I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 796 A critical moment

In fact, Trok exaggerated the situation.

After all, Napoleon had already occupied Milan and was setting up the Po River Defense Line to cut off the connection between Melas and mainland Austria.

In terms of overall strategy, France still takes the initiative.

But these things were not known to the ship owners far away in Greece. In their view, the French Italian front was indeed in danger.

The room was silent for a few seconds, and then a middle-aged man with a big beard sitting by the window stood up, straightened his clothes, and said, "Mr. Trok is right. I still have to continue doing business in the Mediterranean, so I have to do something."

He looked at Styler and said, "Baron Memack, if you are willing to pay 40% interest, I don't mind sending a ship to Genoa."

Styler seemed to struggle for a while, then nodded and said, "Okay, Mr. Bo Rui, 40%. Thank you for your help."

He used some business tricks to make the interest rate appear so high that it hurt him.

In fact, he had just decided to use the shares of the East Mediterranean Trading Company in his hands as bargaining chips to exchange for the ships of these ship owners.

He believed that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would allow him to do so.

Because compared to the outcome of a war, money is always secondary. Whether it is spent on logistics or weapons, it is much better to spend it than on paying war reparations.

Then, someone else shouted, "Count me in. The British should settle the score for seizing my goods in North America eight years ago."

Ferry glanced at his old friend, sighed, and raised his right hand: "Since Leon said so, fine, my ship will go too."

In fact, he was also moved by the high interest rate of 40%.

He bought the supplies on the ship himself, which actually made a lot of profit, plus the high interest. This trip made him as much as he normally would have made in half a year.

Some of the ship owners who walked to the door still left with disdain, but about half of them turned back.

Trok's words did make them feel a sense of crisis.

Before dark, Stratford had collected eight steam-paddle steamers, three million pounds of grain, and some gunpowder.

He excitedly expressed his gratitude to Trok and other ship owners, and promised that once the matter in Genoa was resolved, he would apply to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for a one-year tax reduction for them.

Although the carrying capacity of steam paddle steamers is not as good as that of large supply ships, eight ships are enough to transport supplies for the Dimobin Corps for three weeks.

The next day.

With Sterler's gold coins paving the way, most of the porters in the port of Piraeus were busy surrounding the ship of Trok and others.

Before 3 o'clock in the afternoon, eight fully loaded steam paddle steamers, led by the frigate "Cape Parrot", sailed westward, leaving long black smoke.

……

North of Genoa, the town of Novi Ligure.

Osa Joint Forces Headquarters.

Melas stared at the map in front of him, veins bulging on his forehead.

After several minutes, he slammed his cane on the ground and gritted his teeth and said, "The Cervoni Legion will recapture Pavia. And we must stay here and continue the attack!

"Genoa's spies have found out that Dimopin's food can only last for two or three days at most. We have never been so close to victory, and we should never give up at this time!" Ten days ago, when the news of Napoleon's sudden capture of Milan reached here, all the Austrian officers were shocked.

But after learning that Napoleon had only more than 1 soldiers, Melas decided that the latter was not a threat, so he ordered his troops to continue attacking Genoa and only sent Cervoni to defend the ferry crossing of Pavia.

In theory, his strategy was correct.

Milan has been lost anyway. If he rushes back now, the French army in Genoa will probably have time to catch their breath, and he will be faced with a situation where he has been busy on the Italian battlefield for a whole day but has not achieved any results.

Moreover, Beaulieu was naturally responsible for the fall of Milan. Melas destroyed the Dimopin Legion and occupied Genoa here, so he had no fault but merit.

After conquering Genoa, his 5-strong army marched north and easily recaptured Milan.

However, this morning Cervoni sent someone to report that he was ambushed by Napoleon near Pavia. Fortunately, he reacted quickly, so the losses were not great, but the army was blocked on the south bank of the Po River.

At the same time, the Emperor's instructions concerning the situation in Italy were also sent to Melas's headquarters. It was obvious that His Majesty was extremely dissatisfied with the loss of Milan.

The officers standing in front of Melas looked at each other, and then Argento took a cautious step forward and suggested: "General, perhaps we should dispatch more troops to Pavia, in case the ferry fails..."

“You don’t have to remind me,” Melas suddenly roared, as if his spirit was crushed by the pressure, “The ferry will definitely remain open!
"Capture Genoa, then return to Milan, and all will be well!"

……

Genoa.

Dimobin rubbed his forehead anxiously and asked the quartermaster in a tired voice, "Only half a day's rations are left?"

"Yes... yes, General..."

Augereau on the side shouted: "General, as long as we concentrate our forces, the possibility of breaking out from the direction of La Spezia is still very high."

La Spezia is on the east side of Genoa. The Argentau Legion there is the weakest among the Austro-Saharan coalition forces, with less than 8 men.

Genoa still has 2 French troops, and has a chance to defeat it.

Dimopin waved his hand sadly: "Alas, that will only take us further away from France. The Austrians will follow immediately. And we can't be sure how much food there is in La Spezia."

Sérulier said anxiously: "But if this continues, we won't even make it to tomorrow..."

Dimobin sighed and looked at the front line where artillery fire was raging: "We have done everything we can. If we have no choice but to surrender, His Majesty the King and God will forgive us."

The officers in the headquarters all lowered their heads.

At this moment, Juno's frantic shouting came from outside the house - the sound was so loud that it even drowned out the rumbling of cannons, "Ship! The ship is coming! It's our ship!"

Dimobin stood up suddenly, rushed out of the office with unprecedented agility, looked at Juno and shouted: "What ships? Did you see clearly? How many are there?"

"I saw it with my own eyes, I swear! There were seven in total, no, it seemed like eight, all steamships, and they have already entered the port!" The latter was so excited that his tone changed, "Governor Abiaso has sent people to unload the cargo."

Dimobin felt a huge sense of happiness surge up to his head, and he immediately made the sign of the cross on his chest devoutly: "Thank you Almighty God, thank you for not forgetting us..."

Yes, Trok and his crew sailed at full speed throughout the entire journey and insisted on sailing as long as they could still barely see the sea clearly.

Thanks to their efforts, the supplies were transported to the port of Genoa in less than 6 days.

(End of this chapter)