Napoleon, a short biography . bout twenty thousandmen watching the passes and protecting theroads running northeast towards Turin; theAustrian of about thirty-five thousand men oc-cupying Genoa on its left and thence stretch-ing across the Ligurian Alps to join hands withthe Sardinians towards Dego and Austro-Sardinians, under Beaulieu andColli, were thus stretched out on a line of sixtymiles through mountainous country; not onlythis, but their lines of communications weredivergent, that of the Austrians on Alessandria,that of the Sardinians on Turin. Bonaparteframed his plan of
Napoleon, a short biography . bout twenty thousandmen watching the passes and protecting theroads running northeast towards Turin; theAustrian of about thirty-five thousand men oc-cupying Genoa on its left and thence stretch-ing across the Ligurian Alps to join hands withthe Sardinians towards Dego and Austro-Sardinians, under Beaulieu andColli, were thus stretched out on a line of sixtymiles through mountainous country; not onlythis, but their lines of communications weredivergent, that of the Austrians on Alessandria,that of the Sardinians on Turin. Bonaparteframed his plan of operations in accordancewith these facts. He concentrated his divisions,first made show of marchins: alons: the coaston Genoa, then turned off across the mountainsand struck with his whole force at the pointwhere the Austrian right joined the Sardinianleft. The isolated divisions opposed to theFrench were beaten in a series of engagementsat Montenotte, Dego, and Ceva; at Mondovithe Sardinians were defeated, Bonaparte pressed. Campaign of Italy THE CAMPAIGN OF ITALY 29 them hard on the road to Turin, and on the28th of April, after a fortnights campaign, theKing of Sardinia was compelled to accept armistice was signed at Cherasco highlyfavourable to the French Republic and leavingBonaparte free to operate against Beaulieu. -The second part of the French generalsoperations turned on a similar strategic con-sideration as the first, that of compelling hisenemy to cover his lines of communications;and as this is an essential feature of the strategyof nearly all ages and countries it may be aswell to make clear its precise significance beforeproceeding further. The reader who has notstudied milita/^y history is apt to think of anarmy as a piece on a chessboard that may bemoved %rDely in every direction. But this isnot so;/an army is a society having specialneeds that have to be met daily, and it can onlybe moved in such directions as will enable theseneeds to be satisfied. F
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