The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 888 This Empire Will Belong to You
1809 10 Month 17 Day.

The battle between Fa and Austria, even more chaotic and bloody than the historical Battle of Wagram, has finally arrived.

Historically, after Napoleon was forced to retreat from Aspern-Aisling, he amassed an army of over 180,000 and, with a Pyrrhic victory at the Battle of Wagram, forced Austria to surrender.

In this timeline, because of the crushing defeat at the Battle of Aspern-Eslin, Napoleon's revenge came seventy or eighty days later, but the forces he employed were far more powerful.

The French army numbered over 200,000 in this battle, and another 50,000 to 60,000 small laborers from the Confederation of the Rhine were conscripted to transport supplies.

The army also included 35,000 veterans transferred from Spain and Portugal, of whom no fewer than 20,000 were veteran guards—elite troops that had never existed before in history.

This represents all the mobile forces the French Empire could muster in Germany. If they were to be defeated again, the French Empire would have to fight a war to defend its homeland, which shows how determined Napoleon was.

Conversely, the Austrian Empire was clearly not as united as it was during the historical Battle of Wagram.

Historically, after the Battle of Aspern-Essling, although the Austrian Empire won and its morale was greatly boosted, the entire nation knew that they had not gained a significant advantage and that the next French retaliation would be the most ruthless.

Therefore, they were able to unite as one and deal with the next attack from the French Empire.

After the war, the Austrian army built a large number of fortresses around Wagram, which is right next to the village of Aspern-Eslin, in just over a month, mobilizing all available forces to the maximum extent.

However, in this timeline, the victory at the Battle of Aspern-Eslin was so great that it clouded the judgment of Emperor Franz and his ministers.

They failed to see the enormous sacrifices made by the Austrian army, and they failed to see the significant role played by the Xia and Anxi armies.

So much so that, in this atmosphere, Franz, who was flattered and dizzy, actually thought that the Austrian army could win because his brother Archduke Karl's military reforms had achieved unprecedented success and that the Austrian army was already very powerful.

As a result, the Austrian Empire not only failed to use this time to build fortifications and prepare for arduous battles, but instead began to engage in constant infighting both in the court and on the battlefield.

By the time the French army had assembled, the Austrians had not yet made a final decision on whether to attack Munich or continue to retreat to the vicinity of the capital for defense.

The biggest problem was that Archduke Karl at the front was so anxious he was practically having an epileptic seizure. He knew that the Austrian army could not withstand the French offensive on the border between Austria and Bavaria, but Emperor Franz did not want to withdraw his troops.

Because the Austrian Empire had just recovered the territory west of Vienna and occupied part of the Bavarian Kingdom, Emperor Franz gained the support and praise of his ministers and the uninformed people in the country.

I was enjoying this so much, but in less than three months I have to give back all the benefits. What about my reputation as the emperor? How can I give up the territory I just won without a fight?
This foolish emperor and his fanatical war ministers were even hoping that Archduke Karl could replicate the miracle of the Battle of Aspern-Eslin.

Meanwhile, Archduke Karl at the front lines was so hampered by them that he was almost unable to make any decisions.

On October 20, under the powerful offensive of the French army, the Austrian army was pursued from dozens of kilometers east of Munich to Linz.

Linz is the capital of Upper Austria, the largest port on the upper Danube River, and one of Austria's industrial centers. It is about 180 kilometers from the capital Vienna. The Danube River and its tributary Traun River meet here, which can be considered a geographical advantage.

However, Archduke Karl chose to stop in Linz not because it was a suitable place for a decisive battle, but because the Austrian army was simply too exhausted to continue, and the column would break up if they ran any further.

On October 25, Napoleon arrived outside Linz. During the pursuit, the French vanguard and the Austrian rearguard had engaged in more than ten small battles, with each side losing three to four thousand men.

The Battle of Aspern-Eslin had a significant inspirational effect on the Austrian army; at least in the close combat, the Austrian army did not fall behind at all and demonstrated formidable fighting power.

Seeing this, Napoleon understood even more the importance of defeating Austria.

In the past two hundred years, there have been only three and a half major land powers on the European continent: France, Austria, and Russia.

Of the remaining half, the first half is Spain, and the second half is Prussia.

