Descending On France 1780

Anning, upon hearing that Massena had breached the Austrian defenses at the foothills of the Alpine Mountains, made his first decision: to disregard logistics and to dispatch the elite troops to gallop towards Vienna.

He was closer to Vienna and indeed could arrive there first by ignoring the logistics.

As for what to eat upon arrival, Anning's thought was that in the original history, when Napoleon had just arrived in Italy, the supply situation for the Italian legions was terrible, and the soldiers fought on empty stomachs.

Then, they still managed to defeat both the Austrian army and the Sardinian Kingdom troops while hungry.

Thus, Anning also pinned his hopes on the soldiers' endurance.

His only worry was whether the soldiers, if truly starving, would rob the Austrians.

The French Army had shown good conduct on the lands of Bavaria and Austria; however, when extremely hungry, people's cognitive abilities diminish, and they might disregard military discipline.

With such worries, Anning paid special attention to maintaining discipline during these days, constantly reminding his troops to uphold their discipline wherever they went.

However, along the march, Anning found an excellent source of food.

There were grain-transporting merchant ships on the Danube River! The Danube River had well-developed inland navigation, and routes westward from Vienna carried considerable tasks of waterborne transport.

Sometimes, loggers also put bundles of chopped wood into the water, letting them float along the river, this way the timber harvested from the Black Forest would fall into Austrian hands.

Anning ordered the French Army to seize the grain, and soldiers from Marseilles dove into the river, used their hands against the flowing logs, and moved stealthily to the grain ships in the middle of the river.

The soldiers from Marseilles were good swimmers; such tasks were easy for them.

The sound of scuffling and frenzied shouts of "Get him off!" came from the grain ships.

Anning guessed that probably a boatman was restrained by the rushing Marseille sailors.

Now completely unable to see what was happening on the boat, Anning could only pace anxiously on the riverbank.

Moments later, a tricolor flag was raised at the bow of the ship.

Anning was very pleased, "Great, with so many grain ships, we won't have to fight on empty stomachs!"

At this moment, Beethoven, who had just rushed from the rear with his new composition, suddenly said, "There are marks on these grain ships; this is food intended for the civilians of Vienna."

Anning was speechless.

Napoleon stepped forward, placing a hand on Beethoven's shoulder, "Our soldiers are starving, we are here to liberate the German people!"

Anning: "Starving civilians is not liberation."

He turned his head and looked at his subordinates, stating emphatically, "As military personnel, we inherently face the possibility of dying on the battlefield, whether from starvation or killed by the enemy after a brave fight, all are deaths in battle. At least those who die from hunger will have their bodies intact."

After hearing the instructions, although no one took the lead, the soldiers still started shouting loudly, chanting Anning's name.

Then the cunning Napoleon added, "Long live the emperor!"

Thus, a group of French began chanting "Long live the emperor!"

Napoleon was beaming; he seemed to enjoy the feeling of Anning being treated like a king. He was extremely happy at the moment.

Anning looked at him with a reproachful expression.

He always felt that he would eventually be elevated by Napoleon to the throne of France. By then, Bernadotte might be furious and lead his troops in a confrontation.

Maybe Bernadotte would then stand against Napoleon at this age, becoming sworn enemies, to see who is stronger and has more troops.

However, Anning himself was quite interested to see a "contest" between Napoleon and Bernadotte, to see if Napoleon could overwhelm another strong, taller man.

Of course, this metaphor didn't mean literally knocking him to the ground.

But not now.

Not now.

Fortunately, Bernadotte wasn't here.

Anning: "Since this is the civilians' food in the city, let them go."

Several ship captains of the grain ships, after repeatedly thanking them, saying they wanted to praise Frost's virtue, headed towards Vienna.

The long line of ships passed through the arch bridge under Anning's watchful eye.

Then Anning's stomach embarrassingly started to growl.

Napoleon: "Shouldn't we have kept some food just now?"

"Let's move quickly. Once we enter the city, we won't rob the common people, but we can rob the nobles!"

Napoleon clapped his hands: "Right, and who the common people are, who the nobles are, and who can be the new elite that we can ally with, we can define!"

Anning shook his head: "No, no, no, that's too rogue-like and will leave problems behind. I think we should classify all members of the royal family as nobles, which is definitely right. Then capture the royal family, take that Louis XVI and his Queen Mary back to France for a public trial!

"The last step, establish a parliament in Austria, and turn them into a republic!"

Napoleon nodded: "Makes sense. After they become a self-governing republic, do you think they will kill those noble lords in vengeance, just like what the people of Paris did?"

Anning scratched his head: "Definitely, such deep-seated hatred isn't easy to heal; it needs at least three generations.

"The nobles have done such things to the common people, everyone still remembers clearly."

At this time, a Messenger Soldier ran over and reported loudly: "Report, our troops encountered resistance while entering the city!"

Anning straightened up: "What do you mean? What kind of resistance? Which troops are resisting us?"

"It looks like a group of volunteers." Bertier said.

Anning questioned: "How do you know?"

Bertier shook his head: "You can see it from here."

"You should have said so earlier!"

Then Anning leaned on Bertier's shoulder to observe the crowd in the distant square.

They looked like a ragtag army, the military uniforms were also not uniform, a lot of people's uniforms were more like their original clothes had faded from washing.

And there were very young lads and children within the army.

But naturally, the children were dragged out of worksites and kicked aside casually.

Anning cursed: "Damn it, we are already here, and these guys are still bullying children?"

Napoleon: "Prepare to attack?"

"Yes, and meanwhile send out cavalry to scout where Massena is. Give the cavalry a good meal before they depart!"

Suddenly Vanni appeared: "You can't do this, the last bit of store is prepared for the General..."

Anning waved his hand: "It's fine, I'm actually not hungry! Let the scouting cavalry eat!"

Vanni reluctantly nodded.

**

Vienna, Royal Dungeon.

Grand Duke Carl was surprised by the opened dungeon gate.

Imperial Chancellor Wilhelm entered.

Carl frowned: "Wilhelm, what do you want to say? Let me be clear, I won't do what you think I should! I won't stand against my brother!"

Wilhelm: "Even after what he has done to you?"

Carl: "It's fine, being in prison is a good time to read quietly. I brought many books."

If Anning were here, he would definitely comment: "Are you here in Dragon Field to seek enlightenment?"

Wilhelm took a deep breath: "You cannot read books, the Austrian army is on the verge of collapse, Frost is almost here.

"If you continue reading, Holy Roman will soon become a historical term."

Carl: "Let my brother go to the front line to boost morale!"

"The Emperor is unwell."

Carl cursed: "He just doesn't want to go! He's afraid!"

Finally, Carl stood up: "I will go and see, to see if we can hold Vienna."