Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 102: Survival Hangs on A Single Thread: Kingdom of Sardinia

Charles Albert waved his hand and said, “Just teach them how to use guns, it doesn’t matter anymore at this point. The focus now is to boost morale, ignite their patriotism, and make up for the lack of training with courage.

As long as they dare to fight and are willing to sacrifice, even if we have to exchange three of our soldiers or five for one enemy soldier, we can still hold off the Austrians and create favorable conditions for negotiations!”

He held no illusions about their combat capabilities anymore. The regular army of the Kingdom of Sardinia had been beaten black and blue, and now with these hastily assembled cannon fodder units, could they really defy the odds?

If the quality wasn’t up to par, they would make up for it with quantity. There were plenty of people available for homeland defense.

Thanks to the government’s prolonged propaganda efforts, ordinary citizens blamed their hardships on Austria, and now they had a solid support base.

Minister of War Li Qi nervously replied, “Your Majesty, our weapons and equipment are severely lacking. Many soldiers have to share one rifle among two or three, and this is a result of our encouragement for soldiers to bring their own weapons.”

After suffering a defeat, he naturally lacked the confidence to even speak. If it weren’t for Marshal Badoglio sacrificing himself at the last moment and shouldering all the responsibility, the Kingdom of Sardinia might have seen a change in leadership by now.

Even so, the government was under immense pressure. It could be said that the Austrian Army’s arrival at this critical moment has, to some extent, saved the Sardinian Government.

King Charles Albert, a seasoned politician, took the opportunity to shift domestic tensions, using the pretext of defending the homeland. He strategically placed all the destabilizing elements into the military and positioned them at the forefront against Austria.

If the Austrian Army could help him eliminate these elements, Charles Albert probably wouldn’t mind awarding them a big medal.

Of course, this was impossible, and Charles Albert had no intention of being grateful to the Austrians. Unless these elements were eliminated, the Austrian Army was likely to stay for quite some time.

The Kingdom of Sardinia was unfortunately at its weakest now. If they don’t take a piece of the pie now, can Austria still proudly consider itself a major power?

“Let’s mobilize all the people of our country to raise donations. I will personally take the lead and donate all the firearms we have in storage. Whatever we can gather, we’ll make the most of it. If it’s not enough, we’ll make do with some cold weapons for now.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in talks with Britain and France. It won’t be long before we secure enough weapons and equipment,” King Charles Albert contemplated and said.

Li Qi’s inner turmoil was palpable. He really wanted to ask what King Charles Albert was thinking. What kind of firearms were in his collection? Does he even have any sense of urgency?

The firearms usable within the country had already been requisitioned. The royal collection mostly consisted of antique firearms, with the oldest dating back to the 14th century, a matchlock gun.

While these weapons were suitable for decoration, using them on the battlefield would be nothing short of murder.

As one of the birthplaces of the Renaissance, the Kingdom of Sardinia’s nobility pursued historical and cultural heritage. Naturally, the older the weapons in their collections and the more historical stories they held, the better.

During this mobilization, all eligible young aristocrats in the Kingdom of Sardinia were conscripted into the military. They had already brought out whatever firearms they could use.

This was somewhat acceptable because, with even the oldest firearms, as long as they could fire bullets, they could be used for killing, even if they were considered disposable items.

However, the most tragic part was the need to resort to cold weapons. This was probably in preparation for close combat with the Austrian Army. Faced with their unreliable monarch, Li Qi ultimately chose to say, “Your Majesty is wise.”

Prime Minister Azeglio couldn’t help but say, “Your Majesty, the French have already refused our request to purchase weapons, and they have even started cracking down on smuggling, just like the Swiss next door, banning the flow of weapons and ammunition into our country.”

The secret Franco-Austrian Treaty was no longer a secret. However, for the Kingdom of Sardinia, dealing with Austria alone was already a matter of life and death. If France also became their enemy, they wouldn’t even have the courage to resist.

The Sardinian Government, from top to bottom, chose to feign ignorance, hoping to use internal conflicts within the French government to escape this crisis.

But now, they can’t pretend to be ignorant any longer. The neutral nation of Switzerland imposing an arms embargo was standard procedure for them. However, the French playing the same game was blatant malice.

Remember, before the outbreak of this war, the French Government was encouraging them to join the conflict and promising a lot of weapons assistance. Now, not only has that assistance not materialized, but even regular trade was struggling to proceed smoothly.

There was no way they could promise France the same benefits that Franz offered so straightforwardly.

Austria can cede half of the Kingdom of Sardinia to the French, but that would be an act of generosity on Austria’s part. The Sardinian Government would never make such a decision.

In the face of interests, politicians’ promises are worth about as much as a fart.

The French have long held ambitions in Italy, but due to the Habsburg Family’s constraints, they have been striving for centuries with little success.

Now, the opportunity has presented itself. Politicians need the political prestige that comes with expanding territory, capitalists need access to larger markets, and aristocratic officers need military achievements.

With so many people having vested interests, it was something that the diplomatic efforts of the Kingdom of Sardinia naturally can’t stop. If it weren’t for internal power struggles, the French Army would have arrived by now.

“Bam!”

Charles Albert slammed the table fiercely and angrily said, “Damn those Frenchmen, they should all go to hell. If I had known this in the Anti-French War, we wouldn’t have let them off so easily!”

The king’s furious outburst left everyone choosing to pretend they hadn’t heard it. What was the situation in the Anti-French War? Was there a need to say more?

“Your Majesty, the British have agreed to mediate in this war. At this moment, the British Foreign Secretary, Mr. Palmerston has set off from London and is on his way to Vienna,” Prime Minister Azeglio quickly conveyed the good news.

……

When the Kingdom of Sardinia’s survival was hanging on a single thread, the internationalist spirit of the Parisian people sparked the June Uprising and saved Sardinia.

The June Uprising in Paris was legendary. After the bourgeoisie government in France successfully seized power, it aligned itself with Austria and Russia.

The Prussian liberals sent a communication to France, inviting the French Government to support the Polish independence movement together. Naturally, this was met with a refusal from the French Government.

After this news came in, to support the Polish Revolution, 150,000 Parisian workers took to the streets on the morning of June 15, 1848, and occupied the Parliament building, demanding that the French Government form an expeditionary force to support the Polish independence movement.

Without a doubt, this internationalist spirit was met with rejection from the French Government, and tensions escalated between the two sides. On June 23, Paris experienced another outbreak of revolution.

With internal instability in France and to avoid the situation from deteriorating further, the French Government had to cancel its plans to send troops to the Kingdom of Sardinia.