Chapter 83 0331 Everything is out of plan

Chapter 83 0331 Everything is out of plan

Chapter 83 Everything is out of plan

The Russian army was still far away from the battlefield, and when Bagration's column heard the artillery fire from the Austrian side, the soldiers were still lining up.

Even when the Russian soldiers were lined up here, they heard the sound of artillery fire, which meant that the Austrian army had been fighting with the French for a while.

The Austrian Hussars did not expect that the French skirmishers had placed their cordon far away from the high ground. When they rode past here on horseback, they were attacked by these scattered archers. After suffering losses, they began to line up in large numbers.

When the French heard the gunshots, they became highly alert. Most of the French soldiers, who were wearing blue clothes, came out from their sleeping places and began to line up.

This also allowed the Austrian army to see clearly that there were quite a few French soldiers on the battlefield.

General Kray was riding on a horse and saw the French actions. He remembered that when he met General Melas before, he talked about the defeat of their "old friends" the Prussians in Kolin. After winning a battle, they launched a forced attack but were defeated by the Austrian army which had taken advantage of their leisure time.

The situation this time is similar, but the French occupy the advantageous terrain and are now on the defensive.

"How's the situation over at Otto?"

"General, the French have occupied the high ground and have already deployed their troops in advance."

"Well, this is a good place to defend. The French hold the high ground. They can do whatever they want. But we need to line up our two columns and be ready to hold back the French."

In addition to Otto, there are also Bellegarde's troops, who have defeated the French several times before. At least these Austrian veterans no longer fear the French as they would fear wild beasts.

What's more, if they really encounter wild beasts, they have hunting rifles in their hands.

The Austrians engaged in battle much earlier than Suvorov expected. Even the command and deployment of the troops to be deployed today was caused by the right wing of the coalition forces where Krei was located being the first to engage in battle.

The main forces of the Russian army, except for the two marching columns led by Bagration and Miloradovich, were still far away from the battlefield, especially the Rosenberg Corps that had been resting, which included many elite columns of the Russian army that came to Italy and the Guards troops that had recently merged in.

The French could see clearly from the heights of Novi that there was a white expanse on the west side, and on the farmland to the north, a green line was coming from the horizon.

"The Russians are still far away! We are now..."

Just as Saint Cyr was about to give an order, he saw a messenger coming from the west.

"The commander-in-chief wants us to mobilize our troops and move westward!"

In fact, it was General Joubert who had just arrived at the front line to command the left wing of the French army in an attempt to use it to repel the Austrian army in Cray. However, shortly after he arrived at the battlefield, he was hit in the chest by a bullet and fell off his horse.

Moreau quickly dismounted to check on the commander-in-chief's injuries, but Jubert was already vomiting blood, muttering his wife's name and wanting to continue the attack, and then died on the spot.

It was because of his arrival that he retained Moreau to assist in commanding the corps that the French army on the entire battlefield was not in serious chaos.

While Moreau was still holding Joubert's body, he had already begun to give orders to Suchet, Joubert's chief of staff, to mobilize Grouchy and Pérignon's troops on the left to continue fighting Creay, and to ask Saint-Cyr to dispatch a division to make a detour on the battlefield and attack Creay's left side, so as to force the Austrian army to retreat.

"General Moreau, then Commander-in-Chief."

"Listen carefully, the commander-in-chief was shot, but he is receiving the full treatment of the military doctors!"

Now that he has taken over the command, he also has to take into account that he was a veteran in the Army of the Rhine. The defeat in Italy was mainly due to the successive collapses caused by the foolish General Scherer who lost his life in Verona. There is nothing to blame him for. On the contrary, the successive battles have allowed the French army to maintain its cohesion. This kind of seniority and prestige are still there.

When the French and Austrian armies were fighting, the Russian army rushed over from the front. On August 8, the weather was extremely hot. Under the scorching sun, the earth seemed to be burning. The sky was cloudless and there was no sign of shaking.

