Descending On France 1780
Chapter 197 - 190 The Last Battle of Veteran Boliue

Chapter 197: 190 The Last Battle of Veteran Boliue

On December 15, 1792, Anning launched the battle to force a crossing of the Mincio River.

He entrusted the command of the battle to Davout and rode his horse along the riverbank to enjoy the scenery.

The roaring cannon fire created plumes of white smoke that lingered over the surface of the Mincio River, echoing the snow-covered banks on either side.

In Anning’s memory, it seemed that he had learned in high school geography that Northern Italy had a Mediterranean climate, which should stay above zero degrees all year round. He wondered if he remembered it wrong or if this era was colder than the future.

In any case, the banks of the Mincio River were now draped in silver, but the river itself was not frozen and still flowed briskly.

The French Army soldiers could only wade through the icy river water to reach the opposite bank.

Fortunately, the morale of the French Army was high, and the cold water was not enough to stop them.

On the opposite bank was only an Austrian battalion, and seeing the vast number of French soldiers crossing the river, the battalion seemed to be shaking already.

While Anning was observing the frontline, Lasalle suddenly said, "Look! That reflection, could it be Davout’s head?"

Anning burst out laughing.

Napoleon: "Don’t make fun, Davout’s still got plenty of hair, it makes him look rather like a priest."

In that era, many priests liked to shave a tonsure, with a bald crown surrounded by a ring of hair resembling a kappa’s.

Generally, in this era, if you saw someone with that hairstyle, chances are they were a priest.

This is like in the Sengoku period in Japan, seeing someone with a chonmage hairstyle would often mean you were encountering a samurai.

Napoleon and Lasalle engaged in a heated discussion about Davout’s hairstyle, with no one paying attention to the river crossing operation that was in progress.

Indeed, there was no need to concern themselves. The first wave Davout led included two brigades, enough to easily defeat a battalion.

Among the two brigades that Davout led across, one had fought under Lafayette on the mountain ridge a year ago, which was Davout’s loyal brigade. Afterward, Anning awarded them a "Windmill Knight" military flag, also known as the "Sigh of Don Quixote" flag.

The morale of this brigade, even within the generally high-spirited French Army, ranked amongst the very best. Previously in Diego, this brigade had charged fiercely, eager to capture as many military flags as possible, but the glory was snatched by Lasalle’s cavalry, leaving the soldiers simmering with frustration.

Now they were ready to unleash that frustration on the Austrian defenders.

Behind Davout, an endless stream of French soldiers were rolling up their trousers to cross the river.

From the Austrian perspective, seeing the vast army of blue-coated soldiers surging towards them, their will to fight must have dissipated instantly.

The Austrians didn’t immediately collapse, indicating that they were indeed well-trained elite troops.

However, they still completely disintegrated the moment they came into contact with the French carrying the Windmill Knight’s flag.

Anning watched the scene with satisfaction.

Napoleon cursed: "I thought they would engage in a bayonet fight for a while, but they ran off just like that."

Bertier sneered: "Bonaparte, Colonel, perhaps some illusions were created by your side-by-side battles with the General. The General’s troops often engage in fierce melee combat with the enemy, and even the General himself has drawn his sword to join the fight. So, you think that this is the norm.

"But in my military experience, that’s actually uncommon! Whether it was the American War of Independence or the Seven Years’ War, bayonet charges tend to decide the victor at the very moment of contact, or even before the actual contact.

"At that point, one side’s morale is insufficient to maintain their courage, resulting in a major defeat, just as you see now."

Anning raised an eyebrow. He dimly remembered that it was either Grand Duke Carl or some other famous military leader who mentioned in his memoirs that in his long military service, he had seen only one real close-quarters bayonet fight where both sides were truly bloodthirsty. Most of the time, one side would collapse at the start of the charge.

Anning also recalled the Soviet version of "War and Peace," where Bagration’s charge at Austerlitz was depicted as a single cry from the Russian Army, and the French began to run.

