Chapter 84: Chapter 82.2 – Shock on the battlefield

While the Tuscan army was being besieged by the advance Austrian force, many miles away, the Sardinian General Messier, who was in charge of attacking Trento, was also in trouble. Of course, the Sardinians were the attackers, and their numbers were several times that of the garrison, so they didn't have to worry about being destroyed like the Tuscan force, but it had become apparent that it was impossible for them to quickly capture Trento.

"General, the enemy's firepower is too fierce! The Second Division has already suffered too many casualties! Colonel Scilla has urgently requested reinforcements!" reported the herald.

*SHATTER*

General Messier threw his drinking glass out, causing a loud noise.

"Useless bastard, it's only been a few hours since the battle began and they have already suffered heavy losses?! Do you mean to tell me they are going up against the Austrian main force?!"

No one answered this question, but it was certain that the main force of the Austrian army was not here, otherwise the position of the attacker and defender would've long been reversed.

"General, I believe it would be wise to suspend the attack for now and regroup before we continue the attack!" Major General Gian Carlo Madruzzo suggested.

In the end, reluctant to waste his few elite troops, General Messier sighed and helplessly ordered, "Alright, slow down the offensive. Deploy the veterans to take the lead in the next battle!"

Major General Madruzzo secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although no reinforcements were sent, at least a command to suspend the attack was obtained. As the commander of the Second Division, this morning's attack had cost him nearly an entire regiment. If such casualties continued, it wouldn't be long before there was no one left in the Second Division.

Soon, the order was conveyed. Looking at the hundreds of corpses on the ground that numbered close to one thousand and the soldiers that constantly fell during the charge, Colonel Scilla, the commander of the First Brigade of the Second Division, felt very distressed and quickly ordered, "Order the troops to retreat!"

As the bugle signaling the retreat sounded, he felt bitter as he looked at the few dozen standing men on the battlefield. It was evident that most of the soldiers in his battalion were either dead or critically injured. However, suddenly, a strange scene occurred on the battlefield as, one by one, the corpses began to get up and quickly rushed back to the tent.

Colonel Scilla, who had been feeling heartbroken just moments prior, became flabbergasted. Then, his face deteriorated as he glared in rage. As a soldier himself, he quickly solved the mystery behind the sudden rise of the "deceased."

"Bastards! These cowardly bastards!! I'll court-martial all of them!" growled Colonel Scilla as he gnashed his teeth.

After rage, came worry. Thinking about the heavy losses that he had just reported to the command, he quickly ordered his subordinates to check the number of soldiers that made it back to camp. After hearing the report from his deputy, Colonel Scilla felt like his heart was bleeding, not because the losses were too large, but rather because the losses were too small.

They had begun their attack at dawn and it would soon be afternoon, but in all that time they had only lost 23 men. Even the injured numbered just 71. How could this be considered a heavy loss? He was a Colonel who led a brigade of thousands of men, not a Captain who led just a few hundred! Moreover, despite the low casualty to the soldiers, the loss of weapons and equipment was not small.

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As the soldiers had been pretending to be dead, they had been unable to retreat with their weapons as the few who had attempted to retreat with their weapons had been shot down by the Austrians. Thus, the remaining soldiers decisively abandoned their weapons on the battlefield and retreated empty-handed. According to the report, the Second Division had lost close to 1,300 rifles.

Noticing the grimace on his face, one of the officers attempted to comfort Colonel Scilla as he said, "Well, at least we can say that we managed to force the enemy to consume their ammunition."

Colonel Scilla bitterly smiled and replied, "We didn't even manage to get within 100 meters of the enemy's position. How can this be considered an achievement?"

"Colonel, these soldiers were mostly recruited from Lombardy and its vicinity. They're all cowards. Things will certainly be different when our elite Sardinian soldiers begin their assault in the afternoon!" said another officer.

Colonel Scilla sighed and nodded helplessly. He could only hope that the other soldiers would fight bravely. If everyone fought like the cowards from this morning, Sardinia might as well retreat back home now and save the cost of war.

 

* * * * * * * * * *

 

Not only were the Sardinian officers depressed, the Austrian defenders were equally depressed.

Initially, Lieutenant Colonel Gregor, who was in charge of defending the first line of defense, had felt excited as he watched the enemies fall to the ground one after another. He also felt curious as to how his soldiers had suddenly turned into sharpshooters.

Unexpectedly, soon after the clock struck noon, a startling change occurred. The "corpses" of the enemies suddenly got up and began to retreat back to their camp. Although he was unaware of this, the expression on his face was no different from that of his opponent, Colonel Scilla.

Similar to Colonel Scilla, he had also drafted the war report along with the documents for merit and requisition of supplies. Fortunately, he had yet to submit them, else he would've undoubtedly been disciplined for falsely reporting merit in war.

 

-TO BE CONTINUED-

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