He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 120

(120) Austria, Run to Rivoli

Squelching ground, rapidly increasing flow, shaking bridge.

The Adige River’s currents are strong after the autumn rain.

This is Arcole, the place where the legendary battle originally took place.

It is famous as the place where Napoleon took the lead and preemptively broke through the bridge towards the enemy.

However, if Napoleon had recklessly preemptively broken through, countless adjutants would have died.

In the original history, Muiron dies, Verdier and Lannes are injured, and Augereau barely survives.

Now, there are those who ride through that dangerous place.

“Damn it! Do we really have to ride through here, Brigade Commander Eugene!”

Suddenly, Juno shouted from right next to Eugene, riding across the shaking river.

However, the most troubled right now is Eugene.

When it comes to horsemanship, Eugene is not particularly outstanding.

He only took Lannes’ words to heart that soldiers would follow only if he took the lead.

Thinking that he had taken the lead for no reason, Eugene shouted.

“I’m not running because I like it! Hold on to your grenades properly. If you drop them, it’s over!”

“I’m going to be finished if I fall into the water!”

“Just break through the bridge! If we can just do that!”

Eugene stared ahead and declared.

“The enemy will collapse with just one grenade!”

He’s not just making promises.

The Mantua Legion has a weakness that only insiders or those who know the original history would know.

It’s an epidemic.

The Mantua Fortress in the middle of the lake is difficult to attack, but it is also difficult for those defending it to enter and exit.

In that situation, with the humidity of summer, an epidemic was bound to break out.

There is a reason why only about 10,000 of the 20,000-strong garrison marched north.

They may be troops capable of marching, but they are all physically vulnerable.

Here, cannons that they thought were allies are shelling them.

– Bang! Bang! Bang!

Of course, the shelling also crashed into the 1,000-strong Grenadier Brigade riding across the bridge.

“Oh my god, Chasseloup won’t stop shelling!”

“I told him to do it on purpose!”

“Are you telling me to charge into a barrage of shells?”

Eugene scolded Juno, who was screaming.

“Otherwise, how can cavalry beat infantry! Shut up and just follow me!”

Far away, Lannes’ cavalry is flanking and crossing the river before charging.

Besides, Eugene has a secret to taking risks.

The silver letter notifications are appearing countless times after a long time.

Dozens, hundreds, thousands of silver patterns appear and disappear in the air.

[Danger, Instant Death, Safe. Crisis, Advance Possible.]

Of course, Eugene couldn’t avoid all the dangers.

There were occasionally cavalrymen who were hit by stray bullets and bounced off.

But this battle is one that must be won with sacrifice, and it is a battle worth fighting.

What’s the reason?

If we win this battle, we can corner the enemy.

“Grenadiers!”

Suddenly, Eugene, who had finally crossed the bridge at the head, shouted.

“Let’s destroy the enemy with these grenades today!”

“Let’s destroy them!”

“Throw them, the grenades!”

Although he is not yet an adult, Eugene’s voice spread sharply.

The grenadier cavalrymen who followed also responded and ran.

Suddenly, Juno gritted his teeth and threw the [Eugene Grenade] like a slingshot.

– Whoosh, Bang!

As if a signal had gone off, the grenadier cavalrymen threw grenades all at once.

“Scatter!”

The Mantua Legion eventually couldn’t withstand the continuous explosions of grenades and scattered.

Here, Lannes’ cavalry, which was already charging, is breaking through the infantry ranks.

After the advent of gunpowder, it is common sense that cavalry cannot be the opponent of infantry.

It was the moment when that common sense completely collapsed.

Of course, the shock of losing the artillery would have been the greatest.

Juno was amazed and opened his mouth wide as he watched the scattering infantry.

“They’re really running away? How did you know this?”

Eugene was panting.

Eugene, who made a name for himself throughout the Italian Legion as the Sharpshooter, now doesn’t have the strength to fire a single shot.

In fact, his skills as a rider are about the same as those of an average infantry soldier.

Barely catching his breath, Eugene replied.

“Huff, huff. They probably had low morale from the start. Besides, they couldn’t come to their senses because of the unexpected rain and shelling.”

“By the way, shouldn’t the shelling stop?”

“Huh? Oh no!”

Suddenly seeing the silver letter alarm, Eugene hurriedly spurred his horse.

– Bang!

Barely dodging, Eugene was dripping with cold sweat.

The mark left by the shell that grazed him is huge.

He would have gone to the afterlife if he had been a little late.

But that’s what war is like.

Suppressing his fear, Eugene ordered Hippolyte.

“Retreat to the riverbank for now! Go around to the artillery and tell them! Stop shelling and join the cavalry!”

“You want me to go through that shelling?”

“Then should I go?”

Hippolyte grumbled and ran through the shells.

“Ah, I’m not as lucky as the brigade commander! Ugh!”

Watching Hippolyte quickly turn away from a distance, Eugene turned his gaze.

Far away, Lannes, who had already broken through the enemy ranks, was running.

Behind Lannes, the enemy was completely collapsing and fleeing.

