Such a march, with only 40,000 men, would have been
perilous: and it could at most only have rescued a now reduced and
almost famishing garrison. Besides, he very naturally expected the
besiegers of Genoa to retreat now that their rear was threatened.

Sound policy and a desire to deal a dramatic stroke spurred on the
First Consul to a more daring and effective plan; to clear Lombardy of
the Imperialists and seize their stores; then, after uniting with
Moncey's 15,000 troops, to cut off the retreat of all the Austrian
forces west of Milan.

On entering Milan he was greeted with wild acclaim by the partisans of
France (June 2nd); they extolled the energy and foresight that brought
two armies, as it were down from the clouds, to confound their
oppressors. Numbers of men connected with the Cisalpine Republic had
been proscribed, banished, or imprisoned by the Austrians; and their
friends now hailed him as the restorer of their republic. The First
Consul spent seven days in selecting the men who were to rebuild the
Cisalpine State, in beating back the eastern forces of Austria beyond
the River Adda, and in organizing his troops and those of Moncey for
the final blow. The military problems, indeed, demanded great care and
judgment. His position was curiously the reverse of that which he had
occupied in 1796. Then the French held Tortona, Alessandria, and
Valenza, and sought to drive back the Austrians to the walls of
Mantua. Now the Imperialists, holding nearly the same positions, were
striving to break through the French lines which cut them off from
that city of refuge; and Bonaparte, having forces slightly inferior to
his opponents, felt the difficulty of frustrating their escape.

Three routes were open to Melas. The most direct was by way of Tortona
and Piacenza along the southern bank of the Po, through the difficult
defile of Stradella: or he might retire towards Genoa, across the
Apennines, and regain Mantua by a dash across the Modenese: or he
might cross the Po at Valenza and the Ticino near Pavia. All these
roads had to be watched by the French as they cautiously drew towards
their quarry. Bonaparte's first move was to send Murat with a
considerable body of troops to seize Piacenza and to occupy the defile
of Stradella. These important posts were wrested from the Austrian
vanguard; and this success was crowned on June 9th by General Lannes'
brilliant victory at Montebello over a superior Austrian force
marching