After saying this, Napoleon began to cheer everyone up again, telling them: "Italy is full of greedy and brutal nobles and clergy. The former has accumulated a large amount of ill-gotten wealth by squeezing its own people for hundreds and thousands of years; The latter even levied eleven taxes on the whole of Europe, and amassed an astonishing amount of sin by selling exonerations.

Today, these ill-gotten gains are being used against us by them, because they are afraid of the revolution in France, because they are afraid that the revolutionary France will become a beacon of democracy and freedom for the whole of Europe! They are afraid that the people whom they have oppressed for hundreds or even millennia, and who have been trampled by them like mud, after seeing the light of France, and having learned about the rights and future that the French people have won for themselves, will rise up like the French people and throw these guys who ride on their heads to the ground - just as we do in France!

My brothers, these riches were originally owned by the people, especially by the clergy, but by the whole of Europe, including the French people! They were supposed to be used for the liberal liberation of the peoples of Europe, but now, they are being used to suppress the freedom of Europe; They were supposed to be used to make a good life for the people of all Europe, but now they are being used to make it impossible for the people of Europe to live a good life - can such a thing continue?

So, we should go into Italy, confiscate the wealth, and use it where it deserves to be used. We are to confiscate all the assets of the reactionary nobles and clergy, and distribute some of them to the local populace in order to win their support, and the other part, such as gold and silver coins and various works of art, to support our military operations and reward heroes. ”

At this point, at least the morale of the officers has risen, because the translation of this sentence is: all the wealth that can be taken away will be given to everyone, and we have come to Italy to drink wine, eat meat in large pieces, weigh and divide the money, and be Robin Hood. As for the morale of the soldiers, the officers present said that as long as the meaning of this operation is clearly explained to everyone, everyone will definitely support it, after all, there is meat to eat in Italy.

Then came the pre-war training. New, supposedly misappropriated guns, were quickly distributed to the soldiers.

"It's all rifled guns? Is this let's go to the Alps to hunt wild boars? "When I first got my guns, a lot of soldiers asked questions. However, after the technicians of the "Bonaparte Institute" demonstrated the use of this new type of gun with new ammunition, everyone's attitude towards this weapon immediately changed to "real fragrance".

"What a good thing, nothing bad with the 'Bonaparte' trademark! Look at the 'Bonaparte melon' and the 'Bonaparte rifle' – compared to this thing, what the government has issued to us is nothing more than a burning stick! Why didn't you give us this gun before, but sell it to the Americans? ”

"Is it because this gun is more expensive than the average gun?" Another soldier speculated.

The "technicians", who had been waiting for this sentence for a long time, immediately replied: "If you want to say expensive, it is indeed a little more expensive, after all, the gun has to be rifled, and the bullet is also specially made." If we add more than 100 percent of the profit at the price we export to the Americans, it will really be much more expensive. But I've heard that the original guns in your hands were not much cheaper than the price we quoted to the government. You know, for weapons sold to our army, our prices are always kept low. As for why the government refuses to buy our guns, we don't know. Maybe they don't believe in these novelty things. ”

"Technicians" are asked not to directly blame the government, but to do limited, unobtrusive guidance. As for the meaning of the back, the soldiers are not stupid hats, so they can naturally understand it.

"Cut, what's not to like novelty is that you didn't give them money! If there weren't any dirty deals, I wouldn't believe it! One soldier said at once.

"No matter how expensive it is, this thing can make us die a lot less! For the sake of a few dollars, they put such good things and refuse to use them, let us use such burning sticks, and let me say that there are some people in the government who really deserve to be guillotined. ”

"Buwei, you can't spread such a statement in the barracks, you have to correct your own words!" Company Commander Stanisas Naber stepped forward and said. However, his attitude was not tough, because what Private Auguste Bouwe said was actually what he had in mind.

"Okay, company commander." Bu Wei stretched out his hand and scratched the back of his head and said, "You're right, I'm correcting what I just said now that there are still some people in the current government who don't need to be guillotined." ”

The soldiers burst into laughter, and even the company commander, Stanisas Naber, joined suit.

"Okay, okay, really...... If you hadn't had this mouth, you would have been a platoon commander a long time ago......"

Immediately after getting his hands on the new weapon, Napoleon organized his army to conduct more targeted training, such as firing a salvo at a target at a distance of 400 yards, such as a skirmisher firing accurately at a target at a distance of 300 yards. All along, Napoleon worked to increase the proportion of skirmishers in his army, which made it relatively easier for his army to accept such weapons.

After almost a month of preparation, Napoleon with his army began to turn westward, heading to Italy.

A month later, in November 1795, Joseph received the first report from Napoleon, who led his army across the Alps in the snow and wind into Piedmont, where he engaged in contact with the Austrians and the troops of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

In order to be able to cross the Alps in the snowstorm, Napoleon dropped almost all the artillery pieces exceeding six pounds. However, the crossing of the Alps in winter was completely unexpected by the Austrians and Italians.

In history, when Napoleon crossed the Alps a few months later, in April 1796, Austria and the Kingdom of Sardinia had prepared an army of 80,000 men to counter Napoleon's army of 40,000. If it weren't for the coordination between the two countries, Napoleon's battle would have been really difficult to fight.

However, at this time, no one could have imagined that Napoleon would attack across the Alps in winter, because it almost meant that they could not have reliable supplies.