Now that the Russian Empire has allied with France and Prussia has been completely crippled, the only remaining adversary is Austria. We must not allow the Austrian Empire to recover, as they are demonstrating the potential to become a powerful land force.

If this happened in another country, it would have been defeated long ago after being beaten by France for more than a decade. But Austria is still alive and kicking, and can even deliver some serious blows to France from time to time.

Countries with this potential must be completely defeated!

"Where are the Seres? Are their troops nearby?"

What Napoleon was most concerned about was the 20,000-strong Seres army, whose origins and history he had now figured out.

Emperor Napoleon didn't know whether he should feel honored or angry.

"That damn Crown Prince Seres is a fucking lunatic! How can he use the Imperial Guard like that? Doesn't he fear losing them all to Austria?!"

"No trace of the Seres army has been found; they are certainly not in or around Linz."

"Because our scouts have almost infiltrated to the vicinity of Aspern village, we have not seen any trace of the Ancien Legion of the Seres Empire, nor have we seen any of the Belgian Army," Marshal Louis Nicolas Davout replied to Emperor Napoleon.

"Franz, what a lovely little fool!" Napoleon couldn't help but smile. How could he offend his most important ally before the final battle?

If one of his brothers had been a figure like Mogölze, capable of raising 40,000 to 50,000 elite troops, Napoleon would have made him not only the King of Hungary but also the Crown Prince and King of Italy.

“Nikolai, do you think this could be an Austrian conspiracy? Could the Seres-Ancien Legion and the Belgian Army be hiding somewhere again, and then rushing over at the crucial moment?”

After chuckling twice, Napoleon's expression turned serious again. He was somewhat traumatized by Li Xingtai's surprise attack.

At the same time, Napoleon also understood how his former opponents felt. No one would feel good being watched by 20,000 elite troops, equivalent to the old Imperial Guard.

His former adversaries were often defeated by his old guards who marched all the way to the battlefield.

“Your Majesty, as long as we can easily defeat the Austrians, the Seris-Ancien Legion and the Belgian Army will not have much room to maneuver, and moreover…”

Davout stroked his chin. "The Belgian prince and his son have given so much, but received so little in return. This time, it's almost a blatant insult."

I think that as long as Prince Ferdinand still has even a shred of human emotion, he cannot continue to serve Emperor Franz.

Napoleon nodded after listening, tacitly agreeing with Davout's judgment. This was the downside of having a shallow understanding of history; if these two had known about the deeds of Sima Yi and Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, they wouldn't have made such a judgment.

In Linz, Archduke Karl was also concerned about whether Mogongze could make it. He wrote a heartfelt letter to Mogongze, but all he received in return were thousands of cannonballs, 20,000 barrels of gunpowder, and 20,000 Minié shells.

Upon seeing the Xia Fan quartermaster arrive, Grand Duke Karl's eyes welled up with tears. He knew that this was the limit of what Mo Gongze could do.

After a long silence, and several times he seemed about to speak but then stopped, Archduke Karl ultimately said nothing.

He couldn't solve Moggenberg's problem; he wasn't the Austrian emperor, and he couldn't ask Moggenberg to continue fighting for the Austrian Empire.

10 month 25 day.

The French army launched its offensive, and several elite units arrived on the battlefield.

Emperor Napoleon positioned the Italian Legion on the right wing, while Marshal Louis-Davout's elite Third Army was placed on the left. He himself commanded a large number of formidable generals in the center.

On the Austrian side, Archduke Karl also deployed 140,000 Austrian troops around the city of Linz.

At this time, artillery technology advanced by leaps and bounds, but the technology and methods of city defense did not improve much, so it was generally impossible to defend a city.

The only consequence of concentrating troops in the city is collapse under the enemy's fierce artillery fire. Therefore, no one would be foolish enough to deliberately concentrate their troops in the city and let the enemy bombard them.

The battle initially broke out on the right flank, where the Italian troops of Napoleon's stepson Eugène Bohart were very active, especially the Royal Italian Guards in this legion.

They were the Imperial Guard of the Kingdom of Italy, established after Napoleon became King of Italy, modeled after the Old Guard of France.

