Chapter 284: Annexation of Italy (Part 2)

Shrink all the troops in his hands and set up a defense line to resist the attack of the upcoming French Empire Iberian 1st Legion. Hillier, while shrinking the remaining nearly 90,000 troops in Monza, Sesto and Milan, which had been occupied by the Austrian army, are preparing to fight against the French army in this area. On the other hand, he sent people to ask for help from the Austrian Emperor Francis I. If he could not get reinforcements, Hillier would be doomed to fail in this war.

, and the main force of the 10th Legion who went south was ordered to go north immediately to strengthen the Austrian army's forces in northern Italy. Anyway, Naples had been wiped out by the Austrian army except Sicily, and Mura's army also suffered heavy losses. The 10th Legion could defend this large area as long as it could leave a small number of troops behind. Even if it could not be defended, it would have nothing to do. As long as it could defeat the French army or maintain a balanced power with the French army, Naples would not escape Austria's control.

The Austrian army suddenly stopped military operations, which made Eu Ren very happy. Although most of Milan was occupied by the Austrian army, his Italian army was finally not driven out of Milan. The northwest of Milan was still firmly in his hands. Moreover, he still had more than 20,000 troops in his hands. With the help of the French army, he believed that he would be able to defeat the Austrian army.

On August 6, the envoy sent by Murah arrived in Paris and formally submitted a letter of state, representing Murah expressing Naples' determination to surrender. After a simple negotiation, Xiao Jie immediately asked the Ministry of the Interior to issue an order to appoint Murah as Prince of France, and Naples officially became a region directly under the French Empire. Although Xiao Jie and Murah were not very close, because they "responsible" to the country with both hands, although this was not Murah's original intention at all, Xiao Jie still forgived Murah's previous rudeness. At the same time, the General Staff issued a statement to the Navy.

Send Marines to carry out landing operations in the city of Naples. After discussion, the Navy will send five "Iberian"-class warships to escort two regiments of marines to Naples to land. Now no naval of any country in the entire Mediterranean can threaten the French navy, so the 5 warships are enough to guard the Austrian army. The two regiments of Marines are also enough to deal with the Austrian army occupying Naples, because according to intelligence, the 10th Austrian Army only left 5,000 people in Naples. With the same force, the Austrian army will obviously not be the opponent of the French army.

On August 7, the 1st Iberian Army stationed in Turin finally started its operation, and the 110,000 troops began to march towards Milan. Turin is only 120 kilometers away from Milan, but Mike did not order the 1st Iberian Army to pounce directly on Milan because he had obtained information and the Austrian army had stopped attacking Milan. So it would be meaningless now that the 1st Iberian Army rushed to Milan again.

After discussing with Dawu, the 1st Iberian Army marched directly towards Monza in an arc-like marching route, which was the main force of the Austrian army. It had stationed 50,000 Austrian troops. As long as the Austrian army could be eaten here in one bite, the situation of the war would be very clear. On August 8, the 1st Iberian Army arrived in Vercelli. On August 9, the 1st Iberian Army occupied Novara, and the 2nd vanguard of the vanguard went forward to Luo Town, encircled and annihilated more than a thousand Austrian defenders, and occupied the city.

On August 10, the entire Iberian 1st Army reached Luozhen, and the Bingfeng pointed directly at Monza.

"Now more than 90,000 Austrian troops are distributed in Monza, Sesto and Milan, of which Monza has 50,000, and Sesto and Milan each have 20,000. Our army has a total of 110,000 people stationed in Luo Town. What plans should our army take next to defeat the Austrian troops." On the evening of the 10th, Mike summoned his generals and held a combat meeting.

"General Mike, what's good to discuss? Send people to restrain Sesto's Austrian army, and then use the main force of the legion to attack Monza and kill Monza's Austrian army. Then there is no suspense in the war." Dawu said carelessly. Since he is the Imperial Marshal and a veteran of France, naturally no one dares not to give him face. In fact, the war has reached this point, and the 1st Iberian Army can completely use the Austrian army to divide its troops and carry out various defeats.

Everyone expressed their support for Dawu's proposal, because this is undoubtedly the easiest and most effective method.

"General, we may also ask His Highness Eugen to send troops to attack Milan's Austrian army. There are only 20,000 Austrian troops in Milan now, and His Highness Eugen has more than 20,000 people. Perhaps they can eliminate all the Austrian army in Milan without our help." Lieutenant General Carrier, deputy commander of the 1st Iberian Army, said with a smile.

