Descending On France 1780

Anning sat by the Danube River until five in the afternoon.

He began to ponder whether to "borrow" Strauss' "The Blue Danube" ahead of its time.

Strauss would not be born for nearly 30 years, so he probably wouldn't mind his work being borrowed.

While Anning was whimsically fantasizing about these things, one of his attendants, the painter David, set up a canvas beside him, capturing onto the canvas Anning with a wine glass, the Danube River, and the city across the river shrouded in billowing smoke.

Right at five o'clock, Napoleon arrived with Bertier, crossing the bridge to Anning's front.

Napoleon saluted formally, then reported: "General, we have taken Ulm, and the remnants of the Prussian and Austrian coalition have withdrawn from the city. Additionally, by circumventing the street fortifications, we were able to occupy the enemy's city supply warehouses before they could burn them.

"Ulm has pledged loyalty to you."

Anning nodded gravely, then asked, "Have we captured the Austrian Commander Alvizi?"

"Reliable intelligence indicates that Alvizi has escaped the city and gone downstream to join the Austrian forces. We have captured Austrian military headquarters documents that they did not manage to destroy."

Anning said, "Good, hand the documents to Bertier."

He turned his attention to Bertier: "Organize a team to interpret these documents and see if there is any noteworthy intelligence."

"Understood," Bertier nodded.

Anning stood up: "Then let's enter the city. Next, we need to consider how to annihilate as much of the Prussian and Austrian coalition forces as possible."

Napoleon said, "Our army is still capable of combat; after resupplying, we can head directly to..."

"You all have worked hard enough; you can rest and reorganize here." Anning patted Napoleon's shoulder, "Let's let the other forces share some of the merits."

Napoleon immediately said, "No, it's thanks to your ingenious military strategy that we could take down Ulm. This strategy broke through conventional military knowledge. Indeed, you are a genius commander whose thoughts soar beyond the usual constraints, and all glory belongs to you!"

Anning laughed and shook his head: "Flattery will get you nowhere with me. Just honestly accept the merits for occupying Ulm."

"How can this be considered flattery? It's simply the truth. How did you come up with the idea of dividing the troops?"

Anning explained: "Because I deeply understand the differences between the Citizen Army and the Kingdom Army. You might not grasp this because none of you served as rank-and-file soldiers in the Kingdom Army and thus lack a deep understanding of them.

"I started from the lowliest of soldiers, after all, I am the son of a leatherworker. As for you, Napoleon, you started at the Briena military school, becoming an officer as soon as you graduated. There is a thick barrier between officers and soldiers in the Kingdom Army; naturally, you can't see the state of regular Kingdom soldiers.

"Every one of you has this weakness, even those officers who came from civilian backgrounds. They enlisted after the revolution, interacting with the base soldiers of the post-revolution National Guard."

Napoleon nodded fervently: "Exactly, that's right. You are so correct. Indeed, only you can lead us to victory. We do not recognize any leader but you!"

Anning was startled by this statement; before he traveled back in time, he would occasionally listen to some revolutionary songs, including ones like "Do We Maintain the Spirit of Those Years," "There Would Be No Motherland Without You," and "We Recognize No Leader But You."

Napoleon's casual remark triggered the familiar, rousing melodies in Anning's mind. Revolutionary songs really have a knack for being vigorous.

However, Anning's favorite was still "Attack Battle," his entry point into revolutionary songs. The first time he heard it, it was sung by a virtual host named "Cabbage"...

Anning began to seriously consider whether to bring over "Attack Battle" to use along with "Hymn of Rome" as the designated French Army march song...

Napoleon: "Andy?"

"Ah?" Anning snapped back to reality, "Oh, what were you saying just now?"

"Talking about your great achievements," Vanni chimed in out of the blue while continuing to tidy up the table.

Napoleon couldn't help but crack a smile: "Well, not really, I was just speaking the truth. I mean, Andy, aren't you being too lenient with your maid?"

Anning: "I wouldn't mind if anyone else said that, but what can I do? I'm just a leatherworker, I can't be noble."

Anning's self-deprecating comment made many people laugh.

Seeing this, a soldier standing guard also boldly joked, "So, if our boots get damaged, can we bring them to you to fix?"

"Sure, bring them here!" Anning laughed, even gesturing with a "hand them over" motion.

The guard chickened out: "Nevermind, my boots are fine, they aren't damaged."

Anning: "Is that so? Then you've missed your chance to get your boots fixed by me. After all, I am the Commander of the army; if everyone comes to me for shoe repair, I won't have any time to command the troops. You won't have such an opportunity in the future."

"That's truly regrettable," the guard said with a sincerely disappointed expression, "Boots fixed by you could have become a family heirloom."

Anning laughed heartily, the officers exchanged looks, and then joined in the laughter.

"Let's go, we're entering the city."

**

The day after taking Ulm, the French Army had spread along the north bank of the Danube River although at present, Ulm remained the only foothold on the southern bank.

The coalition, much like a snake of Mt. Changshan, held firm in the fortifications along the Danube.

Bertier had the messenger soldiers send the combat experience from Ulm to all the commanders, instructing them on how to dismantle parts of their forces and infiltrate through alleyways, circumventing the strong barricades when facing a heavily fortified city.

Commander Alvizi had relocated his headquarters to Dillingen the night before. However, because of the move, he had not yet reestablished contact with his forces.

At this time, without radio, after the headquarters had relocated, messenger soldiers had to ride to each army to notify them of the move, and then bring back reports from the forces.

Normally, moving the headquarters would lead to at least a day of no communication with individual armies, forcing them to act independently.

But Bertier had established a whole system that allowed the French Army to maintain communication with all its forces even when the headquarters was moving, which was one of the French Army's strengths.

Other nations would have to mimic the French military system and undergo reforms before they could gain such capabilities.

Although Bertier was truly not good at fighting wars, he was exceptionally skilled as a staff officer. If Napoleon had Bertier as his Chief of Staff at Waterloo, he might have avoided a bunch of command and communication errors, establishing victory at the preliminary Battle of Ligny.

All in all, while the coalition was in a disjointed state due to the headquarters' relocation, the French forces began probing the current enemy.