“Hey, boy brigade commander! Now, what are you going to do? Should we chase the enemy?”

Eugene looked at the crowd that used to be the Canto Legion and asked Lannes.

“Lannes, can you [herd] them?”

“Herd? Like some kind of hunt?”

“Yes. Hunting suits them. Don’t catch them, just drive them. The fleeing soldiers. Can you do it?”

In fact, Eugene was trying to catch the Mantua army in Villanova, not here.

Afterwards, Eugene’s plan was to join Napoleon’s main force and fight the Alvinczy Legion in the Bassano area.

But he broke the enemy at Arcole.

Perhaps, the decisive battle of the original history may be possible.

Lannes, who had been blinking, turned to his deputy, Bessières.

“We used to do this often in the Pyrenees [mountain range between France and Spain]. Didn’t we, Bessières?”

“Not me. Maybe you did it often, General.”

“Ah, just agree with me! Anyway, it’s possible, but why?”

Just as Lannes was about to click his tongue and ask Eugene, Eugene nodded.

“Drive the enemy to the Lake Garda Tyrol route.”

“Where is the Tyrol route? Wait, you mean the east side of Lake Garda? Why there?”

“If that place is occupied, the Brenner Pass [a major mountain pass through the Alps] will be breached. It’s the lowest hill to cross the Alps.”

Suddenly, Eugene’s eyes flashed.

“The Duchy of Bavaria, Munich can be directly attacked. Vienna comes within range. But how will the supply maniac Alvinczy move?”

This is a situation that happens by chance in the original history.

Originally, Napoleon and Alvinczy struggle with each other from Bassano to Caldiero.

In the meantime, Alvinczy heads to Lake Garda to join Mantua.

Here, Napoleon maneuvers to stop Alvinczy, and the two armies meet.

At Rivoli, on the east side of Lake Garda.

However, Rivoli was a place where the road to the Alps opened as soon as it was breached.

Therefore, both armies collide with all their might.

Now, Eugene is trying to artificially create this situation and use a [lure].

Lannes, who didn’t know history but understood Eugene’s words, spurred his horse.

“Let’s start herding right away! Let’s go, Bessières! Joubert! Championnet!”

Lannes took two of the three hussar hopefuls with him.

Like a whirlwind, the Pyrenees cavalry began to relentlessly drive the Canto army.

Lasalle, who was left alone, whistled and looked at Eugene.

“Then, should I go to the main unit?”

“No, Captain Lasalle should go as my escort.”

“Oh, then who is going to the main unit? Lieutenant Armand is currently in the main unit.”

At that moment, Eugene shouted towards a curly-haired colonel who was about to follow the Pyrenees cavalry.

“Murat!”

“What? Why me? I have to go to the battlefield of glory!”

“We’re going to herd, and the real glory will be seen by the commander’s side. How about it?”

At the same time, Murat quickly turned his horse like a very docile sheep.

“I’ll go right away, Brigade Commander!”

Again, the chase began.

To the east of Lake Garda, to Rivoli, for [herding].

***

The cavalry’s run, thirsty for glory, was fast.

“What? Why did my ‘son’ single-handedly fight such a battle!”

There are southern and northern routes from Padua to Verona.

The northern route is flat, going to Vicenza, but it is too close to Bassano.

The southern route is a bit rough, but if you grab the pass well, a large army can maneuver.

Murat caught up with Napoleon’s legion passing near Sosano, a small city on the southern route.

Without taking a breath, Murat shouted excitedly to Napoleon.

“I think the same way, Your Excellency. Of course, the commander’s permission should have been there!”

“Did he win or lose?”

“Yes? Well, I came because he won. But it was a reckless operation…”

However, Napoleon is a man who values results.

“I’ll deal with him acting on his own later. Good, then the only one we have to deal with now is one!”

In any case, Napoleon’s goal was to capture the Mantua Legion.

But Eugene captured the Mantua Legion, whether he used a trick, the enemy was weak, or he was lucky.

Then it’s time to catch the next opponent, another eagle.

Chief of Staff Berthier nodded.

“Alvinczy, I presume.”

“Now, tell me. Goose. What should we do to lure Alvinczy out?”

“There is a way to directly attack Bassano.”

Napoleon scoffed.

“Then, our Alvinczy, who likes the basics, will definitely crawl into the Bassano mountains!”

In fact, if he was going to directly attack Bassano, he would have gone up there long ago.

However, Bassano, just south of the Alps, is a difficult place for large-scale operations.

There is an inconvenience that only sporadic battles must be fought.

It is a place that the Napoleon Legion, which has to strike down the enemy in a single battle, wants to avoid.

Masséna nodded as he listened to the story in the headquarters barracks.

“It’s troublesome if a high-altitude battle breaks out in the Bassano area. It’s also close to enemy territory, and we don’t know the terrain well.”

“Oh, Masséna. Why are you being so passive for once? Were you scared after seeing Augereau get beaten?”

“Of course not. It’s much easier to lure the enemy out and fight than to run to the enemy and fight? I see what Your Excellency the Commander is doing. Hehe.”

