Although Anning is very familiar with the terrain of Rivoli, he cannot reveal it directly.
After all, he can’t explain it; he couldn’t say that God sent him a dream revealing the terrain.
So Anning said to Lasalle: "Ride quickly to Rivoli and scout the area."
Lasalle: "Do I need to delay the enemy coming from the south of Trent?"
Anning: "No, the Cavalry in the Adige River Valley cannot be effectively deployed, just ensure your scouts remain within sight of the enemy."
Lasalle: "No problem! My boys love such thrilling tasks, and they get to confront the Austrian Cavalry too!"
Bertier: "Don’t worry, direct clashes between Cavalry units are rare, they usually shoot at each other from a certain distance."
In this era, actual Cavalry charges are rare. Previously, during the battle with Lafayette, the Cavalry engaged for a few hours, which was very rare in this time.
Normally, due to the physiological instinct of the horses, a Cavalry charge doesn’t actually lead to direct collision; often the faster side wins—since a faster horse is braver, exerting more pressure on the opposing side.
Lasalle: "Rest assured, I will handle everything; you just wait here for the news."
Anning: "Be careful, I do not wish to lose my Cavalry Commander so soon."
Anning hadn’t found Moura yet, and without Lasalle, there would be no one to lead the Cavalry.
Perhaps Christina and her direct supervising officer, Ms. Oliver, would have to lead the Cavalry.
These Cavalry are wild, bandit-like, having a woman command them could lead to complications.
As soon as Lasalle left, Davout entered.
"My troops are also advancing towards Rivoli; should we allocate some forces to support Lana?" Davout looked at Anning, "We have you commanding here personally, we probably don’t need so many troops."
Anning was speechless. How could he say that having me in command meant that not many troops are needed, is that logical?
Anning turned to Bertier, expecting him to sharply rebuke Davout. But Bertier said, "According to current intelligence, Von Wumze does seem to have split his forces in two. Even if we send some troops to support Lana on the West Lake Shore, the face-to-face ratio is one to one, no disadvantage. With the General personally in command, our morale will surely be very high, and we will perform better than the enemy."
Bertier’s words sounded a bit more reasonable than Davout’s but only slightly.
It seemed Bertier and Davout really believed that with the ’Battlefield Magician’ in command, even a one-to-one ratio of forces could be seen as a significant advantage.
Anning had no choice but to correct this misconception himself.
Anning: "No, I was forced to fight several battles with inferior forces; I had no choice, do you understand? If I had a choice, I would choose to concentrate superior forces for annihilation. I’ve already decided to concentrate local superiority in the frontline."
Davout: "I also support concentrating force superiority, but won’t Lana have problems? He’s just a..."
Anning finished his sentence: "Just a dyeing apprentice, I know you wanted to say that."
Bertier: "Serving as a battalion commander, even a brigade commander, Lana would have no issues, he performed very well in training, especially excelling in tactical learning. But..."
Bertier also left his sentence hanging.
Bertier and Davout, both traditional soldiers and Nobles, naturally doubted Lana’s capability to command effectively in the defensive battle on the West Lake Shore.
The words ’General received God’s revelation’ could fool the common soldiers, but this wouldn’t work as well with these professional soldiers.
Anning: "Can my promoted Massena fight?"
Davout immediately replied: "Of course, he’s excellent both in offense and defense."
Massena took the initiative to attack the Sardinian Kingdom by surprise without Anning’s orders, which seemed to have made a very good impression on Davout.
Bertier did not immediately respond like Davout; after a brief hesitation, he said: "It was indeed a very bold move, but somewhat too risky."
Anning: "But you both agree that Massena is talented, right? Trust me, Lana will perform the same."
Bertier and Davout exchanged looks.
Napoleon then suggested: "If you’re worried that Lana cannot hold, strengthen his Artillery with my troops. Since we have a manpower advantage in the front, it doesn’t matter if I’m not there. I want to go where I’m most needed."
Anning: "No, if Lana’s line collapses, your Artillery won’t be easy to retreat, even though they’re all horse-drawn."
Napoleon: "What? I thought you fully trusted Lana."
"I do trust him, but that doesn’t stop me from making some precautionary arrangements. Distance is our precaution, even if Lana is defeated, we still have a day to deal with the Austrian forces descending from the Adige River Valley."
Bertier: "Very reasonable."
Anning continued on the map: "Lasalle has gone to find the enemy’s main force, I estimate they are currently around here."
Anning marked an X on the map.
"It takes two days to reach Rivoli from here, unless the Austrians march forcedly without rest. But right after a heavy snow, there should be significant snow accumulation in the canyons; in such conditions, a forced march without rest, when they arrive at Rivoli, we can easily defeat this exhausted enemy."
In fact, the reason Anning knew it would take Von Wumze two days to arrive was because in another timeline, Von Wumze took almost three days to cover that route.
Anning’s knowledge was like having a cheat code.
But this was different from promoting officers prematurely; this cheat was very discreet, as it seemed Anning was just making estimates based on common sense.
Davout: "My troops can reach Rivoli in a day and a half."
Anning: "Forced march?"
"Yes, according to your estimates, after arriving there will be half a day to properly rest."
Anning: "Execute it!"
At this moment, a Messenger Soldier rushed into the room: "Report! Urgent message from the second division!"
Anning: "It’s Lana, give it to me."
The Messenger Soldier stuffed the letter into Anning’s hand, then saluted.
Anning opened the letter and read the crooked writing of his dyeing apprentice: "A large number of Austrian troops are in front of me, engaging in battle."