" Perhaps now... I'm also going to die..." Napoleon, who was rarely so depressed, warned the Directorate-General and asked Joseph to leave Milan and take refuge in Genaya. However, after days of heavy rain, the sky cleared up, and Napoleon's spirit returned to its original state. We just have to work hard again and Italy will be ours. There is no doubt that Alvinzi has far more men than us, but more than half of them are recruits... Some of our reinforcements have arrived, and the rest are on their way... You just need to defeat Alvinzi, and Napoleon will motivate his soldiers. I will take care of the rest!
On November 14th, Napoleon quietly left Verona with 12,000 men at night and crossed the Adeje River in two groups: One of the troops passed through Albaredo to Alponi, while the other arrived at Alcola Village at dawn. Between Alcola and Villanova was a large swamp. There were no roads at all, only narrow dams leading to the village. Alvenzi, who had 22,000 men guarding Caledillo, obviously thought that he was quite safe.
Napoleon's goal was to bypass Alcola and attack Villanova, cutting off Alvinzi's path of retreat. Maybe we will lose Italy tomorrow! Before the operation, Napoleon wrote to the Governor. Although his words were full of courage, very few reinforcements had arrived. Considering that his strength was extremely weak, Napoleon knew that he only had two choices: defeat or attack Napoleon chose to attack. He built a temporary wooden bridge over the Adeje River near the village of Ronko, and Augero crossed the river to the north. However, they did not reach Villanova. The heavy artillery fire of the Austrian army in the village of Arcola on the other side of the river had severely damaged them. If the situation was not reversed immediately, Napoleon's plan to cut off the retreat of the Austrian army would fail. Napoleon immediately grabbed a French tricolor flag and rushed to the heavily guarded Alcora bridgehead. Augero and the others grabbed their desperate commander and pulled him back to persuade him to stay rational. The artillery fire of the Austrian army was very fierce, and the French army was once again defeated. In the chaos, Napoleon fell off the dam and into the swamp, almost drowning. Fortunately, two officers rushed over and pulled out Napoleon, who was covered in mud, seaweed, and muddy boots. Almost at the same time, Massena launched an attack on Alcola Village from another dam. Again and again, Napoleon ordered Augero to attack the Arcola Bridge, but every time he was repelled by the Austrian army guarding the bridge. Rana, who had just returned from Milan, braved the hail of bullets and was shot three times to protect Napoleon. Napoleon's attendant officer, Millon, was killed in an explosion in order to save the commander. Just in case, Alvinzi led his troops to give up on Calediero and retreat across the Alponi River. Although Alcola was still firmly in the hands of the Austrian army, Verona was no longer threatened, and the plan of the Austrian army to surround him was foiled.
On the third day of the battle, November 17th, just as dawn broke, the French army crossed the various dams along the Adeje River and attacked Alcola in turn, making both sides exhausted. Now, with the arrival of the reinforcement from the Turks, the battle had entered a decisive phase. After failing to capture the Arcola Bridge for several days, the French built another bridge over the Alponi River, allowing Augero's 9,000 men to cross the river and repel the Austrian army. After noon, Napoleon launched his final attack on the village of Alcola. Massena attacked from the dam, while Augero attacked from the east bank of the Alponi River. The short Massena finally rushed across the bridge with the tip of his sword and his military cap. Although the battle was later depicted in a painting of Napoleon, the one who actually rushed across the bridge was Massena. Alcora was finally taken by the French army, and Alvinzi retreated north to Vicenzia. The French army won again.
Although Napoleon later boasted that there were 20,000 casualties in the Austrian army, the actual number was nearly 7,000, while the French army suffered 4,500 casualties. Three days after his mysterious departure from the gates of Milan, he entered Verona from the Porte di Venice in a victorious manner. I cannot describe the surprise and enthusiasm of the people. The news of Napoleon's victory at Alcola and the defeat of the Austrian army from Rivoli spread everywhere. "My dearest Josephine, I am at last among the living again," the victorious husband wrote to his wife at Verona on the 9th of November."I still keep my glory and honor." The enemy was defeated by us at Alcola…(though) I admit, I'm a little tired. However, if the third attack of the Austrian army ended in failure, then Napoleon's plan to decisively defeat Alvinzi was also foiled.
In November and December, the Napoleonic and Austrian armies were recovering their strength and storing their strength for a decisive battle in the future. Field Commander Alvinzi had expanded his forces in Bassallo to 45,000 men and was preparing to move towards Mantua, while Napoleon, excluding the 10,000 soldiers and 80 cavalry still besieging Mantua, had 34,500 men.
On January 8, 1797, Augero broke the silence when he reported that the Austrian army had attacked Lenago on the Adege River. The next day, another enemy force was reported to have returned to Calediero. At the same time, Massena in Verona was also attacked. However, it was not until the 13th that Napoleon understood Arvinzi's military intentions and deployment of troops. A recent report said that the main Austrian army was attacking La Corona. Apparently, Alvenzi, who was marching towards Rivoli on the west bank of Lake Garda, planned to meet up with Vilmze of Mantua.
Napoleon immediately gave the order to march north. Artillery and baggage moved slowly and with difficulty in the mountains, and the infantry, which were loaded with bullets, also had difficulty moving. At 2:30 a.m. on January 14th, Napoleon, riding at the head of the procession, arrived at Joubert's division in Rivoli. After reconnaissance, he found that there were three columns of the Austrian army deployed at the foot of the mountain. On the right was the Adeje River, and there was no bridge over the river.
At dawn, Joubert's 10,000 men and 18 cannons launched an attack on the 12,000 Austrian soldiers. By noon, the French army had increased to 23,000 men. However, the Austrian army was not intimidated. General Lujinyang used Napoleon's usual military tactics to detour to the rear of Napoleon and completely cut off the communication between the French army and the south road. Napoleon only sent half a brigade to deal with the sneak attack from the rear of the Austrian army, while the main force remained in Rivoli to fight.
Joubert's army was now extremely tired, but Napoleon judged that the same was true of the Austrian army. He reorganized Joubert's army. The powerful mountain cannons fired deadly shrapnel, which was extremely lethal to the Austrian army within the range of normal fire. Two carts of ammunition were blown up. The fierce attack of the French army, the bombardment from above, and the constant charge of infantry and cavalry caused the Austrian army to lose their helmets and armor. Almost at the same time, one of General Luzinyang's divisions was ambushed by Massena at Rivoli, and the Austrian reinforcements from the southern wing were also destroyed. In this battle, two of Napoleon's horses were shot and killed.
In the afternoon, when Napoleon saw that the overall situation had been settled, he handed over the command task to Massena and turned south to stop the Austrian army from reinforcing Mantua. The exhausted army arrived a little later than expected, but they still surprised the Austrian army when they appeared on the moor around Mantua. The Serurier Division had already captured La Freta and St. George, cutting off Mantua's north-south route. Wilmse's attempt to break out of Mantua had failed. The arrival of Napoleon forced the Austrian army in Lafafretta to surrender. As the young officer Lana said to his friend," The enemy was destroyed once again. There had never been such a bloody battle. We fought for three days and three nights in the rain and snow... We decided to attack and won a complete victory. Napoleon's military adventure was a complete victory. At this time, in Rivoli, General Joubert, with the support of the Murat cavalry, drove Alvinzi to the Adege River and fled into the mountains.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。