For some reason, Napoleon seemed to be in a good mood and laughed at Masséna’s flattering words.

“Puhahaha! Yes. We have to lure Alvinczy out. We have to make him run so fast that his tail falls off!”

Then Murat, who had been blinking, scratched his curly hair and interjected.

“Uh, right now the boy brigade commander, no, Freischütz [German term for sharpshooter], no, that’s not it either. Anyway, Boarneh Brigade Commander is going to Lake Garda for a chase right now.”

Napoleon, Masséna, and Berthier widened their eyes.

Instead of joining the main force, he goes to Lake Garda?

If it was just Eugene alone, he might have been considered a mistake due to lack of experience.

But Lannes, who had been fighting wars for several years, didn’t go with him?

Napoleon frowned and pressed Murat.

“Call him Brigadier General Bonaparte! Anyway, Garda?”

“Yes! ‘Petit’ [French for Little] Brigadier General Bonaparte is going to Rivoli on Lake Garda right now.”

“Rivoli? Where is that? What’s the reason?”

P Petit, that is, ‘Little’ Bonaparte.

Murat quickly read Napoleon’s mood.

However, Murat, who has no strategic insight unlike his quick wit, rolled his eyes and tilted his head.

“He said that if you take that place, you can take the Brenner Route? I don’t know what that means.”

Napoleon glared and looked for one of the headquarters adjutants.

“Bacler, bring the map!”

Colonel Louis Albert Bacler d’Albe.

A talent that Napoleon brought from the topography department of the Paris War Department.

He doesn’t specifically participate in operations, but Bacler has a unique talent.

He is a map making expert.

Bacler, who had mastered countless maps in Paris and also knew the Italian topography, unfolded the map.

“Where is Brenner?”

“Here it is.”

“It’s in the middle of the Alps. If you go through here.”

Napoleon stared intently at the Brenner Pass, which Bacler accurately pointed out.

“It’s Austria. Wow, my son is really smarter than I thought?”

Of course, Napoleon doesn’t know that this is the lowest altitude path in the Alps.

But the reason why Eugene moved to take Brenner can be known even if he doesn’t know that.

It is to appear as if he is seizing the road to the imperial capital, Vienna.

Napoleon is a man who acts very quickly once he makes a decision.

“Go to Rivoli.”

“Will Alvinczy understand?”

“Oh, goose-like sound! It would be nice if he was so incompetent that he didn’t even know that!”

Napoleon smiled, revealing his teeth, at Chief of Staff Berthier’s question.

“Rather, it’s okay if we really directly attack Vienna. Doesn’t Paris want that too?”

Saliceti, who remained in Padua, would be shocked to hear this.

Because it means that he can leave Saliceti behind, abandon Milan, and carry out a direct attack on Vienna.

But Napoleon was sure.

“But Alvinczy will definitely come!”

While the cannons of the horse artillery were also changing direction noisily, Napoleon’s main force moved again.

– Rumble!

Napoleon’s main force also changed its course towards Rivoli.

***

If he hadn’t known the news, Alvinczy might not have moved from Bassano.

“Canto, you stupid bastard!”

But there was a cavalryman who returned alive to Bassano.

A man who is always expressionless, calm, and cold.

A soldier who is more German than a German.

Alvinczy trembled, revealing emotions like never before.

But a cold-hearted person quickly regains his composure.

Alvinczy, who suppressed his anger, glared at the cavalryman who had returned alive.

“You came back alive again, Radetzky.”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

“Yes, you should be sorry. If Canto was stupid, you should have been smart.”

Then, Chief of Staff Beyroder asked Radetzky, the survivor who had returned alive this time as well.

“Where did Marshal Canto go, Radetzky? Why did only you come?”

Come to think of it, Canto is not here.

Did he die on the battlefield?

Radetzky trembled, looking apologetic.

“The enemy cavalry was chasing us, so we were scattered. There was no time to form a line. I don’t know if he is alive or not.”

“Defeat, and you don’t even know how to gather the army? All you know how to do is siege.”

“That’s not all.”

Radetzky added to Beyroder, who was sneering at Canto.

“When I last saw him, the enemies were going to the east side of Lake Garda, the Trambasol Plateau [a highland area near Rivoli].”

At that moment, Alvinczy, who was barely suppressing his anger, widened his eyes.

Baron Laudon, who had been listening silently, Major General Liptay, who had been depressed, and Rosselmini and Schwirz, who had been looking at Radetzky with pity, also widened their eyes.

The Trambasol Plateau is a highland area near Rivoli.

In short, it is the beginning of the road to the Alps, the Brenner Route.

Beyroder hurriedly looked back at the commander.

“That’s the road we passed.”

“I know.”

“Surely, those crazy bastards aren’t trying to directly attack Munich, are they?”

At that moment, Alvinczy, who couldn’t stand it any longer, slammed the desk.

– Bang!

The wooden desk was broken because he hit it so hard.

“It’s almost checkmate.”

“C, Commander.”

“No, it’s not checkmate yet. But I can’t help but move.”