Chapter 814: A Surprise from the Crown Prince
Immediately after, Bessières joined the fray with Napoleon’s personal guard.
He brought with him Napoleon’s banner.
In the chaos of the battlefield, the soldiers could not catch a glimpse of their commander-in-chief, but they immediately spotted the great flag fluttering in the wind.
'Colonel Bonaparte is right here with us!'
This thought flashed through the minds of the new recruits simultaneously. Their morale surged instantly, and their bayonets lunged with even more ferocity than before.
Cries of agony rose on all sides as more Austrian soldiers, driven by sheer terror, threw down their weapons and scattered in flight.
Cervoni’s defensive line collapsed like a sandbank before a flood.
By the time Joubert arrived to join the battle, he saw only the retreating backs of the recruits from the Vaugirard Regiment and thousands of Austrian soldiers kneeling in surrender.
Napoleon spotted Joubert’s colors from a distance. He glanced at the enemy who had already fled far away and turned to Lucien.
"Understood, Commander!"
Several kilometers away in Castelceriolo, Junot had been crushed by Argentau’s corps, which possessed an absolute numerical advantage. He was retreating toward San Giuliano with his remaining three hundred soldiers.
On Sérurier’s end, he was still maneuvering against the Colli Legion, but he was clearly at his wit's end. His soldiers were beginning to desert.
Just then, the Austrian commanders on both flanks received the same order from Melas—hurry to Marengo village immediately for reinforcements. Napoleon had broken through their center.
Five kilometers south of Marengo, in Cabianca.
Melas watched the last sliver of sunlight vanish below the horizon and finally let out a sigh of relief.
He hadn't anticipated that the French would be able to crush Cervoni’s troops so quickly with inferior numbers. He had nearly been captured by the French just moments ago.
Fortunately, his luck held. Augereau’s corps was exhausted, and their pursuit was agonizingly slow.
As for those howling French recruits who had charged forward with such momentum, the previous slaughter had sent the blood rushing to their heads. Their formation was nonexistent, and Napoleon couldn't even restrain them from behind.
In the end, Melas managed to repel them using only his personal guard of three hundred men.
After that, Melas beat a hasty retreat toward Cabianca.
Soon after, Cervoni retreated to the same location, gradually rallying fewer than four thousand remnants of his broken force.
Inside the church in Cabianca, Melas looked at the messenger who had just arrived from Argentau’s corps.
"Have you linked up with the Colli Legion?"
"Yes, General."
"What are the losses?"
"Almost none, General. The French were clearly just stalling for time and did not engage in direct combat."
A glimmer of hope returned to Melas’s eyes.
The combined forces of Argentau and Colli numbered over twenty-five thousand. If he could also contact the troops facing the French north of San Giuliano, he would have over thirty thousand soldiers.
That would be enough to launch a counterattack.
Napoleon’s troops would certainly be exhausted after today's fierce battle, whereas Argentau and the others had barely fought. They could enter the fray in peak condition.
With their superior numbers, there was a chance to turn defeat into victory!
Thinking of this, Melas immediately scribbled an order and handed it to the messenger, instructing him to return to Argentau's side at once.
In the letter, he appointed Argentau to command all Austrian forces north of Marengo and to launch an attack against Napoleon before ten o'clock the next morning.
Meanwhile, back in the village of Marengo, Napoleon was hunched over a map with a serious expression, laying out the operational plan for Joubert and the other officers.
"We failed to capture Melas. This means another fierce battle is imminent."
"However, our army desperately needs rest and reorganization."
In today’s brutal fighting, the French had suffered nearly five thousand casualties. Many units had been shattered beyond recognition, making it difficult to continue fighting.
Napoleon, however, remained remarkably calm.
"But we have also gained a massive advantage—we have severed the connection between Melas and his main army."
"Therefore, I plan to launch a feint against Melas’s headquarters to draw the Austrians' attention. Captain Mesnil will lead two thousand recruits to carry out this task."
"At the same time, our main force will move east to rendezvous with Augereau’s corps and rest in San Giuliano."
"After that, depending on the enemy’s movements, we can choose to strike Marengo or..."
While Napoleon was holding his late-night war council, an inconspicuous carriage quietly pulled to a halt in the camp of the Sardinian Legion under Colli’s command.
A man dressed in black stepped out. Escorted by two Sardinian captains, he walked straight toward the officers' tents.
Soon, over a dozen high-ranking Sardinian officers gathered in the black-clad man's tent, yet not a single soul reported this to General Colli.
The next morning, the first thing Colli did upon waking was to order the full assembly of the Sardinian Legion, preparing to launch an attack on the French.
However, the adjutant returned barely ten minutes after leaving.
"General, the legion has finished assembling, but they seem to be heading toward the Bormida River."
"The Bormida? Damn it, what are those fools doing?" Colli’s brow furrowed. He dropped the piece of fried ham he had just bitten into and galloped toward the soldiers' camp.
Before long, he saw his troops moving westward in the distance.
With a dark expression, he summoned the highest-ranking officers of the Sardinian Legion and roared, "Are you mad? Who gave you permission to move the troops without orders?"
Lieutenant General François Thaon, the most senior officer among the Sardinians, bowed to him very politely.
"General Colli, we have received orders from His Majesty the King. Turin is facing a grave threat from the French, and we must return to the capital to bolster its defenses."
"Turin? Good God! We are about to launch a counteroffensive against the French! You cannot leave without permission!" Colli shouted, flustered and exasperated. "I order you to return to camp immediately!"
The Sardinian officers exchanged looks. Lieutenant General Thaon took a document from his pocket and held it up before Colli.
"I am afraid you are no longer the commander of the Sardinian Legion. This is a transfer order signed by the Minister of War. I am now in command of this legion."
Only then did Colli realize something was terribly wrong. He rushed off to find Argentau.
The two of them deliberated for a long time and finally decided to send troops to intercept the Sardinian Legion, forcibly stripping Thaon and the others of their power and using Austrian officers to take temporary control of the eighteen thousand soldiers.
However, Argentau’s troops had previously been preparing to attack toward Marengo. This sudden pivot to the west took nearly an hour just for the troop movements.
By the time they reached the eastern bank of the Bormida River, the Sardinians had essentially finished crossing. They had even set up cannons pointing at the bridgehead, looking very much like they would open fire if the Austrians dared to pursue.
Napoleon, sporting heavy dark circles under his eyes, had assembled his troops. Following the plan devised yesterday, he prepared to abandon Marengo and maneuver eastward.
However, just as the army was about to set off, a cavalry scout responsible for frontline reconnaissance galloped back to report.
"Commander, the enemy is heading west."
"Yes, I know..." Napoleon waved a hand dismissively, then suddenly froze. "Wait, did you say west?"
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