The battle started smoothly. Lahap and Massena seized Dego from the hands of the Austrian army on the 14th. But their army got drunk and looted the Dago, so the victory was lost. At about 3 a.m. on the 15th, the Austrian reinforcements who had traveled day and night from Voltri to Dego easily defeated the drunk French army. Massena, who was sleeping with a village girl in bed, was also discovered by them. He did not have time to get his sword and boots before he jumped over the window and fled over the wall. He did not leave any guards or sentries, and he paid the price for it. It was not until the 17th that the furious Napoleon personally led his troops to recapture Dego. Due to Massena's dereliction of duty, the French attack plan was greatly delayed. Napoleon's plan to send 24,000 French soldiers to fight Colley's 13,000 Piemontese soldiers was delayed by at least two days. This gave Colley a chance to catch his breath and retreat from Cheva. The battle that could have been resolved in a few weeks was extended for months. Nevertheless, due to the opening of the passage to Cheva, the French army was able to march into the Piemonte Plains and get rid of Bollier's control. Looking at the snow-capped Alps, Napoleon sighed. Hannibal crossed the Alps, but I had to go around it.
After setting up camp in an old castle in Leizenow, Napoleon saw Serurier force Colli's army to retreat to Mandovi. Colley's retreat to Mandovi was exactly what the French wanted, allowing the French, who had suffered heavy losses in the past few days, to easily defeat Colley. In the pursuit, the commander of Napoleon's cavalry was killed and Murat took his place. After that, the French advanced into Alba, Fossano, and Kailasco. On April 25th, they captured the military town of Kelasco and seized a large number of supplies, ammunition, cannons, and four-wheeled carriages. For the first time in weeks, the soldiers had a full meal and even received their pay.
Frightened by the approaching French army, the King of Sardinia completely lost his ability to resist and his spirit was greatly defeated. In Turin, he proposed a truce to the terrifying Napoleon, who agreed to negotiate on April 28. The Sa army gave up the three strongholds of Kony, Cheva, and Tortona (or Alexandria). The French army controlled all the occupied places and had the right to freely pass through Piedmont and the right to cross the Po River at Valentsa. The King of Sardinia was forced to withdraw from the Austrian Alliance, and his regular army was reorganized into a garrison that could not interfere with the French army. The Quelasco Armistice gave Napoleon a temporary, far from secure foothold in Piedmont, until the Austrian army was permanently neutral. Like the Piedmontese army, the Austrian army was now shaken by the magical attack of the French army.
The insufferably arrogant Napoleon returned to Paris with the Kailasco Armistice, accompanied by Deputy General Murat and the senior political representative of the army, Salicetti, who had once requested his arrest and imprisonment (how this change happened was still a mystery). In any case, in less than two weeks, Napoleon had captured a series of cities, defeated the Piedmontese army, killed more than 6,000 enemies, and captured tens of thousands of prisoners of war. However, all of this was mainly due to the fact that the opponent was outnumbered, the leader was weak, and the morale, determination, and confidence were far inferior to his own. Therefore, Napoleon still needed to further prove himself. The victorious French army was still in dire straits, which forced its commander to ask for reinforcements from the government. But this did not delay his preparation for the next round of attack. As he informed Carnot, I intend to pursue the victory and defeat the Austrian army before you have time to reply to me.
Napoleon said to his troops,"
Soldiers! You have won six victories in fifteen days, seized twenty-one flags and fifty-five cannons, conquered many fortresses, occupied the wealthiest part of Piemonte, captured fifteen thousand enemies, killed and wounded more than ten thousand [sic]…You have won battles without cannons, crossed rivers without bridges, marched without shoes and socks, camped on an empty stomach without food and wine…but, soldiers! Don't deceive yourselves, you still haven't gained anything, because you still have many things to do, because neither Turin nor Milan are in our hands! The motherland has the right to expect great achievements from you! We still have battles to fight, cities to conquer, rivers to cross…My friends, I dare say that you will achieve all the success!
Then he changed the topic to the Piedmontese Army.
The people of Italy! The French army has broken the chains of slavery for you. The French people are friends of all people. Have faith in us and work with us! Your property, your religion, and your customs will be respected.
After the capture of Alexandria, the French continued to pursue the Austrian army, forcing them to retreat to the north bank of the Po River on April 30, 1796. After replenishing, Napoleon's army reached 40,000. He ordered Seruriya to pretend to be the main force and cross the Po River at Valentsa to fight a decisive battle with Bolio on the north bank. At the same time, he led his main force to the lower reaches of the Po River to launch an unexpected attack. Behind the Austrian army was Milan, the capital of Lombardy, which was Napoleon's next target.
On May 6, the French army reached the lower reaches of the Po River. Before dawn the next day, Colonel Rana led 3,600 Grenadiers and 2,500 Cavalrymen to Piacenzia after a five-hour march. Although they were a tired army, when Lana led four battalions across the Po River, they were full of fighting spirit. A few miles to the northwest, halfway to Milan, was Lodi. Augero was crossing the Po at Vareto, followed by Seruriers and Massena.
That night, during the fierce scuffle between the Napoleonic Army and the Bollier Army in Cordono, General Lahap was accidentally injured by his own people's bullets. Napoleon ordered Bertier to replace him in command. Even though the number of soldiers in Bollier's army far exceeded that of the French, the 73-year-old veteran still retreated to Lodi on the Ada River. On the 9th, Massena and all the troops of Seruriers crossed the Po after a 60-mile march. Napoleon was determined to stop Bolio from escaping and had a showdown with the Austrian commander in Lodi. However, Bolio had already crossed the Ada River and retreated to Colimona. When the French army approached Lodi on May 10th, Bolio had already deployed 10,000 elite soldiers to defend the bridgehead.
As always, Napoleon always took the lead in a battle he was determined to win. After capturing Lodi, he mobilized 24 cannons to attack the Austrian army on the Ada River. Under the fierce attacks of Massena and Bertier, the Austrian army quickly collapsed. The tenacious Austrian army retreated to Brescia in the face of a strong enemy, achieving the goal of stalling the French army.
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