As soon as he said that, everyone was stunned. Because the war at this time would not affect Milan for the time being, the war between the Iberian 1st Legion and the Austrian army would only start in Monza and Sesto. But everyone understood Carrier's intention, which was undoubtedly to let Eugen and the Austrian army fight to the death. In this way, it would not only reduce the casualties of the Iberian 1st Legion, but also further weaken Eugen's strength. More than 20,000 troops, more than 20,000 troops, no more or less. If Xiao Jie wanted to annex Italy, then these unsafe factors would naturally be eliminated.

"Okay, you can send someone to convey our meaning to His Highness Eugen, so that they can launch an attack on the Austrian army tomorrow, restrain the Austrian army in Milan, and cooperate with our army's operations tomorrow." Mike laughed.

On August 11, the attack of the 1st Iberian Army began. Sesto was located 20 kilometers southeast of Luo Town, while Monza was 25 kilometers east of Luo Town. In order to restrain Sesto's defenders, Mike ordered the 4th Infantry Division to assault the central areas of Sesto and Monza to block the Austrian army that might go north. The 2nd Infantry Division, the 3rd Infantry Division, the 5th Infantry Division and the 6th Infantry Division launched an attack on Monza with the fire support of the direct artillery regiment of the Legion, and it is necessary to eliminate the 50,000 Austrian troops here. The 1st Infantry Division and other direct troops of the Legion were used as reserves.

At 9 a.m., the troops began to operate. At the same time, Eugen's army also staged a fierce street battle with the Austrian army in Milan. The smart Eugen naturally understood the sinister intentions of the French army, but now he had no choice but to attack the Austrian army according to Mike's order, so that his already very weak strength would be reduced again.

The 4th Infantry Division of the 1st Iberian Army took the lead, first breaking through the Austrian defense line, successfully breaking through between Sesto and Monza, and immediately advanced southward to oppress Sesto's Austrian army. The other four infantry divisions surrounded Monza and launched a fierce attack on Monza with the support of artillery. Most of the Austrian troops stationed in Monza were exhausted troops who had been fighting fiercely for days, and were no match for the French army, which was like a wolf or a tiger at all. Monza was not a strong city. Under the bombardment of French heavy artillery, the city wall quickly collapsed.

On August 12, the French army broke into Monza City, and the cruel street battle began. The Austrian army had already suffered heavy losses when the French army siege the city, not to mention that the city has broken down and its morale has become even lower. It has retreated step by step under the French attack. For a moment, the situation of the Austrian army in Monza City became very critical. The Austrian army stationed in Sesto also felt the crisis of Monza and tried desperately to go north to support it. However, the defense line of the 4th Infantry Division of the 1st Iberian Army was like an insurmountable gap, blocking the Austrian army south of Monza and unable to move forward.

On August 13, Hillier led the Austrian army to break through successfully and fled eastward, but only more than 10,000 people were left in the Austrian army that successfully broke through. Monza was completely occupied by the French army. Monza's fall put the Austrian army stationed in Sesto and Milan under tremendous pressure. Under the pressure of the Iberian 1st Legion, they abandoned the city and fled, but only more than 10,000 people could successfully break out of the French army. After this battle, only more than 20,000 people left in more than 90,000 Austrian troops fled eastward. However, the Iberian 1st Legion did not let them go, but took advantage of the situation to continue attacking eastward and recover lost territory.

On August 17, Hillier fled to Padua and joined the main force of the 10th Austrian Army to the north here, so his army reached more than 40,000. But at this time, Hillier had no intention of fighting again and led his army to continue to retreat eastward. The more than 100,000 troops of the 1st Iberian Army were still following them and chasing them relentlessly.

On August 20, the cavalry of the 1st Iberian Army caught up with the fleeing Austrian army in Povanone. More than 10,000 cavalry dragged the Austrian army tightly in Povanone, creating an opportunity for the main force of the army. On August 22, the 1st Iberian Army surrounded the Austrian army in Povanone. Just as Mike was about to eat the Austrian army in one fell swoop, the battlefield changed again. The Austrian army of the two legions entered Italy from the east. With their help, the surrounded Hillier army took the opportunity to break through successfully and retreated back to Austria with the support of the two legions. The 1st Iberian Army also consumed a lot of physical strength and ammunition due to the continuous pursuit of the soldiers and was unable to attack again. At this time, Xiao Jie also issued a new order to garrison them on the border and not to take the initiative to attack the Austrian army.
Chapter completed!