the
Sardinian forces were discerned filing away westwards. Their general
indulged the fond hope of holding the French at bay at several
strong natural positions on his march. He was bitterly to rue his
error. The French divisions of Serurier and Dommartin closed in on
him, drove him from Mondovi, and away towards Turin.

Bonaparte had now completely succeeded. Using to the full the
advantage of his central position between the widely scattered
detachments of his foes, he had struck vigorously at their natural
point of junction, Montenotte, and by three subsequent successes--for
the evacuation of Ceva can scarcely be called a French victory--had
forced them further and further apart until Turin was almost within
his power.

It now remained to push these military triumphs to their natural
conclusion, and impose terms of peace on the House of Savoy, which was
secretly desirous of peace. The Directors had ordered Bonaparte that
he should seek to detach Sardinia from the Austrian alliance by
holding out the prospect of a valuable compensation for the loss of
Savoy and Nice in the fertile Milanese.[42] The prospect of this rich
prize would, the Directors surmised, dissolve the Austro-Sardinian
alliance, as soon as the allies had felt the full vigour of the French
arms. Not that Bonaparte himself was to conduct these negotiations. He
was to forward to the Directory all offers of submission. Nay, he was
not empowered to grant on his own responsibility even an armistice. He
was merely to push the foe hard, and feed his needy soldiers on the
conquered territory. He was to be solely a general, never a
negotiator.

The Directors herein showed keen jealousy or striking ignorance of
military affairs. How could he keep the Austrians quiet while envoys
passed between Turin and Paris? All the dictates of common sense
required him to grant an armistice to the Court of Turin before the
Austrians could recover from their recent disasters. But the King of
Sardinia drew him from a perplexing situation by instructing Colli to
make overtures for an armistice as preliminary to a peace. At once the
French commander replied that such powers belonged to the Directory;
but as for an armistice, it would only be possible if the Court of
Turin placed in his hands three fortresses, Coni, Tortona, and
Alessandria, besides guaranteeing the transit of French armies through
Piedmont and the passage of the Po at Valenza. Then, with his
unfailing belief