Therefore, the enemy army in front of him was very small, because more troops were transferred to Poland, and the Austrians had only about 20,000 men in the whole of Italy, and they were completely unprepared for battle, and they were scattered all over Italy, and it was not possible to concentrate them in a short time.

As for the Kingdom of Sardinia, they were in a better situation. They had about 50,000 troops to mobilize at once, and although these 50,000 were scattered throughout the country, the Kingdom of Sardinia was so large that it was better to concentrate the army than the Austrians.

But neither the Austrians nor the Italians felt the need to speed up their reactions. They knew that the French would have to cross the mountains for logistical supplies, so they simply couldn't hold each other. Therefore, they felt that their best response was to hold on to the most crucial points, and then slowly drag down the French.

Field Marshal Beaulieu, the commander of the Austrian army, wrote to Vittorio Amedeo III, king of the Kingdom of Sardinia, informing him of his knowledge and analyzing the logistical weaknesses of the French army. Finally, he said to the king:

"My Honoured Majesty, I am convinced that it is impossible for the French army to carry large quantities of artillery and gunpowder, and therefore their ability to attack fortifications is quite limited. As long as your country is not in a hurry to go to war, and holds firmly to the vital points which I have mentioned earlier, the French have nothing to worry about. We can drag them down little by little. ”

The commander of the Kingdom of Sardinia, General Colli, also expressed his support for the opinion of Marshal Beaulieux. He told the king: "The mountain roads in winter are very difficult to pass. The fact that the French were able to turn over with people was already a near-miraculous success. But in any case, it was impossible for them to bring a large number of cannons. And in the future, the Alpine trails will only become more difficult due to the influence of rain and snow. As long as the time drags on, the French are afraid that they will have difficulty even eating. They will collapse without a fight. ”

However, contrary to the expectations of Marshal Bolieu and General Colli, the French did not attack the points that were heavily defended by the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia, but bypassed them and dispersed directly into the plains of Piedmont.

These Frenchmen, like Arati, swept away the estates of the nobles scattered in the countryside. All kinds of things in the manor, as long as they are easy to carry, have been robbed by these Frenchmen. Some of the nobles who did not have time to flee to the city were captured by the French. The French set up the so-called "Revolutionary Court" on his estate, gathered all the lowly peasants in the vicinity, and then hung up the nobles in front of them. Then they burned the land deeds of the nobles in public, and announced that all the land in his name would be distributed to the peasants who were cultivating the land without compensation.

In fact, where is there such a thing as a title deed that is so easy to seize? The title deeds of the great nobles were not necessarily placed in the manors of the country. These so-called "title deeds" that were burned in public, except for a very small part, are basically forged things prepared in advance, and the countrymen have never seen them anyway, and they can't see any problems.

Napoleon, of course, knew that this alone was not enough to get the Italian peasants with "bewilderment" all over their faces to support him. But at least, these Italian peasants will not oppose him for the time being. And the sweep of these estates also allowed Napoleon not to worry too much about supplies for the time being.

The Kingdom of Sardinia was not foolish, and when Napoleon's army broke into the Piedmontese plain, they were already preparing to clear the wilderness. And to be honest, they were not too slow, of course, this so-called not slow was for the general level of this era, and the Napoleonic corps they faced was not quite the same as most of the armies of this era.

Because they were heavily equipped with Mini rifles, their firepower was actually much higher, and they were able to provide basic security on a smaller scale, so that the French could send enough small troops to carry out such a task in one go. On the other hand, the forces of the Kingdom of Sardinia had not yet been concentrated and were scattered at various points, which made them have no field forces that could really threaten the French army, and as a result, they could only indulge the French in Piedmont to "make a revolution".

The nobles, who had suffered huge losses, complained to the king, and they put pressure on him to ask the army to protect their property. They said that large quantities of food, and other goods, were in the estates outside the city, because the recent continuous rain and muddy roads had made it very difficult to move these things, and that if they were allowed to be plundered by the French, they would have suffered great losses.

Once the nobles were united, even the king could not ignore their cries. So the king, on the one hand, sent a letter to the Austrians, asking them to act at once, to gather their troops at once, and to come to their aid at once.

But the Austrians had a small number of troops in Italy at this time, and it was impossible to concentrate them all, and they would gather more than 10,000 people at most, and it would take time. So Marshal Beaulieux, while gathering his army, wrote again to King Amedeo III, advising him to continue to be patient, to wait for a better time, and not to rush into battle with the French.

But apparently the constant destruction of the French made King Amedeo III feel that he could not endure it any longer. Because these French not only swept across the countryside, but even began to set up their own "grassroots revolutionary government" based on the country estates that originally belonged to the aristocracy. They provided the peasants with weapons (the old equipment of the Fifth Legion) and training so that they could "defend their revolutionary gains", i.e. the little inconvenient scraps and the land that they had given them after the French had seized the estates.

The king felt that he could not tolerate such a thing to continue. For if they were able to drive the French away now, it would not be too difficult to restore order in Piedmont, but if the French were allowed to stay there for too long, it would be much more difficult to restore order there in the future, and besides, the rest of the country would be affected there.

"In the Piedmontese countryside, they already have enough food to last for a long time. That way, they won't have to worry too much about supplies until next spring. And if they were allowed to stay in Piedmont until next spring, it would be clearly unacceptable. In the end, King Amedeo III made such a judgment.