He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 90

(90) Eugene Captures Beaulieu

It was around the time Napoleon’s Italian Army began their bombardment.

At this moment, a division was holding out against three times their number on enemy territory.

They were truly veterans who had internationally showcased the French army’s valor.

But now they were at their limit, their ranks on the verge of collapse.

Then, a sound like salvation rang out.

-Swish, bang! Swish, bang! Swish, bang!

The sound of cannons.

Originally, the sound of artillery was the most unwelcome noise.

Because this unit had been rushing forward with only a preemptive strike in mind, they had no artillery.

Fortunately, the enemy also lacked gunpowder and was engaged in close-quarters combat, so they hadn’t been able to properly bombard them.

Still, dodging the occasional cannonball had been a living hell.

But the sound they heard now was different.

These weren’t the heavy, slow-moving Austrian artillery.

These were rapid-fire explosions, reloaded and fired at a very swift pace.

The division’s chief of staff, Serboni, shouted.

“Our forces have arrived, sir!”

Massena, the one who had held back Beaulieu’s 30,000 troops with unwavering determination, grinned with bloodshot eyes.

“Kahaha! They’ve finally arrived, the slowpokes. Good. Hold on a little longer! Now we don’t have to conserve ammunition!”

“Sir, we’re almost out of ammo anyway!”

“Then do your best to keep them from getting close! We’re finished if we’re surrounded!”

Massena, having caught his breath, narrowed his brow as he gazed ahead.

“But what are those guys doing now?”

Serboni calmly observed the movements of the troops across the river and replied.

“They’re smashing the village and advancing.”

“Ah, so they’re taking out the remaining enemy forces first.”

“Oh, Beaulieu is turning around?”

Some of Beaulieu’s divisions, which had been engaged in a direct firefight, were seen turning around.

Of course, Massena’s division was positioned in front of Beaulieu, regiment by regiment.

However, they lacked ammunition and couldn’t form a firing line in a horizontal formation.

Therefore, each regiment was in a column formation, firing like a porcupine only when the enemy got close.

In other words, Beaulieu could retreat without worrying about Massena’s counterattack.

Massena realized Beaulieu’s plan and shouted.

“The bridge! He’s trying to seize the bridge. Damn it, taking advantage of our weakened offensive!”

Massena hurriedly shouted to Serboni and the vanguard commanders, including Brune.

“Serboni! Brune! All regimental commanders, listen up! Reassemble all troops into battalions! Three-column formation!”

“We’re in the middle of a firefight! It’s difficult!”

“Then gather everyone except for the front line!”

If Beaulieu seized the bridge, everything would be over.

Massena would be isolated and annihilated on the Ada River.

Then Beaulieu could gather all his forces and face the exhausted Italian Army.

Destroying them with artillery fire each time they tried to cross the river.

The reward for rushing here first would be lost.

Sending messengers to the regimental commanders, Massena muttered anxiously.

“We have to break through with a bayonet charge. Otherwise, our allies will be blocked from crossing the bridge before they even arrive!”

That’s when it happened.

-Click, bang! Click, bang! Click, bang!

Massena, Serboni, and the regimental commanders, including Brune, stopped.

All the soldiers stared blankly at the scene unfolding in the distance.

It was quite far, and the view was hazy due to the smoke from the black powder weapons.

But they could still see something.

A battle line.

A grand line of soldiers, probably requiring at least 3,000 men, was firing their guns in unison.

In reality, it was 1,000 men in a single line, but Massena’s side couldn’t know that.

The battle line was literally approaching and firing.

The rate of fire was seven shots per minute.

In a musket firefight, it was practically rapid-fire.

Beaulieu’s regiment, which had been retreating to charge, was breaking apart.

Furthermore, the regiment in the rear, confused, couldn’t advance properly.

Massena’s eyes widened as he stared blankly ahead.

“What is that?”

Serboni, squinting through his telescope, replied.

“My telescope must be malfunctioning. It looks like the commander.”

