I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1210 Start counterattack

Blücher pointed his riding crop at the messenger and shouted, "Dump everything that is not essential for the battle! Throw away the heavy artillery too! The entire army must advance at least 2.5 miles every day!"

Tao Enqien, standing nearby, hurriedly said, "General, how can we attack Mantua without cannons..."

“Once we reach Lombardy, the Sardinians will supply us,” Blücher frowned. “Right now, time is of the essence!”

Soon, a large number of wagons were pushed down the valley, which immediately increased the speed of the Prussian army's advance.

Six days later, Blücher finally saw the snow-free southern end of the Gotthard Pass through his telescope, and a rare look of relaxation appeared on his face.

He waved to Major Kleist, the hussars commander beside him, signaling: "Establish a perimeter around the mountain pass immediately."

"Yes, General!"

Two hours later, five squadrons of Prussian hussars descended from the slopes of the Alps.

As Kleist felt the dry, solid ground beneath his horse's hooves, he was about to order several captains to spread out and scout when suddenly a deafening roar came from the ridges on the north and south sides.

The two cavalrymen at the front vanished instantly, like sand blown away by the wind, leaving only a large amount of blood splattered on the ground.

"Back off! Back off!" Kleist hurriedly pulled on the reins, turning the horse around and galloping up the mountain.

The sound of cannons continued behind them, and more than a dozen Prussian cavalrymen were unfortunately hit by cannonballs and shattered into countless pieces.

After receiving the cavalry's report, Blücher did not immediately give up.

Judging by the timing, the French have likely just arrived. Now, we should break out before they can set up their defenses, at all costs.

Before long, more than 800 soldiers of the Royal 21st Grenadier Battalion scattered and rushed toward the mountain pass. They were accompanied by two squadrons of hussars providing cover.

However, Ney didn't give them any chance at all.

Twenty-eight cannons had already been set up on both sides of the mountain pass. The positions had been carefully selected and pre-aimed to ensure that every shot hit its mark.

Although the Prussian grenadiers were extremely brave, they only advanced less than 400 meters before retreating amidst the intense roar of artillery fire, leaving behind more than 300 corpses.

Even if they manage to reach the mountain pass, they will be met with tens of thousands of August 1797 rifles.

The mountain pass was less than a kilometer wide and could only accommodate three or four thousand people at a time. It would be destroyed in just a few volleys.

Blücher ordered two more attacks, both of which were quickly pushed back.

At this point, he finally realized that he was trapped in the Alps.

That evening, the staff officer reported to him the statistics of the army's remaining supplies—enough food for 14 days and ammunition for two medium-sized battles.

Blücher hesitated for a long time before decisively leaving two regiments to cover the rear, while he led the main force back to Switzerland.

Although Switzerland is barren, you can still find some food there, but you would definitely starve to death in the mountains.

On the third day of his return journey, he encountered Huo Ce's remaining troops in the vast snow...

Northern Italy.

Morrow looked back at the wide Po River, cracked his whip, and led the way to the front of the column. He shouted to the soldiers, "Four years ago, the Austrians were driven like rabbits by us right here. Now, we're going to enjoy that kind of hunting again!"

The soldiers immediately cheered, their excitement truly resembling that of someone going on a hunt. This was the lower reaches of the Po River, and the Austrian army's offensive positions had not yet extended this far.

After leading his troops on a forced march along the south bank of the Po River for two and a half days, Moreau confirmed that there were only small groups of Austrian troops on the other side. He then quickly built a pontoon bridge and rushed across.

He wasn't worried that the scattered stragglers would return to inform Archduke Karl. His goal was to disrupt the Austrian army's deployment and relieve pressure on the Mantua defenses.

Moreover, even if Archduke Charles received the news, he would suspect it was just a small-scale harassment by the French army. By the time he sent cavalry to confirm the situation, Moreau would have already gone far away.

Meanwhile, a Prussian army was trapped in eastern Switzerland. As long as the Mantua fortress remained intact, the French would be making a huge profit.

At 2 p.m., a ten-man French ranger squad crossed the lower reaches of the Arno River and quietly arrived near Montecio, a small town southwest of Vicenza.

The horse manure on the road was still damp. The cavalry immediately sent three men to the town, while the others went west in pursuit.

As dusk fell, Morrow frowned slightly as he looked at the markings his advisor had made on the map.

These are all locations where the Austrian army has been spotted recently, as discovered by the cavalry. It's not that there aren't any targets to attack, but rather that there are too many.

Just as he had predicted, the Austrians were all in a hurry to get there, and the procession was in complete disarray.

There were even instances where the cavalry and their baggage trains were separated by more than ten kilometers.

However, this meant that most of the Austrian army forces only numbered a few thousand, making it less worthwhile to take action.

Just then, the cavalry major rushed into the tent, stood at attention, and said, "General, my men have discovered the Vernek Legion in Montecchio, with nearly 3 soldiers."

Moro's eyes lit up: "Tell me the details."

"About 15 kilometers to the west..."

The following morning, the French Fifth Army was divided into three groups—Victor commanded 5 soldiers, including 2 cavalry, who marched from the north bank of the Arneau River to the front of the Vernec Army to intercept them.

Morrow personally led 19,000 men to pursue Vernek via the shortest route, taking charge of the frontal assault.

Lieutenant Colonel McDonald led 7 men to the area between Vicenza and Montecio to prevent Austrian reinforcements from arriving in Vicenza.

The French soldiers ate a hearty breakfast before dawn, and were full of energy, almost running all the way to their target.

At 2 p.m., Moro's vanguard spotted Wernek's army in the distance.

Yes, they caught up with the Austrians in just over half a day, marching nearly 20 kilometers.

Vernec never expected to be attacked from his own rear. By the time the cavalry on guard reported that tens of thousands of French troops were approaching, it was too late to regroup.

Vernek was quite decisive. He immediately abandoned the forward troops who were too far away and personally commanded the more than 20,000 men of the central army to gather and form a defensive formation.

At the same time, they sent people to Vicenza and Verona to request assistance.

Moro's mounted artillery was the first to reach a position only 400 meters from the Austrian flank, and quickly deployed to begin firing.

As Vernek hurriedly mobilized his cavalry to deal with the artillery, he saw a large group of French soldiers in white uniforms rushing in from the southeast in a chaotic manner.

Yes, there were no line formations, not even ranks. They were like tens of thousands of farmers who had never fought a war, leisurely approaching each other on a frontal battlefield more than two kilometers wide.

(End of this chapter)