Chapter 1213: A Master of Battlefield Deployment
"Your Highness," Radetzky said urgently, "the enemy is clearly attempting to seize control of Trento to relieve the defensive pressure on Mantua."
Trento lay to the northwest of Venice, bordering the Alps to the north. In reality, the city was built right onto the mountain slopes. If the French occupied this position, they could strike south along the Adige River at any time to harass Verona, or push east through the Dolomites Pass to threaten Vicenza and the regions to its north.
Chief of Staff Werrother offered a cautious reminder: "But the cavalry reported they have just over a thousand men..."
Archduke Charles immediately waved his hand dismissively. "There is certainly a much larger army in their vicinity."
It was true. Although the Austrian Hussars had only spotted a little over a thousand French soldiers, they dared not be careless. These soldiers were all exceptionally tall, mounted on expensive, high-quality warhorses, and were flying the banners of the Dolphin and Fleur-de-lis.
The Austrians frequently saw them near the Mantua Fortress—they were the Guard Grenadier Battalion of the French Crown Prince.
Their appearance meant that the French Crown Prince himself was likely on his way to Trento.
And it was impossible for him to be traveling without other main force units surrounding him.
Archduke Charles turned to Werrother. "How many soldiers do we have in Trento?"
Archduke Charles hesitated for a moment before issuing his orders. "Transfer seven thousand men from Primo Lano and Mas to assist in the defense.
"Furthermore, order Bajzáth's Corps to proceed to Perry, so they can reinforce Trento at a moment's notice."
The town of Perry was located at the midpoint of Lake Garda, marking the westernmost flank of the Mantua defense line. While stationing troops there made it easy to aid Trento, it would inevitably weaken the offensive pressure on Mantua.
Radetzky suddenly narrowed his eyes and spoke to the Archduke. "Your Highness, since the French have moved a large number of troops away from the Mantua line, this is the perfect opportunity for us to launch a massive assault."
Archduke Charles frowned slightly at the suggestion.
According to the plan he had formulated, Blücher should have arrived in Lombardy several days ago to link up with the Sardinian army.
That was supposed to be the moment he launched the general offensive.
However, up to this point, Lombardy remained as quiet as ever.
Just as he was weighing whether to launch a solo assault on the Mincio River defense line, his attendant knocked and entered the room. The man bowed and said, "Your Highness, someone has delivered news from the 'South'."
It was finally here. Archduke Charles felt a wave of relief. "The South" was the Coalition General Staff's code name for Lombardy.
He took the secret letter from the attendant, verified that the seal's code was intact, and impatiently tore it open. Then, his entire body stiffened.
The letter had been sent by Sardinian intelligence. It stated that over ten thousand French troops had suddenly occupied the St. Gotthard Pass, and a fierce battle had broken out there several days ago.
It took a long moment before he handed the letter to the nearby Werrother with a grim expression.
The Chief of Staff was even more shocked. "Does this mean... the Prussian army is blocked in Switzerland?"
Archduke Charles took a deep, frustrated breath. Without the coordination of Blücher's corps, he would be forced to fight a brutal war of attrition at Mantua with catastrophic casualties.
Losses were secondary; the bigger problem was that the siege of Mantua would likely drag on for a very long time.
The Empire was fighting far from its home soil, and the scale of mobilization was massive. The longer the war lasted, the more disadvantageous it would be for them.
He had to find a way to let the Prussians break through the blockade at the pass!
Archduke Charles suddenly realized that since Sardinia possessed an army of over twenty thousand, he could arrange a coordinated strike. He would have someone set a time with Blücher so that he and the Sardinian army could attack the pass simultaneously from both sides.
The French had only about ten thousand men and would have no reason to be on guard against the Sardinians. They would certainly be caught off guard.
At that point, there was a high probability the Prussian army could break through.
He quickly calculated the speed of communication in his mind, then personally wrote two secret letters to be sent to Switzerland and Sardinia.
Although it was over five hundred kilometers from Verona to Zurich, the message could first be sent to Innsbruck. By utilizing the Chappe signaling tower there, the message could be relayed to Constance and then delivered to Zurich. The entire process could be completed in five days.
Allowing time for Blücher to cross the St. Gotthard Pass, the pincer attack could be launched in about twenty days.
The next day, as Archduke Charles was working with his senior officers on the plan for the general assault on Mantua, a staff officer suddenly hurried into the meeting room with a grave expression. "Your Highness, Baron von Werneck was ambushed by the French north of Montecchio yesterday afternoon. Currently, less than ten thousand men remain in his corps."
Archduke Charles stood up in disbelief. "Did you say... Montecchio?"
That town was to the northeast of Verona, which meant it was behind his own headquarters. The French actually dared to sneak back there to launch a raid, and a large-scale one at that.
Werneck's corps had twenty-nine thousand soldiers. This meant they had lost more than two-thirds of their strength!
The staff officer kept his head bowed. "That is what General Werneck reported. He also said that thirty thousand French troops are continuing to rush toward the north."
Archduke Charles turned to the map, his brow furrowed deeply. "Damn it! They're heading for Treviso!"
However, he lived up to his reputation as Austria's greatest general by quickly stabilizing his emotions. He turned to Werrother. "Immediately pull four Hussar regiments from Verona and Nogara to head for Treviso and pursue the enemy.
"In addition, deploy the Prince of Schwarzenberg's troops to Valstagna, put Bellegarde's corps in charge of Thiene, and have the Prince of Hechingen take responsibility for Piazzola..."
Under Archduke Charles's deployment, more than sixty-five thousand Austrian soldiers would form a tight defensive line along the Brenta River, trapping the French forces that had ambushed Werneck in northern Venice.
Combined with the Austrian troops already near Treviso, the total force committed to this operation exceeded eighty thousand.
Finally, Archduke Charles gave a stern command: "This French force must be annihilated within twenty days, and then we must return to the Mincio River line."
However, as if to test his troop-shuffling abilities, new battlefield intelligence arrived in the afternoon. It reported that a French army was besieging Padua. The city's defenses were hollow, and the French had at one point reached the outskirts.
Archduke Charles felt a massive headache coming on.
Padua was in eastern Venice. How did the French manage to split off so many troops for these raids?
He clenched his fists and quickly dispatched Mihajlović with ten thousand soldiers to reinforce Padua.
What he failed to notice was that at this point, only about fifty thousand Austrian soldiers remained along the Mantua front.
...
Outside the city of Padua.
Victor paid little attention to the siege battle itself. Instead, he stared nervously toward the west.
The ammunition he carried wasn't enough to complete a full siege, and he knew there were three intersecting rivers nearby. He had to retreat before Austrian reinforcements arrived, or he risked being surrounded in this area.
On the fourth day of his siege, scouts finally reported to him that an Austrian army had arrived in the town of Teolo, just over twenty kilometers to the west.
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