Descending On France 1780
Chapter 205 - 198 Vukcevic, who had a narrow escape from death, brings news

Chapter 205: 198 Vukcevic, who had a narrow escape from death, brings news

Lasalle led a cavalry squad and had been lingering in front of the Austrian army for a whole day.

Because he had been surviving in the field right under the noses of the Austrian army, Lasalle had only eaten a bit of dry bread in the past twenty-four hours, and his sleep was just a brief doze, but this did not affect his exuberant energy.

Yesterday, the Austrians had sent cavalry to drive off Lasalle, which resulted in an enthusiastic and friendly hand-to-hand combat. Lasalle was quite certain that he had chopped off an Austrian major’s finger, rendering him unable to hold his sword, and during a duel, a more honorable duelist would allow the opponent to surrender with honor.

Lasalle didn’t think much of it, he chose to be a noble duelist—because by doing so, once the news spread, the noble ladies at balls or salons would favor Lasalle even more.

Yes, Lasalle was different from duelists like General Frost who aimed to kill in a duel. Lasalle’s duels were meant to increase his charm in front of the ladies.

Ladies would not fancy a Noble Killer who kills without blinking. They would only be afraid of such a person.

Therefore, after the enemy’s sword fell to the ground, Lasalle stopped his offense, ready to allow the opponent to surrender with honor.

But the Austrian turned and ran, not looking back as he sprinted towards his own formation, his horse hooves kicking up snowflakes that even splashed onto Lasalle’s handsome cape.

"Hey! Bastard! I won the victory!" Lasalle spurred his horse to chase, but then the Austrian vanguard’s sharpshooters started shooting at him.

These sharpshooters turned out to be elite Air Rifle Hunters, who were impressively accurate despite the distance.

Lasalle had no choice but to halt his horse and turn around to distance himself, helplessly watching the major run back to his own military formation.

Lasalle shouted at the Austrians, unconvinced: "Damn it! I hope your whole right hand gets chopped off! Bloody hell!"

In fact, this was not just a malicious curse. During this era, with the poor state of medical arts, even just a finger being chopped off could eventually lead to the necessity of amputating the entire arm due to severe injuries.

After all, the Austrians didn’t know the trick of washing wounds with alcohol promoted by General Frost.

After letting that major escape yesterday, Lasalle had been mumbling about it for nearly a day, he was just waiting for the Austrians to send more cavalry for an honorable skirmish, to the point where he even forgot to send a Knight to report the battle updates to His Excellency the General.

This morning, Lasalle discovered something else, it seemed someone had taken a small path through the valley and entered the Austrian military encampment in the Adige River Valley.

The whole military camp was bustling early in the morning.

Lasalle observed the Austrian encampment suspiciously through his telescope.

He only saw an injured General being helped into Marshal Von Wumze’s tent.

Lasalle: "What the heck?"

**

Marshal Von Wumze looked at Vukcevic, who had just been helped into the tent: "How did you get over here?"

Vukcevic took three voracious gulps from the wine passed to him by Chief of Staff Pence, then let out a long sigh of relief and said to the old General, "I came to inform you via a narrow path that only one person can pass through, Marshal Boliue has been defeated, and there are as many as thirty thousand French troops crossing the river!"

Marshal Von Wumze exclaimed in alarm, "Thirty thousand men?"

Vukcevic: "There could be more!"

Chief of Staff Pence said loudly: "That’s impossible! General Colli of the Sardinian Kingdom wrote to us saying he’s facing at least thirty thousand of the French Army!"

In fact, there weren’t that many. Colli was simply confused by Massena’s decisive offensive actions and thought he would be the French Army’s first target.

However, at this moment in Marshal Von Wumze’s tent, there was no one who could tell the Marshal this news.

Von Wumze frowned: "Thirty thousand facing off against the Sardinian Kingdom by the sea, thirty thousand of the French crossing the Mincio River, theoretically at least five thousand need to be stationed towards the fortress, and the forces we attacked on the western front are also reported to be facing setbacks... so there must be at least ten thousand near Brescia on the western front... Does the French Army have that many troops?"

Pence: "The information we received suggested the total strength of the French forces was at most fifty thousand, but now according to the reports collected, they seem to have at least one hundred thousand. After all, they need to leave a considerable number of troops to defend crucial points, and Milan must have at least ten thousand left behind, otherwise, the Italians might rise up in rebellion!"

Pence’s statement about leaving ten thousand in Milan was based on Austria’s own experiences, as the Italians had always been fighting for independence. Therefore, the Holy Roman Empire had to leave around ten thousand troops in Milan.

Previously, after Boliue’s major defeat at Diego, doubling the garrison troops of Milan to the Po River frontline led to the flight of many Holy Roman officials in Milan, leaving only one governor who relied on his connections within the Italian nobility to stay.

As a result, the French Army hung the governor as soon as they entered the city.

All in all, based on the Holy Roman Empire’s own experiences, Pence judged that there were ten thousand French troops in Milan.

He never imagined that Anning had left only two thousand in charge of logistics and hadn’t bothered to defend Milan at all.

While Pence was muttering, he placed French army pieces on the map. Suddenly, the whole of Northern Italy was filled with French Army pieces.

Von Wumze with a grim expression: "This is bad; we are now divided. Once we enter the Rivoli Plateau from the mouth of the Adige River, we might soon have to engage in a decisive battle with the superior French forces."

"Should we battle in the valley? The terrain there won’t allow the French to deploy their superior forces..." Chief of Staff Pence suggested.

Vukcevic interjected: "Marshal, with all due respect, if I were you, I would retreat to Trent right now."

The Marshal frowned, looking at Vukcevic, "Why? Share your thoughts."

Vukcevic placed a French army piece on the map at Trent: "You’re facing possibly the most outstanding military strategist of our times, who favors annihilation battles. Although I didn’t take part in the Diego campaign, I did participate in the Po River campaign. During that time, he directly sent his cavalry to launch a raid on Lodi behind our line of battle."

Speaking, Vukcevic drew a line on the Po River Plain: "Look, this is the route his cavalry took to encircle directly from our rear.

"Also, at the Diego campaign, the situation was quite similar; he blocked the exits to the north and east of the nearby hills of Diego, completely cutting off our troops’ route for an orderly retreat.

"From these two campaigns and Frost’s performance, I gather his troops are now probably marching towards Trent outside the valley. With all due respect, if you do not retreat immediately, our forces will get trapped in the valley!"

Marshal Von Wumze’s brows were tightly knitted as he fell into deep thought, but his Chief of Staff nonchalantly said: "Are you perhaps overestimating that leatherworker?"

"Everyone who has underestimated him because he comes from a leatherworking background has been defeated by him!" Vukcevic said decisively, "We may be facing the most talented military strategist of our generation! Marshal, retreat to Trent immediately! The enemy’s situation is unclear right now, and we can hold Trent for a long time. Mantua Fortress has enough ammunition and provisions to withstand a siege for a very long time!

"Gather intelligence at Trent, and meanwhile, call for reinforcements from home. When we have a numerical advantage, we can launch a counter-offensive. It won’t be too late then!"

After thinking for a while, Marshal Von Wumze sighed: "I am good friends with Marshal Boliue; I know his capabilities. I will not underestimate the French General who defeated him, never! Order the troops—cook their food immediately; once they’ve eaten, burn the tents and the supply wagons we can’t take with us, and retreat towards Trent!"