I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 972: The Charge Must Be Confirmed
Desai gave the order without hesitation: "The 4th Infantry Regiment will launch a counterattack immediately. The 5th Infantry Regiment will attack from both wings. The cavalry squadron will be on standby behind the camp."

The herald took the order and left. The staff officer hesitated and said, "Commander, there are only two companies of Austrian troops. Perhaps we don't need to send out so many troops..."

Desai said decisively: "The enemy dares to take the initiative to provoke, there must be an ambush. We must go all out!"

In fact, the so-called "enemy forces" were just more than 70 CIA agents, carrying a large number of flags and drums, and seemed to be quite numerous from a distance.

Soon, the Corsican Corps launched a full-scale attack and pursued the enemy.

Soldiers kept picking up Austrian flags and weapons along the way, as if their sneak attack had failed.

A few hours later, the French army discovered the Austrians' temporary camp. As Colonel Desaix said, there should have been more than two thousand soldiers stationed here.

Of course, these were all arranged in advance by the Intelligence Bureau.

Following the script, Desaix solemnly denounced to the soldiers the Austrians' conspiracy to attack the Udine garrison, and said that they must all be killed to maintain the dignity of the French army.

However, they reached the border between Venice and Austria, but still failed to catch up with the enemy.

Just as the staff officer was considering whether to advise the commander to retreat, a huge roar of artillery suddenly erupted from the bushes ahead.

"The Austrians are ambushing us here!" Desai seemed very angry and shouted, "Let the skirmisher battalion attack from the side. Be careful of the enemies on the flanks."

He always kept the cavalry in the rear, fearing that the cavalry would actually catch up with the Austrians who were "acting" on the opposite side.

He looked at the staff officer again: "What are the casualties?"

The latter hurriedly sent people to inquire in each company, and soon returned to report: "Commander, it seems that no one was hit."

Desai cursed in his heart, these Austrian artillerymen were simply useless. They had fired more than ten rounds but had not hit the target once.

According to the script, the French army should have been shot and killed by hundreds of artillerymen in a surprise attack, and then he could take the opportunity to order the angry soldiers to besiege the Klagenfurt Fortress.

But now no one has died, so the effect is much worse.

Ten minutes later, the artillery fire from the opposite side stopped. The French skirmishers in front reported that they had occupied the enemy's artillery position and saw about a battalion of Austrian infantry fleeing northward.

Desai had no choice but to give the order: "The damn Austrians killed our comrades, we can't let them go! The whole army continues to pursue!"

Fortunately, the soldiers of the Corsican Legion only thought that people from other companies were hit by artillery fire - the entire battle line was two kilometers wide, and the people on one end had no idea what was happening on the other side - so under the orders of their officers, they crossed the border and chased northward.

By the afternoon of the next day, Desai had already seen the outline of the Klagenfurt Fortress.

He immediately drove his horse past the soldiers, pointed to the north and shouted: "The Austrians who attacked us have taken refuge in the fortress. If they don't hand them over, we will go in and capture them ourselves!"

An hour later, the Corsican Corps' artillery began to bombard the Klagenfurt Fortress fiercely, while the infantry formed dozens of columns, ready to launch an attack at any time.

However, what puzzled Desaix was that the Austrian troops in the fortress seemed to be frightened and never fought back.

This made him feel like he was punching cotton. The expected escalation of the battle and the influx of angry soldiers into the fortress did not occur.

He was about to order an attack when he suddenly heard a familiar bugle call from the east, the way the French army played it.

A moment later, a messenger came running over, saluted him and said, "Commander, Colonel Lefebvre wants to see you, and please order the attack to stop immediately."

Lefebvre? Desai's mind buzzed. Why would he come?

He suddenly felt that something was wrong. He ignored the summons officer and waved to the staff officer, saying, "Retreat! Retreat to Udine immediately!" No matter what, they must not be blocked in Austria.

However, Lefebvre's summons officer took out a document, raised it above his head, and shouted to the officers around him: "This is an order from the General Staff. The Corsica Corps will be commanded by Colonel Lefebvre from now on."

Desai gritted his teeth and shouted to the staff officer: "Ignore him, retreat!"

At this moment, the officer of his rear team rushed over and said anxiously: "Commander, the people of the Royal Third Infantry Division asked us to lay down our weapons."

Desai was stunned: "Where are they?"

"Right, right behind us."

After hundreds of soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division stabilized the situation, Leo skillfully led two thousand Austrian troops to block the Corsican Corps in the middle from both wings.

Twenty minutes later.

Desaix looked at Lefebvre and pretended to be angry and said, "Colonel, my corps was attacked many times by the Austrians, so I chased them all the way here. You have no reason to stop me."

Lefebvre smiled. "Austrian attack? How many casualties did you suffer?"

"Casualties?" Desai hesitated. "There must be... a lot of casualties."

Lefebvre looked at his staff officer and said, "Please tell me about your casualties in the attack."

The latter wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and whispered, "Well, it seems there are no casualties."

Of course there would be no casualties, because the troops shelling the Corsican Corps on the Austrian border were actually the 3rd Infantry Division in Austrian uniforms.

Lefebvre asked Leo to gather all the soldiers in the fortress and not allow any of them to leave.

The 3rd Infantry Division kept firing at open areas, which seemed to be a huge display, but in fact no one was hit.

Lefebvre raised his voice and said, “Colonel Desaix, it seems that you are lying.

"Now, please tell me truthfully why you are leading your army on Austrian soil?"

"I……"

Desai cursed the incompetent Austrian artillery repeatedly in his heart. He was really confused now - they were ambushed by the enemy, but there was not even a single injured person?

Lefebvre signaled to the guard beside him: "Please send Colonel Desaix back to Paris immediately. Oh, confiscate all his belongings as evidence."

"Yes, sir."

After Desaix was taken away, Lefebvre looked at Desaix's aide-de-camp and said with a smile: "I can give you a chance to reduce your sentence in the military court."

The latter immediately said in a trembling voice: "Yes, please give me your orders."

"Write a letter in the name of Colonel Desaix, saying that the Klagenfurt Fortress has been captured. Wait for further instructions."

More than half an hour later, the attendant finally finished writing the letter.

Lefebvre put the letter into a letter box, sealed it with Desaix's seal and wax, and asked someone to find Desaix's herald: "I order you to go to the fortress of Mantua and give this letter to General Napoleon."

(End of this chapter)