Chapter 869 Mantua's offensive and defensive battle·Napoleon's surprise attack
No wonder Napoleon had such an sigh. The highest quality unit under his command was the Lyon Legion, which was not top among the old army.
There are even thousands of new recruits who have trained for less than half a year.
Even so, he swept through most of Northern Italy.
Now he holds the Royal Third Infantry Division, and he is like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, fighting and winning at will.
When he finished a cup of coffee, the command flag of Kosdanovic in the distance had fallen.
The first attack on the Austrian army was on the right wing, a large number of soldiers began to kneel down and beg for surrender.
Napoleon looked at the pocket watch and said to the staff officer:
"Look, I told Mr. Ogero that at most half a day is enough. Well, in fact, it only took us more than 5 hours.
"By the way, is there any new news sent over Victor? ”
"Not yet, general. But according to the time estimate, Lieutenant Colonel Victor should have retreated to Idro now."
Napoleon nodded: "Order the soldiers to rest for a long time in Limone, and we will teach Wilmze a lesson tomorrow morning. Oh, contact the Marmon Legion and see where they are now.
"Also, let the cavalry strictly seal the road to the south. ”
”Yes, general. "
Napoleon was still very confident in Victor, who led the Corsica Legion and the Lyon Legion. After fighting in Italy for half a year, these troops had rich combat experience, and it would be no problem to resist the Austrians for one or two days.
And he also asked Idro to set up a defense line in advance.
In addition, it took a while for the Marmon Legion to arrive from Cremona to the south.
Yes, from the moment he removed the siege of Mantua Fortress and went to intercept Kosdanovic, he expected that the Austrians would send troops to pursue him.
He also made targeted deployments.
At the same time, the Desai Legion, which had been staying in Verona, had also begun to move south.
According to the established combat plan, he will bypass the Po River and encircle the Mantua Fortress again.
At noon the next day.
Wilmze once again received a report that Idro's French army was still insisting on resisting, and he was so angry that he swears.
If you delay like this, Napoleon's main force will likely find that the situation is wrong and flee back to Milan!
He thought about it and sent out another 3,000 soldiers to Idro, and asked the messenger to tell Bonaroti that if the Victor tribe could not be eliminated before dark, he would wait to be dismissed.
Less than half an hour after his order was issued, he suddenly heard the sound of cannons coming from the east.
And it was not a cannon or two, but a very dense roar.
Wilmze was suddenly confused.
The cavalry had reconnaissanced in the north yesterday afternoon, and there were no enemy troops within at least two miles. So who was firing the artillery?
After a while, the commander of the Austrian army's right-road army sent cavalry to answer his doubts.
The visitor ran to him in a panic and whispered: "General, thousands of French troops suddenly attacked us..." Wilmze's heart tightened. Where did these French people emerge?
He did conduct a careful reconnaissance on the north side because Napoleon's main force was there, but he did not expect that Napoleon would have left Marmon near Cremona, south of Lake Garda a week ago. At this time, more than 5,000 people from the Marmont Legion arrived. When the Austrian cavalry discovered them, they were less than 3 kilometers away from the Austrian right.
At this time, Wilmze's main troops were placed on the left and siege Victor. When the right-wing army was suddenly attacked by Marmon, it immediately fell into a tough battle.
Wilmze had even used the reserve army before, and now he had no troops to transfer to the right, so he had to hurriedly recall the 3,000 people sent to Idro. He was worried that it was not safe enough, so he simply asked the Ranieri Legion to come back to assist in defense.
However, before the messengers sent to Idro saw Ranieri, bad news came from the Austrian army's right.
The cavalry that arrived this time was covered in blood. After seeing Wilmze, he almost exhausted and handed over the letter from commander Alves: "General, the French army appeared behind us, with tens of thousands of people. General Alves said that he could no longer hold on."
This is Napoleon's main force also arrived from Lemone to the north.
Wilmze did not dare to hesitate at the moment, and immediately ordered the central army to move eastward to meet the Alves Legion.
As for whether doing so will cause the army to be separated from each other, I don’t care about it for the time being.
When he led more than 15,000 people from the Central Army to walk east less than 4 kilometers, he had already encountered Alves' defeated soldiers.
Wilmze asked someone to stop several fleeing officers, and after asking, he realized that his right-right army had been defeated.
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Yes, Alves had only more than 6,000 people in his hands, and he could not withstand the attack on both sides of Napoleon with nearly three times his troops.
Wilmze was shocked and hurriedly ordered the troops to turn to Idro, where they met with their left-wing troops, and then counterattacked.
But Napoleon didn't give him a chance at all.
He left Juno to lead two thousand soldiers to continue to entangle with Alves' remnants, and he rushed straight to Wilmze's middle.
At the same time, Idro's French Victor Legion discovered that the enemy was beginning to retreat, and knew that General Napoleon had launched an attack as planned, so he immediately ordered the Austrian army in front of him to fight back.
The Austrian army that had originally besieged him was either fighting or fighting at this time, but hesitated and was beaten to retreat by Victor.
Napoleon's main force encountered Wilmze at about 4 pm.
The French soldiers who had been fighting for most of the day were tireless. They immediately took the lead by the cavalry artillery and launched a formation from the north and south directions, launching an attack on the Austrian army.
The soldiers of these direct legions are trained to carry weights for 5 kilometers and cross-country for many years. In terms of physical strength, no army in Europe can touch their heels.
Wilmze was calm and calm, building a defensive position as fast as possible, and personally led the guard to the front line to supervise the battle, which barely dragged until dark.
Under the moonlight, Wilmze inspected the wounded first and confirmed that he had more than 19,000 soldiers who could enter the battle, and then he breathed a little relieved.
The nearby French troops only come 20,000. As long as they retreat steadily, they should have the opportunity to retreat to the Mantua Fortress.
He came to the tent and was about to discuss tomorrow's combat plan with the officers, but he saw several guards coming outside the tent with a man dressed in a farmer.
Wilmze looked at the "farmer"'s ID and immediately asked:
"Is there anything wrong with Marshal Boliu?"
Yes, that man came from the Fortress of Mantua.
The "Farmer" said hoarsely: "General, the Ulmer Legion was intercepted by the enemy yesterday afternoon and is currently blocked on the east bank of the Adige River.
" Tens of thousands of French troops surrounded Mantua..."
(The battle map is added tomorrow morning, it is too late today!)
(This chapter ends)