Marshal Boliere swiftly left his cannons behind, running as fast as he could. Napoleon estimated the distance between the two armies and their respective speeds, coming to a conclusion: the enemy was advancing at an incredible pace, and his forces were falling behind.
Indeed, the French army had just completed a grueling fifty-mile forced march along the Po River, followed by another swift march to reach the bridge. Pursuing the Austrians at such a relentless pace took a toll, not only on the soldiers but also on the horses. Once the horses couldn't keep up, not only the cavalry and artillery suffered, but the crucial supplies lagged behind as well.
Napoleon predicted that Marshal Boliere would retreat to Milan. Losing so many cannons, he couldn't possibly defend the city with his remaining forces. From their previous encounters, Boliere didn't seem like the kind of leader who would stubbornly fight a battle he knew he couldn't win. Napoleon's only concern was how much Florins (a common Italian currency) Boliere would take with him during his retreat.
Considering the condition of his army, Napoleon decided to let his troops rest for a day before marching towards Milan, the capital of Lombardy.
The following afternoon, French reconnaissance cavalry approached Milan, and the city's representatives appeared before them. They informed the commanding officer, Ojero, that the Austrians had left Milan early in the morning, leaving it defenseless. The citizens of Milan eagerly welcomed General Napoleon.
After peacefully occupying Milan, Napoleon's army halted for rest and recuperation. Napoleon himself addressed the Milanese council, assuring them that he wasn't an oppressor like the Austrians. He had come to bring freedom and liberation to the people of Lombardy.
This speech initially relieved the Milanese, who feared they'd be subjected to looting and extortion by the French. However, they would soon learn the true meaning of "freedom and liberation" as defined by the French.
After a brief respite, Napoleon's forces resumed their pursuit of the Austrian army, following them to Mantua, the most vital fortress in Italy. Boliere and his remaining troops, around ten thousand in number, sought refuge behind the formidable walls of Mantua, awaiting reinforcements. Napoleon stationed his forces near Mantua, planning to lay siege and await relief.
Meanwhile, in the territories under Napoleon's control, the ideals of freedom and liberation were being vigorously implemented.
In Milan, some individuals supported by the French organized a group known as the "Freedom Club." They adopted a slogan that terrified the local aristocracy: "Just like Piedmont!"
They claimed that Lombardy should implement measures similar to those in Piedmont, confiscating all noble lands and distributing them freely to the peasants. Soon, conflicts erupted as armed mobs attacked the estates of nobles in the countryside. They burned "seized land deeds" and declared the land would be distributed to local farmers. The nobles were in distress; they lacked the military force to protect their wealth, and the French dismissed these events as "internal Italian conflicts."
This laissez-faire approach had two consequences. Some nobles left Lombardy, spreading stories of terror and atrocities committed by the "French thugs," while others covertly contacted the enemies of the French, such as the Austrians and the Papal States, seeking to use their influence to drive out the French and restore the "divine order."
In reality, most of these actions were anticipated by Napoleon. As he prepared to face the urgent reinforcements sent by the Austrians from the Rhine front, he sent General Ojero back to Milan to maintain order among the local nobility.
Simultaneously, with the support of the spoils acquired in Italy, new weapons were being mass-produced in Joseph's armament factories. These weapons, loaded onto frigates, were delivered to the neutral city of Genoa in Italy and continuously transported to Napoleon's army. Initially, when the Italian campaign began, only a few soldiers were equipped with new breech-loading rifles, but now most had the latest weaponry. In this way, Napoleon possessed a truly advanced army that outclassed the entire era.
On the night of April 10, 1796, General Ojero and his troops unexpectedly raided the home of Count Leonard de Patri, a prominent local noble in Milan. They arrested the entire Patri family and discovered a wealth of correspondence linking them to anti-French forces.
Soon after, the French began a mass arrest operation throughout Milan based on the list they found in Count Patri's possession. That single night led to the capture of over a hundred people by the French. Later, some sympathizers of these nobles would refer to it as the "Night of Terror."
Subsequently, an expedited revolutionary tribunal conducted swift trials in the French fashion. Within a week, over a hundred nobles were publicly hanged. Their assets were seized and distributed among landless peasants and impoverished city dwellers. Of course, it was rumored that the French also took away numerous artworks and gold coins from these nobles, although these items were not officially registered.
After being besieged for over twenty days, Marshal Boliere finally received reinforcements from Emperor Austria, led by Marshal Wurmser—forty thousand troops in total.
Despite Marshal Boliere's repeated warnings about the extraordinary combat capabilities of the French army and their advanced weaponry in his pleas to the Emperor, these warnings were viewed as excuses for his consecutive failures. The Emperor's stance was supported by various other commanders engaged in conflicts with the French, like Archduke Charles, who, upon reading Boliere's warnings about the "exceptional quality of French infantry" and "a French army is invincible even if outnumbered," nearly suggested that Boliere should face a military court-martial. Meanwhile, old Marshal Wurmser threatened to "whip this coward's behind in public" after he relieved the siege.
Nonetheless, the Austrians displayed a degree of caution. Their forty-thousand-strong army consisted of elite forces, and, with the ten-thousand trapped in Mantua, they had numerical superiority, even when faced with Napoleon's entire army. Moreover, Napoleon was forced to leave a significant portion of his troops as occupation forces in the recently captured areas. As a result, he could only concentrate around thirty thousand troops for the forthcoming battle, giving the Austrians a numerical advantage.
Historically, Napoleon had relied on the astonishing mobility of his army and exploited a division made by the old marshal to defeat the Austrian forces in previous campaigns. This time, however, Napoleon was confident that his army's absolute strength far surpassed that of the Austrians, rendering such tactics unnecessary. He simply aimed to obliterate the enemy in a direct confrontation.
On May 2, Napoleon's French troops and the Austrian army clashed in a major battle not far from Mantua, at Castiglione. Employing rifles with three to four times the range of the Austrian muskets and employing maneuverable skirmisher tactics, Napoleon, with less than twenty thousand troops, managed to defeat Marshal Wurmser's forty-thousand-strong Austrian reinforcement in half a day. Wurmser himself escaped with his personal guard, while the rest of the Austrian troops were either killed, captured, or scattered. French casualties amounted to less than two thousand soldiers.
On the morning of May 3, Napoleon dispatched an envoy, presenting over fifty Austrian flags captured during the battle to Marshal Boliere, who guarded Mantua. The Austrian troops in Mantua, from the marshal downward, were struck with fear. The following day, Marshal Boliere sent an envoy to Napoleon's camp to discuss the terms of surrender.
Upon securing victory, Napoleon displayed an unusual generosity towards Marshal Boliere, offering him favorable terms. The Austrian troops were allowed to retain their personal belongings and even a limited number of weapons for self-defense while leaving the fortress. In exchange, they were to ensure the preservation of the fortress facilities, cannons, and accumulated supplies, a gesture that astounded the Austrian defenders.
Such benevolence led General Davout to express his dissent, concerned that Napoleon was letting the tiger back into the mountain. "These are still over ten thousand trained soldiers. Allowing them to return will only strengthen Austria."
However, Napoleon dismissed the concern, saying, "They've already been terrified by our forces. Sending them back will make them sing our praises as if we were gods, seriously damaging Austrian morale. It's not a bad thing for us."
Napoleon's leniency greatly relieved the Austrian garrison within Mantua. They readily accepted his terms and surrendered the fortress.