I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 744 The decision is yours! Take the emperor!

All the officers looked at the map in unison, looking thoughtful.

Berthier frowned in confusion and said:

"Your Highness, what do you mean by the right fist?"

Before Joseph could answer, Napoleon's eyes lit up as he sat in the back row. He took a few steps forward excitedly and said desperately:

"Italy! Yes, this will be the best breakthrough point. It will be like a violent right fist hitting Austria's jaw..."

Duke Broy glanced at the young officer with some dissatisfaction and said in a deep voice:

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"Please be quiet, Lieutenant Colonel Buwanaba, you are so rude."

Joseph, however, looked at Napoleon with a smile:

"Please tell me why you think Italy is the best breakthrough point?"

He knew very well that Napoleon's famous battle was to lead a group of new soldiers and rely on his amazing military talent to quickly pass through Italy, giving the most important breath to the Directory's critical situation at the time.

Perhaps it is the inertia of history, but now when facing the anti-French alliance, the emperor once again showed a strong interest in Italy.

Napoleon glanced at Duke Broy nervously, organized his words, and bowed to Joseph:

“Your Highness, what you just said reminded me.

"We have been focusing on the north before. Although it is the main battlefield and the strategic location is very important, it also gathers a large number of enemy troops. The total troops of Prussia, Austria, Hanover, and the Netherlands will exceed 200,000, so if we want Implementing your proactive offensive plan can be extremely difficult.

"The only strong enemy in Italy is Austria. Oh, maybe they can also get support from Sardinia and the British fleet, but the overall strength is much weaker than the northern front.

“However, Italy is connected to the belly of Austria!

“As long as Milan is conquered, we can reach Campo Formio along Venice, oh, the merchants there have almost no resistance.

"After that, there will be only the Sava River between our army and Vienna!"

Joseph cast a very approving look at Nahuang:

"Your military vision is very keen. The Austrians only thought of attacking the south of our country from Sardinia, but they forgot that it was also their weakest point."

The officers in the conference room all showed surprise.

It turns out that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince’s words about taking the initiative to attack were not just words.

But everyone soon discovered that if the Austrian army in Italy could really be defeated, then the war situation would indeed turn in a direction favorable to France as Napoleon said.

Berthier looked at Napoleon, then at Joseph, and said cautiously:

"Your Highness, is this too risky? I mean, if our progress in Italy does not go smoothly, it will be difficult to withdraw the troops into the country..."

His worries are not unnecessary.

Between France and Italy are the towering Alps. Although there are many low-altitude mountain passes that can be passed, the climate there is very harsh, and it is basically covered with snow every year except in summer. In winter, the mountains may even be blocked by snow.

If the army wants to retreat from the Alps, it is easy to crowd in front of the mountain pass and be defeated by the enemy forces that catch up.

Joseph's tone was very confident:

"I am confident that the French soldiers will achieve great victory in Italy.

"Besides, we will launch a counterattack from the direction of Switzerland and support each other with the Italian army.

“Even if there is an accident on the Italian side, with the support of the Swiss Army, the situation can be stabilized quickly.

"You don't think that the Austrians can win in both directions, do you?"

Although Berthier was indeed a little worried, looking at the Crown Prince's determined eyes, he still took a deep breath, shook his head and said: "No, Your Highness, we will defeat them in both directions!"

"very good."

Joseph nodded, then looked at Admiral Pierre de Dumopin sitting in the front row, and said solemnly:

"General Dimobin, you are now appointed commander-in-chief of the Italian Front.

"It has the Jourbet Army, the Corsica Army, the Moulins Army, as well as the Lyon, Montpellier, and Toulouse Army. You need to assemble the army in Savoy as quickly as possible, and then launch an attack on Milan ”

Milan is Austria's political and military center in Italy. As long as Milan can be destroyed, Austria's influence on the Apennine Peninsula can be cut by more than half.

However, when Joseph gave the order, the officers of the General Staff all looked puzzled and looked at each other quietly.

General Dimobin is nearly 60 years old, and his health is not very good. Although he has a certain prestige in the army, it is still somewhat inappropriate for him to command such a dangerous and complex task as the attack on Italy.

Moreover, the crown prince gave the old general's troops...

Although there are about 35,000 people in total, all of them are "traditional legions", which is what the crown prince calls the "old army". Among them, the Mulan Legion, which is also known as the "Strongest Traditional Legion", has relatively strong combat effectiveness, while the other legions are very ordinary.

General Dimobin was also quite surprised. He thought that at most he would help allocate logistics supplies at the General Staff Headquarters, but he did not expect that he would be appointed as the commander-in-chief of the front army.

But he still immediately raised his head and stood upright:

"Yes, Your Highness!"

Joseph nodded to him, and then looked at Napoleon, the acting commander of the Corsican Army:

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"Lieutenant Colonel Buvanaba, you are appointed as the second commander of the Italian Front, assisting General Dimopin in commanding the battle in Italy."

Napoleon's eyes widened in shock.

He just heard that the Corsica Corps would go to Italy with the army, and thought that at most he would be the commander of a branch, but the prince directly made him the second in command of the front!

He was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly stood at attention, excitedly shouted:

"Yes, Your Highness! Thank you for your trust, I will never let you down!"

Joseph smiled:

"Go ahead, I believe you will achieve outstanding results."

This is his goal.

It is true that Napoleon's current rank and qualifications are too low, and there will be many officers with much higher ranks than him who may not obey his command.

So, Joseph assigned him Dimopin to deter the army.

With Dimopin's physical strength, it is very difficult to cross the Alps, and it is almost impossible to command the subsequent battles.

Therefore, Napoleon will become the de facto commander-in-chief.

When Napoleon improves his prestige with real achievements, there will be no need to use tiger skin as a banner.

As for the quality of the troops, it is not a problem for Napoleon.

Historically, Napoleon won the Italian campaign with a group of new soldiers. Although he is now given the old army, there is not a single new soldier.

And there are elite troops like the Moulin Corps.

Napoleon will definitely give the Austrians a huge surprise.

After completing the deployment on the Italian side, Joseph looked at another veteran sitting in the front row:

"General Digomier, appoint you as the commander-in-chief of the Rhine Front."