1771, early October

Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont, Throne Room of the Royal Palace of Turin

"Everyone, tell me what you think."

The old man sitting on the throne threw a report on the long table. His sharp sword-like eyes swept over the ministers and generals in front of him one by one. His tone was very calm, but he was not angry or intimidating, which made the whole court excited.

The ministers and generals lowered their heads subconsciously:

"An urgent report came from the south this morning. The Corsican army has launched an invasion towards Valdolidore. As expected, that group of Corsicans has now set foot on our territory."

The old man who spoke was none other than the seventy-year-old Carlo Emanuele III, the owner of the Turin Palace, the Duke of Savoy and Piedmont, and the ruler of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Although this old king is not yet a famous and divine king, compared with other European monarchs of the same era, he is indeed an out-and-out wise monarch.

Even Frederick the Great of Prussia once declared:

"In all the European monarchs, I, Queen Maria Theresa of Austria, and King Carlo Emanuele III of Sardinia are the only three who can be called wise geniuses. The others are all stupid pigs who have been misled by bad education.

Trapped in it.”

In the past forty years of rule, this old king has used extremely excellent diplomatic and military means to obtain valuable development opportunities for the Kingdom of Sardinia on the European continent, which is surrounded by powerful enemies.

He was on the victor's side in both the War of Polish Succession and the War of Austrian Succession, and personally led the army during the war, showing great military talent and winning a large amount of land after the war.

Later, he very wisely refused to join the Seven Years' War, saving the Kingdom of Sardinia from the catastrophe of the largest war of the same period.

It can be said that Carlo Emanuele III was definitely indispensable for the later Savoy dynasty to unify the Italian countries.

However, since the Kingdom of Sardinia joined the Italian War under the British's inducement, this old and famous king seemed to be in danger.

Under the original assumptions of the Kingdom of Sardinia, it should be easy for an army of nearly ten thousand people to capture Ajaccio and occupy all of Corsica with the cooperation of the British fleet.

But the reality is that one-third of the entire kingdom's standing army was wiped out on the island of Corsica. Even Sardinia, which Carlo Emanuele III had painstakingly managed for more than thirty years, was destroyed by Corsica.

The Kingdom of Sica claims it as its own province.

Although the Kingdom of Corsica has not yet formally established sovereignty over Sardinia, and the overall national strength of the Kingdom of Sardinia is still superior to that of the Kingdom of Corsica, the current war situation has already made the old king feel completely angry.

Ever since he learned the news of the annihilation of Colonel Bartland's army, Carlo Emanuele III was furious with the Minister of War more than once, reprimanding why that waste Bartland was allowed to lead the army, and said that even if he was seventy years old,

Even with his own personal conquest, he could easily occupy the entire territory of Corsica.

In the Throne Hall, facing His Majesty the King's plain inquiry, the civil and military ministers all bowed their heads tightly and were speechless. Especially the Minister of War and the generals were as silent as walking on thin ice. No one dared to speak like this.

This time it added fuel to His Majesty's anger.

After all, the Kingdom of Sardinia was invaded by the Corsicans, whom they considered to be weak, barbaric and backward. This incident, needless to say, was considered a great shame by His Majesty the King.

Seeing that the atmosphere was getting increasingly tense, the haggard-looking Minister of War spoke cautiously:

"Your Majesty, the enemy is very likely to launch an attack on the cities and towns in our country. The top priority now is to strengthen the defense of each city and town..."

"wrong!"

Before the Minister of War finished speaking, the old king on the throne interrupted unceremoniously:

"The Corsicans will not waste time in those towns. They have only one purpose, which is to attack here and the Turin Palace as quickly as possible before we can regroup!"

The old king's angry voice echoed in the throne room, and no minister dared to raise an objection.

Carlo Emanuele III was an outstanding leader and diplomatic expert when he was young. At this moment, he judged extremely correctly that the Corsican army would not give the Kingdom of Sardinia more support.

Taking a breather, their goal will be to go straight to the Turin Palace.

Once Turin is lost, it will undoubtedly become a foregone conclusion that the Kingdom of Sardinia will be forced to withdraw from the Italian War, or even be forced to cede Sardinia.

Carlo Emanuele III glanced gloomily at his ministers, especially the Minister of War and the generals. Ever since Colonel Bartland's army was wiped out in Corsica, the old king had treated these ministers who were lying bare of food.

Arrived very disappointed.

After thinking for a moment, the old king looked at a graceful middle-aged man in front of him:

"Vittorio, I have a task to give you."

"But as you command, father."

The middle-aged man took two steps forward and bowed respectfully. This was Prince Vittorio, the eldest son of Carlo Emanuele III and heir to the Kingdom of Sardinia.

The historical Prince Vittorio inherited the entire Kingdom of Sardinia two years later and continued administrative and military reforms along the path of his father. The ability he displayed was remarkable.

After the outbreak of the French Revolution, Prince Vittorio also led the Kingdom of Sardinia to join the first anti-French alliance and fought tenaciously against the French army for four years.

However, when the army led by Napoleon appeared in northern Italy, the resistance of the Kingdom of Sardinia seemed somewhat futile.

They lost several major battles one after another, so they were forced to surrender, ceded a large core territory of Savoy to France, and were forced to withdraw from the first anti-French alliance. Even Vittorio himself, as the king, also

He died of illness the year he surrendered to Napoleon.

Of course, in the eyes of Carlo Emanuele III at this time, his heir, whom he had cultivated for decades, was extremely excellent in both character and ability. It was for this reason that he dared to confidently block the attack on Kota Kinabalu.

The important task of the Sica Army was placed in the hands of Vittorio:

"You will lead the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 6th line infantry regiments of the Royal Army and the Royal Cavalry Regiment to intercept the Corsican Army. Since they landed from Valdolidore, they will definitely use the Sol Corridor.