“I used to have very good eyesight from being on ships. But I think my eyesight has deteriorated recently because I’ve been inhaling too much gunpowder smoke.”

“Is that so? Ha. Ha. Ha.”

Serboni and Massena burst into hollow laughter, denying reality before clicking their tongues.

It seemed that the commander leading the battle line far away in front of the bridge was someone they knew.

The commander of the Italian Army, Napoleon.

Serboni smacked his lips.

“Our commander is insane.”

But Massena, who had been laughing hollowly, mounted his horse.

It was the commander’s horse that he had been saving until now.

However, he was mounting it while still facing the enemy’s large army.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes?”

“We were going to do a bayonet charge anyway! The commander is coming. Why?”

Massena brandished his musket bayonet on horseback, his eyes gleaming.

“Isn’t he trying to save us! Can we just stand by and watch!”

Serboni, dumbfounded, gritted his teeth and shouted to the regimental commanders.

“May you be cursed by the Virgin Mary. Even the division commander has gone mad! Hey, let’s go!”

“The chief of staff is crazy too!”

“Damn it, let’s go!”

The moment Brigadier General Brune, Colonel Pigeon, and the regimental commanders followed, Massena’s order was given.

“All units, bayonet charge!”

Ten thousand soldiers of Massena’s division simultaneously charged, becoming a wave of bayonets.

***

In the late 18th century, even in the fiercest battles, the one who gained the upper hand after exchanging blows would win.

That was the war that the commander of Lombardy, Beaulieu, knew.

Therefore, even though he was flustered now, Beaulieu didn’t give up.

Clearly, the enemy’s rate of fire was fast, and the firing line spread out in a single row was astonishing.

Even the [Thin Red Line] deployed by the British army in later original history was in two ranks.

The enemy in front of them made it impossible to tell whether they were in one, two, or three ranks.

Moreover, with musket rifles, it was difficult to endure the speed that felt like rapid fire.

Nevertheless, Beaulieu believed in one thing.

They had more men.

Also, musket rifles would become difficult to use due to the buildup of gunpowder residue.

They just had to endure the gunfire until then.

“Stand your ground! Against the gunfire! To the end!”

Beaulieu, standing behind the soldiers, was about to shout at the top of his lungs when.

“Commander! Enemies are charging from behind!”

“What? Behind us? Wait, if it’s behind us, isn’t that the French army we were fighting? Didn’t they run out of gunpowder?”

“That seems to be the case. They’re just charging even when we pour fire on them!”

Beaulieu, surprised by the report from his adjutant, Major Radetzky, looked for the regimental commander on the right wing.

“Shoot! No, fight back! Where is Roselmini, Radetzky!”

They were completely facing a two-sided attack.

However, the experienced Beaulieu was still holding his ground.

Although it seemed like a siege, neither the front nor the rear were the enemy’s main forces.

In short, the French army was divided, while the Austrian army was still united.

Beaulieu rushed to Major General Roselmini, who was in charge of the right wing, and ordered urgently.

“Although it looks like a siege, the number of troops coming from the bridge in front is limited! We can endure it. Even if the enemies have excellent [rapid-firing soldiers]! Understand!”

“Yes! Commander!”

“Good! Like a general of His Imperial Majesty, charge!”

At that moment, Radetzky, who was still watching the front, shouted.

“Commander, look over there!”

“Why?”

“The one at the front, it looks like Bonaparte!”

Beaulieu quickly raised his telescope and widened his eyes as he looked ahead.

“Decapitation strike.”

Originally, why was Beaulieu still staying on the Ada River?

To slow down the enemy’s advance, lure them to the optimal location, and kill the commander.

But now the opportunity had finally arrived.

Beaulieu, who had been focused on dealing with Massena’s division until just now, quickly changed his stance.

“The opportunity has finally come! Deploy all units except for the rear!”

“It’s the commander’s order! Deploy all troops!”

“Don’t let them cross the bridge! No, the cannons!”

Roselmini turned his troops back towards Napoleon, and his adjutant Radetzky ran towards the artillery.

“Turn all the cannons around! Prepare for impact immediately! Now! Huh?”

