Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Among the French Cavalry, a few who understood German heard the shout of the camp leader and immediately joined in the loud shouting.

Grouchy initially only intended to bolster his own momentum, but unexpectedly, this shout had an unforeseen effect.

The truth was that the Austrian Army was truly afraid after the previous battles with Napoleon.

Particularly, nearly half of the Austrian left wing soldiers had participated in the Toulon campaign before. They immediately recalled that whenever the French suddenly charged, their side would swiftly retreat.

Thus, the “Toulon Veterans” began to flee first.

The soldiers Melas brought from Switzerland saw this and were more convinced that they were under a massive French surprise attack, quickly following suit in retreat.

Just like that, over 7,000 Austrian soldiers were chased around by more than 1,000 French Hussars, and the entire Austrian left wing began to collapse.

Ogero reacted swiftly, concentrating all his troops to the north, further exacerbating the collapse of the Austrian Army on this side.

Seeing the French suddenly retreat, Melas’ central forces excitedly rushed into San Gilliano Town and reported the victory to Melas at the rear.

Outside Marengo Village, Melas simultaneously received reports about the occupation of San Gilliano and a massive French surprise attack on the left wing.

Combining these two pieces of information, he could only deduce one conclusion: San Gilliano was deliberately abandoned by the French.

The purpose was to disperse his forces to enable a surprise attack from the north side.

He hurriedly dispatched Chervoni to lead the entire reserve army to set up defensive lines northeast of Marengo and ordered the central and right-wing units to immediately retract to prevent being annihilated by division.

At one o’clock in the afternoon, Melas got ready for a decisive battle with the French main forces, and after sending out numerous cavalry for repeated reconnaissance, he finally confirmed nearby were only the previous less than 6,000 French Army and more than 1,000 reinforcements of cavalry.

He flew into a rage and ordered a renewed attack on San Gilliano.

Just by being repeatedly tossed around like this, the Austrian soldiers were utterly exhausted, dawdling to finally return in front of Ogero’s defensive line after three o’clock.

Ogero and Marmon gazed at the dense Austrian soldiers not far away, both feeling overwhelmed with a sense of defeat.

After a morning of battle, their troops suffered heavy casualties, now only 5,000 soldiers capable of fighting remained, and morale was low.

Grouchy’s cavalry brimmed with enthusiasm but faced with more than 50,000 Austrian forces, they had virtually no power to fight.

It’s almost certain that if the enemy launched a fierce assault, their side would immediately collapse.

Ogero tiredly mounted his horse, passing by the soldiers shouting with all his might: “At most three more hours and nightfall will descend. Darkness will force the Austrians to retreat.

“And these three hours will decide the fate of entire Northern Italy!

“I will stay right here, at the place closest to the enemy, to witness the future with you!”

“Listen, no one should think about defeating us!”

The already lifeless-eyed French soldiers straightened up in response, declaring, “Right, just hold on for three more hours!”

“We won’t be defeated!”

“Hold on…”

The distant sound of the Austrian attack horn rang out.

Soon, the infantry formation of more than 15,000 from the Argento Corps appeared less than 400 meters away, rapidly approaching the French defensive line under cover of cannon fire.

Ogero indeed fulfilled his promise, standing continuously in front of all the soldiers under enemy artillery fire.

His 5,000 soldiers, motivated by his encouragement, along with Grouchy’s cavalry, desperately repelled Argento’s first wave of assault.

However, on their two flanks, more than 20,000 enemy troops have completed the encirclement.

There are more than two hours left until nightfall…

Ogero looked towards the enemies attacking from the north, though he was extremely reluctant, but he also knew the soldiers had long surpassed their limits, unable to hold on for another minute.

Just as he entertained giving up, sudden cannon sounds came from far north.

Ogero was startled, this distance definitely exceeded the range of his defensive line.

There was only one possibility, someone launched an attack on the Austrian Army’s flank.

It must be reinforcements!

Indeed, the Austrian Army’s assault began to slow, the Argento Corps gradually assembled towards the north, leaving behind only a small contingent to confront Ogero.

Ten minutes later, Grouchy’s cavalry brought him the long-awaited good news: “It’s Colonel Bonaparte! Our main forces have arrived!”

Ogero’s soldiers immediately erupted in cheers, the originally scattered formation quickly rearranging into order.

On the other side, Melas fell into deep anxiety.

Argento reported earlier that at least 20,000 French troops suddenly appeared in the northwest direction.

Fortunately, Argento responded promptly, swiftly adjusting the formation, preventing the flank from being routed.

Melas gripped his cane tightly and said to Chervoni nearby, “Immediately lead the reserve forces to the north for reinforcements.”

“Yes, General.”

Melas then turned to the Order Officer: “Order the Argento Corps to attack the French main forces’ left wing from Castelcchio.

“The Coli Army will raid the enemy’s right wing along the Bormida River.

“The Royal Moravian Cavalry Camp will coordinate with General Chirvoni to launch a strong attack, we must defeat the enemy before dark!”

He was pressing all his forces forward.

He didn’t know how many reinforcement troops the French had behind them, so he had to repel the enemy in front as quickly as possible and then continue towards Lodi.

North of Marengo.

Napoleon, upon hearing the cavalry’s report that San Gilliano Town was still in Ogero’s hands, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

While coming here, he had been blaming himself.

It was his misjudgment on Melas’ movements that led the army to deploy to the north bank of the Tanaro River, giving the enemy an opportunity to exploit.

Fortunately, Ogero held on for a day and a half without letting Melas move eastward, otherwise, the French strategic situation would have become very dire—he would have had to launch a siege battle on Melas’ held Lodi, or else, with the arrival of Vilmos Army Corps in Northern Italy, the Austrian Army in Northern Italy would have a tremendous manpower advantage. The subsequent battles would become increasingly difficult.

While Napoleon was lost in thought, Joubert’s Courier hurried over, announcing loudly: “Commander, more than 20,000 enemy troops are preparing to attack from the front, the Master needs you to send reinforcements.”

Joubert’s Corps was responsible for the frontline, with only less than 8,000 soldiers.

Napoleon was about to deploy Murat’s Corps when two cavalrymen rushed in succession, reporting: “Commander, at least 10,000 enemy troops appeared in the direction of Castelcchio.”

“Commander, the enemy’s Coli Army is encircling our right wing with nearly 15,000 soldiers.”

Napoleon immediately frowned, an all-out assault by 45,000 Austrian Army on him, which was nearly all of Melas’ forces.