readx;? In mid-March 1796, the Austrian Emperor** with a total of 150,000 troops officially entered the territory of the Kingdom of Bavaria, and the 80,000 Ossa troops in the south also arrived in Bama, preparing to travel north and south with the main force of the northern front. However www.biquge.info as the main force of the French Northern Front, the Rhine Army should have led the army to fight against the main force of the Austrian army.

However, at this time, Brion is caught in an extremely difficult choice, and there are three paths in front of the Rhine Army. The first was to cross the territory of the Kingdom of Prussia and reach the battlefield from the north. However, the cost of doing so Briand was clear that Prussia would inevitably return to the anti-French coalition as a result of such a violation of sovereignty, and the Rhine battlefield would become even more severe.

The second is that it passes through the Helvedi region in the south, and the princes of the Holy Empire also rule Helvedi, so the strategic resources are large, and Brion can easily destroy this principality. However, the only drawback was that the trip was too long, which would inevitably delay the fighters and give the Austrian troops an opportunity.

The last option was to pass through the Duchy of Baden ruled by Brion and enter the battlefield. Of course, this was the least time-consuming and easiest of the three options, but in this way the Duchy of Baden would become the main battlefield for the Austrian army and the Rhine army.

Introducing the flames of war into the Duchy of Baden was an outcome that Brion did not want to see anyway. It's just that this is no longer the time for Brion to hesitate, the generals have different opinions, the Austrian troops are getting closer and closer, and the Rhine corps can no longer sit still. Moreover, this time was no longer as simple as Briand's suppression of the French Marais rebellion a few years ago, and Brion was now facing a real Austrian regular army.

Brion was silent for a long time, and then said: "As far as the current situation is concerned, we are in a situation of life and death, but perhaps the fate of the whole country can be in our hands, but if we are not careful, we will be ruined." I hope that all the generals will work together with me to tide over the difficulties!"

Speaking of this, Brion nodded to the chief of staff MacDonald on the side, and MacDonald immediately stood up, and then said aloud: "In accordance with the instructions of the commander-in-chief of the Rhine Corps, the strategic deployment is as follows. ”

"The Rubert Division, as the vanguard, marched through the Duchy of Baden, making sure to capture the Duchy of Württemberg before the arrival of the Austrian army. The Nala Division was responsible for a swift attack on the Duchy of Helvedi and a meeting with the Ruberts at Württemberg as soon as possible. The divisions of the Rhine Corps also marched rapidly, and the whole army must be completed by 26 March. ”

In this way, Brion not only gained access to the abundant resources and land of the two duchies, but also shifted the battlefield to the Duchy of Württemberg to the east of the Duchy of Baden. Although the war schedule was extremely tight, because the whole army was equipped with bicycles, Brion naturally did not worry about whether he could complete the division on the 26th.

But if the whole army can't be completed on time, then Brion will lose at least 30,000 elite soldiers due to the miscalculation of the division of troops.

On 20 March, the 40,000 men of the two divisions of Jouber and Nala quietly crossed the main force after the official departure of the Rhine Corps, and quickly marched towards the Baden and Helvedi regions, respectively. Externally, however, no one understood what was coming, and the Austrian army seemed to be focused only on the movements of the Rhine Corps, and equally ignorant of Brion's ideas.

In the early hours of the 21st, Nala and Joubert launched a fierce attack on Württemberg and Helvedi, respectively, with the main forces in charge, but most of the defenders in charge of the defense dropped their arms after firing only a few symbolic shots. The collapse of the army's morale spread like a contagion throughout the army, and it was not long before the tens of thousands of defenders on the ground collapsed without a fight. The battle between Württemberg and Hervey lasted only four hours before it ended. During this period, there was not much decent resistance, just scattered shootouts on the streets.

Of course, the results of the battle were exciting, with no more than a hundred casualties, but hundreds of defenders killed, thousands of prisoners taken, and extremely well supplied after the capture of the capitals of Offenburg and Zurich, respectively. It's just that the fly in the ointment is that the Duke of Württemberg and the Duke of Helvetti ran away.

On the 24th, the main force of 60,000 Rhine Corps led by Brion personally arrived in the Duchy of Württemberg and successfully joined forces with the Nala Division and the Rubert Division. However, after an initial battle, even Brion himself was very surprised by the speed of the Rhine's advance on the battlefield, and this time the division was two days ahead of schedule. And the time gained was enough for Brion's army to rest and fight.

However, it was clear that the Austrians were eager to fight, and as soon as they heard that Helvedi and Württemberg were occupied, they immediately worked day and night, and on the 26th quickly seized the city of Ulm in the eastern part of Württemberg. As a result, the Rhine Army had no choice but to break through Ulm if it wanted to penetrate deep into the German heartland. In a way, Brion had to go head-to-head with the Austrian army.