That is to say, in this damn Italy, during the hottest season of summer, the Mediterranean climate has almost no rainfall.

Therefore, many Russian soldiers consumed a lot of physical strength, and their marching speed was not as fast as usual. During the march, the Bagration column also encountered continuous artillery fire from the French on the hillside of the Novi position, causing considerable losses.

This time Solovyov's luck was not so good. He was hit in the leg by shrapnel. Although it was not fatal and no parts were lost, he could not insist on commanding the combined Jager Battalion to move forward. In war, for officers, it is better to injure the arms and the head than the legs, unless it is a defensive battle.

Only von Bystrom could command the battle. With seven companies in his hands, he launched a frontal attack on the French army.

The Russian firepower was very fierce. Saint-Cyr was now commanding the battle on the hillside. He also noticed the sustained firepower of the chasseurs and that the approaching French troops were quickly repelled.

Bagration's battle went smoothly. After opening fire, he launched a bayonet charge, drove the French out of the northern part of Novi, and thus leveled the front line.

Miloradovich's column quickly caught up and launched an attack in front of the high ground.

The Russian grenadiers tried to rush up the mountain with bayonets at point blank range, but were beaten back by the dense grapeshot from the French on the top of the mountain. This charge caused considerable losses, and the grenadiers, jägers, and musketeers were all knocked down.

However, the Russian army still insisted on launching the attack. If the French had attacked the Austrians in the past, the other side would have retreated after two rounds of grapeshot.

The fierce battle lasted until noon, and under the scorching sun, both sides suffered heavy losses.

If Suvorov were still young, he might still be riding a horse and commanding the battle under the scorching sun.

Now he has no more physical strength, so he asked his servant to spread out a blanket so that he can cool off under the shade of the tree. When an old veteran encounters such a situation, he really needs to rest, and there is nothing wrong with that.

His complexion was not good. Compared with when he entered Italy before, the commander was obviously a little tired in the scorching heat.

He lay on his side on the blanket and listened to reports from all sides. Melas was slightly older than him, and Clay was also a veteran. By noon, he was indeed unable to hold on any longer.

At this moment, some young generals, after rushing out like this, ended up being shot and killed. They were extremely unlucky.

"Your Excellency Marshal, I now need General Melas' order to enter the battlefield from the east."

"Send more scouts over. Our troops will launch a breakthrough from the front. We must capture the French hill in the afternoon and teach them a lesson!"

However, General Melas did not go through the middle route. Instead, based on reports, he learned that the French right wing had stretched the front line, which would be beneficial for him to make a breakthrough, so he sent all of his troops of more than 10,000 people forward.

There were still some Russian troops that had not arrived at the battlefield. After this order was issued, the Austrians attacked from both wings.

Suvorov had no opinion on this. He just asked the troops to continue the attack and did not care that the Austrians kept changing his orders.

In the afternoon battle, the grenadiers launched an attack on the top of the mountain. The French still had grapeshot and artillery fire, causing heavy casualties in the subsequent troops. However, the French were already unable to hold on. Melas' reserve, including the Duke of Liechtenstein's cavalry and the Marquis of Lusignan's column, had already reached the high ground and joined the attack on the French core position.

The French were finally defeated on this day.

Solovyov was dragged to the field hospital by the soldiers, and the shrapnel was removed without much bleeding, and was thrown aside.

Anyway, the injury was very coincidental. It ricocheted and hit the calf.

It can be seen that although the Russian army’s field hospitals are very rough, they still have disinfectant alcohol. If there is really none, vodka can be used instead.

"Captain, you are a hunter, right?"

"Doctor, did you look at my collar and cuffs?"

"You are very skilled in disinfection. Have you ever saved wounded soldiers on the battlefield before?"

"Indeed, but there are only a few chances. I'm fine now, but these brothers, we have to give them a hand!"

"Your leg is injured, so you should rest well to avoid infection and stay away from these wounded soldiers. You two, carry this young captain to the place where officers are being treated over there!"

Solovyov had no choice but to submit to the doctor's opinion, as there were too many things missing here.

