#867 - Entering the strategic counterattack phase (for Black Hand Chieftain Xianyu Wei)

Chapter 863: Entering the Strategic Counter-Offensive Stage (Bonus chapter for Blackhand Chieftain Salty Fish Wei Alliance Leader)

The cannon closest to the southern entrance of the fortress suddenly went silent.

The French infantry, encouraged, quickly spread out into skirmish formations—the infantry of the Direct-Line Legion had undergone extensive skirmish combat training.

As the French fired their first volley, the enemy troops near the fortress entrance retreated to the east.

Gérard, on the other side, hurriedly led his team to a heavy artillery position at an angle, and began firing his gun before even entering the cannon's blind spot.

In less than 20 minutes, the casualties of the two French infantry battalions had exceeded 260, but they stubbornly held their ground at the southern entrance of the fortress, preventing the Austrian defense line there from closing.

Just then, the sound of hooves came from afar.

Gérard turned his head to look and saw the banner of the Royal Dragoon Regiment waving in the sunlight, and behind it seemed to be a horse artillery unit.

The dragoons dismounted in front of the fortress, quickly reorganized their formation, and then launched a strong attack on the fortress.

At the same time, the horse artillery also set up their cannons and concentrated their bombardment on the enemy at the gap.

The 800+ dragoons occupied the outer embankment on the south side of the fortress, which was the outermost city wall, with almost no resistance.

The garrison in the fortress was stunned by the sudden attack, and coupled with the loss of unified command, the reserve troops in the fortress barracks never came out to reinforce.

When Major Vasseur's infantry regiment arrived, the situation had become irreversible, and a large number of Austrian soldiers began to abandon the fortress and flee...

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Soult was inspecting the newly occupied fortress when he heard a deafening cheer around him, "Look, the Austrians are retreating!"

"Haha, Cologne is ours!"

"Victory belongs to France!"

"Long live France! Long live His Majesty the King!"

Soult hurriedly ran to a tower in the fortress, and without binoculars, he could see a large number of Austrian soldiers leaving the last fortress on the east side like ants, moving towards the pontoon bridge on the distant river.

He just smiled faintly: "Count Clerfayt is a wise commander."

After Prussia withdrew from the war, Cologne was destined not to receive too many reinforcements.

It should be known that the Mantua fortress in Italy was also besieged by Napoleon, and it was closer to Vienna, so Austria would inevitably place its main force there.

And this last fortress, without the support of other fortresses, would soon have its external supply of materials cut off—a single fortress could only cover a limited width of the river, and the French could block supply ships from landing through reasonable artillery positions.

So Cologne could no longer continue to hold out.

Before dusk came, the rearguard of two thousand Austrian soldiers surrendered under the attack of Davout's corps.

Clerfayt on the opposite bank ordered the pontoon bridge to be burned.

Three days later.

Soult was flipping through the list of spoils that had just been sent when he saw a messenger officer approaching quickly, saluting him with his hat, and said, "Colonel, General Berthier wants you to go to the war conference room immediately."

"Okay, I'll be right there."

More than 20 minutes later, Soult arrived at the temporary headquarters of the army group on the east side of Cologne Cathedral.

The conference room was already full of people, with almost all officers of the rank of major and above present.

Berthier motioned for him to take a seat, and after confirming that everyone was present, he said loudly: "His Majesty the King has sent a commendation order to encourage our recent victory!"

Everyone immediately stood up and saluted in the direction of Paris, "May God bless our King."

Berthier then took a letter of commission from a copper plate held by the attendant next to him and said loudly: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince personally signed the promotion of Colonel Masséna to the rank of Brigadier General..."

Amidst the congratulations of the crowd, a routine investiture ceremony was quickly completed.

Berthier then picked up the second letter of commission: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince personally signed the promotion of Lieutenant Colonel Saint-Hilaire to the rank of Colonel..."

Another investiture ceremony.

Berthier continued.

"...Promote Lieutenant Colonel Jourdan to the rank of Colonel..."

"...Promote Major Soult to the rank of Colonel..."

"...Promote Major Davout to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel..."

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Berthier spent more than 4 hours to read out the thick stack of promotion orders, and almost all the officers who participated in the battle from Southern Netherlands to the Rhine line received different degrees of promotion.

In distant Italy, Napoleon and a large number of officers were also promoted in rank.

It can be said that after this war, the grand occasion of the gathering of stars in France during the Napoleonic era has already begun to show its signs.

Berthier asked the attendants to remove the wine used for celebration in the conference room, raised his hand to signal the excited officers to be quiet, and then said loudly:

"Now let's get down to business."

"The General Staff has decided to merge the Southern Netherlands Army Group and the Rhine Army Group into the Northern Line Army Group."

"The entire army will rest in Cologne for half a month."

"In mid-November, General Masséna will command the Royal First and Second Infantry Divisions, as well as 3 Royal Cavalry Battalions, and the Royal First and Second Horse Artillery Battalions to Alsace."

"There, they will join up with Moreau's army group, cross the Rhine River from Basel, and advance into Freiburg..."

The force given to Masséna had only 30,000+ people, and Joseph did not intend for this force to achieve much result.

However, after Masséna crossed the Rhine River at Basel in the southern part of the Rhine, he only needed to capture Freiburg to directly threaten Bavaria.

There was basically no defense to the west of Bavaria, and nearly one-third of Bavaria's army was lost in the Luxembourg campaign.

Masséna's 30,000 troops could make Bavaria feel uneasy.

At the same time, Masséna could also obtain nearby supplies from Baden—Baden is now a member of the Mediterranean Security Organization, and providing logistics support for the French army is within its responsibilities—and can operate in the Bavaria area for a long time.

In this way, Bavarian Duke Theodor could only ask Austria for help.

And this is equivalent to putting Austria on the fire to roast.

If Austria does not agree to reinforce, Bavaria can only negotiate peace with France, and the anti-French alliance will lose an important German state.

At the same time, Austria's prestige as the "big brother" of the Holy Roman Empire will inevitably be severely hit.

If Austria agrees to reinforce, then it can only transfer troops from the Italian direction.

Now Napoleon is already making a splash in Mantua, and if Werneck's strength is reduced again, I am afraid that the Mantua fortress will collapse.