Chapter 869: Napoleon's Surprise Attack
It was no wonder Napoleon felt such a surge of confidence. Previously, the finest troops under his command had been the Lyon Legion, which could hardly be considered elite by the standards of the old army.
In fact, that legion had included several thousand recruits with less than six months of training.
Even so, he had used them to sweep through more than half of Northern Italy.
Now, with the Royal Third Infantry Division in his hands, he felt like a tiger unleashed upon a flock of sheep. Every maneuver was a masterstroke; every engagement was a foregone conclusion.
By the time he finished his cup of coffee, Quosdanovich's command flag had already toppled in the distance.
The Austrian right wing, the first to bear the brunt of the assault, began to crumble as large groups of soldiers dropped to their knees, begging for quarter.
Napoleon glanced at his pocket watch and remarked to his chief of staff:
"You see? I told Monsieur Augereau that half a day would be more than enough. In truth, it only took us a little over five hours."
"Indeed, General. Has there been any new word from Victor?" the staff officer asked.
Napoleon nodded decisively. "Order the men to rest at Limone for half a day. Tomorrow morning, we shall teach Wurmser a lesson he won't soon forget. Also, establish contact with the Marmont Legion and find out their current position."
"And ensure the cavalry maintains a tight blockade on all roads leading south," he added.
"At once, General."
Napoleon maintained full confidence in Victor. The man led the Corsican and Lyon Legions, units that had gained extensive combat experience over the past few months in Italy. Holding the Austrians off for a day or two would be well within their capabilities.
Furthermore, Napoleon had ordered defensive lines to be prepared at Idro in advance.
Meanwhile, it would take some time for the Marmont Legion to arrive from Cremona in the south.
Everything was proceeding according to his design. From the moment he lifted the siege of the Mantua Fortress to intercept Quosdanovich, he had gambled that the Austrians would send a massive force to pursue him.
He had laid his traps accordingly.
At that very moment, the Desaix Legion, which had remained in Verona, had also begun its march south.
According to the established plan, Desaix would bypass the Po River and move to re-establish the encirclement of the Mantua Fortress.
By noon the following day.
Wurmser received yet another report that the French forces at Idro were still stubbornly resisting. He exploded in a fit of rage, cursing under his breath.
If this delay continued any longer, Napoleon's main force would likely realize they were being hunted and slip away toward Milan!
After a moment's thought, he detached another three thousand soldiers to Idro. He instructed the messenger to tell Buonarroti that if Victor's unit wasn't annihilated by nightfall, he could expect to be stripped of his command.
Less than half an hour after that order was issued, the sudden thunder of cannons erupted from the east.
It wasn't just a few stray shots; it was a dense, rhythmic bombardment.
Wurmser stood frozen, his mind racing.
His cavalry had scouted the north yesterday afternoon and reported no enemy presence within at least a kilometer. Who could possibly be firing those guns?
Shortly after, a cavalryman dispatched by the commander of the Austrian right wing arrived to provide a frantic answer.
The messenger pulled his horse to a halt, his face a mask of panic.
"General! Several thousand Frenchmen have launched a surprise attack against us!"
Wurmser's heart tightened. Where had these Frenchmen come from?
He had been meticulous in scouting his northern flank, knowing Napoleon's main force was in that direction. However, he never imagined that Napoleon had positioned Marmont near Cremona, south of Lake Garda, over a week ago.
Now, over five thousand men of the Marmont Legion had arrived. By the time the Austrian scouts spotted them, they were less than three kilometers from the Austrian right wing.
Wurmser had committed the bulk of his strength to his left wing to besiege Victor. When Marmont's sudden assault hit his right, the situation immediately turned into a desperate struggle.
Wurmser had already committed all his reserves. With no fresh troops to send to the right, he was forced to frantically recall the three thousand men he had just sent to Idro. Fearing that wouldn't be enough, he even ordered the Ranieri Legion to fall back and assist the defense.
However, before the messenger could reach Ranieri at Idro, more disastrous news reached the Austrian center.
The next messenger to arrive was covered in blood. He practically collapsed as he handed over a dispatch from General Alves, the right-wing commander.
"General... the French have appeared in our rear. There are over ten thousand of them. General Alves says... he cannot hold out any longer."
Napoleon's main force had arrived from Limone in the north.
Wurmser hesitated no longer. He immediately ordered his center to pivot east to support the Alves Legion.
He couldn't afford to worry about whether this move would create a gap between his left and right wings; the survival of his army was at stake.
But before his center of fifteen thousand men had even covered four kilometers, they were met by a flood of retreating soldiers from Alves's command.
Wurmser ordered his men to intercept several fleeing officers. Under questioning, the grim reality became clear: his right wing had already been utterly routed.
With only six thousand men, Alves never stood a chance. He had been crushed between Napoleon's superior numbers and the pincer movement of the two French forces.
Terrified, Wurmser ordered his troops to turn back toward Idro. He hoped to link up with his left wing there and mount a counterattack from a consolidated position.
But Napoleon gave him no such opportunity.
Leaving Junot with two thousand soldiers to keep the remnants of Alves's unit occupied, Napoleon personally led the rest of his force in a direct strike against Wurmser's center.
Simultaneously, Victor's legion at Idro noticed the enemy before them starting to withdraw. Realizing that Napoleon had launched the planned offensive, Victor immediately ordered a general counterattack.
The Austrians who had been besieging him were caught in a dilemma—they couldn't retreat cleanly, yet they couldn't stand their ground. In their hesitation, Victor's troops drove them back relentlessly.
Napoleon's main body intercepted Wurmser around four o'clock in the afternoon.
Despite having fought for much of the day, the French soldiers showed no sign of fatigue. Led by horse artillery, they deployed their formations from the north and south, launching a coordinated assault on the Austrian lines.
These soldiers, belonging to the central legions, were accustomed to five-kilometer weighted cross-country runs as part of their daily training. In terms of sheer physical endurance, no other army in Europe could match them.
Wurmser, however, remained calm. He moved with practiced speed to establish a defensive line and personally led his guard to the front to bolster morale. Through sheer force of will, he managed to hold his ground until nightfall.
Under the moonlight, Wurmser inspected the wounded. He confirmed that he still had roughly nineteen thousand combat-effective soldiers under his command, which allowed him a small sigh of relief.
The French forces in the vicinity numbered roughly twenty thousand. As long as he conducted a steady retreat, he believed he could still make it back to the safety of the Mantua Fortress.
He returned to his tent, preparing to discuss the next day's maneuvers with his officers, when his guards brought a man dressed as a peasant to him.
Wurmser checked the man's identification and immediately asked, "What news from Marshal Beaulieu?"
The man had indeed come from the Mantua Fortress.
The peasant's voice was hoarse as he reported, "General, the Ulmer Legion was intercepted yesterday afternoon. They are currently blocked on the eastern bank of the Adige River."
"Furthermore... over ten thousand French troops have surrounded Mantua once again."
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