Descending On France 1780
Chapter 195 - 188 Snakes of Mount Chang

Chapter 195: 188 Snakes of Mount Chang

While Anning was confronting the Austrian army at the Mincio River, Massena was facing the front lines of the Sardinian Kingdom’s army, led by General Coli, which had already arrived at the Cheva Fortress.

Massena had only the original Italian legion and an additional force of fifteen thousand troops under his command, with orders from Anning to secure the transportation line from Nice to Savona.

Although Anning’s army’s main supplies now depended on Milan City, the military supplies produced by the workshops inside the city were not particularly sufficient, only guaranteeing an abundant supply of daily necessities such as food and clothing.

Therefore, Anning’s army also had to rely on some ammunition and gunpowder provided from within France.

This transportation line was extremely important, and Anning repeatedly reminded Massena to guard it well.

Massena, an Italian, had once worked as a sailor on merchant ships in the Mediterranean and had traveled throughout Northern Italy as a merchant.

He was originally a sergeant guide in the Italian legion, highly familiar with the terrain along the coast.

Thus, Massena boldly decided: "Take advantage of the fact that the main force of the Sardinian Kingdom hasn’t arrived yet, and launch a rapid assault from Karcali on Milanese!"

At that time, the Sardinian Kingdom’s forces in Milanese numbered fifteen hundred men, while Massena swiftly moved ten thousand men, almost encountering no resistance and thus handed over this strategic stronghold to the French Army.

Immediately afterwards, Massena dispatched cavalry along the road towards Cheva for reconnaissance, and then discovered something: the Sardinian Kingdom’s vanguard at Cheva Fortress actually consisted of only five thousand men.

Massena was very familiar with the terrain of Cheva Fortress. This fortress was a series of fortresses arrayed from north to south along a ridge, extremely resistant to attacks from the east.

However, if an attack from the east was supplemented by a division striking from the south, Cheva Fortress could easily be breached.

Thus, Massena decisively chose to: force march an assault on Cheva.

Ten thousand French soldiers rushed along the mountain road to Cheva, catching General Coli of the Sardinian Kingdom, who had just arrived, by surprise.

Massena’s French forces, under Anning’s prior battles, had mostly been spectating, watching other units earn accolades and frequently receiving good news, they could hardly contain themselves anymore.

The Sardinian Kingdom forces faced by Massena were a traditional Kingdom Army.

Yes, the kind of force that would collapse once their formation was disrupted, with a very low desire to engage in combat among the rank and file, driven solely by nobility-appointed officers.

This army’s combat capability was probably about the same as the Indian army during their defensive counterattack against incursions—perhaps even inferior to the Indian army, since at least the Indians had Lee-Enfield rifles, quite a bit more advanced than flintlocks.

The fortress’s defenses were quickly breached, and General Coli had no choice but to lead the remnants to retreat towards Mondo.

Massena, persistently advancing, continued towards Mondo until receiving news that the main force of the Sardinian Kingdom’s army was rushing from Turin, then positioned his troops along the Cosaga River.

At this time, the Cosaga River was in its dry season—the river, like most rivers emerging from the Alpine Mountains, originated from mountain snowmelt.

It was now December, and the riverbed of the Cosaga River had significantly decreased.

Nevertheless, having a river as a barrier was still much better than directly defending an area without any barriers.

Massena knew that as long as he could hold out until next February when the snow on the Alpine Mountains began to melt extensively, the Cosaga River would widen and the current would become much stronger.

As long as he held out until then, his situation would greatly improve.

Thus, Massena began to extensively construct defensive works along the riverbank, adopting a posture to battle the enemy across the river.

**

The news of Massena reached Anning’s headquarters in Brescia, and Anning was overjoyed.

"Amazing! Truly amazing!" He repeatedly exclaimed in admiration.

Indeed, Massena is capable of fighting; this preemptive strike that caught the enemy off guard clearly shows he is a fierce general.

Indeed, those who were strong in history are also strong here.

Thus, Anning took up his pen and wrote a letter of commendation, beginning with the shout: "Long live the Third Division!"

The Third Division is Massena’s division.

Having written the letter, Anning realized, would Massena’s division now be called the ’Long Live Division’?

No matter, it’s a good thing if the troop morale is high and they can fight.

At that moment, Bertier curiously took the letter from Anning’s hand and after reading it, he was greatly surprised: "What the hell, attacking despite being at a disadvantage in troop strength? Isn’t that too risky?"

Anning responded, "Attacking while the enemy’s forces are not yet in position is the right decision! Bertier, you lack such boldness, that’s why you can only be a Chief of Staff!"

Bertier does not have the talent to be a commander; he is a perfect Chief of Staff, but his own command in battle would be a mess.

Bertier shrugged his shoulders: "I have no comment on this. However, you admire Massena’s action because you are also a commander with a spirit of adventure. If Davout saw this, he probably would not agree, after all, it’s against common military sense."

Davout took the letter and looked at it, replying: "I would stop attacking after taking Mondo."

Bertier: "What? This..."

Napoleon laughed heartily.

Anning also joked: "It seems our Davout thinks that just 15,000 men can force the Sardinian Kingdom to comply."

Davout shook his head: "No. With 15,000 men, unless we do not allocate troops to defend the strongholds along the way, it’s definitely not enough.

"At least 30,000 men are necessary."

Anning raised an eyebrow, didn’t wait for him to speak, Lasalle spoke up: "Do you realize you’re saying, with 30,000 men you can defeat 50,000, old chap Davout!"

Davout: "What’s the problem? Aren’t we always fighting under such odds? Piece of cake."

After Davout spoke, all officers except Bertier burst into laughter.

Anning continued: "Alright, Massena did well, and we must not lose to him! The situation we’re facing is severe; if Von Wumze and Boliue unite, it would become extremely grim.

"But our advantage is that they have not yet united. It’s winter now, and there’s heavy snow in the Alpine Mountains; even if military forces from the Von Wumze side attempt to traverse the Adige River Valley, it would take many days.

"Thereby, we’ve gained a crucial time difference. Using this temporary advantage in troop strength, we should swiftly crush Marshal Boliue’s forces!"

Anning pointed at the sand table in front of him and continued.

"Marshal Boliue, stunned by our flank attacks, is especially afraid of our continued flanking, thus he has evenly distributed his entire force along the Mincio River!

"Look at this formation, what does it remind you of?"

—Of course, the snake of Mt. Chang...

Napoleon: "Snake, a long single-file."

Anning: "Exactly! So, we need to concentrate and break through the center of Marshal Boliue’s forces! Although the heavy snow now prevents Lasalle’s cavalry from charging, but still"—