Benedek knew everything about the defense of northern Italy, and knew every hole in the defenses, even calling out the name of the garrison of each fortress.

He also knew very well that even if the French army really had 300,000 men, the two sides would just return to the same starting line.

Northern Italy already had a heavy army hoard, combined with wartime expansion, and a large number of recruits recruited by the Austrian government after the end of the Great Liberation War to solve the problem of displacement and unemployment, and the Italian theater of the Austrian Empire also had 300,000 troops at this time.

Bellevue, the commander of the enemy army, was not strictly a general in the traditional sense, he was inferior to those noble generals who had never been on the battlefield.

Bellevue played more of a clerk role in the French army, and if it weren't for the outbreak of the February Revolution, he would not have been able to lead a large army on his own in his lifetime.

This is the only kind of person who will come up with such a crazy strategy and be willing to concentrate the main forces to attack from the direction of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Had it not been for Carlo Alberto's rejection of the Austrian Empire's offer of assistance at the beginning of the war, the French would still be hovering the border between the two countries by now.

Of course, Carlo Alberto was right to reject the Austrian Empire's proposal, since no ruler would want another country's troops to enter his land.

In addition to the strong troops, the Bellevue Army also has a staff group recruited from the Military Academy of Saint-Cyr, and these people will undoubtedly be a big problem.

Benedek was also very honest about other things such as weapons and equipment, but Marshal Radetzky still felt very sorry.

Benedek was indeed one of the finest officers in northern Italy and the entire Austrian Empire at this time.

However, the vision is still too low, and I only know that blindly defending lacks the spirit of a great general.

As for the low vision, there is no way, after all, there are too few wars in this era, and it is almost impossible to see a strong enemy with a super-sized one, and it is inevitable that these rookies in Italy will be narrow-minded after pecking each other for a long time.

"Mr. Colonel, your defenses are indeed impregnable, but what if the French choose to concentrate their forces and attack only a little?"

Marshal Radetzky did not want to hurt the self-esteem of young people, so he resorted to this more tactful way.

If this was the same era in the East, an officer in his forties who had been in the military for many years would have knelt down to thank his teacher for being so mentioned by his old boss.

However, at this time, Benedek was still talking about strategic defense, such as mobile defense.

The railway lines of the Austrian Empire made it possible to defend themselves in a mobile way, but this remained passive in the eyes of Field Marshal Radetzky.

He couldn't help but interrupt Colonel Benedek's tirade.

"Mr. Colonel, perhaps we can consider attacking the enemy's rear directly and cutting off the enemy's supplies, so that we may be able to achieve victory at a smaller cost."

The old marshal thought that the other party would suddenly come to his senses, and then change his overly conservative thinking.

Benedek's answer, however, surprised the old marshal.

"Your Excellency, our country has not declared war on the Kingdom of Sardinia, and our army cannot enter the territory of the Kingdom of Sardinia without permission."

Radetzky was somewhat speechless.

"This is easy to do, and it will be good for His Majesty the King to write us a statement in a moment."

"But this."

"Nothing good! Did the French also inform them before attacking the Kingdom of Sardinia? ”

"Your Excellency, according to our intelligence network, the French did submit a declaration of war before attacking the Kingdom of Sardinia."

Benedek's words left the old marshal speechless for a while, and Radetzky finally chose to give up.

"Mr. Benedek, please obey orders."

"Yes, Marshal. Just give the order! ”

Benedek saluted with a serious expression.

"Then Monsieur Benedek, I need you to lead a force deep into the territory of the Kingdom of Sardinia to cut off Belvie's supplies and the retreat of the French army."

Marshal Radetzky pointed on the map.

"Genoa?" Benedek asked, puzzled. "But the main force of the French army is clearly on the front line of the Toche River and is preparing for a decisive battle with our army."

The Toche River, a tributary of the Po River, is located in northwestern Italy, on the dividing line between the Piedmont and Lombardy regions.

"Who said that the French were going to fight us on the front line of the Toche River? Did Bellevue tell you? ”

The old marshal finally looked a little angry.

"No, not only did the main French army assemble along the Toche River, but our army's intelligence also showed that a large number of French troops appeared near the Toche River.

Moreover, the main force of the Kingdom of Sardinia also chose to fight our army here."

Benedek is still trying to tell his own logic, which he has a very bad habit. Because of his background, Benedek is both proud and inferior, because he can't afford to fail once, but many people can decide his fate with a single word.

If Benedek was allowed to reflect on it, maybe he would be able to think of it after a while, but the old marshal couldn't wait.

"What you see is what the enemy wants you to see, and it's a joke that Bellevue is leading the troops, but I can tell you that the enemy is very well arranged.