The Soviet edition of War and Peace was very meticulous, with abundant research, and the production team must have genuinely studied the wars of that era to match the facts as closely as possible.

Anning thought back to the performance of the Austrian troops at Diego. It seemed that as soon as Davout and Lasalle attacked, the Austrians to the west of Diego collapsed.

Meanwhile, as the Austrian Army was collapsing, the French forces facing them were engaged in a bloody melee.

Anning was reminiscing when Davout rode across the river on horseback and came up to him.

"General, I have already taken the bridgehead. The rest is left to Lasalle’s cavalry."

Lasalle spat out a big puff of smoke: "Leave it to me, I’m going to completely cut down this dispersed unit."

Anning: "No no! Your task is to immediately launch a flank attack on the Austrian troops spread out along the east bank of the Mincio River! Who told you to chase after the fleeing enemy?"

Lasalle: "I was just joking."

"Instead of joking, you might want to think more about how to capture Boliue alive," Anning retorted.

Lasalle suddenly became serious: "Capture Boliue alive, huh? I accept this mission! You should have let me block the bridge last time, I would have captured him alive!"

Anning wanted to retract his words but it was too late, Lasalle had already turned his horse around and dashed towards his cavalry unit.

He might actually launch a surprise attack on Boliue’s headquarters and capture the old general alive.

Seeing there was no stopping him, Anning sighed deeply: "Whatever."

After all, the Austrian cavalry forces were basically wiped out in the first two battles already, and now the Austrian troops were positioned like a snake in the mountains. Lasalle might really be able to break through their lines.

It’s just that Davout’s own infantry brigade would curse their luck, as after all their efforts, it would again be the cavalry unit that got the glory.

Davout, looking at the advancing cavalry, muttered with concern: "Is it really okay to let him charge blindly?"

Anning: "Don’t worry at all, Lasalle is very capable of commanding a brigade level cavalry unit."

Davout: "I’ve witnessed it myself, in Diego."

At that moment, Napoleon suddenly poked Anning’s shoulder: "Hey, look over there, it seems you’ve got a little Italian fan."

Anning turned his head in the direction Napoleon was pointing and saw the Italian Redwood troops coming from the direction of Milan.

Anning had originally planned to use all the Italian forces to defend the supply lines and serve as the baggage train, but the gentlemen of Milan strongly requested that the Redwood troops play some role on the battlefield, so Anning had to bring along a brigade of Redwood troops.

This brigade’s distinctiveness, aside from their red uniforms, was that their officers wore a kind of helmet from the Spanish Formation era, adorned with long feathers.

This was said to be a tradition among Italian mercenary leaders.

Indeed, Italy had a martial tradition in the medieval era, and Italian mercenary leaders even monopolized European warfare to a certain extent, so much so that British Major General Fuler’s "War Guide" included a special Chapter on Italian mercenaries.

However, in a revolutionary army of that era, the appearance of these Italian mercenary helmets was somewhat out of place.

Anning scrutinized the Italian troops repeatedly, but did not see the person Napoleon had mentioned, so he asked: "What fan of mine?"

Napoleon had to get closer to Anning and point at a child in the formation: "Look, that one! That child’s gaze has been fixed on you ever since entering my view."

Anning: "Are you sure it’s not your imagination?"

"Absolutely not! Hey, why don’t you take an Italian boy as your orderly? It would also deepen the relationship between us. Seeing an Italian by your side, the gentlemen of Milan will be very pleased."

"I have Julian," Anning replied.

Napoleon: "No one said you can only have one orderly... wait, isn’t Julian a horse groom?"

Anning: "I’ve also had him do some orderly work."

At this point, a Messenger Soldier rode hard over, and after approaching Anning, he reported loudly: "A report from Division Commander Lana!"

Anning took the note and glanced at it, and couldn’t help but be astounded.

Napoleon and Bertier asked in unison: "What happened?"

Anning: "Von Wumze is on the move. Scouts report that Von Wumze is advancing in two columns from both sides of Lake Garda."