Chapter 867 Mantua's offensive and defensive battle
Borie sent hundreds of cavalry again and repeatedly confirmed that this was not Napoleon's trap. Then he took the band and the officers in the fortress to greet Wilmze.
This is his first time leaving the Mantua Fortress in more than a month.
When he saw Wilmze in front of him, he immediately opened his arms and greeted him.
However, before he could say a word on his speech that had been prepared for a long time, Wilmze asked with a serious look: "Master Bolier, did my reconnaissance force find no trace of the French army nearby?"
"Yes, under your reputation, they were all scared away." Boliu said happily, "In fact, they have been retreating one after another since two days ago. This morning, the last batch of more than 3,000 people also left. "Now, the front line between Mantua and Brescia has returned to us..." "Wait," Wilmze suddenly frowned and interrupted him, "You mean, the French retreated two days ago? ”
”Ah, that’s right. ”
“You didn’t try to chase? ”
"This," Bolier seemed a little embarrassed. "You know, that guy Napoleon is very cunning. I'm worried about being ambushed, so..."
Wilmze hurriedly asked the staff to bring the map and asked, "Where is the right army now?"
The latter recalled, "It should have passed Limone. General, I guess he will arrive here the day after tomorrow."
Wilmze suddenly felt bad in his heart, and shook his head and said, "The French retreated too quickly, which is a bit abnormal..."
He turned to the messenger and said, "Contact General Cosdanovic immediately and let him be careful of the French attack."
Costanovic is Wilmze's right legion.
Wilmze was overjoyed when he learned that Napoleon divided his troops to Verona to block the troops, so he ordered the troops to be divided into three teams left, center and right, and deployed in the east and west directions, trying to encircle the French army near Mantua.
However, there was no enemy here at this time.
Borie hurriedly asked, "How many soldiers are there in the Costanovic Legion?"
The Staff said, "18,000 people, marshal."
Bolier immediately smiled: "Then there is no need to be nervous. The French army surrounded Mantua only had more than 17,000 people, and they left in batches. In other words, there were about five or six thousand soldiers behind that would not arrive at Limone until tomorrow night."
Wilmze was relieved when he heard this.
He is also an experienced veteran, and he left Messaros von Soboslo to lead 4,000 men as a reserve army behind the three armies.
And there are 6,000 troops recruited from Venice later.
Even if the French take the risk of attacking, as long as Costanovic can hold on for a day, there will be continuous reinforcements coming later.
He said to the cavalry officer beside him: "Major Faber, you immediately lead three cavalry squadrons to search for the traces of the French army along Lake Garda. "If they really go to attack Kosdanovic, we will attack them from the south! "
The location of the Mantua Fortress is very dangerous, located at the intersection of the Mincho River and the Po River, and Lake Garda is the barrier on the west side.
Limone is a small town on the northwest of Lake Garda.
So if the French attacked Kosdanovic, it would be blocked by Lake Garda, so that it would not be threatened by the Mantua Fortress. This made Wermze dare to draw troops to attack the French.
Just half a day later, the reconnaissance cavalry sent by Wilmze returned to the report, saying that the French army's rear troop had just arrived in Calcinato, the southwest side of Lake Garda, with a number of more than 6,000. According to local farmers, tens of thousands of French troops passed by there yesterday.
Wilmze immediately ordered his 10,000 troops to lead the central army, plus the Argentao Army, to a total of nearly 30,000 troops, to immediately rushed to the west of Lake Garda and attack the French army there.
Borier suddenly said nervously: "General, but in this way, Mantua's defensive forces will be seriously insufficient..."
"Don't worry, General Ulmer will come the day after tomorrow, and his troops will have more than 10,000 people." Wilmze said unhappy, "His Majesty the Emperor's order is to regain Italy, not to stay here all the time."
There were nearly 30,000 soldiers in the Mantua Fortress before, but they were surrounded by less than 20,000 French troops. Boliu had never tried to take the initiative.
Borie reminded awkwardly: "General, Napoleon is very tricky, you must be more careful..."
The west side of Lake Garda.
Idro Town.
Napoleon looked at his pocket watch, turned around and waved to the soldiers beside him, "Everyone speed up, you should be able to meet Austrians before noon!"
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Grouche rushed over from the side and raised his hat to him and said, "General, the Rangers found the enemy's rear team north of Limone, with more than 4,000 people."
Yes, after Alexandria defeated the Melas army, Napoleon received a letter of appointment issued by the Prince himself and was promoted to brigade general.
It was less than half a year since he came to Italy.
Audrey this, Ogero came over and frowned and said, "General, the enemy's rear team is too close. If we cannot defeat Kosdanovic quickly, we may be at risk of being attacked."
At the combat meeting last night, Napoleon proposed that the Austrian army in the Mantua Fortress might follow.
Their raid legion has only more than 12,000 people, and defeating Kosdanovic alone is almost the limit. If there is another enemy attack behind them, they will fall into a situation of death.
Napoleon said very easily: "No, Pierre, we will be delayed for a long time south of Limone at most."
He did have sufficient confidence, because what he led at this time was the Royal Third Infantry Division and his favorite Royal Cavalry Artillery Battalion.
He had fought with His Royal Highness the Prince before, and he knew very well how powerful the combat power of this direct legion was.
He looked at Ogero again and said, "In fact, Costanovic is just an appetizer. The main dish is the Austrian army behind us. If I guess correctly, Velmze will lead the army in person."
Ogero said nervously, "General, will our troops be too few? Maybe we should meet with the troops in Verona first..."
Napoleon smiled: "You know why I put it." Will the Victor Legion stay behind? It was possible that he could evacuate Mantua with us at that time. "
"Isn't it to prevent Bolier from pursuing?" "
"Bolier? Of course not. He was scared to death. He put on a group of monkeys in French uniforms, and he did not dare to attack." Napoleon said, "Victor's mission is to give Wilmze's 'confidence' and to disperse his formation.
"At that time, our opportunity appeared."
(The end of this chapter)