I Am the Crown Prince in France - Chapter 785

Chapter 781 Battle for Genoa

Alps, east side of the Catipona Pass.

General Dumopin, the nominal commander-in-chief of the French-Italian Front, felt the warm wind blowing from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea, and his old bones, which were almost cracked by the frost, were slightly relieved.

He thought again of the order His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had given him a few days ago, and couldn’t help but sigh with a grimace.

He originally thought that the most he could do was show off in the city of Nice – it turned out that young Bouwan Naba commanded very well, and there was no need for him to interfere – but the crown prince suddenly asked him to take over Buwan Naba’s command of the army. .

Dimobin, who was nearly 60 years old, had no choice but to drag his old body over the Alps, and assumed a posture of storming Monferrato, a province in southern Sardinia.

To the north of Monferrato is Turin. At this time, Sardinia was in a state of chaos, and Amedeo III went crazy and kept asking for help from Vienna.

After Beaulieu experienced the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Toulon, he had less than 7,000 Austrian troops left in the Italian peninsula, plus the Sardinian Army led by 20,000 Colli, and the other 2,000 troops stationed in Milan.

With this small amount of troops, let alone reinforcing Sardinia, he himself was worried about whether Milan could hold on.

Franz II had no choice but to send the Swiss Front Army to Italy to assist in the battle, and the Swiss Front Army Commander Melas replaced Beaulieu and was responsible for commanding the Italian Front Army.

Beaulieu finally breathed a sigh of relief after Melas’s forward troops arrived in Milan.

With Melas’s 30,000 troops, the situation in Italy is basically stable.

On the other side, Amedeo III also sent 10,000 additional soldiers to defend Monferrato.

At this time in northern Italy, the total strength of the Osa-Saharan coalition had reached as many as 60,000.

Dimobin only had 28,000 troops in his hands. The General Staff added 5,000 new soldiers to the Italian Front, but they were intercepted by Napoleon midway.

But he wasn’t too worried.

Because His Royal Highness the Crown Prince did not really want him to attack Sardinia, but just pretended to do so. If it were just defense, his troops would still be able to hold on for a while.

In addition, the Austrian army had just suffered a defeat and its morale was low. If they really wanted to fight, it would not necessarily pose much of a threat to them.

A week later.

Demobin was enjoying his breakfast – after entering Italy, the food was obviously much better than in the mountains – the staff officer knocked on the door and saluted him: “Commander, I just received a message from Milan. According to the news, nearly 30,000 Melas troops are heading south to Monferrato.”

The old general took a sip of milk and asked, “How far are we from?”

“About 50 kilometers.”

Demobin nodded, stood up and said, “Order the entire army to assemble and prepare to head east.”

“To the east?” the staff officer said in surprise, “General, but there is only Genoa over there.”

“Yes, Genoa.” Dimobin nodded, “We are going there.”

According to the order of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, which is actually Napoleon’s battle plan, once the main force of Osa moves to the south of Sardinia, he will launch an all-out attack on Genoa.

Genoa is the most important port in northern Italy. Almost all materials shipped from the sea to Sardinia and Milan must be disembarked here.

If the French army occupied Genoa, it would mean that the British supplies shipped from the sea would not be able to be delivered to the Austro-Saharan coalition.

This is a situation that the Austrian commander absolutely does not want to see. At the same time, the British could not accept Genoa falling into French hands, because it carried more than half of Britain’s trade with Italy.

Sure enough, when Dimobin’s army left Diego and began to set off for Voltri, a strategic location west of Genoa, the Austrian army immediately became nervous.

North of Monferrato, in the Austrian camp, Colli looked at the officers in front of him and said firmly: “We must maintain the territorial integrity of Sardinia. If there is a problem with Monferrato, we will quickly lose our allies.” of trust.”

Beaulieu shook his head tiredly: “Once the French army captures Genoa, they will immediately be able to threaten Alexandria to the north. At that time, we will have to divide our forces to defend the east, west, and north directions, which will put us in an extremely unfavorable situation.”

Alexandria is an important transportation hub in northern Italy, connecting Milan, Turin, Piacenza and other cities.

Colley was a little sullen: “But the stubborn Genoese insist on abiding by neutrality and do not allow us to send troops to assist their defense!

“If we attack the French army directly, we have to cross the Alps. Before we arrived, the French had already taken control of the port of Genoa.”

The southernmost tip of the Alps is a “herringbone” structure, and Genoa is right at the end of that shape. This leaves many mountain peaks between Dimobin and the Austrian army.

Although these mountains are not very high, it will take more time for the army to pass through.

Seeing the quarrel between the two sides, Brigadier General Jean-Baptiste Cervoni stood up and suggested with some uncertainty: “Perhaps, we can ignore the attitude of the Genoa government and set up defenses there before the French army arrives. You can get there in a day and a half from Alexandria.”

Everyone turned to look at him.

After a long while, Colli said in a deep voice: “But Genoa is a neutral port protected by His Majesty the Emperor.”

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“We are only going to hold off the French army.” Cervoni argued, “We will wait until we drive the French out of Italy and then withdraw from Genoa. I believe that Britain will definitely agree with our actions.”

Everyone was silent again.

With the military strength of Genoa, whether it is Austria, France, or even Sardinia, they can easily occupy it as if they are in uninhabited territory.

Then you can take the lead in deploying defense there.

In other words, whoever strikes first will gain a huge advantage.

Finally, Melas took a breath and nodded: “Okay, it’s better than letting the French get Genoa.

“Order the Argentine Legion to rush to Genoa immediately.

“General Colli continued to Monferrato to block the French from advancing north.

“General Cervoni crossed the Alps and cut off the French retreat.

“We are going to destroy the Demobin Army in the Voltri area this time!”

…

Middle Alps.

Great St. Bernard Pass.

The military quartermaster saluted Napoleon and said, “Commander, we should probably wait at the foot of the mountain for two more days.

“Our current food reserves are only enough to last until we cross the Alps. We will face a shortage of food after entering Italy.”

Yes, Napoleon retreated again when he climbed halfway up the Catipona Pass, and instead led the Montpellier Army, plus a Moulins Cavalry Battalion, and 5,000 recruits just transferred from the General Staff, from the Alps. A surprise attack was launched in the middle of the mountain.