Chapter 796 Defense? Attack!
Chapter 797 Defense? Attack me!
Of course, this is also because the steamship itself has excellent speed.
If it were an ordinary sailing ship, it would take at least 10 days to complete this voyage, so Demobin could only surrender with regret.
Speaking of which, Joseph originally set up the Eastern Mediterranean Trading Company just to promote French-Turkish trade and to win over the Ottomans, but unexpectedly he also reaped the dividends of high-speed logistical support.
At the port, the excited French soldiers threw Troc and other captains into the air and kept shouting their names.
At that moment, several captains suddenly felt that even without the high interest, the adventure was worth it.
As a large amount of flour was moved into the warehouse, Dimobin felt his waist stiffen.
At this time, there are still 22 days left before the task given to him by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to hold Genoa for two months. These few ships of supplies are enough for him to persist until then.
At noon the next day, he even agreed to Augereau's request to launch a counterattack on the Eastern Front.
The morale of the well-fed soldiers was indeed high, and they pushed back Argentao's encirclement by a full kilometer in half a day.
Some are happy and some are sad.
The Austrian army soon received the news from Genoa's spies, and the entire command headquarters was in mourning.
Melas's face was livid, and he kept muttering: "Those trash in the navy, idiots..."
After a long while, Argento glanced at the commander-in-chief and said cautiously: "General, given the current situation, we may want to consider abandoning Genoa."
"Give up?" Melas raised his head and suddenly laughed, "Yes, of course, but now it's not as simple as us giving up on Genoa."
Argento frowned, but understood immediately.
As Napoleon continued to consolidate his control over the Lombardy region, his side would soon completely lose contact with Austria.
At that time, it will no longer be our own army besieging Genoa, but it will be attacked from the north and south by Napoleon and Dimobin!
Cold sweat suddenly broke out on his forehead. You must know that France can continue to send more troops to Italy from the direction of Toulon in the future, and it is only a matter of time before the Austro-Saharan coalition is defeated.
He hurriedly looked at Melas and said: "General, we should move east immediately, detour from Palma, and return to the Mantua Fortress..."
"Absolutely not!" Colli immediately retorted loudly, "What you are doing is equivalent to letting Sardinia face the French army alone. We will lose the trust of all allies!"
Sardinia is in the far west of Italy. After the Austrian army retreats eastward, the French army can occupy Alessandria at any time and cut off the connection between Austria and Sardinia.
Melas sighed heavily and nodded: "You are right, we must keep Sardinia, otherwise the entire Italian situation will collapse quickly."
What he did not say was that as a neutral country, Parma would probably not allow its own army to pass through.
Of course he could force his way through, and Parma's army would be unable to stop it, but this would undoubtedly push it towards France and affect the attitudes of other Italian neutrals.
Melas stood up and came to the map. After thinking for a long time, he pointed at Alexandria with his staff and said in a deep voice: "Order the entire army to gather towards Alexandria and set up a defense line there. I will ask His Majesty the Emperor to Send reinforcements and launch an attack on Milan from Mantua."
Then he knocked on Pavia: "And we will retake Pavia, cross the Po River, and cooperate to attack Milan."
Alessandria is the transportation hub of northern Italy. From here, it can not only support Sardinia to the west, but also go north to Milan, and at the same time, it can also deter Genoa.
By stationing troops here, there will be a basis for continuing to compete with France for northern Italy.
…
Milan.
Napoleon also pointed to the map on the wall and said to Victor and other officers: "Right now the Austrians have two choices.
"The first is to withdraw from Parma to Mantua and form a confrontation with our army there. In this case, we can only focus our attack on Turin.
"The second is to withdraw to Alessandria and prepare to gather forces to cross the river to counterattack Milan. But they have to reserve troops to prepare for General Dimobin's attack from the south, so they can only ask Vienna to send reinforcements."
Marmont murmured: "I hope they will not escape back to Mantua. I have seen that fortress. It will not be easy to break."
Napoleon nodded: "I estimate that Melas will most likely choose to go to Alexandria. After all, he wants to show their Emperor that he has not been driven out of Piedmont by us."
He looked at the messenger on the side: "Send someone to contact General Dimobin and ask him to monitor the north of Genoa at all times. If the Austrian army shows signs of retreating eastward, try to hold them back. I will launch an attack from Lodi."
"Yes, Commander."
Napoleon said to Victor again: "Gather your troops immediately and prepare to cross the river from Pavia."
"Ah?" The latter was stunned for a moment, "Crossing the river?"
According to his understanding, the right thing to do now is to prepare defenses along the Po River to prevent the Austrian army from attacking Milan. After all, the Osa-Saharan coalition still has a strength advantage.
Napoleon smiled: "We must defeat Melas before the reinforcements from Vienna arrive, otherwise we will face enemies from both directions of Mantua and Alexandria."
"But our military strength..."
There is no mistake, every song is published and every content is read one by one!
Napoleon said very confidently: "Melas's army failed to capture Genoa, and morale must be very low at this time. It is the best time for us to attack.
“Also, Alexandria is a very good base for attack, but not for defence.
“General Dumopin could even cross the Alps and go around to his western flank to launch an attack.
"So, troop strength is not an issue."
…
Southern Netherlands.
North of Brussels.
Joseph looked at Napoleon's battle plan transmitted through the Sharp signal machine, which was also a report of merit, and showed a satisfied smile: "Colonel Buwanaba did not disappoint me, using such an army to force the Osa-Saharan coalition into Dead end."
Emman whispered from the side: "It's Colonel Bonaparte, Your Highness. Mr. Bouwanaba has changed his surname."
"Well, Bonaparte." Joseph nodded, "Napoleon Bonaparte, this name sounds much easier to hear."
He signed Napoleon's battle plan and gave it to Emman to send back to Italy.
According to this trend, Northern Italy will soon be pacified by Napoleon, almost exactly in line with the historical trend.
Thinking of this, he suddenly narrowed his eyes.
He seemed to be a little too "lazy" in the battle situation in Italy, leaving it completely to Napoleon.
In fact, things are much better there now than historically.
At the very least, Dimobin did not lose Genoa, and France gained a solid stronghold on the southern coast of northern Italy.
If we only rely on Napoleon to fight head-on, wouldn't it be a waste of the strategic advantage there?
He thought for a moment and said to Eman: "Please inform Mr. Jean Talleyrand to let him go to Turin with the Count of Provence..."
