Chapter 449

Late at night.

In a grocery store in a small alley in Turin, three middle-aged men were gathered together and whispering to each other.

The older man asked, "Amor, how's the situation?"

"The plan is going very smoothly. The people are very patriotic. Even without our guidance, I'm afraid they will still protest!" Amor replied with a smile.

"We can't be careless. We have to be more careful at this moment."

"You didn't attract any attention, did you?" The older man asked with concern.

"Don't worry, Carmelo! I'm now a patriotic businessman from Venice. My actions are completely in line with my identity.

On the surface, as long as the Kingdom of Sardinia takes over Venice, I can reap great rewards.

In this case, it's necessary for me to be hostile to Austria. It won't attract attention, "Amor explained.

It wasn't just one or two capitalists who advocated attacking Venice for the sake of profits. Amor was just a little more proactive, but it wasn't a big deal.

"Hmm, that's good. In our line of work, the most important thing is to be careful and complete the task at hand. Don't be greedy.

Cecilio, how far has your mission progressed? "The middle-aged man codenamed Carmelo continued to ask.

"Not very smoothly. I'm just an unknown person. The big newspapers don't lack manuscripts. Currently, my articles can only appear in the street tabloids," Cecilio replied helplessly.

He was just a hipster. The articles he wrote were only decent, but not earth-shattering. In the Regions of Italy where the cultural industry was well-developed, he had no advantage at all.

Fortunately, the article he was about to publish was very suitable for the current situation. He was changing ways to belittle the Austrians and promote the bravery of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

There were many such articles recently, but Cecilio's article was more explicit. The content was also more radical, which was just right for the appetite of the middle-schoolers.

"Don't worry, just take it slow. The nationalism of the Kingdom of Sardinia is a little beyond our imagination. Even without us leading the way, the public will still force the government to send troops to Venice. Now, we're just bringing forward the time.

Since the popularity has been brought up, it doesn't matter if we're the ones who led it or not.

Now, everyone has to change the propaganda method and promote Austria's brutal rule. You can make up the content, but just smear Austria to death.

If you can't think of it, use the dark history of the Kingdom of Sardinia's aristocrats and capitalists, and use it all on Austria, "Carmelo said with a nod.

Speaking of this, Carmelo wanted to laugh. He had also created a new record. As a spy, he had actually slandered his own country. No one would believe it if word of this got out.

Even his two local underlings didn't know that he was working for the Austrian government. Carmelo had always told them that it was a secret intelligence organization from England.

Now, encouraging the Sardinia to attack Venice was to cooperate with the strategy of the British to establish a united Italy.

Under the influence of money and chicken soup for the soul, the two of them did not feel that there was anything wrong with their behavior at all. They even felt that what they were doing was working hard for the unification of Italy.

"Italy" In order to make the Kingdom of Sardinia send troops to attack Venice as soon as possible, they had to provoke their national emotions and put pressure on the Sardinian government.

There were many people who carried out this mission. Most of them disguised themselves as British and French intelligence organizations, and some even openly mixed into the radical groups.

In this era, there was no identity book, and communication was very troublesome. There was no way to verify a random identity from the Regions of Italy.

In addition, the nationalism of the Kingdom of Sardinia was on the rise. As long as they used the identity of a patriot and acted politically, even if their identity was discovered, the Sardinian government would not dare to arrest them.

…

With someone leading the way, the nationalists of the Kingdom of Sardinia were naturally more powerful. Facing the pressure of the public, King Charles Albert finally could not hold on.

After the outbreak of the February Revolution in France, the revolutionary fervor in the Kingdom of Sardinia also began to soar. If he had not declared war on Austria to divert the conflict, it was questionable whether he could still keep his throne.

In fact, Charlie Albert had no intention of defeating Austria. Originally, he only planned to fight a battle and gain some advantages to report back to his country.

Now that he had occupied Lombardy, he had already completed his mission. Continuing to attack Venice was too risky, and the chances of military success were not high.

"Azelio, where are our allies?" Charlie Albert asked concernedly.

Prime Minister Azelio's expression darkened. The benefits had all been taken by the Kingdom of Sardinia. How could he expect the other states to contribute?

Moreover, the Italian states were heavily influenced by Austria. Now that everyone was forced to participate in this war, they were reluctant to begin with, and there was no incentive to benefit, so it was inevitable for them to slack off.

"The 5,000 volunteers from Tuscany are already on their way. They are expected to arrive in Lombardy by the end of the month. The 7,000 troops from the Papal States are already at the Adige River. Some of the 40,000 reinforcements from Naples are expected to arrive in May," Azelio replied.

"Urge them to hurry up, and continue to ask for more reinforcements from other countries. We must attack Venice in May!" King Charles said after thinking for a while.

This was already his bottom line. The public opinion could not be suppressed any longer. At this time, King Charles regretted announcing the annexation of Lombardy too early. Otherwise, he could have used Lombardy to keep Tuscany in check.

This thought flashed through his mind. In an era where the public wanted to be unified, dividing up territories was very politically fatal.

"Your Majesty, now is not the time to fight the Austrians. At least wait until the civil war in Austria escalates and the 40,000 troops from Naples arrive. That's the best time to attack!" Minister of War Ricky advised.

Austria had not started to suppress the rebellion in Hungary yet. If they attacked Venice at this time to provoke the Government of Vienna, the main Austrian forces might attack the Regions of Italy.

Charles Albert explained helplessly, "From a military point of view, that's true. But politically, we can't drag it on any longer. Also, there's the financial problem. The expenditure of occupying Lombardy is beyond our imagination. "

(Don't complain about the name. The Minister of War of the Kingdom of Sardinia is indeed Ricky. It's not a Chinese name that I made up.)