King's Landing in France

Chapter 164 fierce battle
The town of Montenotte was seen in Lahalpe's binoculars.

The sound of fighting came from the southeast, and it should sound very close.

Lahalp made a decisive decision: "Avantgarde, start attacking the city immediately, don't wait for the cannon!"

The orderly rushed out immediately.

Lahalp continued to urge the troops around him: "Come on! I know you are all tired!"

Lahalpe's troops, by another and more distant road, rounded to Altalay, turned again and ran along the valley to Montenotte.

This road is much longer than the distance that the Davout troops marched yesterday and today.

The soldiers of Lahalp were exhausted, but fortunately, the morale of the soldiers was very high and their fighting spirit was strong.

There was a shout of killing from the direction of the avant-garde, and Lahalp immediately stopped observing the soldiers around him, and turned his binoculars to Montenotte.

He saw the advance guard charging down the valley before being fired upon by the Montenotte defenses.

Montenotte has nothing that could be called a wall, only a low wall.

The remaining enemy troops defended behind the low wall, and the blue-clothed soldiers who charged up shot desperately.

The white smoke from the flintlock guns seemed to form strangely shaped clouds in the valley, which were pushed downwind by the wind blowing along the valley.

After the enemy had fired two volleys of guns, Lahalpe's vanguard rushed in front of the low wall.

Hand-to-hand combat began.

Suddenly, Lahalpe saw a group of enemies galloping towards the southeast of Montenotte, rushing into the city from the other side.

"The frontal enemy has arrived so soon? It's so close!" Lahalp exclaimed, then turned the binoculars to observe the hillside to the east of the valley.

It seems that although there is no way to deploy a regular line infantry formation on this hillside, it can be climbed up with a skirmish formation.

So Lahalpe immediately ordered: "All the battalions of the third brigade, climb up the hill in skirmish formation! Flank the enemy!"

The Laharpu division in the valley immediately changed formation, and the members of the third brigade turned around, formed a loose formation, and began to climb up the mountain all over the mountain.

At this time, the second group of enemy troops rushed into the city of Montnotte under the watchful eye of Lahalpe.

The battle situation in the direction of the low wall became complicated and confusing. The first batch of troops entering the city apparently quickly supported the defensive troops at the low wall.

In Lahalp's telescope, the white and blue clothes were completely mixed together, a mess.

Lahalp: "Second Brigade, keep investing! Don't stop! Our numbers are the advantage!"

At this time, one of Lahalpe's staff officers said: "Master, you should shout 'For Your Excellency General'."

Lahalp hesitated for a moment, and finally decided to adopt the advice of the staff officer. He drew out his long sword and shouted: "For Your Excellency the General!"

The next moment, the troops burst into majestic shouts, responding to Lahalp's call.

By this time the [-]rd Brigade in skirmish formation had finally climbed to the top of the hill and began to fire on the enemy advancing along the road to the southeast on the other side of the hill.

Rahalp muttered: "Damn it, it's a pity that we ran too fast and the cannon couldn't keep up! If we push the cannon up the hill, what damage will it do!"

**
Davout saw Lahalpe's stragglers appearing on the side ridge, and he shouted.

In fact, at this time, Davout's troops had artillery, but he couldn't find a good place to deploy the artillery.

Davout: "If Lahalp rushes down from the mountain, at least half of the enemies can be dispersed!"

But Lahalpe's troops just formed a loose formation on the top of the hill, shooting at the enemy on the mountain road on the enemy's side.

Although the distance is a bit far, but because the enemies are all crowded into a forced march, the hit should still be quite good.

Davout was so angry that he immediately called the messenger: "You, go over the mountain, find Laharp, and let him charge!"

The orderly went away.

At this time, Davout had given up his plan to wipe out the enemy completely. If he charged now and attacked from both sides, he could wipe out a large number of enemies.

In this way, the enemy will have a large number of troops that cannot be organized within a few days, and must retreat for a period of time.

But Lanhalp obviously didn't know the situation here. He still wanted to fulfill Frost's intention, shut down the Argento division and beat the dog, and completely devoured it.

Davu also knew that the problem must be in this, he paced back and forth, constantly ravaging his shiny forehead: "Damn it! This Laharp, why don't you climb up to the top of the mountain to observe?"

The current situation can be said to be not very optimistic. Davout's large army was blocked on the road by the desperate Austrian army. Although the number was superior, they could not form a formation at all.

The Austrian army is running towards Montnotte.

What Davout needs most at this time is actually the radio, relying on the radio to inform the situation on the other side of Lahalp, maybe he can seize the opportunity to launch a flank attack and defeat most of Argento's troops.

It's a pity that there is no such convenient thing at this time. The transmission of orders and information depends on the messenger running at full speed.

Even if Davout touched his bald head so that it could be used as a mirror, he couldn't figure out how to do it.

**
While Davout and Lahalpe were at Montenotte, Marshal Beaulieu, the Austrian commander, was summarizing the news of the day.

"According to the intelligence of the noble officers who defected, the enemy has quite a large army in front of Argento. The enemy has at least a [-]% strength advantage against him." Marshal Beaulieu pressed a pushpin on the map.

"Besides, Carcare's reconnaissance unit, today's reconnaissance of Altare, is likely to have a considerable force passing through Altare to Montenotte. Argento's division may be flanked by the enemy. "

Condore: "Considering that Carcare's news was many hours ago, I think the Argento Division may have been dumped by the enemy."

Beaulieu: "Argento is very vigilant. My order to him is to retreat to Montenotte if there are more enemies. I just don't know if he will have time to retreat."

Condore: "There must be time, the French army can't march so fast..."

Beaulieu glared at Kong Dolei: "Then do you think Master Argento is in danger?"

Condoré was stunned: "Uh, this..."

Beaulieu heaved a long sigh. In fact, he had wanted to replace the chief of staff a long time ago. Unfortunately, the Condoré family's face was too great to dismiss.

Beaulieu stared at the map for a long time, and then said: "It is better to assume that most of Argento's division was defeated. Argento led the remnants to retreat, and he is likely to organize defense here."

Beaulieu put a pushpin on the name Diego.

Beaulieu: "In this place, there is the Bomida River covering the flanks, and the city is on a high ground. Setting up an formation on the high ground where the city is located can gain a commanding advantage. I remember that the hillside here is very steep. In addition, there is a river , don't worry about the wings. It's a good place to defend."

The old marshal paused, and began to order: "Leave Vuksevich to defend the direction of Varazze, and the other troops will move to Diego immediately. I will go too!"

(End of this chapter)