Chapter 68 018 The French almost succeeded

Chapter 68 018 The French almost succeeded

Chapter 68 018 The French almost succeeded

When the Russian army first crossed the river, they were not on guard at all. The vanguard crossed the river from the island in the middle of the Po River. The large ferry could carry disassembled light artillery across, but it had to be reassembled when reaching the other side.

This gave the French army ample time to prepare. Just as the Russian troops were loading ships and moving back and forth in groups of dozens of people on the 300-meter-wide river, they had already entered the ambush area.

If you see the French army's battle sequence, you may find their organization frighteningly large. It includes four infantry half-brigades and four cavalry regiments. The reserve includes a Swiss battalion and two Italian battalions. In addition, there is an artillery company. The firepower is very strong, and it can form a flank attack on the Russian army.

Chubarov also took up defence at Basinana after the French artillery opened fire on his marching column.

But he soon discovered that most of the French grenades fired today were duds and eventually turned into solid bullets.

With such an angle of fire, the lethality was certainly not guaranteed. He ordered to hold the position for a while, waiting for the follow-up grenadiers and Austrian dragoons to come up, and then launch a counterattack.

But on the French side, there were more and more people. When the smoke was blown away by the breeze, Chubarov realized that he had encountered a French column that was larger than his own.

Since they are marching in a horizontal formation, they must make full use of their firepower rather than the attacking method of an infantry column. The French are obviously trying to take advantage of their temporary firepower advantage here.

Chubarov ordered the 1200 men who had already entered the village to join the battle, and at the same time asked for help from Major General Mikhail Zhukov behind him, using his two battalions and cavalry to support the troops. In this way, they could fight and retreat at the same time and at least open a passage.

Because it was difficult to carry heavy artillery when fighting across a river, Chubarov mainly brought a batch of light artillery across the river. The heavy artillery was either on the island or on the north bank of the Po River and did not arrive with the front-line troops.

As a result, during the battle, the Russian army was at a great disadvantage in terms of firepower. When they used grapeshot and solid bullets to attack the French cavalry and infantry, it was difficult for them to hit the French artillery that was out of their range, and so they were suppressed by firepower for a time.

The crossing troops were hit by the enemy's superior forces during the battle, which made Grand Duke Constantine even more anxious. He could no longer accept the fact that the French army was attacking from all sides. He first issued an order for the Cossack cavalry to cross the river from the shallower waters to support the Russian troops on the south bank, and also issued an order for Miloradovich's troops, who had not yet crossed the river, to provide support to Chubarov and Zhukov.

The Russian army has a total of 7500 people on the north and south banks of the river. No matter how you look at it, they are at a disadvantage in terms of manpower. Even if all of them go to the south bank, the French army has reserves nearby. They have 5000 people, and have already been engaged in the battle. Archduke Constantine and General Rosenberg, who did not cross the river, have no idea how many troops will follow. Perhaps Moreau's main force is there.

This is about one-third of the troops currently under Moreau's command. He handed over the front line to Grenier and Victor. At present, Grenier's attack is relatively smooth, but the stubborn resistance of the Russian army makes it difficult for his troops to repel the opponent, and he has to send the cavalry into the battlefield.

Three understrength chasseur regiments and one hussar regiment of the French army joined the battle, but it was difficult for them to attack the Russian phalanx. Even the Russian chasseurs outside were very brave. When they encountered scattered cavalry rushing over, they dared to raise their bayonets and fight back in groups of three or several. Many French soldiers were killed along with their horses.

This also allowed the French to witness the bravery of the Russian soldiers. The French soldiers were already reckless enough, but these Russian infantrymen did not retreat at all when facing the French cavalry.

The battle lasted until noon, when two Russian support troops, namely Miloradovich's troops that had already crossed the river and Major General Zhukov's detachment, arrived at the battlefield.

Miloradovich had five battalions under his command. He did not organize his troops. Instead, after the five battalions were in position, he launched a counterattack and rushed forward in a horizontal formation with bayonets raised.

This is not surprising. When some soldiers were crossing the river, their gunpowder was soaked and their volley guns could not fire. However, if they charged with bayonets, the French army might retreat on their own initiative.

