Napoleon's army did encounter some small Austrian strongholds as it crossed the Alps. But in general, these small strongholds really don't do much.

Originally, relying on the steep terrain, if these strongholds were really going to be defended, they could really be defended. Moreover, Grand Duke Karl also spent a lot of effort to transport some small artillery to these strongholds. However, "the city is not high, the pool is not deep, the military revolution is not strong, and the rice millet is not ......too much."

Most of the strongholds were only reminded of their most important duty after discovering the French army - to report the word. In order to ensure the success rate of the message, the messenger was not able to pass the most important information back because he was attacked by Xiong Daxiong Er, who was secretly communicating with France. So everyone went together to carry out the most important task, and everyone went back together to report the news.

And because they were in a hurry to go back and report the news, many guys didn't even have time to destroy the supplies. Of course, it makes sense to do this: we didn't run away, we went back to report the news, and after the report was finished, we had to go back to resist, how could we burn down the warehouse?

As a result, Napoleon unexpectedly received a little more supplies.

Soon Napoleon led his army out of the Alps. Napoleon knew that by this time the Austrians must have received the news and were preparing to engage him in battle. Napoleon was full of hope that he would be able to have a great decisive battle with the Austrians, and then one guy would crush the whole of Austria.

So Napoleon quickly sent a group of scout cavalry to unfold the map as quickly as possible and light up the field of vision.

After a few hours, the Scouts returned, and the news they received began to change into new icons on the map.

"And such an operation?" Napoleon looked at the map, a little surprised.

On both sides of the road leading to Vienna on the map, you will find a number of large and small fortresses. Because of the presence of the Austrian cavalry, and at this time, because of the fatigue caused by crossing the mountains, Napoleon's scout cavalry was not in good condition, so his scout cavalry did not go too far, as for the state of the farther places, it is not yet known.

Before leaving, Napoleon also inquired about the situation there from the merchants who came between Austria and Italy, but none of them mentioned that there was such a thing in Austria.

"How could they have done such a big project in such a short time?" Napoleon decided to take someone to the scene himself.

So Napoleon himself took a troop of cavalry and came to the nearest fortress.

"Hell! How can there be such a shoddy thing! Napoleon scolded.

Indeed, the so-called bastion in front of Napoleon was a shoddy thing. The outer layer of its walls is not a tightly flat brick and stone, but is piled up directly with baskets of wicker baskets containing stones, and the inside of the wall is probably not solid rammed earth or anything, maybe it is also the soil contained in such wicker baskets.

With such a thing, even digging the foundation can be saved. Of course, this is fast, but what comes out of this is naturally rags.

"Something like this, it only takes a few rains, a year at most, or even a few months, to crumble, sink, sink, and then completely turn into waste."

After taking a closer look through his binoculars, Napoleon made this judgment about this "bastion". But even so, at least for now, this "bastion" can really be used as a bastion.

While Napoleon continued to observe with his binoculars, a group of cavalry ran out of the fortress and swirled within range of the fort's cannons. They didn't really rush up, though.

Napoleon sank his face and said, "Let's go, let's go back." ”

The Austrian cavalry on the other side of the fortress watched Napoleon and his party go away, but did not dare to pursue.

On the way back, Napoleon had already figured out what the Austrians were up to.

Obviously, these Austrians no longer had the confidence to engage in a decent general battle with themselves. Now they can only hide in these makeshift "bastions". Their purpose is to force themselves to gnaw on these bastions one by one.

If this was in Italy, such a trick, Napoleon simply did not care. Not to mention how many Italian guns Napoleon captured in Italy - there are so many Italian guns, what kind of fortress are you afraid of? Even if you don't take into account the Italian artillery, Napoleon was in Italy, and there were a lot of Italian former peasants.

By dividing the land and sending some veterans who could speak Italian to the newly "liberated" villages as village heads, as well as settling daily wages, Napoleon could easily gather a large number of Italians in Italy, and then, isn't it just about building walls? Napoleon could easily build a longer wall, enclose the Austrians' bastions, and then take the army with him, like the Emperor, to ask the Austrian Emperor for the money to repair the wall.

