I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 812 The Last Three Hours

A few French cavalrymen who knew German heard the battalion commander's shout and immediately followed suit.

Grouchy originally just wanted to boost his morale, but he didn't expect that this shout would produce such an unexpected effect.

It was true that the Austrian army was frightened by Napoleon in the previous battle.

Especially since nearly half of the soldiers on the Austrian left wing happened to have participated in the Battle of Toulon, they immediately remembered that every time the French suddenly attacked, their side would be quickly defeated.

So the "Toulon veterans" were the first to flee.

When the soldiers brought by Melas from Switzerland saw this, they were even more convinced that they were attacked by a large number of French troops and immediately ran away.

In this way, more than 7 Austrian soldiers were chased everywhere by more than 1 French Hussars, and the entire Austrian left wing began to collapse.

Augereau reacted very quickly and immediately concentrated all his troops to the north, which further aggravated the defeat of the Austrian army here.

When Melas's central army saw the French suddenly withdraw, they excitedly rushed into the town of San Guiliano and reported the victory to Melas in the rear.

Outside the village of Marengo, Melas received almost simultaneous reports of the capture of San Guiliano and the massive French raid on the left wing.

Combining these two pieces of information, he could only draw one conclusion - that San Guiliano was deliberately abandoned by the French.

The purpose was to disperse his troops so that he could launch a surprise attack on the north side.

He hurriedly sent Cervoni with all his reserve troops to set up a defense line northeast of Marengo, and ordered the troops in the center and right wing to immediately withdraw to prevent being divided and annihilated.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, Melas, who had set up his battle formation and was ready for a decisive battle with the main force of the French army, sent out a large number of cavalry for repeated reconnaissance. He finally confirmed that the only French troops nearby were the less than 6 men and more than 1 cavalry who came to reinforce them.

He was immediately furious and ordered a renewed attack on San Guiliano.

But after all this going back and forth, the Austrian soldiers were exhausted. It was not until after 3 o'clock that they finally arrived at Augereau's defense line again.

Augereau and Marmont looked at the dense Austrian soldiers not far away, and both felt dejected and powerless.

After a morning of fighting, their troops suffered heavy casualties, with only 5 soldiers still able to fight, and their morale was low.

Grouchy's cavalry was full of fighting spirit, but facing an Austrian army of more than 5, they were completely powerless to fight.

It is almost certain that as long as the enemy launches a fierce attack, our side will be defeated immediately.

Augereau wearily mounted his horse, passed in front of the soldiers, and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"In three and a half hours at most, night will fall. The darkness will force the Austrians to retreat.

“And these three hours will determine the future of all of northern Italy!

"I will always be here, at the place closest to the enemy, and witness the future with you!"

"Listen, no one can defeat us!"

The French soldiers, whose eyes were already lifeless, stood up straight and responded:

"Yes, hold on for another three hours!"

"We will not be defeated!"

"persist in……"

In the distance the Austrian army's attack horn sounded.

Soon, an infantry line of more than 1 people from the Argento Corps appeared less than 5 meters away, and under the cover of artillery, they quickly approached the French defense line.

Augereau did keep his promise and stood firmly in front of all the soldiers under the enemy's artillery fire.

Inspired by him, his 5 soldiers cooperated with Grouchy's cavalry and desperately repelled the first attack at Argento.

But on both flanks, more than 2 enemy troops were closing in. There were still two and a half hours until dark...

Augereau looked at the enemy attacking from the north. Although he was extremely unwilling, he also knew that the soldiers had already exceeded their limits and he could no longer hold on.

Just when he was thinking of giving up, sudden artillery fire came from far away in the north.

Augereau couldn't help but be stunned. This distance was definitely beyond the range of his defense line.

Then there is only one possibility - that someone is launching an attack on the Austrian army's flank.

Reinforcements must have arrived!

Sure enough, the Austrian offensive began to slow down, and the Argento Corps gradually gathered to the north, leaving only a small number of troops to confront Augereau.

More than ten minutes later, Grouchy's cavalry brought him the good news he had been dreaming of: "It's Colonel Bonaparte! Our main force is coming!"

Augereau's soldiers immediately cheered, and the formation, which had begun to become scattered, soon became orderly again.

On the other hand, Melas fell into deep anxiety.

Just now, Argentau reported to him that at least 2 French troops suddenly appeared in the northwest.

Fortunately, Argentao reacted in time and quickly adjusted the formation, thus avoiding the situation where the flank was defeated.

Melas clenched his cane tightly and said to Chervoni beside him:
"You will lead the reserve troops immediately to the north to reinforce."

"Yes, General."

Melas looked at the herald again and said: "Order the Argentau Corps to attack the left wing of the main French army from Castelcelliolo.

“The corps of Colli attacked the enemy’s right flank along the Bormida River.

"The Royal Moravian Cavalry Battalion will launch a strong attack in cooperation with General Zilvoni. We must defeat the enemy before dark!"

He pushed all his troops forward.

He didn't know how many reinforcements the French army had behind them, so he had to repel the enemy in front of him as quickly as possible and then continue to rush to Lodi.

North of Marengo.

Napoleon was slightly relieved when he heard the cavalry report that the town of San Guiliano was still in Augereau's hands.

On the way here, he had been blaming himself.

It was he who misjudged the movements of Melas and moved his troops to the north bank of the Tanaro River, which gave the enemy an opportunity to take advantage.

Fortunately, Augereau held out for a day and a half and did not let Melas go east, otherwise the strategic situation of the French army would become very bad - he would have to launch an offensive against Lodi occupied by Melas, otherwise after the Wurmser Corps arrived in northern Italy, the Austrian army would have a huge advantage in manpower in northern Italy. The subsequent battles would become increasingly difficult.

Just as Napoleon was daydreaming, Jubert's messenger came hurriedly and shouted to him:
"Commander, there are over 2 enemy troops preparing to attack from the front. The regiment commander needs you to send reinforcements."

Jubert's corps was in charge of the frontal battlefield, and he had less than 8 soldiers.

Napoleon was about to dispatch the Moulins corps when two more cavalrymen came galloping up and reported:

"Commander, there are at least 1 enemy troops in the direction of Castelcelliolo."

"Commander, the enemy's Koli Corps is encircling our right wing, with nearly 1 troops."

Napoleon frowned immediately. A total of 4 Austrian troops launched a fierce attack on him, which was almost all of Melas's wealth.

(End of this chapter)