Although not very successful and not reaching the level of the French Guards, they were far more formidable than the average Italian army, reaching the level of the French army's second-line elite.

At 8:00 a.m., 40,000 Italian troops began crossing the Traun River. Their mission was to suppress the Austrian army from the south, seize Austrian strongholds in villages and towns near the Traun River, and force the Austrian army to concentrate more in the center, exposing them to direct attacks from the French central army.

The defense here was led by Prince Rosenberg of Austria, who had about 20,000 men. However, due to the advantageous terrain, he was not at a disadvantage against the 40,000 Italian troops.

The only problem was that Prince Rosenberg treated the 40,000 Italian troops as if they were real northern Italians fighting.

The initial exchange of fire between the two sides was quite normal. The Austrian army defended methodically, while the attacking Italian army advanced in a conventional manner. Although they were pushing forward, they suffered heavy casualties and would soon be unable to hold on.

But by noon, after two hours of fighting, the Austrian army and the French-Italian legion had both adapted to each other's offensive rhythm, and the battle was becoming somewhat routine and lacking in passion when things took a turn.

French general MacDonald suddenly led an Italian Royal Guard division of 6,500 men in an attack. These Italian guards imitated the tactics of the French Royal Guard and moved with extraordinary speed.

They would often approach first with skirmishers under the cover of French artillery fire, picking off Austrian officers and some line infantry.

After the Austrian army was initially thrown into disarray, the line infantry quickly advanced in a diagonal line formation, followed by a volley of fire and a bayonet charge. Once they created an opening, the follow-up troops advanced to expand the gains.

Prince Rosenberg was caught off guard by the fact that the Northern Italians opposite him also used the old French guard's move, and was immediately overwhelmed and had to retreat repeatedly.

Archduke Karl observed the predicament of Prince Rosenberg's forces and had no choice but to send mobile reinforcements. After an hour of fierce fighting, they finally repelled the Italians and stabilized the right flank.

But at that moment, Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout's Third Guards Corps launched an attack on the left flank.

At this time, the personnel of the French army corps and divisions were not fixed. A division generally had between three and eight thousand men, while a corps ranged from three to eight divisions.

So sometimes what appears to be an army may actually only have around 10,000 men, while other times an army may have as many as 50,000 or 60,000 men.

Marshal Davout's Third Army, numbering 41,000 men, was quite formidable. He launched an attack from the left flank and immediately put Prince Hornloe's forces on the left flank of the Austrian army in dire straits.

By 1 p.m., when the French launched another attack, Prince Hornloe's troops were struggling to hold out and frequently requested reinforcements.

Archduke Charles had no choice but to send most of his mobile reserves to the left wing, and then wait for Napoleon to launch an attack from the center.

Sure enough, seeing that the Austrian army's reserves were almost used up at the beginning, Napoleon personally led Marshal Bernadotte and Marshal Masséna, a total of 80,000 French troops, to launch a three-pronged attack from the center.

Archduke Karl was overwhelmed by difficulties, and the Austrian army fought desperately with its strongest fighting force.

French cuirassiers attacked the Austrian artillery positions several times, but the Austrian artillerymen fought to the death and refused to retreat. The gunners even took up pistols to fight, but they never retreated.

A large number of Austrian cavalry, including some Hungarian cavalry who belonged to Mogonse but identified with the Austrian Empire, also used their mobility to quickly move across the battlefield and intercept enemy forces. They were even able to confront the most elite French cuirassiers head-on.

But when night fell and the battle temporarily ended, Archduke Karl realized that the Austrian army's defeat was inevitable.

The reason we are able to hold on today, and even have a slight advantage in some areas, is because the army has just entered the battlefield and has not yet fallen into exhaustion.

This battle will be a test of who has more elite troops and who can deploy battlefield support more quickly and accurately.

However, the French elite reserves have not yet been deployed, while the Austrian elite forces are already exhausted and their stamina is clearly far inferior to that of the French.

Grand Duke Karl, feeling utterly hopeless about the future of the empire, said to his trusted officer, "If only the emperor could be more realistic..."

Those fanatical war enthusiasts who believe that the Empire alone can defeat France on land should refrain from stirring up emotions.

