Descending On France 1780

Alvizi only confirmed on the third day after Augsburg fell that there was a "gap" in the French Army's encirclement.

Then Alvizi's reaction greatly surprised Anning.

"It must be a trap!" Alvizi said with certainty, "Frost wouldn't be so careless as to leave such a flaw; it has to be a trap!"

Then Alvizi's Chief of Staff asked, "So what should we do?"

"Leaving the well-defended city is a dead end; in Ulm before, we successfully held off the enemy for two days! If each of our armies can hold on for two days, the French Army will be unable to proceed with their next move due to the heavy casualties!

"We must implement a resolute defensive strategy and absolutely not engage in an open field battle with the French Army!"

The officers under Alvizi looked at each other, no longer hiding their expressions: The Marshal was scared by the French Army.

Finally, everyone's gaze gathered on the Duke of Brunswick, Commander of the Prussian forces.

Probably, only he could convince Alvizi.

Sensing everyone's gaze, the Duke of Brunswick cleared his throat and said, "Our supply lines have been cut, and although there's a considerable amount of ammunition and supplies stockpiled in the city, it's not enough to last for a long time.

"If we don't relocate now, we will be besieged by the French Army to death."

Alvizi retorted angrily, "What if we encounter the French Army after leaving the city? We can't win in a field battle! Right now, just the sight of the French Army charging with bayonets will cause our troops to collapse!"

Brunswick: "Even the French Army is not invincible. As long as we find suitable terrain and deploy our troops properly, we can defeat the French Army! After all, our forces are twice that of the French Army!

"Moreover, the French Army has significantly dispersed their forces in order to encircle us. If we seize the opportunity to concentrate our forces and attack one of their corps, or even a division, we can achieve victory through local superiority in numbers."

Alvizi: "Are you confident in defeating the French Army in the open field?"

"Of course!" the Duke of Brunswick said, "That leatherworker had participated in the Seven Years' War, and if you count the Seven Years' War, I have defeated him before too."

Immediately, a young officer muttered, "Wasn't he just a private back then? Or a musician?"

Brunswick gave the young man who had undermined him an angry look and then cleared his throat again, "Anyway, the French Army can be defeated!"

Alvizi nodded, "That's great, then. In that case, I will write to his Majesty Franz and the King of Prussia to step down in favor of a more competent leader! I will just assist you as your deputy!"

Everyone was stunned.

Brunswick was the most stunned: "What? But, switching commanders in the middle of battle doesn't seem right?"

"Very well! We have an army of four hundred thousand, being forced by two hundred thousand French soldiers to closet ourselves in the city is simply absurd, I support you leading us to strike bravely out in the plains and defeating the French Army - the glory shall be given to you!" Alvizi said sincerely.

Brunswick was dumbfounded, "This... But writing to both monarchs now to change command, even if we get consent, we would not receive a response until five days later, and that's in the best-case scenario!"

Alvizi looked full of confidence, a stark contrast from before, "We now have the fortified city, as well as twice the number of the French Army's troops. We can hold for five days. Of course, if you wish to change the command on the battlefield now, that's also no problem. Given the urgency of military affairs, I'm sure both monarchs would understand it if we act first and report later!"

Brunswick's brow furrowed deeply, as he realized that Alvizi was certain they would lose, so he was passing the buck.

After all, Alvizi was already well into his seventies, nearly eighty; no one could say anything if he took a sudden retirement to rest.

Brunswick took out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat, responding, "Let's wait for the decision of His Majesty. If both monarchs instruct me to lead the coalition, I will certainly not let them down!"

Now it was the turn of the junior officers around to be dumbfounded.

The French Army was about to fully encircle them, with their supplies already cut off, and you still want to sit tight and wait for orders from the Emperor and the King?

At that moment, all the officers had the thought, "Let it all fall apart, and quickly."

**

The coalition officers didn't anticipate that their decision would greatly surprise Anning.

Facing the immobilized coalition forces, rooted to the spot, Anning was beside himself.

That day, he paced back and forth in his headquarters, muttering as he walked: "Damn it, what's going on here? Why aren't the enemies moving?"

Right then, a new Messenger Soldier arrived, and after hearing the report, Bertier said to Anning: "Moro reports that he's besieged the Austrian forces within the city, and asks what to do next."

Anning furrowed his brows, looking at the series of circles along the Danube River.

Each circle was an encirclement with a coalition army inside it.

He mumbled to himself: "If they besiege, we assault; but damn it, I've only got half the forces they have..."

Though he had mastered the methods to bypass barricades, those were for street fighting, which comes before the siege stage.

And these Austrian cities, they usually have bastions for defense nearby. Although most bastions are not that large, they are still fortresses.

These things are bloody annoying to attack.

After all, military engineering in Europe has developed for so many years, they've got some tricks up their sleeve when it comes to building fortresses.

With four hundred thousand coalition troops defending the cities, Anning suddenly realized he didn't really have a good solution.

Unless he could instantly turn into an engineering Ph.D. and mix his own C4 explosives to have their bastions turned into dust.

But Anning was far from capable of concocting such high-tech stuff.

It seemed all he could do was wait for the coalition forces in the city to starve and surrender.

The problem was, Anning didn't know how much food supply these cities had and he had no idea how long the siege would take.

He still remembered the siege at the Mantua Fortress in Italy; that city was besieged for over a year before finally being taken by Davout.

Thinking all this, Anning grumbled: "Damn it, if only I could fire a General to blast open their defenses."

Bertier looked shocked: "What? Fire a General?"

Anning: "I'm just joking."

Bertier hesitated, then asked: "Where's the joke in that?"

Anning: "The joke is in firing the General... Never mind that. So facing the enemy's strongholds, do you have any suggestions?"

Bertier also looked utterly vexed: "We need cities for our supply lines."

In this era, due to the limitations in supply capabilities, supply lines relied on the existing storage facilities in cities.

Therefore, in this age, it was not possible to bypass cities to strike the rear; whoever it was had to relentlessly assault fortified strongholds.

It was as if the fortress system from Continental Europe 4 had leaped into reality.

Anning: "Can't we just bypass them? Like, resupply from Zurich and then let the main force march straight to Vienna?"

Bertier: "You mean, have Davout move north to take Zurich, and then we head straight for Vienna?"

Anning: "Exactly, leave Italy to Massena."

With rapid mental calculations, Bertier nodded: "Hmm, that should be workable."