When Grenier saw this situation, he chose to retreat after a round of shooting, hoping to consume the physical strength of Miloradovic's infantry.

However, some French soldiers ran too slowly and were stabbed to death by Russian bayonets, which opened a way for the Russian army to retreat.

However, Chubarov in the village of Basinana was not in a good situation facing the French army. When he was commanding his troops in battle, he was hit in the leg by a French skirmisher and had to be withdrawn for treatment.

But it was unlikely that he would replace officers to command the battle. More than a dozen officers had been killed or injured on the battlefield alone. He still had to consider the situation on the battlefield and ordered a retreat, organizing a breakout with a selected team of chasseurs and Austrian cavalry.

The situation was already very critical. If Chubarov was eliminated by Grenier at this time, the French army would be able to free up their hands and put all their forces on Miloradovich. This column, which was originally intended to rescue friendly forces, would also face multi-faceted attacks from the French army.

Faced with numerous crises, Miloradovich simply threw away the bicorne hat that represented his officer status, drew his sword and personally led the Russian army to charge at a French battalion that was protruding outside.

If this French infantry battalion is not destroyed or driven away, the Russian troops on the south bank may be wiped out.

In the end, it was the desperate fighting of the Russian army that opened a passage, allowing the trapped Russian troops to return to the ferry on the south bank of the Po River to regroup.

At the same time, Archduke Constantine ordered a team of Austrian cavalry to cross the river to provide support, and gathered all the artillery to bombard the area where the French army appeared.

He himself had already arrived on the ferry at this time, and Solovyov jumped on board. However, he always felt that there was something wrong with the Italian boatman's eyes. After all, the rope of the boat looked like it had been tampered with.

"Your Highness, be careful. There's something wrong with these people!"

As he finished speaking, a boatman drew out his machete and chopped at the rope.

It was not that he had seen through the relationship, but that these Italians saw the medals and gorgeous clothes that Constantine wore and knew that he was a high-ranking Russian official. They were prepared to treat him to "wontons". If they could get him, they could take him to the south bank of the Po River and find those French officers to claim the reward.

However, these Cossacks who served as guards were not vegetarians. They started fighting with the boatmen.

Solovyov pulled out his pistol and fired two shots at a boatman's face at a very close range, smashing his head into pieces.

Even if these cunning guys calculated that the Russian officers were all good fighters, they would not have considered that there was a guy carrying such a rare revolver that could fire continuously.

However, Grand Duke Constantine also started fighting with the two guys at this time. Relying on his tall and strong body, the Grand Duke kicked one of them into the water with a flying kick, but he also lost his balance and struggled with the other one, and they fell into the Po River together.

When the escorting Cossacks saw this situation, they tried to prevent the boat from capsizing while jumping into the water to rescue the Grand Duke.

However, Constantine was too big, and the guy fighting with him was worried that he would be dragged to the bottom of the river and die together with such a big guy, so he tried to run away. But unfortunately, he was sucked into the whirlpool and disappeared.

The Grand Duke was in danger, and Solovyov, not caring how much his own physique was inferior to that of the Grand Duke, jumped into the water and reached out to grab Constantine's belt. He himself was not a good swimmer, and he was afraid that he would be dragged to the bottom of the Po River by Constantine, and the Teutonic Knights would have to issue them the title of "honorary drowned ghost".

That is, there was a Cossack who was skilled in lassoing and he shouted from above.

"Hold the rope!"

Solovyov managed to grab the rope with his other hand and was dragged onto the boat by several Cossacks. However, the boat was far away from the battlefield and stopped near a shallow beach.

"so close!"

No one knows how big Constantine's heart is, and his tone seems to be full of regret.

"Your Highness, you are so big that you almost dragged me to the bottom of the river!"

Solovyov was on both sides, grabbing the rope and the Grand Duke's belt with both hands like a hook, which made him almost exhausted.

"I didn't expect that I would have to rely on you. I thought you were only good at tinkering with new guns and being smart."

"Your Highness, let's not talk about that for now. We are outside the battlefield and we have to find a way to escape danger!"

