Chapter 809: Fierce Battle in Piedmont

Chapter 810: Fierce Battle in Piedmont

Joubert also studied the terrain around Alessandria on the way here, and immediately said upon hearing this: "It seems that Melas is going to attack Pavia to the north."

Napoleon was a little hesitant.

He couldn't say what was wrong, but he just felt that everything was going too smoothly.

This made him very uncomfortable.

So he said to the cavalry battalion commander Garda: "Send someone to carefully confirm the situation of the Bormida River and report to me."

"Yes, commander!"

Garda took the order and left, and personally led half a company of rangers to the east bank of the Bormida River.

Soon, he saw in the telescope that a large group of Austrian engineers were busy, and the bridge deck on the west side had disappeared, which was exactly the same as what his men had reported before.

It was just that the trees near the river bank were so dense that he couldn't see clearly, so he took the risk of running to the river bank to get close to reconnaissance.

However, when he was still more than a kilometer away from the bridge on the north side, a series of cannon roars suddenly came from the Austrian position.

An oak tree beside him was hit by a cannonball and instantly broke in two, and the wood chips splashed on the rangers.

Garda glanced nervously at the hideous broken stump of the tree, and then hurriedly looked at the bridge with a telescope, and saw that the bridge piers on the west side seemed to have been removed.

The sound of cannons in the distance sounded again, and he did not dare to hesitate any longer, and immediately turned his horse's head and retreated.

In the French camp, Napoleon looked at Garda and said, "Are you sure that even the bridge piers have been removed?"

"I am sure, Commander." The latter said with a firm tone, "At least 4 main pillars are missing, and the bridge is definitely useless."

Napoleon nodded and ordered Jubel, who had been waiting in his tent, "You and the Toulouse Corps and the Moulins Corps will go to Mede immediately, and be prepared for the Austrian army to cross the river.

"I will personally lead the troops in Pavia and arrive at the latest tomorrow afternoon. "

Mede is a city located 6 kilometers north of the Tanaro River. If you want to snipe the Austrian army crossing the river, the south side of Mede will be the best position.

"Yes, Commander!"

Just as Jubert was about to leave, he thought of something and turned back to ask: "You didn't seem to mention the Lyon Legion just now?"

"Yes." Napoleon nodded, "Let them stay in San Guiliano."

"But this..."

Napoleon said without question: "It's decided. "

He couldn't explain why, but his intuition told him that he still had to be prepared for the east side of Alexandria.

At most, the Lyon Corps could be deployed further north and the logistics materials could be sorted out in advance, so that it would only take one day to reach Medei to participate in the battle.

It was almost dusk.

The Bormida River was busier than during the day.

Hundreds of Austrian engineers were moving a large amount of wood from the bushes not far away and nailing it back to the bridge piers.

Yes, the piers of the two bridges were not removed, but were painted with gray-black paint. From a distance, it was difficult to distinguish them from the riverbank behind them.

And this trick also successfully caused Garda to misjudge.

At dawn the next day, the bridge on the Bormida River had been repaired, and two new pontoon bridges were built next to it.

The Melas Corps had already completed its assembly, and even without blowing the bugle, they quietly crossed the river under the command of their respective officers.

Heavier equipment such as cannons and carriages took the wooden bridge, and the soldiers Soldiers crossed the river from the pontoon bridge.

Just two hours later, 50,000 Austrian and Sardinian troops, along with all their equipment, had arrived at the east bank of the Bormida River.

It was not until this time that Garda's rangers discovered the Austrians' unusual movements during routine patrols.

Garda was not clear about the enemy's strength, so he first sent a cavalry company to launch a tentative attack on the enemy, which was then quickly repelled without any surprise.

Only then did France react and Melas played a dirty trick.

Augereau, who was closest to the east bank of the Bormida River, led more than 4,000 soldiers of the Lyon Corps to resist the enemy and sent people to ask for help from Napoleon in Pavia.

The Marmont Corps on his east side also came to reinforce immediately.

When they arrived at the village of Marengo on the Bormida River, they finally encountered the Austrian vanguard.

In the temporary command post of the Austrian and Sardinian coalition, Melas' face suddenly darkened after listening to the staff report on the battle situation in the front:

"Why are there still French troops here? ”

He found tens of thousands of French troops gathering on the north bank of the Tanaro River. He thought he had fooled the French, but he was hit head-on as soon as he crossed the river.

The French army that suddenly appeared was very fierce and quickly dispersed the two regiments of their front army.

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

Chervonis on the side thought: "General, if there are only a few thousand French troops, this is probably just a troop that happened to pass by here."

Melas nodded solemnly: "This is our only chance. We must defeat them before the French react!"

He looked at the herald on the side: "Order the Argenteuil Corps to take charge of the main attack. The Argenteuil Corps and the Colli Corps will outflank the enemy from the left and right wings.

"Cannons, push all the cannons up.

"I demand complete control of the village of Marengo before noon!"

"Yes, General! "

In the church of Marengo, Augereau had a relaxed smile on his face as he discussed combat deployment with officers around a map and chatted with them from time to time.

After this series of battles in Italy, the French army has established a huge psychological advantage to Austria.

Almost all battles are more than less, and they feel that the Olympic army is completely vulnerable.

"Perhaps when Colonel Bonaba arrived, we had defeated Melas."

Overro was talking about it, and he heard the dense sound of the west.

He almost immediately discerned that it was the sound of 12 pounds of guns, and at least 15 or more, including more 8 pounds and 4 pounds of guns.

He should be tight in his heart.

Is this scale, did Melas suppress all the main forces?

As if he had to confirm his guess, the two travelers hurried outside the church and said loudly: "The head of the regiment, more than 15,000 Olympic troops in the west are approaching. There are also signs of the enemy on both sides of the north and south ... ... "

Overro was a temperament, and he heard that he had no intention of retreating. Instead, he looked at the officer aside and said with a loud saying: "Major Bernard, your infantry regiment is responsible for blocking the enemy.

"Captain Bonte attacked the enemy's wings from the north of the village, where the terrain was higher and could cover the whereabouts of the troops.

"In addition, send someone to contact Major Malmont and let him come to reinforcement as soon as possible."

"Yes, the head of the team!"

The Austrian Arando Corps did not expect. As soon as they arrived at the mouth of Malungogu, there was a French army with a number of less than 3,000 people launched an active attack on them.

The French were extremely fierce. The six charge columns rushed out of the village with a whistling shells, and they appeared more than a hundred steps away from the Olympic forces in an instant.