Descending On France 1780
Chapter 206: After 199, you’ll be called Wu Paopao.

Chapter 206: After 199, you’ll be called Wu Paopao.

Lasalle looked at the Austrian tents with confusion.

"What the hell? Why are they burning their tents?"

Usually, burning tents is something they’d do when the military situation is urgent and there’s no time for a leisurely retreat.

Before Lasalle, the entire Adige River Valley was filled with thick smoke from the Austrians burning their tents.

The smoke was so thick that Lasalle could hardly see the movements of the Austrian forces.

It was then that Lasalle finally remembered to report this anomaly to General Frost.

After the messenger soldier dispatched by Lasalle sped off into the snowy plains, he continued to observe the movements of the Austrian forces.

The melting snow from the burnt tents flowed into the Adige River, causing the already low water level to become much more turbulent.

After watching for a long time, Lasalle finally confirmed something: "The Austrians, they are going to run! But why?"

**

Anning: "But why? Why are they running away?"

In the new command center set up in Rivoli Town, where Anning had just arrived late last night, he loudly questioned the surrounding staff.

Napoleon: "Could it be that Davout has been discovered?"

Anning: "That shouldn’t be the case. Davout is very careful; if he had been discovered, he would surely have reported it. Since there has been no report so far, it should mean that Davout, who is currently grappling with the university in the northern mountains, has not been discovered by the Austrians."

Another heavy snowfall last night likely made the mountains between San Marco Mountain and Lake Garda even more difficult to navigate, which also means it’s even harder for the enemy scouts to conceal themselves in this direction.

After all, in this era, scouting was primarily done by cavalry, though light infantry could scout too, although it was not common; after all, no matter how fast light infantry can run on two legs, there’s a limit.

In the snowy mountains, cavalry with larger targets are easily spotted.

Davout wouldn’t have missed noticing the enemy scouts, after all, he is Davout, not the reckless Lasalle nor Massena who occasionally slips up.

That’s Davout, indeed.

So the question arises, if Davout has not been discovered, then why would the enemy flee?

Lasalle has sent back news, even Marshal Von Wumze burnt his tents.

In this era, the productivity has not reached the point where you could disregard the materials for pitching tents, even for a big country like Holy Roman Empire, equipping tens of thousands of troops with tents would take a lot of time.

The Austrians burning their tents indicates they must believe the situation to be extremely urgent and they must act swiftly.

Anning, facing the map: "Why? Why would the enemy run?"

He turned to Napoleon: "What do you think? Why are they running?"

Napoleon spread his hands: "If you don’t know, how would I know, Andy?"

Nonsense, you’re Napoleon, one of the greatest military leaders of this era! That’s why I’m asking you!

Anning looked at Napoleon with a speechless expression.

Napoleon also looked back at him with a speechless expression, probably thinking the same as Anning: You’re the greatest military leader of this era, Andy! Not just ’one of’, if you don’t know, then why are you asking me?

Anning wanted to facepalm.

He wanted to vehemently complain about Napoleon: Don’t blindly worship me, at best I can play Total War, when playing StarCraft I only know how to turtle, and in Panzer Corps 2 I only use badass core troops to steamroll.

What I learned at the military school in Paris was artillery, and later when I lectured at the military academy, it was about mathematics!

I’m genuinely asking for your opinion!

After staring at each other for a few seconds, Napoleon sighed: "Perhaps, the Austrians have misjudged the strength of our troops. Look, Lana resolutely holds them back on the western front, then to the south, Massena has launched an offense against superior enemy forces, perhaps the enemy commanders on both sides have overestimated the numbers of the enemy they face."

Anning stroked his chin: "Do you mean that Von Wumze got the wrong information, leading to a misjudgment of our military strength, and so he retreated?"

Napoleon shrugged: "That’s my guess. As for what the truth is, we’ll have to leave it to military historians to judge in the future. The key point is how we should react in this situation."

Anning looked at the map, pondered for a moment, and pointed to the Adige River Valley: "We will head north along the river valley. Since the enemy has fled, we should pursue. Our principle is to advance when the enemy retreats, retreat when the enemy advances, harass them when they are stationary, and attack when they are exhausted!"

Anning inadvertently quoted his idol’s words again.

Napoleon: "Oh! That’s really good."

At that moment, Bertier pushed the door and came in: "What’s good?"

Anning: "How are the troops doing?"

"The troops are in very good condition, high in morale, and with ample supplies. They are currently having breakfast."

Anning: "Arrange for the troops to prepare for departure immediately."

"Are we taking the northern mountain path?" Bertier asked.

Anning: "No, more troops can’t deploy in the mountains anyway; we will go through the Adige River Valley. You just went to inspect the troops; there’s news that came in."

Anning handed the urgent message from Lasalle on the table to Bertier.

Bertier glanced at it and frowned directly: "Why? How could the enemy just run? Was Davout discovered? It shouldn’t be. Although San Marco Mountain isn’t too high, it is very steep. It’s difficult to climb, especially with this heavy snow."

His implication was that it was unlikely that the enemy in the valley could send scouts over San Marco Mountain to see Davout’s troops on the northern side.

Anning: "I don’t know, but the enemy has retreated. We are preparing to pursue along the Adige River Valley. If Davout surrounds Trent in front and blocks the enemy, we can then catch them from behind. In this way, the enemy will be trapped between the Eastern Mountains and San Marco Mountain."

The so-called Eastern Mountains are actually part of the Alpine Mountains, with an altitude of over one thousand meters and extremely steep slopes, where only seasoned hunters could possibly climb.

Large armies simply couldn’t pass, especially now with the snowfall.

And as Bertier just said, San Marco Mountain is not high, but even steeper and harder to climb.

The part of San Marco Mountain near Rivoli Plateau is relatively easy to climb, with even a small chapel on it. Northwards towards the Alpine Mountains, San Marco Mountain’s elevation increases, becoming more and more difficult to climb.

If the enemy is blocked in the Adige River Valley, they are essentially completely surrounded.

Bertier: "I will get the troops moving right away."

**

When the marching orders came down, Baz had just shaken off the sleepiness of the morning.

"Why are we marching again?" he frowned and asked the bearded man, "Didn’t they say we were going to have a decisive battle with the Austrians here?"

The bearded man laughed: "It seems, eh, that the Austrians got scared off by General Frost! Now we have to chase their tails!"

Indeed, the soldiers did not understand military affairs. In their view, if the Austrians did not come, it meant that General Frost had scared them away.

It was as simple as that.

Baz’s eyes lit up with admiration: "That amazing, huh?"

"Absolutely! Yesterday, when I went to get some wine from the French barmaid, I heard some news. Do you know how General Frost once defeated forty thousand with just ten thousand?" The bearded man asked mysteriously and then let out a belch, spraying a gust of alcoholic breath onto Baz’s face.

Baz covered his nose, trying to back away. The sour smell of stale leftovers mixed with the bearded man’s alcoholic breath made him want to vomit, but his curiosity was too strong: "Go on, how did he defeat them?"

"It was His Excellency the General himself who beheaded ten thousand enemies and brutally defeated them!" said the bearded man seriously, "That’s what the French Army is saying!"

Baz was so shocked that he was speechless: "That... That’s incredible!"

"That’s right, so you see those old French nobles, their lives were taken by the revolution, and yet they still come and pledge loyalty to the General! It’s because of the General’s peerless bravery!"

Baz turned his head to look at the military flags of the Knight’s Order of the Afterglow, and the grey uniforms symbolizing the old glory of France.

"How wonderful," the young man murmured softly.