I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 808 Standard Operating Procedures
Victor hurriedly reminded carefully: "Commander, currently, the Osa coalition forces in Alexandria have more than 5 people.

“Even after we joined forces with General Dimobin, we still had less than 4 soldiers.

"Yes, I know the enemy's morale may not be very high. We will definitely win in a field battle. But if Melas insists on defending Alexandria, our army will suffer huge casualties if we attack there..."

Dimopin suffered heavy losses during his one and a half months of defending Genoa - by the time Melas withdrew his troops, only 3 of the nearly 2 French soldiers were still combat-ready.

Together with Napoleon's troops, there were about 3 people in total, which was a considerable gap in strength between them and the Austrian and Saar coalition forces.

You know, Alessandria is an important military town in northern Italy. It is bordered by the Bormida River to the east and the Tanaro River to the northwest, making it very easy to defend.

It is quite difficult to break through here with superior forces, let alone inferior forces.

Napoleon fiddled with the stick he was using to point at the map, and without looking up, he said, "No, Melas will never choose to stay put.

"Because his connection with Austria has been cut off, he will soon be short of weapons and ammunition. Our army, however, can continuously receive reinforcements from home.

“So he would definitely take advantage of his superiority in manpower and the surplus ammunition he had replenished during the siege of Genoa, and take the initiative to attack in order to create the most favorable strategic situation for him.

"In this way, after the arrival of the Wilmser Legion, he also cooperated in launching a counterattack against Milan."

Upon hearing this, the officers looked at each other in surprise: "The Wilmser Corps?"

"Aren't they supposed to be in Freiburg?"

Napoleon said: "Wurmser led 3 troops to Mantua six days ago."

Marmont immediately asked anxiously: "Shouldn't we strengthen the defense along the Milan-Lodi line?"

Napoleon leaned forward and shouted: "It will take at least three weeks to travel from Freiburg to Mantua, which is enough time for us to defeat Melas.

"No, what I want is to annihilate the Melas Legion! This way, we will face less resistance when attacking Mantua!"

The reason why he did not mention that the Royal 3rd Infantry Division would come to reinforce was that he was worried that his officers would have a dependent mentality of "waiting for the elite direct-affiliated corps to solve everything" and thus become lazy.

Napoleon tapped the map with a stick to the north of Alexandria: "There are two most likely options for Melas to adopt:

"One is to cross the Tanaro and Po rivers to the north and seize Pavia. Threaten Milan from the south."

He pointed to Piacenza on the map and said: "Second, we will move eastward first, through the territory of the Duchy of Parma, then turn north, cross the Po River, and attack Lodi."

Victor immediately responded, "Isn't this the marching route we took when we raided Milan before?"

"That's right." Napoleon nodded. "What we have to do now is to determine whether the Austrians will choose to go north or east. At the same time, we must prevent them from fleeing to the Mantua Fortress when they see that the situation is not good."

He looked at Victor and said, "I order you to lead the Montpellier Legion to the north bank of the Tanaro River and guard the riverbank south of Valenza. If Melas appears over there, do your best to delay him and wait for the main force."

"Yes, Commander."

Napoleon then said to Marmont: "You command the Corsican Army and patrol north and south of San Guiliano. I will personally wait for the Austrian army near Pavia."

San Guiliano is a small town more than ten kilometers east of Alessandria and is the only way from Melas to Parma.

After completing the battle deployment, Napoleon signaled to Lucien who was standing at the door of the tent: "You will rush to Genoa immediately and urge General Dimopin's army to reach San Guiliano as quickly as possible."

Lucien was injured when crossing the Great St. Bernard Pass and missed almost all the battles. He just recovered from his injury a few days ago and continued to do his job as a herald.

Next afternoon. Genoa.

After Lucien met General Dimopin, he learned that the army here had set out for Alexandria the day before.

Dimopin was too old. After commanding the fierce battle in Genoa for more than 40 days, his body was almost exhausted, so he could only hand over the task of leading the army north to officers such as Jubert and Sérurier.

Lucien completed his mission and left Dimopin's office. He looked up and saw the port in the distance with mountains of goods. He couldn't help but sigh to Dimopin's staff officer who escorted him out: "We won the battle and saved this wealthy port, but we can't get the people here to give us some 'thank you'."

He knew that because of his brother's money-making affairs in Milan, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had sent someone to strictly reiterate the order prohibiting "private collection of supplies" to the Italian Front, and now no one would dare to extort the locals.

He shook his head in disappointment. "This should be the right of the victor, don't you think? The decision of the General Staff is really inappropriate..."

The staff officer looked a little strange, glanced at Lucien and whispered, "Well, Lieutenant Bonaparte, in fact, the military supervisor just recorded 340 million francs of "special military expenses" yesterday."

Lucien's eyes widened in disbelief, "You mean, this money was 'donated' by the Genoese?"

The staff officer nodded: "That's roughly it."

Lucien frowned and said, "I must remind you that His Royal Highness the Dauphin has strictly prohibited such things."

He was even ready to report Dimobin when he returned. If the old man could be punished, the possibility of his brother becoming the commander-in-chief of the Italian Front would be even greater.

"No, no, you misunderstood." The staff officer smiled, "This was obtained by the military supervisor in accordance with the 'standard operating procedures'."

"Standard operating procedures?"

The next day.

Napoleon looked at his brother with disbelief in his eyes: "You mean, 340 million francs?"

Although Genoa is very wealthy, it is only a small port city, far smaller than Milan in terms of area and population.

But the military supervisor squeezed more "donations" out of here than Milan!
Why didn't His Royal Highness the Crown Prince severely punish that old fellow Dimobin? !

"Yes, according to standard operating procedures." Lucien nodded listlessly.

After he recounted what had happened in Genoa a while ago, Napoleon's dissatisfaction and complaints had long disappeared, leaving only deep shock in his heart.

So, this is possible?!

It is actually possible to do this!!

In comparison, I am as clumsy as a blind donkey!

Lucien had just told him that after the Austrians withdrew, the military supervisor of the Dimopin Corps immediately began arresting "traitors who colluded with the Austrian invading army" throughout the city.

Soon more than 230 people were arrested.

When Genoa was occupied by the Austrian army, those wealthy businessmen and bankers took the initiative to contact the Austrians for their own safety, either donating money or doing things for them.

These are all solid evidence of collusion with the invaders, and no one can argue with it.

(End of this chapter)