Chapter 59 009 The French shouldn’t be so bad!

Chapter 59 009 The French shouldn’t be so bad!

Chapter 59 009 The French shouldn’t be so bad!

The battlefield chosen by General Cray was muddy and soft after the heavy rain on April 1799, 4.

Now he knew that the French army had more than 6000 cavalry and artillery, which was a relatively powerful combat unit in the Italian Legion, but this.
"That General Scherer must be anxious! Otherwise he wouldn't have chosen to start a war in such a place! Although the battlefield is relatively flat, it has just rained and is not suitable for cavalry attacks."

"General, what about the artillery of both sides?"

The old general Krei looked at Solovyov and answered his questions. After all, the young officers in Austria now, who were older than this boy, either lacked initiative or were cavalry officers who were too aggressive.

"Only the queen on the battlefield and the infantry of both sides can make use of such soft land!"

"But the pawn has to reach the bottom of the board before it can become the queen."

"Yes, without good deployment, the chess pieces cannot be used to their full potential."

Krei was still very satisfied with this young man. After all, he was sent by Suvorov to observe the battle situation on the front line. They could still have a chat before the dice were rolled.

While they were talking, an Austrian messenger came over to report.

"General, the French army's left wing seems to be taking action."

"Don't be impatient yet. Wait until the French are within our crossfire range. The artillery will support Baron Zoff's Czech column! Write down an order and ask the Czech column to counterattack after our artillery opens fire!"

Since General Krei had already taken command, Solovyov did not have to ask any questions. The position they were in now was just right for them to see all the movements of the French on the battlefield.

Even with the telescope he carried with him, he could see the Austrian chasseurs who had been lurking for a long time behind the fence and a group of sharp wooden stakes driven by the chasseurs. That was the von Keim column of the Austrian army in the front.

Speaking of which, the commanders of these columns are all veterans. Among the Austrian generals, there are many old-fashioned people who grew up during the Seven Years' War.

Their advantages are clear, they have rich combat experience, and although they are old, they are generally not lacking in courage, and they are good at using infantry and cavalry together. However, their level of artillery use is generally not very high. Krei and Baron Johann Zoff have made arrangements, and he will personally control the operation of the artillery. He also placed the reserve troops of Prince Hechingen in the back to prevent any accidents.

The French army's formation was quite neat. At this point in the battle, General Scheerer and General Moreau were still in their battle sequence, commanding the two divisions in the center to launch operations.

"General, the French army has moved in the center!"

"There's no need to rush to give orders to von Keim. This old man's formation is enough for the French to handle!"

Solovyov had just seen General von Keim's formation. This position occupied the complex slopes and some fences in the middle of the battlefield, and blocked the road. He didn't know that Scherer's deputy was Moreau at this time, but he felt that the French army's actions were very swift.

After Zoff's Czech Division started the exchange of fire, von Keim's chasseurs also exchanged fire with the skirmishers in front of the French army. The French's goal was to cover the line infantry behind them who were rushing up, while the Austrian army wanted to delay and block the French army's actions and facilitate their own infantry battalions to enter combat positions.

The French adoption of this somewhat "flat push" tactic is indeed puzzling. Normally, the French troops on the right wing should have taken action long ago to protect a detachment of the French troops on the front line, but now it looks like the "right wing".

At this time, both the Austrian and French armies were deployed in a typical battle posture with four divisions in the front and a reserve behind them, but what exactly was Scherer thinking? As a "spectator" watching the battle in the audience seats of the headquarters, Solovyov wanted to ask the French general on the opposite side what the hot air balloon was doing.

After all, at that time only hot air balloons could carry people to fly, and there were no airplanes.

With the opening of artillery fire and the white smoke rising from the flintlock rifles of the light infantry of both sides, the battle began.

The Austrian army's center and right wing were engaged in fierce shooting. As the Austrian army's left wing was farther away, Krei was unable to immediately grasp the movements of General Karl Melcantin in this direction until he received a report from the messenger in this direction.

