The Austrian army was already in its entirety, and they formed two columns, each with four rows of men, and the spread of the vast (dàng) (dàng) occupied almost the horizon as far as the eye could see. Looking down from the heights of the sky, they looked like two gray waves of people on the grassland. This is a decent method of warfare, but it is also the most effective tactic on the battlefield in the era of platoon guns.

The elongated line minimizes the number of casualties they receive from shelling, and maximizes their firepower, ensuring that almost every soldier can fire in a timely manner. In fact, theoretically speaking, the best tactic in the era of platoon guns is to spread the infantry regiment as far as possible, preferably in a row, so that not only can play the best firepower, but also reduce casualties as much as possible, but the consequence of this is that the troops lack depth, resulting in the cavalry charging will be immediately cut in half, and (shēn) is the infantry is divided and surrounded by cavalry, and the result is self-evident, almost a fish (ròu) on a chopping board!

The fourth platoon of each column acts as a reserve to fill the gaps that may arise at the front, while the troops at the front perform the classic three-stage (shè) strike to ensure the density of the barrage of (shè) hits. The second column acts as a reserve and vital force for the entire army, and is engaged in the battle when necessary, and in the event of a sneak attack by the enemy, the second column in the rear of these (shēn) can also act as "firefighters", and it goes without saying how much impact the addition of a new force will have on the battle situation at the moment when the battle situation is decided.

"We only have 20,000 people!" The adjutant tried to dissuade General Bolieu, but he rode up to General Bolieu and stopped him.

"No, we have 40,000 people!" General Bolieu just shook his head and held out four fingers in front of the adjutant.

As if sensing the thick confusion on the adjutant's face, General Bolieu picked up the monocular on his waist, threw it to the adjutant, and then pointed in the direction of Mantua, "Don't forget the defenders of Mantua!" The eagle banner of the Empire is still flying at the head of the city of Mantua! ”

The adjutant almost missed the telescope thrown by General Bolieu, and he picked up the telescope in surprise and looked at the head of the fortress of Mantua, and found that the black double-headed eagle flag on a yellow background, symbolizing the Habsteinburg dynasty, was fluttering on it.

"The fortress of Mantua is a fortress that the empire has been operating for many years! How can it be so easy to fall? It is expected that the army is just trying to play the trick of besieging the city and sending reinforcements, so as to weaken the will of the defenders in the city to resist! As long as we get in touch with the defenders in the city of Mantua, we will be able to fight a beautiful battle from inside and outside! General Bolieu looked like he was holding a pearl of wisdom, stroked his beard, and said to the adjutant with a smile.

"I see!" The adjutant had a look of abruptness, followed by a burst of ecstasy, apparently a middle-aged officer with a long way to go in his military career. But now that he is miserable enough to follow General Bolieu, an old man who is too old, to be the "deputy captain of the transport brigade", he knows that this adjutant is mostly a taciturn and unsociable stuffy gourd.

Of course, it is not wrong for (shēn) to be a stuffy gourd, after all, (shēn) is a soldier, so he should talk less and do more. However, once you become an officer, if you can't express your unique views and show your military talents in time, you can only keep going around in the middle level, after all, (shēn) is a general who is in charge of his own affairs, and he can't be as rigid and stubborn as a soldier who only knows how to blindly obey orders, and must be flexible.

Otherwise, Grouch is proof of this! (In the Battle of Waterloo, Grouchy led a third of the French army, only a few kilometers away from the battlefield, but did not rush to the battlefield to participate in the battle, his explanation was: The emperor ordered me to pursue Blucher!) So he chased the non-existent Blucher to the ends of the earth, but Blucher had already broken his shell and gone to Waterloo······ That's all left for this idiot to play hide and seek with himself! ）

So the adjutant saw at a glance the great benefits that General Bolieu's bold plan was about to bring, and he was only a huge military feat away from becoming a general and leading an army alone! And although General Bolieux in front of him is "honest and old", he has also heard of the famous name of the year. Since he dares to carry out this plan, he must be somewhat sure!

"Your Excellency, I fully approve of your plan! Our compatriots in the fortress of Mantua need support! We are their hope, how can we leave so easily? The adjutant (tǐng) raised his (xiōng) bore and said majestically, the gray curly beard on his chin trembling as his mouth opened and closed.

"Good! I have one of the most important and dangerous tasks to be entrusted to you! Only the bravest and calmest fighters can take on such a heavy task! When General Bolieu saw that his adjutant was willing to join him in his "last madness," he stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder with a smile on his face.

"What is the mission?" The adjutant's originally majestic and high-spirited posture immediately withered after hearing the word "dangerous", and he asked in a trembling voice.

"I need you to follow the Po River on your right, all the way to the fortress of Mantua, and get in touch with the defenders! It's a vital part of the plan, and I know I can trust you! As long as you can complete this task, I guarantee that your name will be written in the most prominent position on the good news! He came to the adjutant's ear and whispered to him the whole plan.