But this is Austria, and if Napoleon wants to fight hard, because he has crossed the Alps, he does not have many cannons. What's more, the caliber of these cannons is still too small, even if there are only some shoddy parallel "fortresses" on the other side, but the small cannons he brought with him are no longer than 6 pounds.

Although the Minnie rifle had an advantage in range, the enemy hid behind the breastwork of the bastion, revealing only his head, or even only when firing. The advantage of the Mini rifle in range is completely useless. If you have to rely on bravery to gnaw down these fortresses one by one, I am afraid that the losses of the army will be very large. For Napoleon, even if he won the war, it would be nothing more than a Pyrrhian victory, and the gains outweighed the losses.

But if he left these forts alone and marched directly into Vienna, the armies in these forts, especially the Austrian cavalry, could easily cut off his supply lines. This was also something that Napoleon could not bear.

But Napoleon's heart did not fluctuate much, and he even wanted to laugh a little. Back in the barracks, he immediately gathered the generals together and began to study the battle situation.

"This strategy of theirs is actually quite powerful, but it has to be combined with a method." After explaining his judgment of the enemy's intentions, Napoleon said, "This means is a strict fortification." The Austrians probably didn't know how we were going to solve the logistical problems after we crossed the Alps into Italy. ”

The officers all burst into laughter.

It's autumn harvest season in Austria, which makes it almost impossible for Austrians to clear the walls. If you abandon the wheat in the field and hide in the city, then everyone will have to prepare to eat the soil in the second half of the year.

And to put away the wheat and transport it all into the city, it takes not only a lot of time, but also a lot of storage space. What's worse is that the wheat must be dried in the sun before it can be stored, otherwise, it will either erode quickly or germinate quickly. There is not enough space in the city to dry so much wheat. So, the season itself was one of the biggest holes in the Austrians' strategy.

Napoleon quickly and skillfully assigned the task, and the next day, Napoleon himself led the army again before the Austrian fortresses.

This move of the French also alarmed Archduke Karl. Archduke Karl himself came to the front, standing on his newly-built, shoddy fortress and holding up his telescope to look at the approaching French army opposite.

Through the binoculars, he noticed that the French army did not carry many cannons, most of them were three-pounder cannons, and there were not many six-pounder cannons, so he breathed a sigh of relief. But looking at the relaxed looks on the faces of the French soldiers, Archduke Karl still felt a lot of pressure - the ease with which those soldiers faced the war was a testament to their high morale. With such morale alone, this will not be an easy battle.

But the French did not attack immediately, but stopped before the bastion group. Then Archduke Karl saw that the French had built barracks not far from their fortress.

"What are they doing here?" Archduke Karl thought.

Archduke Karl's mind spun quickly, and he quickly thought of the possible intentions of the French.

"They're probably trying to plunder the countryside and cut our wheat! So while they're moving their army here, keeping an eye on us, making it difficult for us to move, they're definitely sending out cavalry to raid. ”

Archduke Karl climbed the high lookout again, paid special attention to the composition of the French army, and found that the proportion of cavalry in the French army was relatively small.

"It seems that the cavalry really went to plunder. But fortunately, I was already prepared. Archduke Karl thought.

In the evening, Augéreau returned to the newly built camp of the French army and reported to Napoleon: "General, these Austrians are really not things! They actually ......"

"What's wrong with them?" Napoleon asked.

"They set fire to all the farms in the vicinity for dozens of miles!" Ogereo replied.

"Further afield?" Napoleon asked.

"I don't know yet. But I don't think it's possible for them to burn down all the farms in the country. ”

"Walk farther tomorrow." Napoleon said.

The next day, Augereau walked almost forty kilometers north with his cavalry division before he saw a normal manor. Naturally, the owners of the manor had already fled, and before leaving, they set fire to the granary. But large swathes of wheat that have not yet been harvested are still there.

Here Ogereau stopped, gathered the peasants, showed them the burned granaries, and addressed them. He told the peasants that the lackeys of the nobles had set fire to the granaries in the hope that he would rob them if they could not seize them. Then he began to organize the peasants to harvest the crops in the fields, and agreed with the peasants that the harvest would be divided into three or seven parts, and the French army would only take three thirds.

"We won't be here for long." "When we are gone," said Ogereau, "you hide the grain and tell them that the French have robbed all the grain in the field." So that you can have a well-fed winter. ”