I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 813 Head-to-head confrontation
But Napoleon had only more than 2 soldiers.

Among them, nearly 3 are new recruits who have been in the army for less than two months.

His face showed bitterness. If he was on a wide battlefield, he could rely on his accurate judgment of the battlefield situation and use various means to gradually establish an advantage, just like he did in Toulon.

But now, due to his previous misjudgment, he had to fight a head-on decisive battle with the Austrian army here.

This was undoubtedly extremely disadvantageous to the French army, which was at a disadvantage in terms of manpower.

Napoleon crossed his hands over his chest, took deep breaths, and his mind raced.

No, there must be a way to defeat the enemy.

To fully utilize my strengths...

What other advantages do I have?
He suddenly regained his composure because he thought of the Mulan Legion.

This elite force, second only to the direct legion, is highly trained and equipped with the latest percussion cap rifles.

If the Moulin Corps could be used to quickly defeat the enemy in the front and directly threaten Melas's command post, the Austrian army would be thrown into command chaos.

Then, turn around and deal with the enemies on the flank...

A whole battle plan quickly emerged in Napoleon's mind. He turned to Lucien and said, "Order Major Junot to lead the Toulouse 2nd Infantry Regiment and a skirmisher battalion to defend the left wing.

"Lieutenant Colonel Sérurier commanded the 3rd Infantry Regiment to defend the right flank.

"They must ensure that no enemy soldier crosses their lines before dark!"

他分别给了这两人2千士兵和1千5百士兵，而他们面对的则是1万和1万5千敌军。虽然只需要守两个半小时，但这依旧是“地狱级”难度的任务。

Napoleon pointed to the map and continued: "Joubert's Corps and Moulin's Corps, as well as all artillery and hussars, immediately concentrate in the center.

"The infantry line is arranged here and there in four rows...

"The artillery position is here. There is a slope overlooking the entire battlefield...

"We will launch the general attack in 40 minutes."

4:20 p.m.

Chervoni saw through the telescope that his troops were forcing the French to retreat, and a rare look of relief appeared on his face.

Ever since he came to Italy, he has been subjected to various sneak attacks and ambushes by the French army, which made him feel extremely depressed. Today, he finally had the opportunity to face the French head-on.

He turned his head and said proudly to the staff officer:
"It turns out that the French are only good at playing dirty tricks. If we fight like knights, these cowards are no match for us..."

Before the staff officer could agree, he heard intensive artillery roars suddenly coming from the front.

Chervoni frowned, raised the telescope again, and soon saw that a gap had been torn on the left side of his infantry line by a shell.

This shows how fierce the French artillery fire was.

He turned his head to the staff officer and said, "Let the cavalry find the French artillery positions for me. They must have concentrated all their cannons..."

However, an officer immediately came to report to him: "General, there are tens of thousands of French troops on our left, and they seem to be launching a counterattack."

Chervoni smiled and said, "The French finally have some courage. Who is the commander on the other side?"

"It seems to be the Colonel Bonaparte."

"Is that the guy who attacked Milan?"

"That's him, General." "Very good. I've been waiting for him for a long time." Chervoni nodded and said to the herald, "Order the entire army to stop advancing. The three infantry regiments on the right should move closer to the center.

"Jonas and Drayton's regiments formed the second line of defence on the left.

"The cavalry must destroy the French artillery positions at all costs."

He said something like "fighting like a knight", but he was extremely cautious when deploying his troops. He was prepared to rely on superior forces for intensive defense, and when Argentau and Colly could outflank him from the flank, he would be able to annihilate Napoleon with minimal casualties.

Soon, the French skirmishers who came forward to harass discovered that the Austrian army had stopped advancing, and the line formation that had been disrupted by the artillery fire was quickly replenished with a large number of soldiers.

But Colonel Bonaparte's orders to them were to continue attacking the enemy until the infantry columns rushed up.

The skirmishers of the two battalions continued to fire at the opposite side, taking advantage of the terrain to cover the volleys of fire from the Austrian infantry lines.

Although they failed to inflict much casualties on the Austrian army, they effectively attracted the enemy's attention.

After suffering more than 300 casualties, more than 20 columns of the Moulin Corps galloped towards the Austrian infantry lines to the extremely fast beats of military drums.

While the Austrian soldiers were still busy aiming at the French skirmishers who were popping up everywhere like gophers, the column of Moulin's Corps had already rushed to within sixty or seventy steps of them and quickly deployed into a horizontal column.

The Austrian officers hurriedly ordered the soldiers to change their targets, but the Moulin Corps fired the first volley.

The excellent shooting skills plus the powerful percussion rifle caused a bloody mist to rise above the Austrian infantry lines. Hundreds of people groaned and fell to the ground in an instant.

The Mulan Legion immediately reloaded on the spot, then rushed forward 10 steps and fired.

After only three volleys, tens of thousands of Austrian soldiers began to fall into chaos due to the 4 men of Moulin's Corps and less than 800 stragglers.

At the same time, the French infantry lines further behind also took the opportunity to close within a hundred steps and began to fill the gaps between the horizontal columns of Moulin's Legion.

Finally, the French army's front line was completed and more than 9 soldiers formed three infantry lines. With the cooperation of skirmishers, they continuously launched volleys at the Cervonni Corps.

At this time, the three regiments on the right side of the Austrian army finally arrived and attacked the French infantry line from the right front.

The Mulan Legion responded very quickly, sending 1 men to turn to the left and engage in a firefight with the enemy.

Although they were outnumbered, the combat quality of the Moulin Corps was obviously much higher than that of the Austrian Army. The 5 soldiers and the 5-man Toulouse Corps always suppressed the more than 1 Austrian troops.

However, Chervoni also commanded very well. Relying on the advantage in numbers, he constantly adjusted the formation to attack the weaker Toulouse Legion, causing the Moulin Legion to be distracted from time to time to fill the gap.

In this way, the two sides fired at each other for 20 minutes, and both suffered heavy casualties.

The area within a two-kilometer radius was filled with a strong smell of blood. The ground was littered with corpses and broken limbs, as if hell had been brought here.

Finally, after another volley from Moulin's Corps, the left side of the Austrian line began to collapse.

Soon, the defeat spread to the entire Cervoni Legion - the plains north of the village of Marengo were filled with Austrian soldiers wailing and fleeing.

Napoleon saw this scene through the telescope, smiled with satisfaction, and ordered an immediate attack on Melas's headquarters south of the village.

However, when the Mulan Legion arrived outside the village of Marengo, they found a neat line of infantry in front of them.

There are at least five or six thousand people.

At this time, although the French army still had nearly 9 people, the soldiers had consumed a lot of physical strength after the fierce battle just now, and the ranks were in chaos due to casualties.

When facing a well-prepared enemy, they immediately showed signs of fatigue.

(End of this chapter)