Chapter 746 We thought of the same thing

Chapter 747 I thought of it

Southeast France.

Grenoble.

Dumopin, the commander-in-chief of the French and Italian Front, moved his eyes away from the front line defense map and said to General Dutt:

"If I remember correctly, the Priven Army was just merged last year, and it doesn't even have cavalry."

Dutt nodded: "Yes, General. Previously, there were three infantry regiments and a skirmisher battalion of the Montpellier Army. Because a large number of elite soldiers were transferred, they were finally merged into the Pleven Army."

The so-called "transfer" actually means that soldiers with ideals and ambitions sign up for military academies. After graduation, they naturally join the corps directly under the General Staff Headquarters.

The Montpellier Legion also withered day by day. In fact, this is a common situation in the old French army in recent years, but it is more serious here in Montpellier.

Demobin leaned back on his chair tiredly and said: "It is too hasty to let them be responsible for Blaise's defense.

"The Jourbet Army should have just left Lyon, why not let them garrison Bresse?"

Dutt sighed: "It's the arrangement of Lieutenant Colonel Buwanaba, General. He has mobilized the army frequently recently, but he doesn't seem to pay attention to the defense of important places."

Di Mobin waved his hand: "Although His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is full of vigor and has made a series of unexpected strategic arrangements, he still obviously lacks experience in employing people.

"Lieutenant Colonel Bouwanaba did fight some good battles commanding the artillery in the Southern Netherlands, but it was still too hasty to hand over an army of more than 30,000 people to him."

General Dutt said: "Do you think Lieutenant Colonel Buwanaba should be ordered to adjust his deployment immediately?"

"That's fine." Dimobin nodded, looking a little helpless.

Before leaving Paris, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince told him not to interfere too much with Bouwanaba's command, so now he could only watch the young officer misbehave.

Perhaps, he will have to be behind with his old bones to clean up the mess when the time comes.

To the east of Toulon, the city of Nice.

Napoleon listened to General Dut read Dimobin's order and stood at attention: "The commander can question me or even blame me. He has the right to do so. But I am not prepared to change the plan."

He thought to himself that these old antiques were too short-sighted. They even just wanted to deal with the Austrians near the Alps.

Fortunately, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince did not really let them command the Italian campaign.

General Dut frowned: "With all due respect, the troops you sent to Bresse... yes, they do patrol diligently outside the mountain pass every day, but their numbers are too small and their combat effectiveness is worrying."

"This is exactly why I chose them." Napoleon said, "It really took me a while to screen out legions with such poor quality."

"But what if the Austrians attack now?"

Napoleon smiled proudly: "I will immediately lead the main force to attack Sardinia from the Catipona Pass. This is why I set up my headquarters in Nice."

Dutt's eyes suddenly widened: "But...but what about Bresse? If the Austrians are left alone, they will be able to invade Lyon in just half a month!"

"I left the Lyon Army in Lyon, they will delay the enemy's attack.

“At the same time, our army has crossed the Alps from the south, and then I will quickly move north to attack Turin.

"Believe me, I will cut off the supply line from Turin to Bresse before Beaulieu attacks Lyon.

“Then we have two options.

"If the Austrians continue to attack Lyon, I will cross the Alps again from the west side of Turin and attack their back.

"If the enemy chooses to return to support Turin, I will assume a posture of attacking Genoa eastward. Neither the Austrians nor the British will sit back and watch us establish a stronghold in Genoa, so they will definitely come to fight our army.

"At that time, I can choose the most suitable battlefield in the southern Piedmont Plain and defeat them."

Dutt digested it in his mind for a long time and found that this combat plan was indeed very feasible. He took full advantage of the French army's fast marching speed and led Beaulieu by the nose.

He suddenly thought of a question and shook his head: "No, your plan has a fatal flaw.

"The supply lines eastward from Nice are all close to the Mediterranean Sea, which makes them vulnerable to attack by the British fleet. Even attacking Genoa is extremely difficult."

Speaking of which, this old general still has some battlefield experience.

Historically, Napoleon set out from Nice to attack Italy and was indeed seriously threatened by the British fleet. Fortunately, he was lucky. The supply convoy just avoided the attacks of British warships every time until the French army controlled all of Sardinia and began to supply supplies from Turin.

Napoleon said very confidently: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that we can gain control of the sea in the Mediterranean. You have also participated in the meeting of the General Staff and you should know this very well."

Duterte said, that was probably the Crown Prince's way of stabilizing the morale of the military. Do you really dare to make a battle plan based on this?

It is normal for him to have such thoughts. After all, Britain has dominated the ocean for a long time, and the French subconsciously lack confidence in challenging the British fleet.

Historically, the British Navy did annihilate the Franco-Spanish-Dutch fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar and completely controlled the Mediterranean.

But this time, the French had steam battleships.

It is still unclear who will own the Mediterranean.

However, Dutt only hinted to Napoleon that the British Navy would definitely pose a threat to his supply line, and asked him to prepare in advance, and then he left reluctantly.

14 days later, Napoleon appointed the Moulins Corps commanded by Andre as the vanguard to prepare to cross the Catibona Pass.

He personally led the Corsica Corps, the Jourdan Corps, and Marmont's artillery battalion as the central army. After the Moulins Corps controlled the other side of the pass, they immediately attacked Cuneo in the southernmost part of Sardinia to the north.

Augereau and Sérurier served as the two wings to cover the main force.

However, as soon as the Moulins Corps approached the Catibona Pass, it immediately reported to Napoleon through the Chap signal machine in Nice that a large number of Austrian rangers were found near the pass.

"Scout?"

Napoleon listened to Lucien's report and frowned slightly:

"Could it be that the Austrians' main attack direction is Toulon?"

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this was possible, and he immediately lay on the map to check the position of the corps.

The central army was still 20 kilometers away from the Catibona Pass, and the corps on both wings were also separated, so Beaulieu was likely to have only discovered the Moulin Corps.

He immediately made a decision and said to his brother:

"Order General Andre to retreat immediately after fighting the Austrians.

"Order Augereau and Sérurier Corps to retreat westward as well.

"Let the rabbit come out of the hole, and then we will release the hounds!"