Our tickets are to
Milan, and no stop-overs are allowed. Therefore, do not as yet relax
your efforts. Milan is an imperial city. The guide-books tell us
that its cathedral is a beauty, the place is full of pictures, and
the opera-house finished in 1779 is the largest in the world. It can
be done in two days, and the hotels are good. Can you, therefore,
sleep here?"
"No, no!" cried the army.
"Then," cried Napoleon, tightening his reins and lifting his horse on
to its hind-legs and holding his sword aloft, "A Milan!"
"How like a statue he looks," said Lannes, admiringly.
"Yes," replied Augereau, "you'd think he was solid brass."
The Austrian troops were now concentrated behind the Po, but Napoleon
soon outgeneralled their leaders, drove them back to the Adda, and
himself pushed on to the Bridge of Lodi, which connected the east and
west branches of that river.
"When I set out for the P. O. P. E.," said Napoleon, "I'm not going
to stop halfway and turn back at the P. O. We've got the Austrians
over the Adda, and that's just where we want them. I had a dream
once about the Bridge of Lodi, and it's coming true now or never.
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