Young bloods

Chapter 78

Major-General Dugommier stared hard at his assembled officers. 'There will be no more mistakes, gentlemen. We will have Toulon back in our hands before the end of the year. I want to make that quite clear. I will not tolerate incompetence, nor cowardice.'

He paused to let his words settle firmly in the minds of his audience and then stood up and crossed over to the map that hung on the wall of the inn he had chosen for his headquarters. At first Napoleon had not been inspired by the choice of Dugommier as the new commander of the army surrounding Toulon. Dugommier was from a noble family and, in his late fifties with grey hair and heavily lined face, was reaching an age when he would be better employed in an administrative role, rather than as a field officer. But the new general had quickly proved to be a professional of the old school and had personally inspected every unit under his command and rectified a number of supply and equipment problems that his predecessor had simply ignored. Despite his noble blood he seemed to enjoy the complete confidence of the representatives of the Committee of Public Safety, and within days of his arrival he had reinvigorated the spirit of his officers and men. Even Napoleon, grudgingly at first, recognised the superior quality of the man. All the more so when Dugommier adopted the plan of attack that had been drafted by Napoleon.

Dugommier tapped a stubby finger on the map. 'Everything hinges on L'Eguillette, as the more tactically minded of you have already come to realise. Of course, the enemy is of the same mind, hence the powerful defences that they have built at Fort Mulgrave. Over the last week I have been encouraging our opponents to believe that we are shifting the focus of our attacks to Mount Faron. Hence the increased patrols, probing attacks and limited bombardments in that area. It seems that my approach has paid off, since our spies tell us that the enemy has shifted two battalions and twelve guns from L'Eguillette to the other side of the harbour over the last two nights.' Dugommier paused and turned to his senior officers with a faint smile.'The time to attack is almost upon us, gentlemen.'

Around the long table the officers exchanged excited glances. Their chance had come at last. After all the piecemeal failures of General Carteaux they were still somewhat sceptical of any plan of attack, and waited for the new commander to elaborate. Instead, Dugommier returned to the table and sat down, before nodding in Napoleon's direction.

'Colonel Buona Parte, if you would be so good as to explain the plan to us?'

'Yes, sir.' Napoleon had a pile of notes in a leather case on the table in front of him, but he had read over the plan enough times to have memorised every important detail, so he left the case where it was and rose from his bench and stood to one side of the map. Most of the other officers looked on in poorly concealed surprise that Dugommier had ceded centre stage to this freshly promoted commander of the army's artillery. Napoleon cleared his throat and mentally rehearsed the sequence of his plan.

'In order to unsettle the enemy we will continue small-scale attacks right along the line of their defences for the next week.' He swept a hand in an arc around the port. 'Our artillery will support these attacks by bombarding their main redoubts and forts.The aim is to keep the enemy guessing about our intentions so that they spread their forces across their lines of defence. We will launch simultaneous assaults along the whole front on the night of the attack. That has been set for the early hours of the eighteenth of December. General Lapoye will be co-ordinating operations to the east of Toulon. The main weight of the attack will be thrown here, against Fort Mulgrave. The night before, we will assemble twelve infantry battalions in the village of La Seyne. There will be four columns involved. The first will be commanded by Colonel Victor, the second by Colonel Delaborde and the third by Colonel Brule. The fourth is the reserve under my command, and will remain in La Seyne until it is needed.'

'If it is needed,' General Dugommier intervened quietly.

'Yes, sir. If it is needed.' Napoleon felt his face flush slightly and quickly turned back to the map. 'The batteries of Men-Without-Fear, the Jacobins and the Happy Hunters will provide covering fire, and hopefully divert attention away from the approaching infantry columns. As soon as the fort is taken, Colonel Victor will advance and take Fort L'Equillette, Colonel Delaborde will take Fort Balaguier and Colonel Delaborde will mop up any remaining enemy forces in Fort Mulgrave. As soon as the forts are secured we will move the siege guns forward to Fort L'Eguillette and sweep the inner harbour. Cut off from the sea, it is only a matter of time before Toulon falls.' He turned away from the map. 'Any questions?'

'Yes,' Colonel Victor nodded. 'A night attack? With three columns going forward close to each other? Sounds like a recipe for confusion to me.'

'The routes will be marked the night of the attack,' Napoleon replied. 'My subordinate, Lieutenant Junot, will be leading a small party to lay down pegs and twine to show the way.'

'Still sounds risky,' Colonel Victor mused.

'I assure you it will work,' Napoleon replied impatiently. 'The surprise will be complete. Now, any more questions?'

'No,' General Dugommier said firmly. 'There will be no questions.The plan is sound and we will stick to it in every detail. All officers will receive precise orders from my staff. Gentlemen, you are dismissed.'