Bonaparte whether they needed to send troops to attack the defensive positions on the outskirts of Bakhchisaray!

After all, the combat awareness of the Russian Army was at its weakest following the bombardment.

"No rush!" Jerome Bonaparte shook his head and then asked Major General Trox, "By the way, when is the Russian Empire’s mealtime approximately?"

"Around 12:30 to 1:00!" Major General Trox replied immediately.

"12:30...12:30..." Jerome Bonaparte muttered twice softly, then paced back and forth with his head down, suddenly stopping to issue an order to Major General Trox beside him: "Order all units to start cooking!"

"Yes! Your Majesty!" Major General Trox hurriedly responded, then quickly left the command post.

After Major General Trox left the command post, he let out a cautious sigh.

It was clearly the optimal time for an attack, yet the Emperor did not choose to attack at this opportunity, and instead, instructed them to start cooking.

Isn’t this simply a waste of their ammunition!

However, what can be done, as he is the Emperor?

With a bit of regret in his heart for the missed opportunity, Major General Trox conveyed Jerome Bonaparte’s order to the lower-ranking officers, and the officers likewise passed the message to the soldiers on the ground.

Before long, wisps of smoke began to rise in the French camp.

Inside the city of Bakhchisaray, Count Saken saw the smoke rising from the French camp and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He had originally thought that the French Army would seize the opportunity to launch an attack, never expecting that they would directly choose to sit down for a meal.

This is simply God blessing the Russian Army!

So, much like a modern-day keyboard warrior, Count Saken immediately put on an all-knowing expression and said to the adjutant and staff officer beside him, "Look, I’ve already said before that the French Army wouldn’t dare attack! The fortifications built by our Russian Empire are simply invincible!"

Now, the staff officer and adjutant beside Count Saken had no choice but to praise him insincerely for his foresight!

"Alright! Since France won’t be attacking anytime soon, all units are to dine according to the previously set times!" Count Saken ordered the adjutant beside him.

The adjutant, after hesitating for a moment, cautiously asked Count Saken if they should be a bit more cautious, in case this was a French trap!

"A trap? What kind of trap would they have?" Count Saken displayed a disdainful expression, and then stubbornly ordered his troops to strictly adhere to the meal times.

Around noon, wisps of cooking smoke also appeared at the positions of the Russian Empire.

Around 12:30, the Russian soldiers on the outskirts of Bakhchisaray began to lay down their weapons one after another for meals.

At 12:40, soldiers from two Zuav Corps took advantage of the meal time of the Russian soldiers on the outskirts of Bakhchisaray to infiltrate and jump into the trenches and fortifications.

The Russian soldiers, originally having meals, were stunned upon suddenly seeing the French soldiers appear before them.

Except for a few quick-reacting Russian soldiers, the majority found themselves entangled with the Zuav Corps.

"Kill!" The Zuav Corps, having jumped into the trench, shouted as they began to fight with the Elo Empire soldiers.

Immediately, more and more soldiers followed the Zuav Corps into the trenches and fortifications.

The battle fully erupted at the most relaxed moment for Russia, and before long, the soldiers of the Russian Empire at the first outer defensive line began retreating like a tide to the second defensive line.

The Russian soldiers stationed in the second defensive line, having the first line soldiers as a buffer, immediately laid down their hard and tooth-breaking black bread and picked up their muskets, attempting to counterattack France.

However, before they could aim their guns at the French Army, they saw the frantic retreat of the first line’s Russian soldiers in their direction, plunging their hearts into dismay, and some soldiers began to wonder if they should surrender.

Nonetheless, a majority of the Russian soldiers chose to resist the French attack.

At this moment, a voice in clumsy Russian came from the distant French Army, "Surrender and you’ll be spared! Your parents are waiting for your safe return!"

Despite the awkwardness of the Russian, the psychological blow to the Russian Army was indeed devastating.

The Russian soldiers intending to resist instinctively thought of their parents upon hearing this, and their will to resist instantly crumbled.

Subsequently, the French Army seized the opportunity to capture the second defensive line in one fell swoop.

After France ingeniously captured the two lines of defense meticulously set up by Alexander II, they did not advance further towards the third defensive line (primarily because it not only had fortifications but also mounds and breastworks, making it very difficult to attack), instead, they paused to mop up the Russian soldiers within the two lines of defense.

Standing on the heights of Bakhchisaray city, Count Saken became bewildered and terrified as he witnessed the two lines of defense on the outskirts of Bakhchisaray being breached by France so effortlessly.

Never had he imagined that within merely an hour, he would lose two positions in succession.

Just a day ago, Count Saken had pounded his chest assuring Commander Gorchakov that he would definitely pin down the French Army outside the two defensive lines to buy enough preparation time for Simferopol.

Unexpectedly, he allowed France to point their sword toward the city within less than an hour.

"Counterattack! Quickly organize a counterattack!" Count Saken roared desperately at the adjutant and staff officer beside him.

Upon seeing this, the adjutant and staff officer hurriedly mounted their horses to convey Count Saken’s orders to the commanders of the third, and final, line of defense.

The commander stationed at the third line of defense was also aware of the consequences brought by France’s occupation of the first and second lines, and he swiftly organized manpower to launch a counterattack against the French Army within the first and second lines. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

The cannons of the third line began a counterattack against the French Army, catching the French, who had just endured an expulsion battle, somewhat off guard, causing a small number of soldiers to scatter in fear.

The second defensive line was teetering on the brink of collapse. If the Russian soldiers at the third line could initiate an attack while the French were still unstable, there was a high chance they could expel France from the second line of defense.

As for the first line of defense... Due to its exposure within the range of French artillery, even if the French Army withdraws from the first line, it would still be very challenging for the Russian Empire to regain it.

Fortunately, the French Army boasted some of the world’s top-ranking officers, and under their command, the initially shaky morale started to stabilize gradually.

After several rounds of cannon firing, the Russian soldiers at the third line were ordered to launch an attack against the French Army at the second line of defense.

Muskets and rifles exchanged fire at a distance of over 100 meters.