Descending On France 1780
Chapter 353 - 346 Rush Bridge

Chapter 353: 346 Rush Bridge

Anning had been running all night, nearly reaching Stuttgart, when suddenly a Messenger Soldier rushed towards him.

The Messenger Soldier was not polite, shouting from a distance: "The enemy is at Ulm! The First Army has struck at Ulm!"

Anning was dumbfounded: "What the hell, this Napoleon is underestimating the enemy, he’s going to suffer for it!"

As soon as he finished speaking, an old Senior Sergeant from the swiftly marching troops next to him shouted in a deep voice: "The enemy is in Ulm! Napoleon has already made his move, brothers, are we going to let him seize all the glory?"

The tired soldiers of the French Army shouted together: "No!"

Then the marching speed of the French Army soldiers visibly quickened!

Anning watched everything happening, his mouth agape.

Next to him, Bertier bantered: "Oh, is this what Your Excellency calls the initiative of the Citizen Soldiers?"

Anning: "Uh, yes, this is what I mean by initiative!"

**

While Anning’s main force was running so hard their shoes were nearly falling off, Moura, upstream on the Danube River, encountered the local garrison of Prussia.

Moura put away his telescope, turned to the Cavalry behind him and said: "Our task is to feign an attack, so our charge later must exude the momentum of an army of a million strong behind us.

"All forces, form wall!"

The bugler immediately blew the tune for forming a wall formation.

The Cavalry, well-trained, completed the formation deployment in just a few minutes.

Moura: "Advance!"

A mere brigade of French Cavalry, along the banks of the Danube River, charged towards the Austrian troops who were still switching formations, like a giant wave sweeping over the tidal flats.

**

Just like many old men, Alvizi got up early in the morning.

When the Marshal opened the window, it was still dawn.

As usual, the Marshal walked his two old dogs accompanied by several guards, and by the time he returned to the headquarters, a simple breakfast had already been set on the table by the old servant.

"John," the Marshal called the old servant, "the sunlight is very good today, it’s going to be a clear day."

"Yes, Your Excellency the Marshal."

At this moment, the Austrian Chief of Staff and several senior officers had arrived.

Alvizi glanced at the officers and casually asked: "Has Prince Carl set off?"

"He left at dawn, he didn’t even notify the Cavalry assigned to him," the Chief of Staff said. "After I found out, I immediately sent the Cavalry to chase after the Grand Duke."

"Good, good. What about the morning reconnaissance report?"

"Everything is normal, it’s very quiet everywhere," the Chief of Staff answered. "I think we still have a few days to continue fortifying our current position."

Alvizi nodded repeatedly: "Very good, very good, Prince Carl wants us to take the initiative to attack, he was only defeated once at Sedan, still not understanding the advantages of the French Army in field battles. We’ll just stay here, the Danube River is the mother river of Austria, it will protect us!"

Just then, a Messenger Soldier burst in, whispering a few words in the Chief of Staff’s ear.

Alvizi immediately became serious, "What’s happened?"

"The French Army Cavalry has appeared in large numbers upstream of the Danube River; at least an entire division is attacking our forces. Our defense troops have already been overwhelmed," replied the Chief of Staff.

Alvizi immediately stood up, "As expected, the main attack direction is upstream of the Danube River! Stuttgart is just a diversion! Order all troops to hold their positions, close the doors, and do not engage! Use space and fortifications to delay the French Army!"

The Chief of Staff hesitated for a moment, worriedly asking, "By doing this, our forces will be spread out along the Danube River in a single long line. Could this be broken through by the French Army one by one?"

Alvizi shook his head, "The French Army wants us to engage them in open-field battle, then defeat us with their superior close-combat skills! No one can defeat the French Army in the open field; they can fight hand-to-hand for three hours without retreating, which we cannot do!

"So, we must rely on fortifications. Some troops will be sacrificed, but in the process of eliminating them, the French Army will also heavily exhaust their own forces. We have the advantage in terms of troop strength! Hold firm, fight a stalemate, and use this impenetrable tactic to exhaust the French Army!"

The officers looked at each other, then a Colonel spoke up, "But those troops that are sacrificed... they won’t like this plan. What if too many units are annihilated, causing our whole line to waver?"

"This is the beauty of fortifications. Even a frightened soldier can manage to fire from behind fortifications," Alvizi had no intention of changing his tactics, "Gentlemen, as long as we hold firm, we will find a way!"

At that moment, another Messenger Soldier ran into the room in panic and shouted, "Marshal, the French, French, French Army! The French Army has appeared!"

Alvizi: "Where?"

"Just across the Danube River!"

**

Lasalle stood on the hill, looking at the Danube River ahead through his binoculars.

"They haven’t dismantled the bridge first!" he said, somewhat surprised, "Why is that? Don’t they know the First Army has already reached Stuttgart?"

Lasalle’s deputy shrugged, "I don’t know."

"Forget it, pondering why the enemy hasn’t made a response is pointless. Brothers, swords out, it’s time to make a mark again. There are three bridges on the river; we only charge the middle one!"

The bugler asked, "Should I blow the horn for wall formation?"

"How could I, we’d just pack up before even getting on the bridge. Wedge formation! I’ll lead the charge!"

After saying this, Lasalle drew his Horse Sword, charging forward with his horse, followed by the bugler who blew the horn for the wedge formation.

The entire Cavalry regiment quickly deployed into an elongated arrowhead, rushing down the hillside.

There were some Austrian troops along the way, but upon seeing the Eagle Flag following Lasalle, they immediately dispersed.

They shouted in German, "It’s Rome, the Roman legions are here!"

Lasalle who did not understand German, laughed heartily, "I bet they’re shouting about the Roman legions!"

Leading the charge, Lasalle rode onto the wooden bridge, and suddenly remembered the song celebrating the Roman hero Horatius that Frost particularly liked, so he shouted, "Is there no one to stop our army? Where is your Horatius, Austrians!"

The Austrian soldiers on the bridge expressed that they did not understand French and turned to run.

Lasalle caught up to one carrying a flag and struck down both the man and the flag with a single slash.

The fall of the flag directly led to the collapse of another section of Austrian troops defending the bridge.

These people were really frightened by the French Army; firing the first round of shots was courage granted by the fortifications.

The French Army Cavalry surged across the wooden bridge.

Lasalle pulled his horse to a stop, yelling at the soldiers who were still chasing the Austrians, "Stop! Don’t go any further! We still need to hold the bridge! The main force of the First Army will arrive in an hour, we must hold the bridge!"