Chapter 979 Firmly Believe

Benedek knew the defense of northern Italy well and knew the loopholes in every defense. He could even name the garrison officer of each fortress.

He also knew very well that even if the French army really had 300,000 people, the two sides would just be back on the same starting line.

Northern Italy originally had a heavy stockpile of troops. Coupled with wartime expansion and the large number of new soldiers recruited by the Austrian government after the Great Restoration War to solve the problem of refugees and unemployment, the Austrian Empire also had 300,000 troops in the Italian Theater at this time. .

Strictly speaking, Bellevue, the enemy's commander, was not a general in the traditional sense. He was worse than those aristocratic generals who had never been on the battlefield.

Bellevue played more of a secretary role in the French army. If it had not been for the outbreak of the February Revolution, he would never have been able to command a large army alone in his life.

Only this kind of person would come up with such a crazy strategy of five-pronged attack, and be willing to concentrate the main force to attack from the direction of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

If Carlo Alberto had not rejected the Austrian Empire's offer of assistance early in the war, the French would still be lingering on the border between the two countries.

Of course, it was reasonable for Carlo Alberto to reject the Austrian Empire's proposal. After all, no ruler would want other countries' armies to enter their land.

In addition to its powerful troops, Bellevue's army also has a staff group recruited from the Saint-Cyr Military Academy. These people will undoubtedly be a big trouble.

Benedek was right about other aspects such as weapons and equipment, but Marshal Radetzky still felt very sorry.

Benedek was indeed one of the best officers in northern Italy and even the entire Austrian Empire at this time in all aspects.

However, the vision is still too low. All I know is that blindly defending lacks the general spirit of a big country.

As for having a low vision, there is nothing to be done about it. After all, there are too few wars in this era, and there are almost no super powerful enemies. If you spend all day pecking at each other with these novices in Italy for a long time, you will inevitably have a narrow vision.

"Mr. Colonel, your defense is indeed impregnable, but what if the French choose to concentrate their forces and attack only one point?"

Marshal Radetzki didn't want to hurt the young man's self-esteem, so he adopted this more tactful approach.

If this were the East in the same era, an officer in his forties who had been in the military for many years would have knelt down to thank his mentor if he had received such a suggestion from his old boss.

But at this time, Benedek was still talking endlessly about strategic defense, such as mobile defense.

The railway lines of the Austrian Empire provided the possibility for mobile defense, but this was still very passive in the eyes of Marshal Radetzky.

He couldn't help but interrupt Colonel Benedek's tirade.

"Mr. Colonel, maybe we can consider attacking the enemy's rear directly and cutting off the enemy's supplies. In this way, we may be able to win at a lower cost."

The old marshal thought that the other party would suddenly realize it and change his overly conservative thinking.

However, Benedek's answer surprised the old marshal.

"Your Excellency, Marshal, our country has not declared war on the Kingdom of Sardinia, and our troops cannot enter the territory of the Kingdom of Sardinia without authorization."

Radetzky was speechless.

"This is easy to handle. Just ask His Majesty the King to write us a statement soon."

"But this."

"It's nothing good! Did the French inform them before attacking the Kingdom of Sardinia?"

"Your Majesty Marshal, according to our intelligence network, the French did submit a declaration of war before attacking the Kingdom of Sardinia."

Benedek's words made the old marshal speechless again, and Radetzky finally chose to give up.

"Mr. Benedek, please obey the order."

"Yes, Marshal. Just give the order!"

Benedek saluted with a serious expression.

"Then Mr. Benedek, I need you to lead a force deep into the Kingdom of Sardinia to block Bellevue's supplies and the French army's retreat."

Marshal Radetzki pointed at the map.

"Genoa?" Benedek asked in confusion. "But the main force of the French army is clearly preparing for a decisive battle with our army on the line of the Toce River."

The Torce River, a tributary of the Po River, is located in northwestern Italy, dividing the Piedmont and Lombardy regions.

"Who said that the French army would fight us on the line of the Toce River? Did Bellevue tell you?"

The old marshal finally looked a little sulky.

“Not only did the main force of the French army gather along the Tocé River, but our army’s intelligence also showed that a large number of French troops appeared near the Tocé River.

Moreover, the main force of the Kingdom of Sardinia also chose to fight our army here."

Benedek is still trying to explain his logic, which is a very bad habit of his. Due to his background, Benedek was both proud and inferior, because he could not afford even one failure, but many people could decide his fate with just one sentence.

If Benedek was allowed to reflect carefully, maybe he would be able to think of it after a while, but the old marshal couldn't wait any longer.

"What you see is just what the enemy wants you to see. According to the intelligence, it is a joke that Bellevue leads the troops, but I can tell you that the enemy's arrangement is very careful.