Suddenly, Radetzky stopped.

-Whoosh.

Dust was rising in the north.

It was as fierce as if a fire had broken out, swirling like a storm, and as fast as lightning.

Beaulieu, Radetzky, and Roselmini looked at each other, trembling with anxiety at the artificial-looking dust.

“Is that smoke, did a fire break out?”

“Probably? There’s no way the Imperial Army would have come from the north already.”

“If that were the case, we would have received prior notice. Maybe. Could it be bandits?”

At that moment, [cavalry] appeared through the dust.

-Dudududu!

Radetzky remembered the man at the front.

One of the crazy 30 cavalrymen who had broken through the 30,000-strong formation early yesterday morning.

Lasalle shouted with a hearty cry as he rushed forward.

“Hi-ho! We are the Hu-ssars! [Hungarian light cavalry]”

Hussars without lances were charging with musket bayonets.

It was truly an unexpected rear-flank assault.

Radetzky hurriedly shouted to the messengers.

“Enemy cavalry is coming! From behind! Turn around immediately!”

But the enemy was in front, behind, and on the northern flank of the rear.

The regimental commanders, officers, and soldiers didn’t know where to turn and were just panicking.

Beaulieu, who could no longer endure it, screamed.

“Where did those guys come from!”

It was Eugene’s cavalry skirmisher [brigade] that had come.

From Casano in the north.

***

Cavalry charges were different when combined with firearms.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

The first thing to arrive wasn’t the horses.

It was bullets.

Cavalry skirmishers charged, firing pistols, single-shot loading pistols.

Although there were only 300 of them, the combination of dust and surprise attack prevented even the 30,000-strong army from responding properly.

However, there were also problems that came with prioritizing speed.

Ippolito threw away his pistol while running next to Eugene and shouted.

“I’ve used up all my pistols!”

“Then draw your saber!”

“Hey, when did you ever learn how to use a sword? I haven’t!”

Eugene gritted his teeth and shouted as he drew his saber.

“If you don’t have one, swing your rifle!”

In fact, Eugene had only learned it as a hobby.

During his time as a royal page, he had learned so-called ‘noble fencing’.

Of course, such swordsmanship was useless in real combat.

Suddenly, he saw a cavalryman from the Lombardy Legion charging out to counterattack in front of him.

At that moment, the cavalryman’s neck was bent.

-Shukak!

Blood spurted out like a fountain.

A scene of swinging a saber while charging and cutting off the neck.

It was like a knight from the Middle Ages.

Murat, the charging man, laughed heartily and shouted.

“Ehehe, Brigade Commander Delegate! You owe me one!”

Eugene nodded without realizing it, and Murat roared at the cavalrymen.

“Now, follow Murat! Today, the ruler of this battlefield is me!”

For a moment, the cavalry skirmishers looked at Eugene, and Eugene gestured.

At the same time, the cavalry skirmishers charged with Murat.

The tens of thousands of troops were split like paper.

The one at the front was Murat.

No cavalry, infantry, or artillery could stand in front of Murat’s swordsmanship.

Eugene watched the scene from behind and whistled.

“He’s really like Lu Bu [a famous warrior from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms].”

“Who’s that? Yaupau?”

“Um, like William Marshal, or Guillaume le Maréchal [renowned medieval knight]. The best knight of the Middle Ages.”

Eugene was lightly commenting on Murat’s prowess to Ippolito when.

[Charge. Commander, Beaulieu ahead.]

A silver-lettered notification appeared.

Eugene was surprised and narrowed his brow as he watched the front.

The front, where the white notification was clearly visible, was deep inside the camp.

The scene of Beaulieu, the enemy commander, retreating with his entourage was clearly visible.

At that moment, Junot ran up to Eugene, panting.

He was covered in blood, so it seemed that Junot had also been breaking through the ranks.

“Wow, you’re really brave. Huh? What’s wrong, Brigade Commander Delegate?”

“Junot, let’s follow him.”

“What?”

Eugene spurred his horse and shouted.