"Ferdinand and Serres' army can help us win this battle, or at least prevent the French from advancing an inch." Archduke Karl was truly heartbroken, because if they had the 20,000 men of the Xia Fan Three Guards and the 20,000 men of the Anxi army, even if Austria's elite troops outnumbered the French, they could certainly hold off the 200,000 French troops, if not defeat them.

But now, it is the Austrian army that cannot hold on. Once the Austrian army's elite mobile forces are completely exhausted, the Austrian army is doomed to lose.

"Faced with such a powerful opponent, our only chance is to launch a surprise attack before sunrise tomorrow, to break through the French lines and crush their weakest Saxon infantry, commanded by Bernardot."

Under the most difficult circumstances, Archduke Karl found the only battle plan that offered any hope of turning the tide.

That is to directly attack Bernadotte from the center, break through to the main French artillery positions, and drive away or destroy the French artillery.

Then, send your own artillery forward to bombard the French army without interference, driving them back. After that, you can start negotiating with the French Empire.

"Will Grand Duke John's troops arrive on time? Speed ​​is what we need now. Only by completing our objectives before the French can react can we hope to win the battle."

"The Grand Duke has replied; he is certain he will arrive on time," the staff officer answered. The Austrian army also had reinforcements, which were about 20,000 Austrian troops pieced together from the Pozoni (Bratislava) region, and the last Austrian troops with a certain fighting capacity.

"That's good. May God bless us!" Archduke Karl closed his eyes and began to pray.

At 4:00 a.m. on the second day, the Austrian army launched a surprise attack. Although the French army was prepared, they did not expect the Austrian army's attack to be so decisive, and they were really stunned.

Bernardo, the commander of the Saxon army, had been disliked by Napoleon long before the Battle of Austerlitz; otherwise, he would not have been constantly sent to lead troops in obscure and marginal areas.

Most importantly, Bernardo Silva has already begun making contact with certain people in Sweden. Knowing that he has a chance to become King of Sweden, his mind is basically not on commanding the war.

Under the influence of multiple factors, the Saxon infantry was quickly defeated, and a huge gap appeared in the French central army, through which the Austrian army surged in.

However, the ensuing battle did not go as smoothly as Archduke Karl had envisioned. Although the Austrian army entered through the breach, they also chased after the Saxon infantry, causing chaos among the other French troops.

But Emperor Napoleon's command ability and the combat skills of the elite French veterans were fully demonstrated at this moment.

Napoleon issued five orders in quick succession to separate the chaotic army, and then called in reserve troops and the Italian legion on the right wing to reinforce them.

By sunrise, the French army had largely held off the Austrian offensive, but of course, they were unable to drive the Austrians out in a short time, and the two sides were locked in a fierce battle.

On the left flank, Davout wisely refrained from reinforcing the central army, instead launching a fierce attack on Prince Hohenlohe's forces on the right flank of the Austrian army.

The famous hussar commander Lassalle, together with his comrade General Marulaz and others, launched the fiercest attack, defeating several Austrian dragoon regiments and Hungarian light cavalry regiments.

However, misfortune still befell Lassalle. During his pursuit of the Austrian army, he encountered a grenadier battalion of the Prince of Liechtenstein.

Lassalle led his cavalry to defeat them, but he himself was shot in the forehead from a distance by an Austrian rifleman and died on the spot.

However, killing Lassalle could not save the Austrian right flank. Davout's Third Guard Corps was the elite of the French army, while the Austrian right flank had also had some elite troops drawn away to launch a frontal attack. The difference in combat strength between the two sides was still quite large.

At 10 a.m., after four hours of fierce fighting, the Austrian right flank was riddled with holes.

French cavalry and skirmishers were able to quickly penetrate the Austrian right flank, using small patches of forest and villages for cover, constantly wiping out the outermost cut-off Austrian troops, and forcing the main Austrian right flank force back to the north.

The north side of the Austrian army's right flank was a crucial route for their retreat. Archduke Charles had no choice but to temporarily halt command of the central army and personally lead his personal guard of over a thousand grenadiers to reinforce the right flank, while praying that his brother Archduke John's twenty thousand men would arrive as soon as possible.

Perhaps Archduke Charles's prayers were answered, for Archduke John, who had been late during the Battle of Wagram in history, arrived on time. They appeared on the right flank of the French army and quickly began their attack.

