Chapter 808 Small Goal

Chapter 809 Small Goals

Then, here comes the key point.

The military supervisor went to the Genoa Governor Ebiaso and asked him to form a non-public "internal review committee" with the 17 most influential people in the parliament.

The French military did not ask about the actions of this committee, but only asked them for a list of traitors.

In the end, 69 of the 230 arrested people were confirmed by the committee to have committed treason. The committee also added 7 more people to the list.

Then, the military court was tried. The result was that all 76 people were guilty without exception, sentenced to exile or hanging, and all their property was confiscated.

The military supervisor personally led the soldiers to confiscate the property of the treasonous person, leaving 40% of it as military expenses, 50% to the Genoa Parliament, and the remaining 10% was evenly divided among the citizens of Genoa.

However, the confiscation was carried out by the French army, and only the military supervisor knew the specific amount. So in the end, the Dimopin Corps obtained 70% of the confiscated assets, and the Genoa Parliament and citizens shared 30%.

Since Genoa had a total population of less than 70,000, each citizen could get more than 30 francs. [Note 1]

The whole of Genoa was in an uproar on the day of receiving the money.

Almost everyone was shouting slogans such as "Long live the King of France", "Long live General Dimopin", and "France is Genoa's eternal friend".

The Genoese Parliament not only received a huge amount of money, but more importantly, it took the opportunity of "examining traitors" to eliminate all enemies and political opponents, so it praised France.

They were all the most powerful people in Genoa. As long as they supported France, the Genoese would not have any objections.

What's more, the citizens were receiving money, and their attitude was unprecedentedly consistent.

When Napoleon heard his brother say that "when the Dimopin Corps left Genoa, the whole city lined the streets to see them off, and many people were in tears", he remembered the scene where he was cursed by everyone in Milan, and he was so ashamed that he wanted to bury his head in the sand.

When Napoleon was reprimanded by Brigadier General Carnot, he was still a little unconvinced, thinking that it was the inherent right of the army to get money from the occupied areas, but now he felt that His Highness had already taken great care of his face by not letting him call him a "fool".

Joseph did not have any virgin complex.

The war cost France's finances and killed French soldiers, so the war dividends that should be harvested should not be reduced at all.

But the means must be more sophisticated.

It must not be like Napoleon in history, who only got a few million francs and some artworks from Italy, and made the entire Apennine Peninsula hate him.

When France was defeated, all Italian states immediately turned against it.

So Joseph copied the operations of some Western powers in later generations and compiled a "Standard Operation Specifications for Collecting Materials in Foreign Countries" for reference by military supervision.

Of course, this specification can only be circulated within the French army, and the secret level is "top secret".

Before the war, Joseph had set a small goal - to earn 10 million francs in dividends after the war in northern Italy, and to make the Italian states grateful to France.

...

Alexandria.

In the hall on the east side of the city hall, the Austrian officers ended their dispute, and Melas finally made the decision to attack in the direction of Parma and strive to occupy Lodi in the southeast of Milan.

Melas looked at the officers and said, "If the action is not smooth, the army will continue to move eastward and enter the Mantua Fortress."

Cervoni immediately shouted loudly: "The French only captured Milan by surprise. This time, as long as our army is more cautious, we will be able to successfully occupy Lodi."

The other Austrian officers were not as optimistic as him, and they all bowed their heads and said nothing.

They had fought with the French army in Toulon before. With the current comparison of the two sides' forces, if they were to fight head-on, they might not be able to win.

After a while, Brigadier General Argentau stood up and said to Melas: "General, I am willing to take on the task of covering the engineers in building a pontoon bridge."

There are two bridges on the Bormida River, but they are wooden bridges built by nearby villages with limited carrying capacity. If you want to cross the river with tens of thousands of troops in a short period of time, you have to build a large number of pontoon bridges.

Melas nodded, but suddenly thought of the French army's elusiveness, and immediately shook his head: "No, judging from the previous battles, the French are very cunning.

"The normal way of advancing is likely to be ambushed by them.

"If we want to cross the river smoothly, we must be more cunning than them."

The officers immediately looked at him in surprise.

Melas narrowed his eyes and said to Argentau: "Take your men to dismantle the two bridges on the Bormida River tomorrow at noon."

The latter was shocked: "Ah? You mean to dismantle it?"

Melas smiled: "Tell the engineers to slow down. At the same time, set up cannons on the shore. If French cavalry approach, fire to drive them away.

"At dusk, immediately put back the dismantled parts."

No mistake, one sentence, one content, one look!

Argentau's eyes lit up immediately: "What a wonderful plan! In this way, the French will definitely think that we are going to go from the Tanaro River in the north."

"That's right." Melas nodded and continued, "The day after tomorrow morning, let the engineers build a pontoon bridge on the Bormida River.

"We will concentrate all our forces to defeat the enemy on the east bank of the river as quickly as possible, and then rush to Parma."

...

East of the Bormida River, San Giuliano.

Napoleon raised his hat to return the salute to Jubert, then stepped forward to hug him and smiled: "Thank God, you arrived a day and a half earlier than I expected."

"Everyone heard that you occupied Lombardy, and the morale is very high." Jubert also smiled, "Today we marched a full 22 kilometers."

"Thank you for your hard work." Napoleon let him into the tent and asked, "How many garrisons are left in Genoa?"

Jubert said: "1,500 people, but there are also 1,500 newly recruited Genoese national army. With General Dimopin in person, it is enough to stop the Austrians for three or four days."

Genoa had no army before, and its national defense relied entirely on hundreds of Swiss mercenaries.

After this war, at the suggestion of Joseph, they began to form their own army.

Well, hire French instructors for training and buy a full set of French equipment.

Jubert asked again: "Commander, where should we deploy next?"

Napoleon shook his head: "It is not clear where the enemy is going."

He shouted to Lucien outside the tent: "Has Major Garda not returned yet?"

Before he finished speaking, he heard Garda's voice outside the tent: "Report to the commander, the rangers found that the Austrian army was destroying the bridge over the Bormida River."

[Note 1] Genoa had a total population of 120,000 to 150,000 at the end of the 18th century, but many of them were workers from nearby states and were not counted as citizens of Genoa. There were only 55,000 registered citizens in 1780.