“Follow Murat! Now is the perfect opportunity to break through!”

Junot blinked and smiled.

“A hunch? Good!”

Junot had already seen Eugene’s [intuition] since Toulon.

On the battlefield, there were soldiers who were valued more than smart or brave soldiers.

Lucky soldiers.

Junot, a brave general who believed in Eugene’s luck, ran.

“Let’s go, glory is before our eyes!”

A path was opening.

Although there were 30,000 troops, Beaulieu’s corps had already fallen into a state of panic.

Napoleon’s bluecoats and Lannes’s Pyrenean cavalry were pushing from the front, and Massena’s division was bayonet-charging from the rear.

Here, Murat was breaking through from the flank to the center.

In an instant, the central part of the camp, which should never have been opened, was breached.

It was the place where the commander, Beaulieu, was running.

-Clatter, clatter, clatter!

Eugene was literally driving his horse at full speed and approaching Beaulieu’s face.

“H-huh?”

Eugene aimed his pistol at the horrified Beaulieu.

-Bang!

Literally one shot.

Beaulieu’s head was pierced by the bullet.

Eugene had captured the commander for the second time, following Count Argenteau.

And with one shot.

Just as Ippolito was running up in surprise, Eugene shrugged.

“I still had a pistol left. For emergencies.”

At that moment, the quick-witted Ippolito didn’t miss this situation.

“Here! Commander Beaulieu! Has been capt-ured!”

Ippolito’s loud shout echoed across the battlefield.

The allies briefly turned around and cheered again as they charged, while the enemies turned around in surprise and screamed as they retreated.

The Austrian Lombardy Corps were all volunteers.

But there was no way to endure the situation where the commander was dead and they were being attacked from all sides.

From the beginning, they had failed to pour all their firepower into Massena’s division.

That was Beaulieu’s mistake.

But Beaulieu was never given the opportunity to make up for his mistake.

Junot whistled and approached Eugene.

“It’s completely collapsed. The enemy.”

“The Lombardy Corps is collapsing so easily.”

“Oh, isn’t that the commander over there?”

Eugene turned his head in surprise, and Napoleon was running over.

“Eugene!”

Behind him, Lannes and Duroc were running as if they were desperately guarding him.

The speed of the horses was so fast that even the soldiers couldn’t keep up.

Napoleon was also sprinting at full speed.

Eugene hurriedly got off his horse and greeted Napoleon.

“Commander! It’s dangerous. Let’s call the soldiers first!”

But Napoleon didn’t care and jumped off, hugging Eugene.

“As expected, you’re my son!”

Eugene blinked in confusion at the completely unexpected words.

“Yes? When did I? Wait a minute.”

Napoleon didn’t care about Eugene’s confusion.

The Lombardy Corps was fleeing.

The French Italian Corps was charging.

The outcome of the battle was already decided.

At this moment of victory, Napoleon declared.

“Look, soldiers! Today, my [son], the young standard-bearer, has captured the commander! We have won!”

The charging soldiers cheered.

“Waaaaa!”

Soon after, the screams of the fleeing Austrian soldiers followed.

Among them, Lannes’s Pyrenean cavalry’s pursuit was dazzling.

In an instant, they broke through the center, and the 3,000 Pyrenean cavalrymen turned around in unison.

Roselmini, Provera, who had fled, and the remaining troops of Beaulieu had to face the cavalry’s attack.

“Aaaaaaack!”

“Save me! You damn French bastards!”

“Surrender! Please!”

Gunfire, sword strikes, and cavalry impact.

Soldiers dying from bullets, blades, and hooves.

A truly horrific battlefield.

But it was an overwhelming victory.

Eugene looked at the battlefield and realized why Napoleon was cheering.

The Austrian Lombardy Corps, which had a total of 40,000 men, had melted away at Lodi.

There were no more Austrian troops in Lombardy.

Napoleon declared to the sky.

“Lombardy is ours!”

Lodi, 3 PM on May 14, 1795.

At this moment, Napoleon’s corps became the masters of Lombardy.