Descending On France 1780

Anning was overwhelmed when he heard that Grand Duke Carl had been captured.

Now, nothing was unfolding as he had planned.

Originally, he envisioned a large-scale annihilation war. Instead, it turned into relentless sieges, with the French Army suffering heavy casualties and excessive time spent on each city they captured.

Then, Grand Duke Carl was supposed to be released and take command in a crisis, but instead, he mobilized the Bohemian troops himself, arousing his brother's suspicion and getting imprisoned early on.

Furthermore, in Italy, it was planned for Davout and Massena to play supportive roles. Yet, it seemed Massena was preparing to march north from Italy towards Vienna.

Indeed, expecting everything to go exactly as planned was very difficult.

After some thought, Anning decided the current situation was quite acceptable, and took a "laissez-faire" approach, watching to see if his renowned generals could win the battle themselves. If they succeeded, he would be able to comfortably step back and focus on industrialization, aiming to lead France into the Steam Age ahead of the UK.

Anning was filled with interest in how world history would unfold after France completed its industrial revolution first.

Zurich.

After leading the French Army across the Alpine Mountains, Davout entered Swiss territory.

Davout was unaware that he was following the same route as Suvorov from another timeline, where, in that history, Suvorov hurried to participate in a battle at Zurich. However, Massena acted quicker and achieved a significant victory in Zurich.

That was the highlight of Massena's life.

But now, with Massena in Northern Italy, the command of the Zurich Battle fell to Davout.

Perhaps there was some mysterious connection between great generals, for after Davout personally surveyed the terrain around Zurich on horseback, he chose the same breakthrough point as Massena had in the other timeline.

On June 15, the Battle of Zurich concluded with the Austro-Hungarian Army suffering over eight thousand casualties and fifteen thousand surrenders.

After the field battle, the Swiss nobility of Zurich City chose to surrender and open the gates.

The French Army's reputation for establishing a republic instead of plundering local nobles had spread, and many nobles, especially the nouveau riche, were prepared to vie for power and profits in the Parliament.

Thus, Davout's thirty thousand men, including approximately eight hundred wounded and an equal number of bodies, grandly marched into Zurich City.

Indeed, Davout had suffered fewer than two thousand casualties in total before disintegrating the garrison of Zurich.

On the day they entered the city, just as everything was being settled, Davout's Chief of Staff came to congratulate him: "General, your tactics were brilliant, truly comparable to those of Lord Frost!"

Davout frowned slightly and turned to look at his Chief of Staff.

"Did you attend a military academy? Tell me, did they teach you to use skirmishers so extensively?"

The Chief of Staff, unsure of Davout's implication, answered puzzledly, "No. We were taught that attacks must be executed with linear infantry formations..."

"Exactly. And I adopted these unconventional tactics because of his lordship's keen ability to recognize the differences between our army and the Kingdom's forces. Do you understand? It's because they were our troops that we could deploy many tactics never considered before.

"Additionally, the prestige established by his lordship made the Austro-Hungarian Army crumble upon facing our bayonet charge.

"I could win so easily only because I stand on the shoulders of this giant, don't get confused, Chief of Staff."

Davout said earnestly.

"As for shining as brightly as his lordship, how could I entertain such an unrealistic idea."

He paused, then sighed, "Actually, I think, sir, you shouldn't be fighting now. Instead, you should go back to the military academy to teach, perhaps you could create an entirely new military school of thought.

"Unfortunately, France still needs him active on the battlefield, which is indeed a pity."

Davout finished speaking, taking a long sigh.

**

On Massena's side.

He was observing the Austrian garrison's defensive line on the mountain through a telescope.

Even though Davout had left, the Austrian Commander still dared not engage the French Army in open battle, instead they fortified their positions in the mountains, displaying a stance of firm defense.

Since the French Navy was ineffective, there was no way to bypass the Austrian forces by sea, so Massena had no choice but to launch an uphill assault.

Only by seizing this location could he begin advancing towards Vienna.

However, after nearly a day of fierce fighting, the situation on the battlefield was still unclear.

Although the morale of the Austrians was low, with fortifications, they seemed to have found a moral support. The French Army had to pay a heavy price to storm the fortifications, only then could they force the Austrians out in a close combat.

Once leaving the fortifications, the Austrian forces would scatter.

But it seemed the Austrians anticipated this, having constructed several lines of defense on the mountain, implementing deep defense strategy far ahead of its time.

In fact, this, similar to the northern coalition's method of rigidly defending fortresses in segments, both strategies use space and time to offset the high morale of the French Army.

Massena now felt the same as Anning on the northern line: "Damn it, these cowardly turtles, come out and battle us openly!"

The Chief of Staff said worriedly beside him, "If this continues, our reserve forces will be depleted. Should we try bypassing the defenses?"

"I'd love to bypass, but there needs to be a path."

The area where Italy borders Austria is entirely mountainous.

It should be said that the southern part of Austria is all mountains, and even into the twentieth century, the transportation conditions had not improved significantly.

During World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy were locked in a stalemate in the mountains for several years, with neither side able to advance.

In another timeline, Napoleon managed to break through these mountains because of faster strategic maneuvering. Grand Duke Carl underestimated the mobility of the French Army and failed to block them in time, allowing the French forces to push through.

Later, Grand Duke Carl's troops were also hurriedly chasing the French forces, eventually managing to outpace the French by defending several key passes, thereby establishing a reliable defense before the French.

When Grand Duke Carl was about to strike a heavy blow against the French forces using his defense positions, his brother Franz betrayed him.

In another timeline, Grand Duke Carl was a tragic hero repeatedly sabotaged by his brother, though ultimately he emerged as a national hero of Austria. However, this very fame led to his brother's suspicion and resulted in the loss of all his power.

Massena was unaware of these stories, as he observed the Austrian positions, he muttered to himself, "Looking at this rate of attrition, with another twenty thousand men, we could forcefully conquer the pass, if only we had another twenty thousand men!"

Chief of Staff: "But we don't have any more."

Massena cursed.

Just then, a staff officer shouted, "General, what is that you see?"

Massena abruptly turned around, then he saw a troop in red uniforms grandly marching down the main road.