I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 868: The Battle of Mantua - First Relief

"As for Lieutenant Colonel Desaix's troops," Napoleon continued, shaking the reins of his horse, "do you think they have really been carrying out sniper missions in Verona?"

Verona is a city on the north side of Mantua. Napoleon sent Desaix with more than 20,000 soldiers there more than a month ago, pretending to delay Wurmser's reinforcements.

Augereau was surprised and said, "Isn't it? But the Desay Legion did slow down Wilmser's speed of moving south."

"Of course not. Three days after the Austrian reinforcements chose to bypass Verona, I ordered Lieutenant Colonel Desaix to move east of Mantua along the Adige River."

The Adige River is the second largest river in Italy and is located north of Mantua.

Verona is the most important ferry crossing in the middle section of the Adige River. Controlling it would seriously interfere with the supply of Mantua from Austria.

In order to bypass this place, Wurmser had to cross the river from Trenta in the northern part of the Adige River, while the left army went around the southern part of the river to Mantua.

Of course, if the French army relied too much on Verona and neglected its defenses, it would be suddenly surrounded by the Austrian army that came around.

But no one expected that Napoleon would simply abandon the strategic location of Verona.

……

West side of Lake Garda.

Riding on his horse, Wilmser enthusiastically outlined the blueprint for victory to several officers beside him.

Yesterday, Beaulieu submitted a report to Vienna, which roughly said that "Wurmser and he repelled tens of thousands of French troops, successfully lifted the siege of Mantua, seized a large amount of military supplies, and are currently continuing to pursue the French army."

Wurmser admitted that the report was exaggerated, but it didn't matter because his upcoming victory would far exceed the report.

By then, no one can stop me from being awarded the title of marshal!
Yes, because his performance in the Southern Netherlands in response to the Brabant Uprising in previous years was not satisfactory, which resulted in him being suppressed until now and he still has the rank of general.

He was almost seventy years old, and the Italian battlefield could be said to be his last chance for promotion.

At this moment, the sound of a military bugle call suddenly came faintly from the front.

Soon, an officer came to report to Wurmser: "General, our front team encountered the French army. There are about four to five thousand people."

Before Wilmser could react, another cavalryman galloped over and shouted to him: "General, after Colonel Buonarroti engaged the enemy, the enemy has already fled."

The staff officer nearby asked in confusion: "Four or five thousand French troops were defeated so quickly?"

"Yes, Captain Ferrari, the enemy was barely in formation, and they collapsed at the first blow."

Wilmser tapped his palm with the handle of his whip, looked into the distance and said, “It seems that we have caught up with Napoleon’s rear army.

"Order Buonarroti's army to pursue immediately. Oh, and have De Luca bring five hussar squadrons to help intercept them."

"Yes, General."

Wilmser then ordered his staff: "Send the order to speed up the march and prepare for a decisive battle."

The entire Austrian army immediately sped up, as if they were worried that if they moved too slowly, all the merits would be snatched away by Limone's Kostanovich Corps.

Two hours later, another messenger reported to Wurmser: "General, the French troops in front are retreating westward. Colonel Buonarroti asked if you will continue to pursue them?"

Wurmser smiled and said, "The cowardly French have even ignored their main force. It seems that the decisive battle will end soon. Let Buonarroti continue the pursuit, and the Aquila Legion will be changed to the front team." Napoleon's main force was in the north. If the French rear team fled westward, it would be equivalent to selling Napoleon's back to Wurmser.

Half a day later, when the Austrian army was only 22 kilometers away from Limone, Buonarroti sent someone to report to Wurmser that the enemy Victor Corps on the west had built a defense line near Idro, forming a stalemate with him.

Wilmzer immediately frowned in displeasure.

Buonarroti's Legion had nearly 6 men, plus 5 cavalry squadrons, or 750 cavalrymen, but they managed to fight a stalemate with four or five thousand fleeing French troops!
Wilmser hesitated for a moment and asked the staff officer beside him: "Has there been no trace of the enemy's main force yet?"

"Yes, General," said Captain Ferrari, "the Hussars advanced more than two miles to the north without encountering the French."

He was talking about ori, which is roughly equivalent to 16 kilometers.

Wilmser nodded.

To the west of Idro is the Chiese River, which means that Victor's French army has no way to retreat.

Before the decisive battle with Napoleon, eliminating this French army would not only prevent it from tying down their flanks, but also boost morale with a victory.

Thinking of this, he said to the herald: "The central army will move closer to Idro. The Ranieri Corps on the left wing will assist Buonarroti in destroying the enemy there as soon as possible. The reserve army will be deployed to the left wing."

"Yes, General!"

At this time, Wilmser was only concerned with defeating Victor's Legion, but he did not notice that his army had been torn into a long and narrow formation running east-west.

Just three hours before he sent his left wing corps to Idro, Napoleon suddenly launched a fierce attack on the Austrian Kostanovich Corps which was rushing to Mantua.

After acquiring the Royal Cavalry Artillery Battalion, Napoleon felt like a bird that had found its wings again.

Under the cover of cavalry, 12 6-pound cannons arrived at the southwest side of Limone with the main force of the French infantry, and began to use intensive artillery shells to entertain the Austrians who had just deployed their combat formations.

The Austrian army had enjoyed watching the French cavalry artillery bombard the Prussian army in the Southern Netherlands, but now that the shells were falling on their heads, they realized how painful it was.

After just over ten minutes, the right wing of Kostanovich's line formation began to retreat under the pressure of artillery fire.

Napoleon did not hesitate to launch an attack there with his infantry columns, while using skirmishers to entangle the enemy's left wing.

The French soldiers equipped with bulletproof inserts rushed to about 60 steps away from the Austrian right wing before forming a horizontal formation. They then used two rounds of salvos to completely defeat the enemy who had already become loose.

Napoleon immediately ordered his few cavalrymen to follow the fleeing soldiers and launch an attack in depth, while the infantry turned east and cooperated with his central army to form a semi-encirclement of Kostanovich's main force.

By the time Kostanovich hurriedly transferred the troops on the left wing to reinforce the center, the French infantry had cooperated with the cavalry to complete the encirclement from the north, that is, behind him.

Napoleon looked through the telescope at the Austrian soldiers screaming and running everywhere, and turned to his attendant with a satisfied look, "Constant, bring me a cup of coffee."

"Shall I add your brandy, General?"

"Oh, okay, thank you."

Napoleon saw that the cavalry artillery had moved to the east side of the battlefield and was using shotgun shells to block the Austrian troops fleeing there. He could not help but sigh in his heart that it was simply a pleasure to command such an elite force to fight.

(End of this chapter)