After marching leisurely along the Mediterranean coast for several days, An Ning arrived at Albenga on the Mediterranean coast.
As soon as they arrived here, An Ning received a report from Savona that an Austrian division appeared on the coastline to the west of Savona. After a tentative attack, they camped on the mountains north of Varazze on the west side.
Obviously, Marshal Beaulieu of Austria has already taken action.
The first thing An Ning did when he arrived in Albenga was to order the cavalry to conduct reconnaissance. This area was full of coastal hills and was not very suitable for cavalry. However, compared to infantry, the cavalry's advantage in reconnaissance was still unparalleled.
By the time An Ning's large force arrived in Savona, La Salle's hussars had already mastered a large amount of intelligence about the enemy.
According to intelligence, the First Division of the Austrian First Army led by Austrian Major General Argento has now arrived at Carcare, northwest of Savona - a small city among the hills, guarding two key mountain roads.
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Varadze was facing the Vukcevich Division of the Second Division of the Austrian First Army.
As for Marshal Beaulieu's headquarters, it is speculated that it may be in Thessaly.
As for the rest of the enemy's troops, La Salle's reconnaissance failed to find their location. It may be because the mountain road is difficult to open, and these troops are still scattered behind.
Maybe Beaulieu didn't expect An Ning's troops to arrive so quickly, and thought Savona still only had those 10,000 people defending.
After arriving in Savona, An Ning met the former commander of the Italian Army, the Marquis of Lamballe.
Lord Lamballe is a typical nobleman. His first words after seeing An Ning were: "Are you the son of the cobbler?"
Upon hearing this, the officers around Napoleon all frowned.
Napoleon was unhappy at first, and stepped forward to say something: "What happened to the cobbler's son? He was a hero who defeated Lafayette's 40,000 men with fifteen thousand men! The greatest general of our time!"
The Marquis de Lamballe glanced at Napoleon and snorted: "I know, Captain! When did a captain have the right to speak in a meeting between two generals?"
An Ning immediately became unhappy.
That's right, An Ning's military ranks are all low. Mainly after winning the battle, he hasn't gone to Paris to ask for an officer, so all his subordinates are lieutenants.
An Ning came up with the idea of "temporary military ranks" and gave them temporary promotions, but in order to avoid others taking advantage of them, he did not make military rank uniforms.
In the eyes of An Ning's troops, Davout was already a lieutenant colonel and Napoleon was a major, but they still wore the uniforms of lieutenants.
Anyway, the Anning Army was short of officers, and there were only a few lieutenants. They were all sergeants and staff sergeants, so Davout and the others, wearing the uniforms of lieutenants, were able to command a fairly large force.
But this is not the case for the ten thousand people in Savona. The Marquis of Lamballe is a serious major general. The standard force commanded by a major general is a division, so this military rank is also translated as "division general" in some places.
But at this time, there was no higher military rank in France than major general. All the higher ranks were honorary military ranks, so a major general could also command an army or even a legion.
Before Anning took over as the commander of the Italian Army, the Marquis of Ramballe served as the commander of the Italian Army as a major general.
In fact, the troops in Savona were exactly one division in strength. Each brigade under the division headquarters was led by a colonel. The commanders of the two regiments of a brigade were both lieutenant colonels, and further down there were majors.
In other words, any major in the Marquis de Lamballe's army can dominate An Ning's army by virtue of his military rank.
After all, apart from him, the major general, the highest-ranking officer in An Ning's army was Colonel Berthier, the chief of staff, and the others all had very low ranks.
It's no wonder that the Marquis de Rambal despises An Ning so much. After all, he came here with a group of school officers, and behind An Ning, except for Berthier, were all a group of lieutenants.
An Ning scratched his head and thought, damn, could it be that the first problem he encountered when he arrived in Italy was to treat the Marquis de Lamballe?
He is a major general, and the marquis is also a major general. Although he now holds the title of commander of the Italian Army, the Marquis of Lamballe may not obey orders obediently in the future.
Especially now that the Marquis has shown his disdain for An Ning.
So An Ning turned around and ordered to Davout: "Davout, take your division to the direction of Carcare and monitor the Argento Department."
Davout saluted: "Understood."
The Marquis of Lamballe shouted: "What! Let a captain command a division? Does he have such ability? I heard that there is a shortage of officers in the country, but I didn't expect the shortage to be so bad! But General Frost, my army has
Enough officers to put my people under command..."
An Ning: "I am the commander of the Italian Army."
The corners of Marquis Lamballe's mouth twitched.
An Ning thought to herself, how can you, those aristocratic wastes, compare with Davout? This is Davout, leading an army of 30,000 men to defeat the main force of Prussia!
Davout ignored the Marquis of Lamballe and left directly with the order.
An Ning asked again: "Ms. Oliver, your cavalry is reconnoitring in the direction of Varadze to contain Vukcevich's troops!"
"As you wish." Ms. Oliver also left.
The Marquis of Lamballe said angrily: "What's going on? Who are these people sent from the country? A group of lieutenant brats, and an old nun, led by a cobbler! Can we fight here?"
An Ning: "It's okay to call Ms. Oliver an old nanny. It's not far from the truth. But isn't it a bit inappropriate to call Dawu Lieutenant a brat?"
After all, he is almost in the Mediterranean Sea.
Marquis de Lamballe: "War is not a child's play! How can you defeat Marshal Beaulieu like this? He is a veteran of more than 70 years and has very rich experience!"
An Ning said coldly: "I know, I have never underestimated this old coach. So I have to do one thing. Lana!"
Lana took a step forward and responded loudly: "Here we come!"
Rana still serves as the commander of the training team, but the size of the training team has been greatly expanded. After all, An Ning is now the commander of a 30,000-person legion.
In order to train enough non-commissioned officers to support 30,000 people, the teaching team was expanded to 500 people and became a teaching regiment.
Rana is the leader of the teaching group.
An Ning: "Let the teaching team surround this building!"
Rana: "Already surrounded!"
After saying that, he shouted: "Someone is coming!"
Immediately, a group of soldiers from the teaching regiment rushed into the room.
Marquis Lamballe's voice trembled: "You, you, you, what do you want to do?"
An Ning: "I heard that your wife, Marquis de Lamballe, is the best friend of the traitor Queen Mary? I suspect that you are having an affair with a foreign country! Arrest her!"
The soldiers roared in unison: "Yes!"
Then two burly soldiers went over and picked up the Marquis.
An Ning continued to order: "Arrest all the nobles in the original Italian Legion! The royal party has rebelled, and all nobles cannot be trusted!
"At the same time, in the original Italian Legion, a soldiers' committee was established to imitate the system of our army and let the soldiers nominate their sergeants!"