"The Austrian army, which we are fighting against this time, has now entered Württemberg and occupied Ulm, and the supreme commander is the young Austrian general, Archduke Charles. According to the information of the Skynet Agency, the Austrian army was divided into three routes, with Archduke Charles leading 80,000 soldiers as the main force to garrison Ulm, Prince Schwarzenberg commanding 40,000 soldiers stationed in Stuttgart as the left flank force, and General Balin Loch leading 30,000 troops to garrison Ravensburg as the right flank force. From the present point of view, the enemy intends to form a line of defense between Ulm and hinder the offensive of our troops to Germany. ”

"Our attack from the Ulm Line will inevitably cause great casualties, so the senior generals of the corps agreed that a direct breakthrough with Archduke Charles' forces should be abandoned, that the Nala and Rubert divisions should remain in the Württemberg area to contain Archduke Charles' headquarters, and that the main forces of the Rhine Army could go around from Helvedi to Bavaria. In Brion's makeshift office, McDonald and Desai were discussing the next step with Brion.

"This is not realistic at all, once the Austrian army has defeated the remaining troops, then what kind of dangerous situation will France be in? Besides, using only two divisions to block 150,000 Austrian troops will undoubtedly lose 40,000 elite troops in vain, so what place do we have in Germany?" Desai then said.

Hearing this, Brion nodded and asked, "How many kilometers are the Austrian left flank and the right flank from the main Austrian force in Ulm?"

"Stuttgart is about 100 kilometres from Ulm and Ravensburg is about 90 kilometres away. MacDonald replied with the utmost caution.

The corners of Brion's mouth raised, and he took the whip from MacDonald's hand and deployed: "Convey my order to the commanders of the lower divisions, Dawu Division moves towards the Ulm area, and launches a feint to attract the main Austrian force." Bernadotte, Nala, and Rubert divisions are marching quietly, and must converge in Stuttgart by April 2 and launch a preemptive attack, and must crush the Austrian left flank by April 4!"

On the 28th, more than 30,000 members of the Davout Division pretended to be the main force of the Rhine Army, and after approaching the main Austrian army in Ulm, they randomly launched a feint attack and engaged in a certain scale of exchange of fire with the Austrian army. Although it was only a feint, the combat effectiveness and extremely strong firepower of the Dawu Division soon caused heavy losses to the Austrians.

At the station of the Austrian front, Charles was watching the battle situation ahead with a telescope, although the Austrian army under his command had an absolute advantage in numbers, but the current situation was still not optimistic.

At this time, a light cavalry returning from the front stepped off his horse and hurriedly reported to Archduke Charles: "Report to the commander, the number of enemy troops is about 30,000 people, and the firepower is extremely strong. Several divisions of our army were helpless to launch an attack, and in addition to this, one division was routed, and the losses had already reached more than four thousand people. ”

Archduke Charles said: "Very well, this must be the main force of the Rhine Corps, continue to attack continuously with superior forces." Immediately sent an order for General Balin Loch's troops to rush over. I will defeat the Rhine Army in four days and open the door to France!"

On April 1, the battle between Davout and the Austrians continued, and the casualties on both sides were increasing, but the Austrian casualties were much larger than those of the French, and the Austrian right flank was still on the way, so the battle seemed to be a bottomless pit. However, this originally planned feint to attract the enemy gradually turned into a battle to the death.

However, at night in Stuttgart, 100 kilometers away from the battlefield, Prince Schwarzenberg's troops only learned that Archduke Charles's ministry was engaged in a battle with the main force of the Rhine army. The divisions of the Rhine Corps had quietly surrounded Stuttgart and were ready to attack at any moment.

A night attack was a no-brainer, but the Rhine's casualties would be minimized, and Brion didn't care to use such unattractive tactics for the sake of victory.

A few hours later, it was early in the morning, and the land was pitch black.

"Bernadotte, are your soldiers ready, and your 1st Division will be the main attack force later. Brion turned his gaze to Bernadotte.

"Our brothers in the Rhine Legion are all ready to charge. Bernardo nodded in reply.

"Well, pull out all the artillery regiments for me, and when the time comes, the artillery reinforcement regiment directly under me will also take them out for exercise, and they will fire the artillery as soon as the time comes. Don't save me money, save those useless ammunition, aim at the enemy's barracks and hit me with my life, and bombard them until they are paralyzed!" Brion looked at the gold pocket watch in his hand, it was already three o'clock in the morning, and in another hour the artillery would be bombarded, and by six o'clock his troops would attack.

Time passed minute by minute, and on the artillery position in the rear, more than a hundred cannons were lined up, and an artillery officer put down the pocket watch in his hand, and then directly ordered: "When the time comes, open the cannon!"

With his order, the artillery position, which was still shrouded in darkness, suddenly flashed with fire, and the muzzle flames that erupted when more than a hundred guns opened fire made this artillery position look dark and bright, like a rare star in the night. In an instant, Stuttgart was on fire.