Napoleon Bonaparte, the founder of the First French Empire, was crowned emperor in 1804, during his reign, known as the "Emperor of France", in the history of France, he was the second French emperor after Charles III to enjoy this name, and the promulgation of the Napoleonic Code completed the world legal system.
There are many interesting things about Napoleon, such as his height, the British say that Napoleon is only 1.58 meters tall, but in the legal scale, Napoleon's height is 5 feet 2 inches, that is, 1.68 meters, and Napoleon has always been afraid of others saying that he is short.
Once, Napoleon wanted to take a book from the bookshelf, but he couldn't reach it, and a general just happened to pass by, and said, "Your Majesty, let me give it to you, I am taller than you", and Napoleon said, "Do you mean to say that you are longer than me?" In addition to the question of height and height, Napoleon also owed money, and about this debt, we have to start from the Battle of Marengo.
In 1799, the French army lost several battles in Italy and the Rhine region, Napoleon personally led 37,000 people to cross the Alps and enter northern Italy in order to rule France, supporting the French army trapped in Genoa by the Austrian army, on May 13, 1800, Napoleon came to a small village called Marengo, about 5 kilometers southeast of Alexandria.
Before the engagement, the French and Austrian armies did not know the specific strength of the two sides, the actual situation, the Austrian army slightly superior, Napoleon's standby vanguard unit had five infantry divisions and a cavalry brigade, the strength of about 26,000 people, the Austrian army strength of about 30,000 people.
In order to find out the strength of the Austrian army, Napoleon sent Garda to find out the condition of the bridge on the Ermida River, but Garda brought back a false information, saying that the bridge had been completely destroyed by the Austrian army, and Napoleon believed that the Austrian army intended to break through to the east, rather than confront them.
The terrain of the village of Marengo is complex, with farmhouses and vineyards dotted with vineyards, and such terrain also played its role in the Battle of Marengo, because Napoleon brought a lightly armed vanguard, there were some problems in supply, in order not to affect the battle, Napoleon collected food from the village of Marengo.
In order to gain the support of the peasants, Napoleon opened them an IOU, and when Napoleon unified France, they could take this IOU to find and cash in the debt, and the war of mutually depleted supplies lasted for a month, and on the morning of June 14, the Austrian army went out.
Due to intelligence errors, Napoleon's army was defeated one after another, but Napoleon remained calm and calm, and immediately transferred back general Desai's Baud division, the war situation changed completely, the Battle of Marengo not only preserved the revolutionary power in France, but also the most proud battle of Napoleon's life.
As for the IOU, which remained until 1982, when a peasant handed it over to the government, not only a debt owed by Napoleon, but also a witness to the Battle of Marengo, France cashed in on the IOU, giving him 450,000 francs and giving him a statue of Napoleon's whip.