"When the French first contacted us in the center and left wing, they wanted to use two divisions to launch a direct attack, add some cavalry to reinforce their right wing, and then turn around to launch an attack? This would be disjointed. The French in the center did a good job, at least forcing von Keim to hold his position."

After all, that area was directly under the charge of General Moreau, the "famous goalkeeper", and the troops were arranged in a relatively tight formation. Therefore, the experienced von Keim had no choice but to line up in three rows and use the slight advantage of the terrain to delay the French attack.

On the other hand, in Zov's Czech division, a firefight broke out, and the French had a slight advantage. In the previous battle, the two sides ended in a draw, which led to such a battle.

"General, do you want to mobilize the reserve troops now?"

"Are you talking about our Marquis de Lusignan? No, don't worry yet. The right wing reserve has been used. We can't push our last troops at this time. What if there is a problem on the left wing?"

At least the middle lane was fine and not destroyed, which made Krei feel more at ease.

And just as he expected, the Austrian army on the left wing was broken through by the French Victor Division. General Melcantin was shot and killed on the battlefield. This side seemed to be in chaos and the French army seemed to have the upper hand.

Kreis was very experienced. He ordered two adjutants to ride horses to the left wing of the Austrian army to observe the situation. The reports they received after they came back made him feel at ease.

"If the French attack like this, their forces will be dispersed. This Scherer scattered the formation in the last battle, giving us the opportunity to reorganize the troops." Then he gave the order: "The Marquis of Lusignan's reserve can move. Don't shoot at each other, just launch a bayonet attack!"

When Solovyov heard the words "bayonet charge", he thought he had misheard, as the Austrian army's fighting habits should not be like this. However, considering that the French right wing had been strengthened and had broken through the Austrian line, and even the left wing troops in front of them had shown signs of collapse, it seemed that there would be no problem in just kicking forward.

Especially the French formation, which can be seen to be divided into three parts. This is because the forces of Moreau's two divisions are more concentrated, otherwise there would be more loopholes.

Just as the French right wing won the victory, they encountered a flank attack from the reserve force of the Marquis de Lusignan, especially a direct bayonet charge. Although the French were good in hand-to-hand combat, they had already consumed a lot of physical strength at this time. In addition, the opponent was a fresh force, so they could only choose to retreat and reorganize, perhaps relying on the terrain to fight again and wait for the arrival of the French reserve force.

Then, General Victor, who was in charge of the command here, received shocking news.

General Scherer, he, Scherer did not have a fully prepared reserve force. If this continued, he would probably be chased and beaten by the Austrian army.

Some veterans who participated in the Italian offensive campaign knew that the general who was the former Minister of the Army was replaced by their "little platoon leader", otherwise there would be no victory in Italy.

This general was obviously a mediocre general. He had previously turned the battle situation, which had already given him an advantageous position, into a draw within a few hours, forcing the opponent to safely withdraw from the battlefield. This time, the lack of reserve troops allowed the Austrian army to gain the advantage through the reserve army's counterattack. Even the right wing of the French army, which had won the initial battle, now turned into a rout.

However, the Austrian troops that had retreated before finally completed the reorganization under the scolding of the officers, and served as a atmosphere group behind the Marquis of Lusignan's reserve, which was better than playing no role at all.

This was the Battle of Magnano, an inconspicuous battle in the Italian battlefield during the Second Anti-French Coalition. Now with the Austrian army's full-scale counterattack, the French had to choose to retreat in the afternoon.

The French army in the center, led by General Moreau, still had some organizational skills and was serving as the rear guard, fighting and retreating at the same time, leaving no chance for the cunning von Keim to take revenge - half a month ago in the Battle of Verona, this old comrade was attacked by the French soldiers who did not follow the moral code of war and was grazed by a bullet.