Pass through Liguria and enter the Po River Valley. If you lead the army and set off now, you should be able to block the Corsican army in Liguria in time."

For Carlo Emanuele III, the reason why he sent his heir to the battlefield was based on two factors:

One is because since the successive defeats of Colonel Bartland and Lieutenant General Ethel in the Mediterranean and the rebellion of Governor Bertrand, he has become increasingly disgusted with those incompetent generals and disloyal ministers.

And his successor's abilities are quite useful, and he will never be as disloyal as Governor Bertrand. He is indeed the most suitable candidate at the moment.

Secondly, if Prince Vittorio can lead the army to make meritorious deeds and establish prestige in this war, it will undoubtedly be of great benefit to the prince's succession. After all, the old king is now seventy years old, and this throne

It may be handed over to Prince Vittorio at any time, and he must also consider this.

Prince Vittorio naturally understood the purpose of his father's assignment this time, and there was some obvious excitement in his words:

"Yes, father, give me two weeks, and I will personally carry the captured Corsican battle flag and present it to you as a collection."

Carlo Emanuele III nodded with pleasure, but after a moment of reflection he still ordered:

"But... I don't want you to fight the Corsican army directly. You just need to contain it in Liguria. The Corsicans came with the idea of ​​​​a quick victory, but we

But it’s different. Since their main force has arrived at Valdolidore, it means that the defenses of Corsica and Sardinia must be empty. We must take the opportunity to take back the two islands first, and then fight the main force of the Corsican army."

It has to be said that as an old king who has been in power for forty years, Carlo Emanuele III is indeed an extremely calm ruler. Even with a huge military advantage, he still chose the lowest-risk approach.

.

After all, even if Prince Vittorio's army far exceeded the Corsican army in quantity and quality, the old king did not dare to assert that he could easily defeat the enemy, and Carlo Emanuele III definitely did not want to let his

There is a slight risk that the heir will be defeated and captured.

Therefore, Carlo Emanuele III's deployment is very clear - put the main force of the Corsican Army in Northern Italy, take the opportunity to take back the defenseless islands of Corsica and Sardinia, and completely cut off the Corsican Army.

retreat, and finally concentrate their forces to annihilate the enemy in Liguria.

A trace of disappointment flashed across Prince Vittorio's face. If he had just defended blindly, his feat would not be as great as directly defeating the entire Corsican army. However, he was still very obedient and kept his father's instructions firmly in mind.

:

"I understand, you can rest assured that I will never let any Corsican enter the Po Valley alive."

...

While the Turin court was discussing countermeasures, the Corsican army also took over the seaport town of Valdolidore after a brief battle.

As expected, the Kingdom of Sardinia did not expect that the Corsicans would dare to take the initiative to attack, or even if they were prepared, they did not know which port the Corsican army would choose to land at, so Valdore Dore

There are only some weak militiamen stationed inside.

After successfully landing in the Kingdom of Sardinia, Lawrence and his officers immediately began to discuss the implementation of the follow-up plan.

The overall plan has not changed much. It is still based on the strategy proposed by Andre Davout, the captain of the Army Staff. The troops were divided at Valdolidore, and a small group of troops marched directly north to confuse and involve Sardinia.

The main army of the kingdom, the main force of the Corsican army, bypassed Genoa eastward and then directly attacked Turin via the Po River plain.

However, there is still an extremely important question before Lawrence and the officers - how to divide the troops.

The strength of the Corsican Army was only about half that of the Sardinian Army. Moreover, Lawrence did not order Major Serulier and his Corsican garrison to participate in this operation. Instead, he ordered Major Serulier and his garrison to participate in this operation.

The troops are responsible for homeland defense.

Historically, Marshal Serurier came into Napoleon's sight for his ability in administrative management and rear stability maintenance. His indispensable performance in the siege of Ajaccio also proved his defensive command ability.

Therefore, Lawrence was relieved to leave the entire defense of the homeland to Serulière. At the same time, he was also able to monitor and contain Governor Bertrand who had just surrendered, as well as other local factions on Sardinia.

But in this way, the Corsican army that followed Lawrence to land at Valdolidore was only three regiments of the Wehrmacht Chasseurs equipped with rifled rifles.

In this case, if the number of feint troops is too small, it will not be able to contain and confuse them at all. If the number of feint troops is too large, the main force attacking Turin will be in danger.

How to allocate the troops has become a core problem in the command post. More than a dozen senior officers and personal staff have been arguing about this issue. There is no conclusion for a whole morning. Even Lawrence himself is still analyzing and weighing this issue in detail.

question.

Seeing that the endless debate in the command post was still continuing, Lawrence suddenly looked at Berthier and ordered:

"What does Andre Davout, the man who proposed the division of troops plan, think of it? I would like to hear his opinion."

Berthier looked slightly hesitant. Although Andre Davout's resume as a Paris Military Academy cadet was flawless, and the division of troops plan he proposed was fully recognized by all the officers, Berthier

Aike didn't think that his peer could have any insightful opinions on how to divide the troops.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! After all, the Corsican army that landed at Valdolidore originally had a huge disadvantage in terms of military strength. This is a hurdle that no one can get around.

But now that Lawrence had spoken, Berthier nodded and immediately stood up to summon Andre Davout to arrive. The quarrels and discussions in the command post quickly subsided.

After a while, a man wearing the uniform of a Corsican Army Staff Officer followed Berthier back to the command post.

He is very tall and can definitely be selected as a forward in the Grenadier Regiment; his skin is bronze, and if you look closely, you can find countless small scars left by hard training; the muscles all over his body are not exaggerated, but they look as hard as

Iron, extremely strong.
To be continued...