Fortunately, after inspecting the ship, several Cossacks thought that they could still find a way to get it back. Although the ship was a bit large, it was moored on a shoal outside the battlefield. They could find a way to get a new cable from the north shore, pull it over, and bring it ashore somewhere downstream from the north shore.

This is the only way to do it. In this section, the Po River is more than 600 meters wide at its widest point and about 200 meters wide at its narrowest point. The shoal that trapped the ship is more than meters away from the north bank.

We had to send some people back first and leave a few people to guard the boats on the south bank. The battle taking place here was impossible to move on both sides of the Po River without the boats.

But it was still a bit funny to see the noble Grand Duke of Russia turned into a drowned chicken, especially to the Austrian cavalry officers.

While they admired the bravery of the Russian soldiers, they also saw the current state of Grand Duke Constantine, and it was impossible not to feel ridiculous.

But they are also professional and don't laugh, which is in stark contrast to some unprofessional Russian military staff and adjutants.

Solovyov also changed his clothes. There was no other way. If he stayed like this for a long time, catching a cold or getting infected with any other disease in this era would be very dangerous.

During the more than an hour after they left the battlefield, General Rosenberg commanded his troops on the island to support Chubarov's troops that had broken out, and managed to evacuate most of the wounded soldiers to the island.

The French army now saw that they had no chance of completely annihilating the Russian troops that had crossed the river, so they began to use artillery to bombard the Russian army across the Po River.

Suvorov's latest order could only end with Grand Duke Constantine's half-hearted river crossing operation.

When the artillery of both sides fired at each other on both sides of the Po River, which was several hundred meters wide, the chasseurs had no good opportunity to shoot at the enemy's artillery from a long distance, as no one could hit accurately at this distance.

The artillery battle lasted until late at night, and the Unicorn cannons pulled up by the Russian Guards temporarily suppressed the French actions.

The officers in Constantine's tent on the north bank were now staring at each other, and there was also an injured Major General Chubarov. They all knew that this river crossing operation was a complete failure.

The army was not completely wiped out, but was able to gather its troops on Mugarone Island in the middle of the river at night. This was a blessing in disguise. Only more than 200 Russian soldiers were captured, but the overall losses were heavy.

After counting the troops, the Russian army lost more than 1,500 people in the battle, while the French lost only a few hundred. It can be said that it was a complete defeat for the Russian army.

However, there was a problem at this time. General Rosenberg knew that he did not follow Suvorov's order, and the previous choice of the crossing location was not carried out in accordance with the general's order.

However, it is unthinkable to put all the blame on Grand Duke Constantine. The second heir to the throne cannot be allowed to admit this mistake, even though he has the biggest problem. When Rosenberg decided to gather his troops, Constantine forced Chubarov's troops to cross the river and attack, which resulted in a defeat. Although it was not serious enough, the French were able to realize that the Russian army was not invincible.

After receiving the news, Suvorov in the Austrian military headquarters also realized the seriousness of the problem.

However, he handled the situation very cleverly. After ordering the troops to retreat, he asked Grand Duke Constantine and General Rosenberg to come to his tent to summarize the gains and losses of the battle.

In this way, it is difficult for outsiders to know where the ultimate responsibility lies.

But all the generals, officers and soldiers present knew the reason for the Russian army's failure.

Solovyov felt his pocket and found that the snuff bottle Sylvia had given him was not lost, so he put the little thing in the pocket of the military uniform he had changed into.

Then, under the dim light of an oil lamp, he wrote a letter to Sylvia.

To my good friend Sylvia:
We had a fierce battle with the French on the banks of the Po River. This time, from our commander, Grand Duke Constantine, to the ordinary soldiers in the ranks, everyone fought very bravely in the attack on the south bank of the Po River. But we failed to establish a bridgehead, and we had to face the attack of the cunning locals on both sides of the Po River and the French army. The villagers here, like the citizens of Milan, are Italians. When the Russian army entered the village, they shouted that they were liberators. When we were defeated by the French, they came to laugh at us. Perhaps in Italy, any party, any army that is not Italian, will encounter such a welcome and ridicule.

I miss you a little now. Although I cannot stay by your side because I am in the army, I think our hearts are connected. It just depends on who steals the other's heart first.

Your Michele, from Mugarone

(End of this chapter)