Chapter 48: Luring the Enemy Into the Deep

  Chapter 48: Tempting the Enemy

In the Lombardy region, the situation was very unfavorable for Austria, the Italian-Austrian war was definitely not as simple as recorded in history books, with the bourgeoisie and aristocracy revolting within, and the enemy army pressing in from the outside.

Vienna government sent out reinforcements, at this time is suppressing the Venice area rebellion, arrived at the front line of only one Austrian division, Marshal Radetzky now can use the total force of less than 30,000 people.

This number, double that of the same period in history, otherwise it would have been the same now as in history, and gray retreat from the Milan area.

Carefully look at the map on the desktop, and taking into account the current international situation, Marshal Radetzky in the military conference, made a decision that surprised a million people.

“Order the troops to get ready, we will abandon the city of Milan on April 1!”

“What? Your Excellency Marshal, are you sure this isn’t a joke?” Major General Victor asked incredulously

“Major General Victor, I’m pretty sure of what I’m doing!” Field Marshal Radetsky said without changing his face

“But Your Excellency Marshal, we are not at a point where we have to retreat, once the rebellion in the Venice area has been put down, our reinforcements will arrive and we will have no problem holding off the Sardinian Kingdom!” Major General Victor questioned

This is not Victor’s doubt alone, the many officers present, all find it hard to accept, why retreat when you can win the battle?

“It’s very simple, we can hold back the Sardinian Kingdom’s attack, in a situation where we have internal and external problems, but we don’t have the ability to defeat the enemy.

The Lombardy region rebel party has already colluded with the Sardinian Kingdom, and if we both stand against each other for a long time, the rebellion will continue.

This also involves the political and economic level, in short, the Vienna government has authorized me to handle the Italian issue with full authority, you just need to carry out the orders!” Marshal Radetzky explained icily

Giving up Lombardy, the pressure he had to bear was definitely not small, and would even cause a series of chain reactions, under normal circumstances this kind of responsibility was something no general would be willing to bear.

Marshal Radetzky dared to do so, and the orders coming from the Vienna government were not unrelated, as long as the final victory, not caring about the gain or loss of a city or a place.

In his opinion, this is the top level of the Vienna government, also found out the critical situation of the Italian war zone, if not able to solve the problem as soon as possible, then the Papal States, the Duchy of Tuscany, and the Kingdom of Naples will pounce on it.

Alone against the Kingdom of Sardinia and the insurgents, Marshal Radetzky still has enough troops in his hands, once these several states have entered the war, then it will be dangerous.

Instead of that, it would be better to give up the Lombardy region first, and with the Sardinian Kingdom alone taking over these territories, the other three Italian states would not enter the war.

Anyway, they were all forced by public opinion to declare war, the main armies of several states have not yet been deployed, and those who are here now are all volunteers organized by the civil society.

If the Sardinian Kingdom occupies these areas and the civil society accounts for the past, then even out of envy and jealousy, they will not send troops to help the Sardinian Kingdom to fight.

Without external danger, internal strife will break out, the internal conflicts of the Italian states are also not small, and now it is just a political need to transfer the hatred of the people to Austria.

But this situation can’t last, everything can be cheated, only the stomach can’t be cheated, people always need to eat.

The economic crisis is still going on, the Italian region has a lot of unemployed people, can not solve this problem, the conflict will still erupt.

Besides the Italians, the attitude of Britain and France was also a problem.

The French wanted Lombardy and Venice to be independent states, and while driving out Austria, they did not want Italy to be unified.

The British, on the other hand, wanted the emergence of a unified Italy that could check both France and Austria, but they did not want to see a collapse in Austria.

Weakening Austria while preserving its strength could block the path of Russian expansion.

Against this background, once the Kingdom of Sardinia occupied Lombardy, a merger between the two sides would surely take place, and the position of the French would then change, from the present support to hostility.

The British support for the Kingdom of Sardinia would only remain verbal and they would tell the Kingdom of Sardinia to see the light, but unfortunately the Kingdom of Sardinia, kidnapped by public opinion, could only continue to fight.

After shrinking the battle line, Marshal Radetzky had more sufficient troops in his hands, while the battle line of the Sardinian Kingdom was lengthened.

The Lombardy that had just been captured could not provide them with supplies, and they had to rely mainly on domestic transportation, which was definitely a pressure for the Kingdom of Sardinia.

While fighting with Austria, they must also feed the people of Lombardy, or else when they are hungry, they are just as likely to revolt.

Without the substantial support of Britain and France, there were three less states participating in the war. The end of this war was already doomed, the Kingdom of Sardinia’s national strength is limited, there is absolutely no way to compare with Austria.

Marshal Radetzky was confident that with the strength of the troops in hand, he would defeat the Sardinian army and then recover the Lombardy region, and it was not even a problem to bring the war to the Sardinian kingdom itself.

Strategically speaking, this time it was not a retreat, but a luring of the enemy.

Of course Franz’s private letter to him to destroy all the rebellious parties in Austrian Italy as much as possible was the reason for his determination.

The word “rebels” is not a simple one, and Field Marshal Radetzky knew that he was referring to the capitalists and aristocrats of the Italian regions, without whose exploitation of the population there would be no rebellions.

Without the exploitation of the population by these people, there would be no rebellion. With the annexation of Lombardy to the Kingdom of Sardinia, it was expected that the majority of the nobles and capitalists would fall to the Kingdom of Sardinia, and that when the war was over and there was a liquidation of the people, these people would become part of the rebel party.

Take their family property to buy the hearts of the people, soon Austrian Italy will be stabilized, after all, the people of Lombardy are the Germans who entered Italy, without the obstacles of the upper level, want to carry on the national integration of the difficulty is much lower.

There are naturally advantages and disadvantages, Marshal Radetzky does not need to consider so much, anyway, the favorable side he has already seen, can solve the Italian problem once and for all.

For the sake of the final victory, both Lombardy and Venice can be temporarily abandoned, as long as the final collection, he is still the hero of Austria.

In the quiet conference room, a voice rang out from the breakthrough, only to see a middle-aged general stand up and say, “Your Excellency Marshal, perhaps there is still something we can do, we can’t let the Sardinian Kingdom occupy Lombardy so easily!”

“Edmund, what’s your plan?” Marshal Radetzky asked with concern

“Your Excellency Marshal, since the people of Lombardy are so welcoming to the Italians, why don’t we help spread the word and make their impression of the Sardinian Kingdom a little better!” Lieutenant General Edmund Leopold Fridley said with a sneer

……

(End of chapter)