This immediately caused significant losses for the French army, as the right flank of the French army was occupied by the Italian Legion, and the elite Italian Guards had been transferred to the center.

As for the rest, well, given the Italians' enigmatic fighting prowess, they really couldn't defeat the Austrians. In just one hour, the French Italian Legion lost over three thousand men.

In particular, Archduke John's troops set up cannons more than 500 meters away and bombarded the Italian legions, instantly destroying the headquarters of the Italian 6th Division.

They almost killed Gabriel Morito, the future French Marshal who was about to take over command, with artillery fire.

Napoleon's palms were sweating as he hesitated, wondering whether to send some of his central forces to stabilize the right flank and prevent the Italian army from collapsing completely, which would make the Italians even more vulnerable on the battlefield.

Just then, Marmont's 11th Army arrived, the very reinforcements Napoleon had hoped for.

Although the Marmont 11th Army was also part of the Italian Legion, it consisted largely of Frenchmen, including many veterans, whose fighting strength was far superior to that of ordinary Italians. Their addition quickly stabilized the right flank of the French army.

On the right flank of the Austrian army, even with Archduke Karl personally going to reinforce, the results were still not ideal.

Louis Davout's army seemed to have emerged from hell, fierce and tireless. Archduke Charles could only hold his right flank to prevent it from being constantly cut off and devoured, but he could not alleviate the huge disadvantage on the right flank.

In the midst of the battle, Napoleon, whose crisis had eased, ordered Count Jacques Lauriston to also set up cannons at close range to bombard the enemy.

The barrage of shells exploded amidst the dense ranks of soldiers, sometimes killing more than twenty Austrian soldiers with a single shot.

The Austrian attacking force, already exhausted after nearly six hours of fighting, could no longer withstand such casualties and quickly withdrew from the attack, retreating towards the city of Linz.

Napoleon immediately ordered Masséna to lead the cavalry in pursuit, but the Austrian army only retreated and did not collapse.

They fought and retreated, drawing the French cavalry into the firing range of the Austrian artillery. Then, more than a hundred cannons fired simultaneously, causing heavy casualties to the French cavalry, who were forced to halt their attack.

Archduke Charles was at his wits' end. Napoleon was in the center training his troops and would soon launch a counter-offensive. Meanwhile, on his right flank, the French army under Louis Davout continued its offensive.

At 2 p.m., after a collective discussion, the Austrian army decided to abandon Linz and retreat north.

At 3 p.m., the French army discovered that the Austrian army seemed to be retreating. Napoleon quickly ordered a pursuit, but was outmaneuvered by Archduke Charles.

The pursuing French troops once again ran into the guns of the Austrian artillery, which unleashed a massive amount of ammunition in twenty minutes, causing heavy losses to several French cavalry regiments.

Half an hour later, the French army began the pursuit again. This time they were not subjected to heavy artillery fire. When the cavalry reached the Austrian artillery positions, they found that all the cannons had been shut down and almost all the gunpowder had been used up.

It turns out that the Austrian army had used up all the available ammunition in one go.

At 5 p.m., the French cavalry caught up with the Austrian army's tail, but Archduke Charles had made arrangements in advance. Whenever the French army was about to catch up with the retreating main force, the Austrian cavalry would appear to relieve the siege.

With Lassalle killed in battle, Marouaz wounded, and Napoleon reluctant to send his Imperial Guards cavalry into the pursuit, the French cavalry's fighting strength was significantly weakened, and they were unable to break through the Austrian cavalry's blockade.

Five days later, after suffering tens of thousands of casualties and being captured, the Austrian army retreated to Kölnburg.

This location is about 15 kilometers from Vienna, not far from the last Battle of Aspern-Eslin.

After the Austrian army arrived at Kölnburg, only a little over 60,000 of the original 130,000 troops remained. More than half of their artillery had been lost, and they were exhausted, hungry, and on the verge of collapse.

But they were safe, because Archduke Karl met Mogonze in Cornewburg.

“Ferdinand, I thought you really wouldn’t come back.” Archduke Karl was very moved, and even Archduke John, who had slandered Mogongze, came over and apologized with shame.