I am afraid that this offensive plan has been prepared by the French for many years, and it is indeed the Battle of the Toche River that determines the outcome of the battle, but the key to this battle is not on the line of the Toche River, but on Genoa! Ligurian passes, to be exact.

The French can attack our rear directly through here, and we can attack the enemy's rear directly through here. ”

Benedek was still a little puzzled.

"Your Excellency, I can understand that the French can attack our rear through the Ligurian Pass. But the rear of the French is in Turin, and what is the point of us occupying Genoa? ”

"We need the rear of the French in Turin, not Genoa. This is an order issued jointly by the Supreme Command, the General Staff, and the colonel carries out the order. ”

"Yes! Your Excellency, Marshal! ”

Benedek was a qualified officer, but his strategic vision was somewhat poor. In other words, most of the Austrian officers of this generation lacked strategic vision, but the imperial family produced a lot of talent.

For example, the strategy of setting Turin as the rear of the French army was very clever, and it was Franz who proposed this strategy.

The French army's strategy of feeding the enemy is indeed very clever, and democracy and freedom can indeed deceive people's minds, but the two are a bit nondescript when put together.

In order to settle the threat of the Kingdom of Sardinia once and for all and recover the war reparations owed by Carlo Alberto, the strategy of the Archduke Franz was absolutely the most clever.

At the same time, according to the estimation of the Grand Duke Franz and the General Staff, it is very likely that the French army will use its sea advantage to send supplies and troops to the front line, or that the French army can only quickly send materials and soldiers to the front line through sea lanes.

So the key to this war will be the battle for Genoa.

Turin, the royal palace of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

In fact, there was no need for Franz's inducement, and Belvi set Turin as his rear.

Bellevue himself and his staff even lived directly in the royal palace, and although the Royal Palace of Turin could not be compared with those palaces in Paris, they were still amazed by the centuries-old accumulation of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Not to mention the fact that the French army entered Turin as victors and saviors, and the people of Turine, and indeed all the Piedmontese, regarded the French army as heroes.

The prestige and prestige of the French army was naturally inseparable from the leading parties and "progressives" in the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Of course, this is also due to the influence of the French Revolution, which made France a beacon for all of Europe, allowing them to have a large number of fans and spiritual French people all over Europe.

The French army was warmly welcomed by the Sardinian people as they marched to the front line on the Toche River, and the recruiting stations set up by the French army along the way were all overcrowded.

Everyone believed that the French army could replicate Napoleon's miracle, but Bellevue's staff officers were worried, because the Austrian troops in Italy were far beyond their imagination, and there was no doubt that they must have encountered the main force of the Austrian army

The most terrible thing was that due to the decline of the Kingdom of Sardinia and the previous war, almost all the important strongholds on the border of Aussa were in the hands of Austria, which made the French army's strategy very passive.

The most reasonable tactic turned out to be a decisive battle along the Toche River, but the presence of the river put the attackers in a very disadvantageous position.

Before the start of the war, Bellevie's staff had the idea of bypassing the Ligurian Pass and attacking the rear of the Austrian Empire, and for this purpose they also specially requisitioned twenty transport ships to the navy.

But even so, the Austrians blocked the Ligurian Pass before them, and the war again reached a stalemate.

It is impossible for Bellevue's experts, who are well versed in the history of war and have a wealth of theoretical knowledge, to attack rashly, because in their opinion it lacks the beauty of the art of war.

In the end, they only came to one conclusion, and that was waiting.

"Couldn't we have done anything better?"

Bellevue didn't want to wait, he wanted to continue to work miracles, if he could take Milan, maybe he could take Vienna, and then return home with a big victory to calm the chaos and become the chief consul, or even the first citizen

However, the cold answer of the staff officers shattered his illusions.

"Nope. According to the situation on the battlefield at this time, we are at a disadvantage. Unless you're going to fight a battle you're not sure about. ”

Belvie could only sigh helplessly, but it was already a good achievement to be able to occupy the Kingdom of Sardinia.

If he hadn't encountered the main force of the Austrian Empire, he would have been able to fight to Vienna.

But even so, Bellevue couldn't hide his disappointment.

At this time, the chief staff officer changed his words.

"However, it is impossible for the main Austrian forces to hold on to us all the time, after all, we have a five-way army, and when the Austrian side is in a hurry, they will have to fight us in a decisive battle.

So we just need to build fortifications and wait for the enemy to die. ”

Belvey's brows immediately furrowed when he heard this, he was a layman in marching and fighting, so he relied on these experts of the Saint-Cyr Military Academy very much.

Bellevue was even more convinced of their words.

If what they encountered was really the main force of the Austrian Empire, then the analysis of these experts of the Saint-Cyr Military Academy was not wrong.

(End of chapter)