Chapter 1226: No, You Cannot Surrender Yet
The weather soon dealt Blücher a harsh blow.
The southern face of Rossstock Mountain was heavily iced over, with towering, nearly vertical ice walls that were utterly impossible to scale.
Inside Blücher's tent, a group of officers sat with dejected expressions, their heads bowed.
After a long silence, Hotze finally spoke: "Perhaps... we should return towards Schwyz and try our luck against the French..."
All the officers looked up, their eyes filled with dissent.
In their current state, let alone fighting, if the French merely delayed them for a little over ten days, their soldiers would be too starved to even lift their rifles.
Blücher stared intently at the map, shaking his head. "No, we're not going to Schwyz..."
Just as the officers began to breathe a sigh of relief, their commander continued, "We'll head east, through the Panix Pass, and return to Venice via Chur."
The faces of the men in the tent turned pale. They began to reconsider, wondering if fighting the French might be the lesser evil.
This accursed place stood 2,438 meters above sea level, covered in year-round snow. Along the way, there were often treacherous paths barely half a meter wide, where a single misstep could send them plunging down the cliff.
Especially with winter setting in, it was a place that could literally freeze a man to death.
«General, this is far too dangerous...»
An officer had barely uttered half a sentence before Blücher cut him off. «We must get out of here alive!»
He knew full well that if he lost these 56,000 soldiers under his command, Prussia's military strength would plummet to the bottom ranks of the European powers.
Even if they won the war, they would no longer have the strength to contend with Austria for supremacy over Germany.
That afternoon, the Prussian army seized provisions in Glarus, and the very next morning, they set off for the most perilous pass.
The following day, the Prussian army marched in force to the banks of the Elm River, abandoning all their heavy weapons and vehicles before beginning their ascent into the snow-covered Alps.
Just then, cannon fire erupted from the slopes ahead. Several cannonballs instantly struck the frozen ground, bouncing a full 200 meters, crushing dozens of Prussian soldiers in their path and leaving streaks of vivid crimson across the pristine white snow.
Blücher paled in shock. He quickly raised his telescope to scan the mountain, only to see French flags fluttering in the cold wind.
Little did he know, Davout had arrived here a month earlier, establishing two breastworks and strong artillery positions on the slopes.
Joseph clearly remembered that during the historical Battle of Zurich, the Russian army had escaped to safety through the Panix Pass.
Although thousands of Russians froze or fell to their deaths along the way, they still managed to bring their main forces back to Austria.
Therefore, he had specifically instructed Masséna early on to dispatch troops to block this pass.
Davout had only 3,800 soldiers under his command, but having occupied the high ground in advance and with the narrow mountain path, it was impossible for the Prussian army to break through the defenses in a short time, no matter how many troops they had.
Meanwhile, Masséna's Legion was right behind the Prussian army and would arrive in no more than two days.
The deadliest blow was that the Prussian army, having already traversed the Gotthard Pass twice and now preparing to conquer the most perilous pass, had discarded all their cannons. They couldn't even attempt a strong assault.
Blücher raged and swore for more than ten minutes, but in the end, he could only helplessly order his army to retreat to Glarus and begin constructing temporary defenses there.
...
Several days earlier.
On the north bank of Lake Lucerne, under the relentless French assault, Suvorov, having struggled to hold on for an entire day, had cursed until his throat was hoarse.
The Prussians should have arrived by noon yesterday, but it was already two in the afternoon, and the opposite bank of the lake remained utterly silent.
His guards were trying to hoist him onto a makeshift raft by the lake, cobbled together from all the trees they could find nearby, barely large enough to carry three or four people, so he could escape to the opposite bank.
«No one will make me abandon my soldiers!» Suvorov roared, his voice hoarse. «Release me, that's an order!»
He shook off his guards' hands, leaped onto his horse, and returned to the front-line command post.
The left flank had already been routed, and the main defensive line was steadily falling back under the French's unimaginably accurate artillery barrage.
Suvorov beckoned to an officer beside him. «Order all the cavalry from the reserves to bypass the gap on the left, and try to...»
A soft whizz cut off the latter half of his sentence.
It must have been a 12-pounder cannonball. It sliced across his left shoulder, scattering over a quarter of his body into the air.
His corpse, propelled by the force of the impact, flew backward several meters before falling heavily into the mud.
...
Paris.
Second floor of the Palace of Versailles.
The Duke of Broglie, Minister of War, was personally reading the war report aloud to the Crown Prince:
«...Following the great victory at Lake Lucerne, General Masséna has encircled Glarus with his army. In addition, Oudinot's corps has also encircled nearly 10,000 Russian troops in Aarau.
«General Masséna believes the Prussian army will soon surrender due to lack of food, and has therefore not launched a direct assault...
«To date, our forces in the Swiss theater have killed 7,300 Prussian and Austrian soldiers, and 16,000 Russian soldiers. We have captured 24,000 Russian soldiers and 3,000 Hanoverian soldiers. Furthermore, 11,000 Russian soldiers have been routed...»
Joseph nodded continuously, a relaxed smile on his face.
Masséna had fought this battle perfectly.
One had to remember that in an era of poor communication, truly annihilating an army that was determined to escape was utterly impossible.
Out of 60,000 Russian troops in this battle, only 11,000 were routed, which was almost negligible.
Moreover, these men were still within Swiss territory, and with Switzerland's mountainous terrain, it would be very difficult for them to escape. Most likely, they would be captured later.
The Duke of Broglie continued, "In at most ten more days, Blücher's Legion will surrender. At that point, General Masséna's tally in the Swiss campaign will reach over 130,000 enemy troops captured or killed."
Joseph suddenly thought of something, raising a hand. «Wait, perhaps we should keep Blücher's 70,000 men.»
«Actually, they have at most 66,000 men, Your Royal Highness,» the Duke of Broglie corrected with a smile.
«You just said the Prussian army was running out of food?»
«Yes, Your Royal Highness, General Masséna's report states as much.»
Joseph mused, «Then find a way to send him some.»
«Huh? Are you serious?»
«Yes, I'm not joking,» Joseph said. «Then, we'll vigorously publicize that 'Blücher's Legion' is surrounded, yet still fighting stubbornly, causing significant trouble for the French army, but that they have been ruthlessly abandoned by the Coalition Forces.
«Please contact General Masséna immediately and instruct him to do this...»
After the General Staff officer beside him finished taking notes, Joseph continued, «As for those 27,000 prisoners, send them all to Nancy to work on the railways. That will save us a considerable amount of money.
«Count Eman, please ask Monsieur Trésaguet to see me.»
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