Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Capítulo 1308: Chapter 1213: Emanuele IV’s Decision

Victor unhesitatingly ordered the troops to cross the already erected pontoon bridge and return in the direction of Mantua.

…

Elsewhere, Major Masion led the Prince’s Royal Guard Grenadier Battalion to a point 18 kilometers southwest of Trento, where the cavalry scout reported encountering enemy troops ahead.

Masion immediately ordered the construction of a large temporary camp on the spot, and thus began a standoff with the Austrians.

Indeed, he only had 1,300 soldiers, lacking the capability to attack Trento.

Joseph was certainly not present in the army; he had no need to take such a pointless risk.

For over ten days, both sides remained cautiously locked in a stalemate.

The young French nobles, however, were in high spirits, constantly clamoring to storm the city, but Masion held them back.

Finally, three days later, the Austrians could no longer bear it and launched a tentative attack.

Thereupon, Masion led his soldiers like the wind along the mountain roads back to Mantua.

The Austrian troops were almost immediately left behind and out of sight—the Prince’s Guard Grenadier Battalion rode fine horses, with even the cheapest costing two to three thousand francs each, and some rode Arabian horses worth tens of thousands of francs.

The Austrian officer dared not chase too far. The mountain roads west of Lake Garda were too narrow, making it easy to fall into an ambush there.

…

Moro’s situation was the most perilous.

He narrowly avoided an encounter with 20,000 Austrian troops commanded by Prince Schwarzenberg in the upper reaches of the Brenta River.

Previously, during a surprise attack, he dared to confront 30,000 Austrian troops head-on, but now he could only choose to dodge.

Austrian cuirassiers were everywhere, and there was surely a large number of enemy forces nearby trying to encircle him, making escape difficult once entangled.

The supplies he carried were down to less than six days’ worth; he now had to return to Mantua as soon as possible.

Moro cautiously guided the Schwarzenberg Corps to the northern bank of the Brenta River, then crossed the river overnight, maneuvering the entire army southward at top speed, covering over 40 kilometers in a day.

By the time Prince Schwarzenberg realized the French Army had suddenly vanished, it was already past ten in the morning.

He hastily dispatched cavalry to pursue to the south and immediately notified Belgard and Prince Heixinggen.

The three Austrian commanders disagreed again; Belgard believed the French were setting a trap, that their main forces might still be advancing north, and suggested first arranging defenses along the Brenta River. However, the other two preferred immediate pursuit.

They thus delayed for half a day, and the next day, Schwarzenberg’s cavalry commander returned in disarray—they had been ambushed by Moro south of Marlo, losing over 2,000 soldiers.

Only then did Schwarzenberg and the others hurry southward.

Moro judged that the Austrian army would likely conduct a search east-west, so he decided to take the risk of continuing south, crossing the Adige River near the east side of Verona with extreme haste.

In just two and a half days, he covered over 90 kilometers, leaving the enemy far behind.

He then veered sharply east, passing at great speed just 15 kilometers from the Austrian main forces attacking the Ming River, eventually finding a weak point in enemy strength more than 50 kilometers east of Mantua at Castel Massa.

Although the French soldiers were exhausted from continual forced marches, the canned food they carried had not yet run out, and the good diet helped them maintain at least the minimum level of energy.

When Moro ordered the assault on Castel Massa, the French infantry still dragged their weary bodies and charged towards the enemy’s defensive positions.

The battle lasted only 40 minutes before the more than a thousand soldiers defending Castel Massa were routed.

Moro immediately ordered a river crossing.

The 26,000 soldiers under his command took nearly a day to all reach the southern bank of the Po River.

More than two hours later, the nearest cavalry of the Belgard Corps finally caught up.

By this point, Moro had led over 30,000 soldiers of the French Fifth Army Group on a large circuit around Venice, where 180,000 Austrian troops were in control, and, after eliminating more than 20,000 enemy soldiers, safely returned to their own positions.

…

The capital of Sardinia, Turin.

Emanuele IV’s eye circles were dark, his bloodshot eyes staring blankly out of the window.

Yes, since receiving Archduke Karl’s secret orders, he had hardly slept for two days.

The current situation was completely different from his initial expectations.

He had thought he would welcome tens of thousands of Prussian troops and then, alongside them, conquer Mantua with Archduke Karl’s 180,000-strong army.

Now, however, he first needed to defeat the over 10,000 French troops stationed at the St. Gotthard Pass.

Uncontrollably, scenes of the French army sweeping through Northern Italy years earlier flashed in his mind. Back then, he was the Crown Prince, living in terror almost every day, not knowing when the French army might invade Turin.

Fortunately, his father had reached a compromise with the French.

He irritably grabbed a teacup, his gaze accidentally falling on the secret agreement he signed with the British and Austrians, and his heart couldn’t help but burn with desire again.

As long as the French could be driven out of Northern Italy, he could reclaim Savoy and Nice regions ceded to France in the “Turin Agreement.” Furthermore, Austria would tacitly permit Sardinia to integrate the regions of Northern Italy south of Lombardy.

Building a powerful Italian Empire had been his and his father’s long-held dream.

This could very well be his only chance.

He had repeatedly consulted with Baron Starai, the Marshal of the Army, who confirmed that a sudden assault on the French would likely cause them to collapse immediately. ᴛʜs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛʀ s ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛ ʙʏ noⅴelfire.net

When General Blucher’s 60,000 strong army charged through the St. Gotthard Pass, the outcome of the war would be sealed.

Emanuele IV walked into the prayer room, spending a full two hours inside before emerging, but his eyes had turned determined.

“Please have Baron Starai come to see me.” He gestured to the attendant.

October 30, 1798.

The eastern Sardinian city, Novara.

General Agostino Pilo glanced at the sky and frowned, asking his staff officer, “No news yet?”

“No, General,” the latter replied helplessly, “General Adenauer might have encountered heavy rain or something similar…”

The Adenauer Corps had departed Ferrara a week ago, heading to Novara to rendezvous with Pilo, but tomorrow was the scheduled day to attack the St. Gotthard Pass, and they still hadn’t arrived.

Little did he know, Adenauer had just left Ferrara when he was stopped by over a thousand soldiers from Modena.

The Mediterranean Security Organization Headquarters then sent an order, redirecting him to reinforce Mantua.

With Ferrara more than 260 kilometers from Novara, Adenauer dared not make any moves here.

Thus, Pilo waited until 4 p.m. that day, finally leading 12,000 soldiers towards the St. Gotthard Pass.

He failed to notice that shortly after leaving Turin, 2,000 French troops and 5,000 Parma troops had been trailing him from a distance of several kilometers.

Early the next morning, Pilo finally saw the pass, still speckled with snow, from afar.