Krei knew when to stop while he was ahead, which was a common problem among Austrian generals. Since Prince Eugene, there were few Austrian commanders who would choose to pursue on the battlefield. Pursuit could easily lead to mistakes, which could be considered a law in the war manual of Austrian generals.

He also felt that the Austrian army was currently suffering heavy losses, so he decided to send out light cavalry to harass the French army and drive them far away from the battlefield, which would be considered a victory in this battle.

"General, I think you should launch a pursuit. At least after the Marquis de Lusignan's column wins, you should stick to the center of the French army and use the Czech column to attack their left wing!"

"Kid, you are still too young. We need to achieve our strategic goals and do not need to pursue them excessively. In this case, if a friendly army can arrive at this time, we can still consider pursuing them. But Marshal Suvorov and General Melas are still on the way and cannot reach the battlefield. Your approach may lead to a great victory, but if the enemy is like the French in the middle, fighting and retreating, our forces will definitely be consumed. At this time, even if the French have no reserve troops to launch a counterattack, our losses will be great."

What he said can be summarized as "Don't pursue a desperate enemy", which is actually not wrong. The veterans of the Austrian army were generally cautious outside of crucial battles and would not pursue the enemy.

What's more, if we play it safe at this time, the enemy will not completely escape, but will appear on the Ada River line.

Before Solovyov set out, he heard two veterans discussing the next deployment of the French army. The Minzio River or the Adda River, using the tributaries of the Po River to launch defense, seemed to be a more advantageous approach that the French army could take at the moment.

By the evening of that day, the Austrian army received a relatively accurate battle report. Two Austrian generals were killed in the battle and the total loss of more than 6000 troops. As for the French army, although there was no large-scale rout in the end with Moreau taking the initiative to serve as the rear guard, it still lost more than 8000 people and at least one general was killed. The 56th Semi-Brigade under General Victor was divided and surrounded, and eventually destroyed.

"We have captured 18 cannons, 40 carriages and 7 flags. This is enough. We need to report the victory to Marshal Suvorov. Captain, you have also seen the whole process of the battle. I think we can go back and report to His Excellency the Marshal."

Although Solovyov thought that the Austrian army was too cautious in the battle, there was nothing to say about it. After all, the veteran Krei won the victory, and he did learn something from observing on the battlefield.

Krei is just an unknown Austrian veteran, but he has enough experience.

As for Suvorov, he and Melas, two 70-year-old men, thought that this was enough after studying Krei's battle report.

"Your Excellency Marshal, I think that although General Kray won this time, he still chose a safe attitude. He should have chosen to pursue at that time."

"Okay, Misha, sit down first, don't be in a hurry. You know, Kotostość is the most important thing."

He suddenly interrupted Solovyov with a sentence in Russian during his German speech, catching him off guard.

The meaning is very simple, which is "People who are satisfied with the status quo live the happiest lives." This is also one of the old marshal's famous sayings.

"You have to remember that on the battlefield, it's not just about attacking boldly. Sometimes you can't walk too fast either. You young men just focus on punching out without caring about what to do next."

General Melas knew that Suvorov had suddenly spoken Russian to educate the young man, and he did not interfere. In fact, according to his idea, Krei should at least advance in a flat push and drive the enemy out of the battlefield. Perhaps in this way, he could destroy more French troops on the basis of annihilating the 56th Semi-Brigade.

"Marshal, the pursuit may yield some results. It doesn't matter. At least we have won the victory, and the situation is favorable to us no matter which river the enemy defends. Now there are only 3 Frenchmen left, and we have 6 men who can be deployed immediately, and follow-up troops are coming one after another. We will have many ways to deal with tree trunks that are riddled with holes from woodpeckers."

Since this is the case, Suvorov did not say more. The main goal must be achieved on the battlefield. At the same time, we must also consider that this is the Russian-Austrian coalition force, and sometimes, we must also take into account the position of friendly forces.

At this time, Suvorov did not advocate a quick pursuit. Defeating the enemy in a battle was only the last resort, and strategic execution was also crucial.

(End of this chapter)