“I will always be here because I am also an Austrian and a member of the Habsburg family.”

Although I will never believe a word Franz says again, I cannot watch these warriors who gave everything for Austria become prisoners of the French.

Mo Gongze's words sounded grand and dignified, but in reality, he was just there to gain prestige. After rescuing these desperate Austrians, he planned to retreat to Hungary to prepare for the war of resistance.

"Save as many warriors as possible; Austria needs them, for the army of the Tsarist Rus' Empire has already entered Austrian territory."

They have occupied Galicia and are marching towards Bohemia and Moravia; I suspect their target is Pozzoni (Bratislava), where Franz is located.

In a narrow sense, Galicia refers to the territory that later encompassed southeastern Poland, northeastern Slovakia, and western Ukraine. Its central region and main city became the Lviv Oblast of Ukraine.

This area was incorporated into the Habsburg family's territory during the first partition of Poland in 1772.

The Rus' Empire had long coveted this place because the lowest class of people in Galicia were called Ruthenia.

These people were a branch of the Rus' people, and were even directly referred to as Little Russians. In later years, the Ruthenia people, along with other Rus' people, formed the Ukrainians, who remain the dominant ethnic group among them.

At this time, there was no conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The Ukrainians had a strong affection for the Rus' people and the Tsar, which was very beneficial for the Tsarist Rus' Empire to rule the area.

Archduke Karl was initially startled, then fell silent for a long time. He had no doubt about the veracity of the news, because if he were the Tsar, he would never have given up this opportunity to annex Galicia.

"The Emperor may again seek peace with France and join the continental system; the Austrians have no choice," Archduke Karl said in a low voice.

Mo Gongze snorted coldly, "Austrians have many choices, but Franz doesn't want to choose because he values ​​his own life and quality of life more than the entire country and its people."

I will continue to resist, and I will never yield to that Corsican cannibal and those French bandits, never!

Archduke Karl was not shocked by Mo Gongze's choice. He stared blankly at Mo Gongze and said, "You were born in the wrong era, Ferdinand."

There are too many heirs in the Habsburg family now; it's impossible for you, their grandson, to be chosen. Otherwise, you could have become a wise Habsburg patriarch and Holy Roman Emperor.

Mo Gongze looked at Grand Duke Karl with a smile, "Actually, you can, Karl, you can be a good emperor."

When Mo Gongze said this, he was actually joking. Not to mention that Archduke Karl himself suffers from epilepsy and often loses control, he also has no children and therefore cannot become the ruler of Austria.

Most importantly, given Grand Duke Karl's character, he wouldn't do such a thing. But unexpectedly, Grand Duke Karl's next words startled Mo Gongze.

“I can help you become Franz Karl’s godfather.”

This is a huge piece of information. Franz Karl is the second son of Emperor Franz I of Austria, and he is only two years old this year. The emperor's eldest son is mentally challenged and disabled.

In peacetime, it wouldn't be impossible for someone with intellectual disabilities and physical impairments to become the King of Austria, but now it seems too risky.

Emperor Franz I, who was not mentally challenged, had already ruined Austria to this extent; if another truly mentally challenged emperor were to come along, well, perhaps that would be better.

Since intellectually disabled people are unable to govern a country, entrusting state affairs to ministers might not be so bad, but it is still not a good thing.

Archduke Karl's intention was to make Mogonze the godfather of Franz Karl, and to put the boy on the throne in the future, so that he could rule the entire Austrian Empire as godfather regent.

"Hahaha, my dear cousin, you really don't understand politics." Mo Gongze finally burst into laughter, then his face darkened.

"I don't want to be Franz Karl's godfather, I choose to be Ferdinand's godfather."

Grand Duke Karl was suddenly struck by a realization. Yes, for Ferdinand, why should he become the godfather of a normal child instead of the godfather of a Prince Ferdinand who shared his name but was mentally challenged? That would make his position as regent much more legitimate.

“I am indeed not suited for politics, but I will support you. I know all too well how much damage an incompetent monarch can do to an empire,” Archduke Karl said, shaking his head with a hint of self-deprecation.

"Then you must have some conditions, Cousin Carl."

"Guarantee the emperor's safety, forever and ever!"

(End of this chapter)