Chapter 778: March into Italy

Chapter 779 Marching into Italy

The next afternoon.

Beaulieu was discussing with his staff how to attack the port of Toulon most efficiently after taking control of Vence, when he saw an officer barging in without even knocking on the door.

The visitor ignored the marshal's angry eyes and shouted in a panic:

"Your Majesty Marshal, General Dannenfield was attacked on his way to Vence and his entire army was nearly wiped out. His whereabouts are unknown..."

Beaulieu stood up suddenly: "You, what did you say?"

The officer swallowed and continued:

"Also, General Provira was ambushed by the French army during his retreat. The soldier who sent back the message said that he was preparing to retreat to Vence and asked for support."

There is a saying that Napoleon really did not arrange his troops to ambush Provira. After all, he did not even know that the Austrian army had abandoned the town of Cagne.

This was all because Augereau was "too idle" and wanted to find something to do for himself. As a result, he unexpectedly encountered the Provera Army.

But in Provera's view, this was definitely because the French had been waiting for him here for a long time, so he collapsed at the first touch and turned around and ran away.

Beaulieu felt his head buzzing.

The troops reinforcing Vence were gone, but Provera was still running towards Vence, so the result was already doomed.

The current situation is that the entire battle west of Nice has failed. The Provera Army and the Dannenfield Army have lost at least 15,000 people.

At the same time, the connection between his side and Vence has been cut off by the French army.

In other words, there is a high probability that the nearly 10,000 soldiers of the Sebotendorf Army will not be able to come back...

He brought 30,000 Austrian troops and 20,000 Sardinian troops to France, but more than half of them had been lost by this time.

It seems that he still has 25,000 troops, but in fact, the previous losses were all the Austrian troops with stronger combat effectiveness, and the remaining Sardinian army was unable to fight a decent battle at all.

He only hesitated for half a minute, and then shouted to the herald: "The whole army immediately withdraws to the Catipona Pass. Marshal Argento is ordered to lead the 7th Royal Infantry Brigade to take over the defense near the pass. The Sardinian Kamuripi Army is in charge Nice defense.”

"Yes, Marshal!"

It was two days after Napoleon completely surrounded the Sebotendorf Army that he received the news that Beaulieu's main force had withdrawn from Nice, and he was immediately filled with regret.

According to his plan, he was going to block Beaulieu in Nice, but he didn't expect that the latter would run so decisively.

This cannot be blamed on him. The main reason is that Colli has deployed a large number of defenses along the line from Nice to Catibona Pass, making it difficult for the French cavalry to approach for reconnaissance.

Looking back at the entire Battle of Toulon, this is the only bright spot in Beaulieu's command.

Napoleon immediately left the Joubert Army to continue to clean up the mess at Sebotendorf, and led the main force to the Catipona Pass to try to intercept Beaulieu.

But at this time, most of the Austrian army had retreated to the Italian Peninsula, and with Argento's desperate defense, Napoleon was ultimately unable to retain Beaulieu's main force.

After Argento also entered the Alps, the 1,300 Camouripi troops who stayed in Nice surrendered immediately.

Two days later, Sebotendorf also gave up resistance and surrendered to the French.

In the Monaco Castle, Napoleon happily wrote a report submitted to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince - the Battle of Toulon was a complete victory, with a total of 8,000 Austrian soldiers killed and wounded, and 15,000 captured. Captured three enemy generals: Dannenfeld, Sebotendorf, and Provera. Major Filippo del Carretto, Beaulieu's son-in-law, and Lieutenant Colonel Camuripi, commander of the Legion of Sardinia-novara, and other officers were captured.

Yes, Napoleon only captured and killed 23,000 enemy troops. Thousands of Austrian soldiers were rescued by British transport ships on the beach southwest of Nice.

However, this was still a clean victory, and at least France would not face any threat from the southeast.

Of course, for Joseph, this was just meeting his most basic requirements.

According to his "right swing" plan, Napoleon would cross the Alps and invade Sardinia, from the Italian peninsula to southwestern Austria.

Without Joseph's urging, when his order of commendation was sent to Toulon, Napoleon had already taken control of the Catipona Pass, and the Augereau Division of the former army began to pass through the pass.

July 29, 1793.

Napoleon, wearing a brand-new colonel's collar, vigorously mobilized his horse and took the first step across the Alps.

Yes, after winning the Battle of Toulon, he had been promoted to colonel.

All officers who participated in this battle also received promotions to varying degrees.

The most important thing is that after the easily won battle near Nice, the Italian front army no longer had any doubts about the command ability of Napoleon, a young officer.

Everyone is heading towards Italy with full confidence and high morale.

A few days later.

Napoleon tightened his collar, sniffed and kicked the mule under his crotch with his heel. He looked at the military quartermaster beside him and frowned:

Please...you...collect_(Six\\\\\\Nine\\\\\\Books\\\\\\!)

"You mean the winter coats for the Montpellier regiment haven't arrived yet?"

"Yes, Commander." The latter also shrank his neck from the cold. "The military police have arrested three of their logistics procurement officers, but you know, there is still a long process from recovering the stolen money to re-ordering cotton-padded clothes..."

Due to the abnormal climate in Europe in recent years, even in August, there is still snow on the top of the Alps.

Although the snow was not too large under the warm wind from the Mediterranean, it still caused some trouble.

Even Napoleon's horse was exhausted due to the cold, so he had to ride a mule over the mountain.

Napoleon was obviously a little angry. The Montpellier Corps had more than 6,000 people. If he could not pass the Alps in time, it would seriously affect his strength.

"How long will it take?" he asked the staff officer.

"Montpellier promised to solve it within half a month. But you know, you can't take their promises too seriously."

The Montpellier Corps still belongs to the old army's operating model. The logistics materials are purchased privately by senior officers and then reimbursed to the Palace of Versailles.

The General Staff had previously suggested providing them with supplies, but was rejected by the military nobles of Montpellier - this is a lucrative job. By forging bills, the reimbursement amount is more than double the actual expenditure, and of course it cannot be handed over to the General Staff casually.

So, the current situation appeared.

In fact, this kind of thing is common in the old army.

For example, the Prussian and Austrian armies had to prepare for war for several months, and most of them were dragged down by similar problems.

However, Prussia has been preparing to set up a general staff in order to eliminate this malpractice. Historically, it was Prussia that first created the general staff model, and then it spread throughout Europe.

At present, European countries are learning the French model.