War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

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 groups coming out together, 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 at the beginning of 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 Radetzki still felt very sorry.

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

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 of 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 of 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. Our troops cannot enter the territory of the Kingdom of Sardinia without authorization."

Radetzki was speechless.

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

"But this."

"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 left the old marshal speechless for a while, but 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 Radetzky 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 northwest Italy, on the dividing line between Piedmont and Lombardy.

"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 thorough.

I am afraid that the French have been preparing this offensive plan for many years. The victory or defeat is indeed decided by the Battle of Toce River, but the key to this battle is not on the front line of Toce River, but Genoa! The Ligurian Pass to be exact.

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

Benedek still couldn't understand.

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

"We need the French rear in Turin, not in Genoa. This is an order from the High Command, a joint general staff, and the colonel carries it out."

"Yes! Your Excellency, Marshal!"

Benedek was a qualified officer, but his strategic vision was still somewhat poor. In other words, most 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 French rear area was very clever, and it was Franz who proposed this strategy.

The French army's strategy of relying on food to defeat the enemy is indeed very clever, and democracy and freedom can indeed confuse people's hearts, but when put together, the two are a bit nondescript.

In order to resolve the threat from the Kingdom of Sardinia once and for all and recover the war reparations owed by Carlo Alberto, Archduke Franz's strategy was 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 advantages to transport supplies and soldiers to the front line. In other words, the French army can only quickly send supplies and soldiers to the front line through sea channels.

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

Turin, Royal Palace of Sardinia.

In fact, without Franz's inducement at all, Bellevue set Turin as his rear area.

Bellevue himself and his staff even lived directly in the palace. Although the Turin Palace could not compare with those palaces in Paris, the centuries-old accumulation of the Kingdom of Sardinia still made their eyes shine.

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

The French army's momentum and reputation are naturally inseparable from the leading parties and "progressives" in the Kingdom of Sardinia.

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

When the French army marched to the front line of the Tocce River, they received a warm welcome from the Sardinian people. 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 frowning, because Austria's military strength in Italy far exceeded their imagination, and there was no doubt that they must have encountered it. The main force of the Austrian army

The most terrifying thing is that due to the decline of the Kingdom of Sardinia and previous wars, almost all important strongholds on the Austrian-Saharan border are in the hands of Austria, which makes the French army's strategy very passive.

The most reasonable tactic became a decisive battle along the Toce River, but the existence of the river put the attacker in a very disadvantageous situation.

Before the war began, Bellevue's staff thought of bypassing the Ligurian Pass and sneaking into the rear of the Austrian Empire. For this purpose, they specially recruited twenty transport ships from the navy.

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

It is impossible for Bellevue's experts who are familiar with war history and have rich theoretical knowledge to 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 one conclusion: wait.

"Don't we have anything better to do?"

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

However, the staff's cold answers shattered his illusions.

"No. According to the battlefield situation at this time, we are at a disadvantage. Unless you plan to fight an uncertain battle."

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

If he didn't meet the main force of the Austrian Empire, he would definitely be able to fight to Vienna.

But even though he comforted himself like this, Bellevue still couldn't hide his disappointment.

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

"However, Austria's main force cannot always be at a stalemate with us. After all, we have five armies. When the Austrian side is in danger, they will have to fight us decisively.

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

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

Bellevue believed in their words even more.

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