Descending On France 1780
Chapter 347 - 340 Sing the Song of Victory

Chapter 347: 340 Sing the Song of Victory

Austrian Commander Vukcevic looked at the scene before him with disbelief.

"Being defeated by the French Army I can understand, but what does it mean to be crushed by the Italians?" he muttered under his breath.

As he spoke, his left flank was being scattered by the red-clad Italian troops, while the blue lines of the French Army were still some distance from his front line.

Vukcevic’s Chief of Staff said in a low voice, "Things might really be as that Frost said, times have changed, our troops can’t keep up with the times anymore."

Vukcevic turned his head sharply and glared fiercely at his Chief of Staff: "Do not speak such bewitching nonsense here! Have you been hiding enemy propaganda leaflets?"

The Chief of Staff shrugged: "Everyone here has read the newspapers put out by the Italians, which fully reprint Frost’s articles about the nation-state and national self-determination. He makes some good points."

Vukcevic stared at the Chief of Staff: "What did you say? You are a Noble! Do you want to let those commoners take your life?"

The Chief of Staff responded: "My family hasn’t relied on feudal estates for a long time; our main business now is winemaking, in Frost’s classification we would be new nobility, unlike those damnable old nobles who are parasites; we are one of the masters of this new era."

At these words, Vukcevic’s staff erupted in admiring murmurs.

Vukcevic, who despised those incompetent old nobles, had expelled all the incapable dandies after taking over as Commander of the Italian Army, leaving only the truly talented officers he had personally vetted.

What he hadn’t realized was that these officers were capable and diligent largely because of their stance and background, naturally making them more receptive to Enlightenment thinking and the Great Revolution.

Now, Vukcevic’s actions had led to an outcome he hadn’t anticipated, but which was entirely to be expected.

The Chief of Staff boasted: "To defeat the current French Army, we must reform. Of course, not necessarily a Great Revolution; there was too much death there, after all, we still have noble blood, a Great Revolution could result in our own heads moving house."

The other officers concurred.

Chief of Staff: "However, a top-down, moderate reform could work, like what Empress Maria Theresa did back in the day!"

The officers once again voiced their agreement.

Vukcevic looked dumbfounded at his young officers who completely disregarded the dignity of their Commander, openly discussing domestic reforms.

At that moment, he felt a profound sense within him of Austria’s defeat.

It was then that someone cried out: "The main force of the central army is engaging with the French Army!"

Vukcevic watched his troops without hope, just in time to see the white uniforms of the Austrian troops breaking apart on the blue lines of the French Army.

He muttered lowly, "Reform... could it really be that there’s no other way but to reform? Are the old ways... no longer effective?"

**

A week later, the news of Davout’s comprehensive victory reached Sedan Fortress.

Anning was in the midst of final deployments with her officers in preparation for the campaign when the messenger knocked on the door and loudly reported: "Report, General Davout and General Massena have won a great victory in Italy, the Sardinian Kingdom has surrendered, and there are no Austrian troops left in Italy!"

The room quieted instantly, all eyes turning to the messenger.

Bertier stepped forward, took the message from the messenger’s hand, tore it open, scanned it, and then said to Anning: "Commander, Davout has achieved a great victory in Italy; it’s estimated that there won’t be any major fighting there anymore. He plans to finish the handover work in places like Venice, then lead his troops north to attack Vienna."

Anning’s mouth hung open, and she glanced subconsciously at Napoleon.

—Isn’t this your job? How did it become Davout, the bald one, pulling off the same act?

Do we just need to hold off the Austrians on the Rhein front and wait for Davout to approach Vienna and sign the treaty?

Napoleon misunderstood the meaning of Anning’s gaze and slapped his hands together, "Davout’s doing well, but I won’t be outdone by him! Strengthen my corps, and let’s see who gets to Vienna first!"

Lana shook his head: "From Italy to Vienna, it’s all mountainous, with plenty of defensible positions along the way, I fear it won’t be an easy journey.

"If we successfully annihilate the enemy’s main forces on the front, the path to Vienna will be wide open, and if we move fast, our forces at the front will likely be quicker."

Bernadotte interjected, "Erm, have you forgotten about the hundreds of thousands in the Prusso-Austrian coalition in front of us?"

Lana: "That’s why I mentioned ’after’ we destroy the enemy’s main force."

"No no no," Bernadotte shook his head repeatedly, "Isn’t that premise the hardest thing to achieve?"

Lana: "It’s just a few hundred thousand enemies; we have seven corps ourselves. We’ve won against bigger odds before; now with these seven corps, we’ll just steamroll over them."

Anning: "We can’t be complacent; armies that underestimate the enemy often face defeat. Davout has done well, and perhaps pushing north from Italy to Vienna could indeed put an end to the war, but we can’t put all our hopes in that.

"Moreover, we have an even more critical objective. We must promote internal reforms in Austria, turning Austria into our ally!"

Bertier: "If we want to achieve this goal, should we have Davout hold off on attacking Vienna? According to Davout’s letter, he plans to settle Northern Italy’s affairs in the first half of the year, then head north to Vienna in June. Should we push this timeline back? Or, explicitly forbid him from attacking Vienna, and instead shift his focus towards Zurich?"

Anning: "That could work; let him focus on sorting things out in Italy first, turn the Sardinian Kingdom into the Sardinian Republic. Venice has a tradition of being a republic anyway, get these done first. And also deal with the Pope."

Anning truly worried that Davout might replicate Napoleon’s historical glory and force Austria to the negotiating table.

That would shatter her plans to elevate Grand Duke Carl and establish a New Austria.

Napoleon suggested, "Why not recall Davout, let me, the First Army Commander, do his job, and I’ll go command an independent mobile Artillery Army to work with him!"

Anning looked at Napoleon, thinking whether this was the same ambitious Napoleon from history, the one who would never give away his position as First Army Commander.

Her arrival had indeed altered some things.

Anning thought for a moment but shook her head: "Changing leadership at the last minute isn’t a good idea. Davout is doing well in Italy, let him continue to fight, just keep him steady, as long as he doesn’t ruin our bigger plans, that’s good enough."