I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 869: Battle of Mantua - Napoleon's Raid
It is no wonder that Napoleon would have such an exclamation. The most qualified unit under his command was the Lyon Legion, which was not even the top one in the old army.

There are even several thousand new recruits who have received less than half a year of training.

Even so, he swept across most of northern Italy.

Now that he is in control of the Royal 3rd Infantry Division, he is like a tiger among a flock of sheep, and he can win easily when he fights.

By the time he finished his cup of coffee, Kostanovich's command flag had fallen in the distance.

On the Austrian right wing, which was attacked first, large groups of soldiers began to kneel down and beg for surrender.

Napoleon looked at his pocket watch and said to his staff officer:

"You see, I told Mr. Augereau that it would take no more than half a day. Well, it actually took us just over five hours.

"By the way, is there any new news from Victor?"

"Not yet, General. But according to the time estimate, Lieutenant Colonel Victor should have retreated to Idro by now."

Napoleon nodded and said, "Order the soldiers to rest in Limonene for half a day. We will go and teach Wurmser a lesson tomorrow morning. Oh, get in touch with the Marmont Corps and see where they are now.

"Also, have the cavalry tightly block the road to the south."

"Yes, General."

Napoleon was still very confident in Victor, who led the Corsica Corps and the Lyon Corps. After fighting in Italy for nearly half a year, these troops had gained rich combat experience and could easily resist the Austrians for a day or two.

He also had people set up a defense line in Idro in advance.

In addition, it would take some time for Marmont's Legion to arrive from Cremona in the south.

Yes, from the moment he lifted the siege of the fortress of Mantua and went to intercept Kostanovich, he expected that the Austrians would send a large army to pursue him.

And he also made targeted deployments.

At the same time, Desay's corps, which had remained in Verona, also began to move south.

According to the established battle plan, he would bypass the Po River and besiege the fortress of Mantua again.

Noon the next day.

When Wurmser received another report that the French troops in Idro were still resisting, he became so angry that he even cursed.

If the delay continues, Napoleon's main force may realize that something is wrong and flee back to Milan!

He thought about it, and sent another 3 soldiers to Idro, and asked the herald to tell Buonarroti that if Victor's troops could not be eliminated before dark, he would be dismissed.

Less than half an hour after he gave the order, the sound of cannon fire was heard from the east.

And it was not just one or two cannons, but a very intensive roar.

Wilmzer was a little confused for a moment.

The cavalry scouted the north yesterday afternoon and found no enemy troops within at least two miles, so who was firing?
Soon, the commander of the Austrian right wing sent cavalry to answer his questions.

The man ran up to him in a panic and shouted:

"General, thousands of French troops suddenly attacked us..."

Wilmser's heart tightened. Where did these French people come from?
He did conduct a careful reconnaissance of the north, because Napoleon's main force was there, but he had no idea that Napoleon had left Marmont near Cremona, south of Lake Garda, a week ago. At this time, more than 5 people from Marmont's corps arrived, and when the Austrian cavalry discovered them, they were less than 3 kilometers away from the Austrian right flank.

At this time, the main force of Wurmser was on the left wing to besiege Victor. When the right wing was suddenly attacked by Marmont, it immediately fell into a bitter battle.

Wilmser had even mobilized the reserve troops before, and now he didn't even have the troops to be transferred to the right. He had to hurriedly recall the 3 people sent to Idro. After thinking about it, he was worried that it was not safe enough, so he simply asked Ranieri's army to come back to assist in the defense.

However, before the messenger sent to Idro saw Ranieri, bad news came again from the Austrian right.

The cavalry that arrived this time was already covered in blood. After seeing Wilmser, they almost fainted and handed over the letter from Commander Alves:

"General, the French army has appeared behind us, with more than 10,000 people. General Alves said that he can no longer hold on."

This is when Napoleon's main force arrived from Limonene in the north.

Wilmser did not dare to hesitate any longer and immediately ordered the central army to move eastward to support the Alves Corps.

As to whether doing so would cut off the army's left and right routes, that could not be considered for the time being.

When he led more than 1 people of the central army less than 5 kilometers eastward, he encountered Alves's fleeing troops.

Wilmser had several fleeing officers stopped and after questioning they found out that his right wing army had been defeated.

Yes, Alves had only more than 6 men and could not withstand Napoleon's two-pronged attack with nearly three times his strength.

Wilms was shocked and quickly ordered his troops to turn around and rush to Idro, where they would join up with his left-wing army and launch a counterattack.

But Napoleon never gave him a chance.

He left Junot with two thousand soldiers to continue fighting with the remnants of Alves, while he himself attacked Wilmser's center.

At the same time, when Idro's French Victor Corps discovered that the enemy had begun to retreat, they realized that General Napoleon had launched an attack as planned, so they immediately ordered a counterattack against the Austrian army in front of them.

The Austrian troops who had been besieging him didn't know whether to fight or retreat. While they were hesitating, they were forced to retreat by Victor.

Napoleon's main force encountered Wurmser at around 4: PM.

The French soldiers, who had been fighting for most of the day, were not tired at all. They immediately deployed their formations from the north and south, led by the cavalry artillery, and launched an attack on the Austrian army.

The soldiers of these direct legions are trained in 5km load-bearing cross-country running all year round. In terms of physical strength, no army in the whole of Europe can catch up with them.

Wilmser remained calm and collected. He built a defensive position as quickly as possible and personally led his guards to the front line to supervise the battle, which barely lasted until dark.

Under the moonlight, Wilms first inspected the wounded soldiers, and then he breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that he still had more than 1 soldiers capable of fighting.

There are only about 2 French troops nearby. As long as we retreat steadily, we should have a chance to retreat back to the Mantua fortress.

He came to the tent and was about to discuss tomorrow's battle plan with the officers, but he saw several guards coming outside the tent with a man dressed as a farmer.

Wilmser looked at the "farmer's" ID and immediately asked:
"What do you want, Marshal Beaulieu?"

Yes, that person came from the fortress of Mantua.

The farmer said in a hoarse voice: “General, the Ulmer Corps was intercepted by the enemy yesterday afternoon and is currently blocked on the east bank of the Adige River.

"More than 10,000 French troops surrounded Mantua..."

(I'll make up the battle map tomorrow morning, it's too late today!)
(End of this chapter)