Chapter 64: Chapter 64 – Riding a tiger

Milan, Lombardy

Marshal Franzini, the Supreme Commander of the Sardinian Army, had been feeling quite annoyed recently. Since April 7, when the Kingdom of Sardinia announced that it would annex Lombardy, a crowd of republicans had begun protesting. He could only evade them by saying that, as a Marshal, he had no say in politics and national affairs.

Fortunately, the Austrian army had already cracked down on the rebels, so most radicals and extremists had already been executed. In addition, the members of the interim government had been put under house arrest. The remaining people were monarchists who were easier to handle.

His attendant whispered, "Milord Marshal, another bunch of people have arrived with a petition to send troops to recapture Venice."

This is not the first petition he has received. In fact, he has received thousands of petitions over the past month. A petition for independence, a petition for autonomy, a petition for increased food rations… In short, it didn't matter whether Marshal Franzini had the authority to fulfill their petition or not, the petitioners seemed to believe that he had the power, so they brought their petitions to him.

Marshal Franzini had recently realized that the adage, "It's not easy to be a hero" was truly quite accurate. In order to maintain his glorious image, he had to appear just and modest in front of the common people. Except for those who asked for independence and were expelled by him, he would meet with other petitioners and explain his difficulties and his lack of authority.

The excuse which he used most often was that a soldier shouldn't not interfere in politics. In fact, he has repeated this excuse so many times that now he himself has begun to believe it. Nowadays, he rarely intervenes in administrative affairs in the region of Lombardy, unless a representative of the local government actively seeks him.

Marshal Franzini frowned and reluctantly said, "Bring in their representative!"

Even if wants, he can't avoid this meeting. Sending troops to capture Venice was not just a political matter, but also a military matter. As the Supreme Commander of the Sardinian Army, he can't fool the petitioners by saying that he had no authority in this matter.

Soon, two young men who looked like students were brought in. Marshal Franzini's brow tightened. Students with radical ideas were the hardest to deal with and always left him with a headache.

"Milord Marshal, my name is Remi, and this is Tonio. We're very glad to meet you!"

Looking at the two excited young men, Marshal Franzini smiled and replied, "I'm also very glad to see you. Can you show me the petition first?"

"Yes, sir!" Remi quickly answered.

After receiving the petition, Marshal Franzini quickly glanced through it. The content is very sentimental and patriotic and there are even hundreds of signatures on the back. Even he felt slightly moved.

"I shall accept this petition, and I will send it to my king as soon as possible, but I cannot disclose when the attack on Venice will begin since this is a military secret.

Currently, we are preparing for the attack. You both must be aware that previously, due to lacking the time for preparation, we had to suffer from hunger. We have learned our lesson, so this time the pre-war preparations will be longer since we can't afford to stop our attack  due to a food shortage.

The Austrian armed-forces have over 400,000 troops. Once the war for Venice begins, they will definitely send reinforcements. Our current numbers are severely lacking. The reinforcements from Sardinia are still on their way and the recruits from Lombardy are still training, so it will take some time. However, rest assured, the final victory will definitely belong to us!"

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While hearing Marshal Franzini's explanation, the two young men continued nodding vigorously. They were both ignorant when it came to the military. In addition, they were unaware of the internal turmoil within Austria. According to them, Marshal Franzini managed to defeat the mighty Austria, so he must be right.

Tonio excitedly yelled, "Victory will certainly belong to us. We all believe in you, Milord Marshal."

Marshal Franzini suddenly felt slightly guilty for lying to the young men, but he knew that there was no other way. Attacking Venice? What nonsense. Did these fools really believe that Austria was that easy to defeat?

He currently had 150,000 troops under him, nearly 50% larger than the Austrian army under Marshal Radetzky, however, these 150,000 troops are only nominally strong since nearly 70,000 of them were local conscripts.

The Viennese government had always been wary of the Italians, so the Austrian army had never trained local reserves in Lombardy-Venetia. As a result, the soldiers recruited by Marshal Franzini were mere farmers or workers who had put down their hoes and hammers, respectively. Even the lower officers were not very skilled.

Lombardy-Venetia is not part of Germany which means that they haven't participated in wars for a long time. In addition, Venice is a maritime region while Milan has become heavily commercialized. Both of these reasons have led to a fall in the military literacy of the local nobles.

In fact, most of the local conscripts weren't even given weapons as they were assigned to logistics duty or the maintenance of local law and order. If these conscripts were sent to the battlefield, it would be no different from sending them to a slaughter. Therefore, the true combat force of this war was the Sardinian Army.

The 80,000-strong Sardinian Army versus the 100,000-strong Austrian Army. The odds were against Sardinia which was why Marshal Franzini wanted to avoid war. However, the people didn't understand this. They only know that the Austrian army in Italy had only 100,000 soldiers, so couldn't the 150,000-strong Italian Army defeat the 100,000-strong Austrian Army?

In fact, the pressure on Marshal Franzini was not too great. The local powers in Lombardy have just turned to Sardinia, so don't wish to clash with the Austrians. The main proponents of war are just the students.

King Charles Albert's situation, however, was very different. He had only planned to use the war to divert the attention of the revolutionaries and the radicals. However, he overdid it and now radical nationalists urge him to send troops to Venice every day.

To alleviate domestic political pressure, King Charles Albert had advertised that the Sardinian Army had defeated the Austrians in Lombardy, which led to many people falling under the misconception that Austria was weak. It was very easy for public opinion to go out of control. By the time King Charles Albert had realized this, public opinion was no longer under his control.

Nationalism was currently on the rise in Italy. In addition, Sardinia was the strongest nation in Italy. Thanks to its recent victory, nationalism had once again strengthened and combined with patriotism which had caused the people to lose their rationality.

Suddenly, they were reminded that Venetia was still under the rule of the Austrians. Since the news about the imminent annexation of Lombardy by Sardinia had spread, the people had begun looking forward to the unification of Italy. Therefore, the Austrian-ruled Venetia became an eyesore.

The Kingdom of Sardinia was now riding a tiger!