City of Milan
Marshal Bartolio had been troubled recently. Ever since Sardinia announced its annexation of Lombardy on the 7th of April, a bunch of democrats had come out to protest.
Needless to say, even a marshal like him had no say in national affairs, let alone a bunch of commoners. Naturally, he had to send troops to disperse them.
Luckily, the Austrian army had already suppressed them once. Most of the stubborn people had been killed, and the provisional government had either been bribed or placed under house arrest. The remaining people were just talking trash.
"Marshal, another group of people has come to petition for you to send troops to take back Venice!" the attendant said softly.
This was not the first time there had been petitions. Petitions for independence, petitions for autonomy, petitions for an increase in food rations …
Anyway, it didn't matter if Bartolio was in charge or not. The people of Lombardy seemed to have chosen him. They would petition the marshal whenever they needed help.
It wasn't easy to be a hero. In order to maintain his glorious image, Bartolio had to act like he was willing to listen to advice.
Other than those who wanted independence, which he had sent troops to expel, he would meet with the representatives of the other petitioners and explain to them the difficulties they faced.
For example, he used the excuse most often that soldiers didn't interfere with politics.
After saying so much, Bartolio started to believe it himself. Recently, he rarely interfered with Lombardy's government affairs unless someone from the local government took the initiative to look for him.
"Tell them to send their representatives in!" Bartolio said with a frown.
He had no choice. He couldn't avoid it this time. Sending troops to Venice wasn't just a political issue. It was more of a military issue. He was now in charge of the frontline troops of Sardinia. He had found the right person.
Very quickly, two people who looked like students were brought in. Bartolio's brows furrowed even tighter. Chuunibyou and whatnot were the most troublesome.
"Marshal, I'm Liam, and he's Townsend. Nice to meet you!"
Looking at the two excited young men, Bartolio replied politely, "I'm glad to see you too. Can I have a look at the petition first?"
"Oh, sure!" Liam quickly replied.
Taking the petition, Badorio quickly scanned through it. It was a letter written in blood. The content was very hot-blooded, and there were many signatures at the end. He was almost touched.
"I've received this petition. I'll pass it to the king as soon as possible, but I can't tell you when we'll attack Venice because it's a military secret.
We're preparing for the attack now. You all know what happened a while ago. We didn't prepare enough, so we had to starve.
We've learned our lesson this time, so we'll have more time to prepare before the war. We can't stop because of the food problem.
The Austrians have a total of five to six hundred thousand soldiers. Once the war starts, they'll definitely send reinforcements.
The reinforcements from the country were still on the way, and the new recruits from Lombardy were still in training. All of this required time.
But don't worry, the final victory will definitely belong to us! "
After listening to Bartolio's explanation, the two young men nodded continuously. They were both military noobs, and there was no internet in this era, so they were not clear about the internal situation in Austria.
The two teenagers nodded continuously after listening to Bartolio's explanation. They were military noobs. There was no internet in this era, so they didn't know much about Austria's internal situation.
"Victory will belong to us, Marshal. We all believe in you. You're definitely not as weak as the rumors say. They're just jealous of your talent! "Tang Sen said in a panic.
You're not as weak as they say. They're just jealous of your talent! "Tang Sen said in a panic.
Bartolio suddenly felt like a bunch of horses had run past him. Can you not be so direct? You won't have any friends if you do that. Wasn't this nonsense? Did they really think that Austria was made of paper?
Do you really think Austria is made of paper? Bartolio had 150,000 soldiers in his hands, which was a third more than the Austrians. However, there were too many fake soldiers. Almost 70,000 of them were recruited locally.
The Government of Vienna didn't trust the Italians, so the Austrians didn't have any local troops. The soldiers Bartolio recruited were actually farmers who had just put down their hoes or workers in the cities.
Even the officers at the bottom level were lacking. The Regions of Italy weren't the German Region, especially in Lombardy, which was heavily commercialized. The local nobles' military literacy had plummeted.
It could be said that this temporarily organized army was just there to make up the numbers. They didn't even have a gun. They could be used for logistics and maintaining local law and order.
If they were sent to the battlefield, they would be sending their heads to the enemy. The main force of the war was still the Sardinian Army.
80,000 Sardinian Army against 100,000 Austrian Army. It didn't seem reliable, which was the reason why they stopped attacking.
However, the people didn't know that they were only calculating the total number of troops. Austria only had 100,000 troops in the Regions of Italy. Due to the suppression of the revolution, they had lost a few thousand soldiers.
With the cooperation of the Venetian people, how could the 150,000 Sardinian Army not defeat the 90,000 Austrian Army?
Marshal Bartolio didn't feel too much pressure. The powerful people in Lombardy had just joined the Sardinian Kingdom, so they didn't dare to cause trouble. Now, it was the student representatives. He could still fool them in a short period of time.
King Charles was different. There were all kinds of groups in the Sardinian Kingdom. He just used the war to divert the internal conflicts, but he went too far. Now, the radical nationalists were urging him to send troops to Venice every day.
It was his own fault. In order to relieve the political pressure in the country, King Charles publicized that the Sardinian Army had defeated the Austrians in Lombardy, which made many people think that Austria was nothing.
Public opinion was the easiest to go crazy. Charles Albert forgot that going too far was as bad as not going far enough. Or rather, it was useless even if he knew. Public opinion was not under his control.
Now, nationalism was on the rise in the Regions of Italy, and the Sardinian Kingdom was the place with the strongest nationalism in the Regions of Italy. Stimulated by the defeat of the Austrian Army, nationalism was once again on the rise.
At this time, nationalism mixed with patriotism was on the verge of going out of control. People kept reminding them that Venice was still under the rule of the Austrians.
Ever since the Sardinian Kingdom annexed Lombardy, all the people were happy for the unification of Italy. At this time, the Austrian-controlled Venice was an eyesore.
The Sardinian Kingdom was in a difficult position!