For General Beaulieu, his military career is coming to an end, and all he wants is to go crazy at the end, fight a good victory, and leave no regrets for the rest of his life, military exploits are meaningless to him. He didn't mind giving the first credit to this adjutant and promoting the "young man".

As soon as he heard that he could make great contributions, the adjutant felt that his strength was back, and he seemed to be able to see a glorious future beckoning to him, and when the time came, he could also lead an army alone, majestic, and no longer have to suffer from other people's worries!

"It's done!" He gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

Who would have noticed that in the midst of the overwhelming Austrian army, there was an inconspicuous cavalryman, Shēn, who came to the trough by the river? In the cover of the dust of tens of thousands of people and the sound of footsteps as neat as thunder, he seemed to be a flash of spirit, whistling like a gust of wind, and disappeared on the horizon in an instant.

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"What's that? I seem to see a shadow! A French chartist (shēn) on high ground near the riverbank raised his flintlock pistol and cautiously surveyed the qíng-shaped road along the river.

"Impossible, right? The Austrian army is still thousands of kilometers away! Maybe it's a rabbit or a deer! The other soldier just glanced in that direction and said in a nonchalant tone.

Of course it's not a deer or a rabbit! Instead, a man, dressed in an off-white Austrian military uniform, led a war horse, trying to cross the French cordon under the cover of the bushes by the river, but found that his war horse did not obediently bow down (shēn), so that he was seen by the sharp-eyed French soldiers, and he was almost frightened and thought he was finished.

Just as he was trembling, he heard the conversation of the French soldiers, and he breathed a sigh of relief, "Stupid Frenchman! Sooner or later, you will be driven back to the other side of the Alps from Italy by the great empire! Then he again began to cautiously touch in the direction of the fortress of Mantua, under the cover of the bushes by the river.

Beneath the fortress of Mantua, where the Imperial Eagle Banner was flying, an Austrian cavalryman was riding his horse and spinning in place, shouting.

"Open the door! I am General Bolieu's aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Colonel Zaringen! Reinforcements from the Empire have arrived, and I need to see General Alvinzi! "If he had gone to the south gate, he would have found the great crack in the wall that had been blasted by artillery, but he had touched it all the way along the Po River to the east.

"Lieutenant Colonel Zaringen! I have to tell you the bitter news that General Alvinzi was wounded in the previous battle! I am his adjutant, Colonel Byrd, temporarily taking over the defense of the fortress of Mantua! A middle-aged man with black hair poked his head out of the city and said in fluent German. He had a meticulously trimmed beard, a solemn qíng, and a somewhat haggard face, but he looked determined.

His fluency in German, his meticulous beard, and his solemn and determined eyes all prove that he is a proud member of the Germanic nation. Therefore, Lieutenant Colonel Zaringen believed the other party's (shēn) almost immediately, and had no doubt about it, not to mention that there was still an imperial double-headed eagle flag hanging at the head of the city?

"Please let me in! I am the messenger of General Bolieu, who has been ordered to come to the aid of the fortress of Mantua! Now there's an important army (qíng) to discuss with you! Lieutenant Colonel Zaringen said eagerly. It wasn't until the middle-aged man at the head of the city nodded silently and motioned for the soldiers to open the city gate that he breathed a sigh of relief, and there was no doubt that he had his horse into the city.

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In the array of Austrian troops, General Bolieu was staring at the banks of the Po River in the distance, and he was waiting for his lieutenant to return. The success of the battle was directly related to the success or failure of the battle in the city of Mantua.

A horseman on a white horse lived up to his expectations, his hat raised high in his right hand and waved it, looking elated.

"Lieutenant Colonel Zalingen, you're back!" General Bolieu met him, and this reply was equally crucial to him, directly related to whether he would be able to carry out this crazy plan, and if Lieutenant Colonel Zaringen failed in his mission, he would have to lead his troops to retreat, even if he did not wish (qíng).

"The defenders of Mantua are in good condition, they still have more than 18,000 men, but they are not well fed! That's what they're troubled about! If we arrive a little later, they probably won't be able to hold it up! Lieutenant Colonel Zaringen panted and fanned his hat against the air.

"Good, good! It seems that the heavens are helping us! As long as they go out of town and fight us, we will be able to easily take down the French in front of us! General Bolieu smiled and said, drew his saber, raised it high, and said, "Order the troops to advance on all fronts!" ”

There were only 30 guns in the Austrian army, and General Bolieux tried to suppress the French fire by letting the artillery fire (shè), but unfortunately these 30 guns were completely helpless under the bombardment of Napoleon's more than 200 guns. In just two rounds of shelling, four guns have already been damaged.

Therefore, the Austrian army must attack under artillery fire in order to reverse this situation of passive beating. General Beaulieu decided to personally lead more than 3,000 cavalry, as the mobile force of the entire army, waiting for an opportunity to launch a deadly charge against the French army.