I am afraid that the French have been preparing this attack plan for many years. It is indeed the Battle of Toce River that determines the outcome. However, the key to this battle is not on the Toce River line, but on Genoa! The Ligurian Pass to be exact.

The French can attack our rear directly from here, and we can also attack the enemy's rear directly from here. "

Benedek still couldn't understand.

"Marshal, I can understand that the French can attack our rear through the Ligurian Pass. But the French rear is in Turin, what's the point of us occupying Genoa?"

"We need the French rear to be in Turin, not Genoa. This is an order jointly issued by the Supreme Command and the General Staff, and the colonel is executing the order."

"Yes! Marshal! "

Benedek is a qualified officer, but his strategic vision is still a little poor. Or it can be said that most of the Austrian officers of this generation lack strategic vision, but the royal family has produced many talents.

For example, the strategy of setting Turin as the rear base of the French army is very clever, and it was Franz who proposed this strategy.

The French army's strategy of relying on the enemy for food is indeed very clever, and democracy and freedom can indeed bewitch people's hearts, but putting the two together is a bit out of place.

In order to solve the threat of the Kingdom of Sardinia once and for all and to recover the war reparations owed by Carlo Alberto, Archduke Franz's strategy is definitely the most brilliant approach.

At the same time, according to the estimates of Archduke Franz and the General Staff, the French army is very likely to use its maritime advantage to the front line Transporting supplies and troops, or the French army can only quickly deliver supplies and troops to the front line through the sea route.

So the key to this war will be the fight for Genoa.

Turin, the Royal Palace of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

In fact, there was no need for Franz's induction at all, Bellevue set Turin as his rear base.

Bellevue himself and his staff even lived directly in the palace. Although the Turin Palace could not be compared with those palaces in Paris, the accumulation of the Kingdom of Sardinia for a hundred years still made them shine.

Not to mention that the French army entered Turin as a victor and savior. At this time, the people of Turin, and even all the Piedmontese, regarded the French army as heroes.

The French army can have such momentum and reputation naturally with the Kingdom of Sardinia. Those guides are inseparable from the "progressive people".

Of course, this is also due to the influence of the French Revolution, which made France a beacon for all of Europe and gave them a large number of supporters and spiritual French people all over Europe.

The French army was warmly welcomed by the Sardinian people when it went to the Toce River front, and the recruitment stations set up by the French army along the way were all overcrowded.

Everyone believed that the French army could replicate Napoleon's miracle, but Bellevue's staff were worried, because Austria's military strength in Italy was far beyond their imagination. There is no doubt that they must have encountered the main force of the Austrian army.

The most terrifying thing is that due to the decline of the Kingdom of Sardinia and the previous war, almost all the important strongholds on the Austrian-Sardinian border are in Austria. The French army was in a favorable position, which made the French strategy very passive.

The most reasonable tactic turned out to be a decisive battle along the Tocce River, but the existence of the river put the attacker in a very unfavorable situation.

Before the war, Bellevue's staff thought of bypassing the Ligurian Pass to sneak attack the rear of the Austrian Empire, and for this purpose they specially requisitioned 20 transport ships from the navy.

But even so, the Austrians blocked the Ligurian Pass before them, and the war fell into a stalemate again.

These experts under Bellevue who are familiar with war history and have rich theoretical knowledge would not choose to attack rashly, after all, in their opinion, this lacks the beauty of the art of war.

In the end, they only came to a conclusion, which is to wait.

"Don't we have any better way?"

Bellevue didn't want to wait, he wanted to continue to create miracles. If he could take Milan, maybe he could also take Vienna, and then return home with a great victory to quell the chaos and become the chief consul, or even the first citizen.

However, the staff's cold answer broke his fantasy.

"No. According to the current battlefield situation, we are at a disadvantage. Unless you plan to fight a battle you are not sure of. "

Belvie could only sigh helplessly, but it was a good achievement for him to occupy the Kingdom of Sardinia.

If he had not encountered the main force of the Austrian Empire, he would have been able to fight to Vienna.

But even if he comforted himself in this way, Belvie still could not hide his disappointment.

At this time, the chief staff officer changed the subject.

"But the main force of Austria cannot always hold out against us. After all, we have five armies. When Austria is in distress everywhere, they will have to fight us.

So we just need to build fortifications and wait for the enemy to die. "

After hearing this, Belvie's brows immediately relaxed. He was an outsider in marching and fighting, so he relied heavily on these experts from the Saint-Cyr Military Academy.

Belvie believed their words even more.

If they really encountered the main force of the Austrian Empire, then the analysis of these experts from the Saint-Cyr Military Academy was not wrong.