The technology tree he was thinking of climbing now was related to the use of medicines, especially hemostatics and bactericidal drugs used on wounds. If these things could be developed, coupled with battlefield rescue teams, it would be very helpful in treating wounded soldiers.

He was lucky today. When Bagration's column attacked, it suffered heavy casualties from the fierce firepower from the French positions. The battle was not over until 5 pm. One third of the Guards attacking the mountain were killed or wounded, and many officers were injured.

Behind him he saw von Bystrom being carried in. He had been shot twice, but was still in good spirits.

"Captain, I still need your help to hold it down. I'm worried that these soldiers lack experience in this area, and your hands have been disinfected."

What was taken out was a deformed lead bullet, which seemed to have been deformed by hitting something.

"As long as there is no infection, it's fine. If you want to take care of the officer, clean your hands first. Wash them with hot water and disinfect them with alcohol."

"Doctor, disinfection with vodka is so expensive!"

"Use this stuff and apply it around the wound. It can save your life!"

"Yes, sir!"

After these veterans carried their commander over, they were responsible for taking care of him.

After asking, Solovyov learned that the coalition forces were now pursuing, but the Guards had suffered heavy casualties, and many wounded soldiers had not been carried back from the battlefield, so they needed to be transported back by large carts.

The losses in the battle were heavy, but the Allied forces in pursuit achieved great results and captured several French generals.

When the French were suffering a crushing defeat, it was Grouchy's troops on the far left who fought desperately and preserved a route for the French army to retreat, which prevented the whole army from being annihilated.

Of course, Grouchy himself was captured alive by the Austrian cavalry this time, and thousands of French were captured.

It was considered a glorious victory, and many officers wounded in the battle were carried down.

However, what was surprising was that Miloladovich rode his horse towards the area where the fire was the most intense, but he was unharmed and even rushed into the gap in the French line with the cavalry around him and came out again.

Bagration was not injured this time, but a wound in the Battle of Trebia left him with a scar, which made him look uglier, but also made him look more powerful.

When he came to visit the wounded, he also looked at Solovyov.

"You were lucky not to participate in the subsequent battle today. The enemy's artillery was in your battalion, causing heavy casualties."

He only said this, and Solovyov knew that these carefully selected hunters under his command had suffered many casualties on the battlefield, even though they were advancing in a skirmish formation.

However, he did not have time to think about it, as the battle was almost over and the gates of Liguria were wide open. Now was the right time to rush directly to Genoa and let the French make a lot of money.

You know, the Russian army had seized a considerable amount of property from French prisoners of war.

This point was also severely criticized by Suvorov. Today, a Russian army unit was only concerned with looting and blocking some roads during the pursuit, resulting in many French troops slipping away in a very short time.

It was a great victory, but due to some minor incidents, it failed to achieve the expected results.

But there was something even more worrying for Suvorov. Fortunately, he was thin and skinny, so it was unlikely that he had high blood pressure or coronary heart disease.

The Austrian emperor changed the entire strategic deployment based on the British suggestion to land in the Netherlands, but it was still a question whether the British operation could succeed.

The news reached the front line in Novi, and Suvorov did not disobey the order. The Austrian emperor was far worse than his own.

After all, Paul worked hard, providing the Russian army with new equipment and some favorable organizational changes, which also enhanced the combat effectiveness of the troops, while the Austrian emperor only coveted petty profits.

Suvorov thought that young people nowadays are a bit greedy for money.

Even his nephew Andre made a small fortune in the pursuit, seizing the private carriage of a French officer and taking out a lot of things from it.

But compared to him, Solovyov's seizure was really for the good stuff.

Especially during the Battle of the Trebbia River, some of the spoils were salvaged from French baggage wagons. However, those spoils were the results of looting after the pursuit and did not affect the final outcome of the battle.

But Franz's order had to be carried out. Suvorov left Melas's Austrian army to continue fighting here and prepared to embark on the journey to the Swiss battlefield.

(End of this chapter)