Chapter 814 Grabbing Territory
The Kingdom of Sardinia also announced that it would send troops to Switzerland, but Carlo Alberto had a problem. If he wanted to send troops to Switzerland, he could only go through Valais and Ticeno.
However, the roads in Valais were too rough and difficult for large armies to pass, and Ticeno was occupied by French generals.
At this time, Charles Duchardt had already raised the French flag in Ticeno. Naturally, he would not agree to the request of the Kingdom of Sardinia. Instead, he ordered the border to be sealed.
As a result, Carlo Alberto found himself in a very embarrassing situation, with no way out and no city to occupy.
The French dispatched troops at an alarmingly fast pace, but there were not many routes for France to attack Switzerland. They either took Lake Geneva or Neuchâtel.
There are not many ships on the former lake, and the French have never thought of building warships in the inner lake. But that doesn’t mean the Swiss don’t have it.
Vaud attaches great importance to the development of water power and has more than 20 large and small battleships. Although they are all pocket battleships of less than 100 tons, their total tonnage is not as heavy as the flagship of the French Grand Orient Fleet.
But that is not something that civilian fishing boats can handle. In short, the French's water power on Lake Geneva is not as good as the Swiss.
The latter was also very troublesome. Neuchâtel was actually a royal territory of Prussia, and William I, who was responsible for garrisoning here at this time, was determined not to allow French troops to enter.
Although he only brought 500 people with him, William I was a member of the Prussian royal family after all, and he still had great appeal, and he quickly raised a militia team of 8,000 people.
Even 18,000 people are not enough in front of the French army, but fighting in mountainous areas does not guarantee a quick victory with more people, and William I's identity is too sensitive, and a big incident will occur if he is not careful.
As a result, the French army fell into a very embarrassing situation for a while, while on the other hand, the armies of the German Confederation began to rush forward like chicken blood.
When a pigeon letter was delivered to Prince William I, he immediately became manic. He immediately announced that the road to France would be blown up, and then the entire army rushed to Jura.
Note: Jura, also translated as Jura, is located in the north of Neuchâtel.
The three South German countries of Baden, Württemberg, and Bavaria sent troops to cross Lake Constance overnight. Even the Archduke of Liechtenstein led 300 soldiers from across the country to attack Graubünden overnight.
The states in the North German region also had money and strength to contribute, and soldiers and supplies rushed to the Swiss theater like crazy.
At this time, the Austrian army seemed very calm and only sent a force of 20,000 people to Switzerland led by Archduke Franz.
At this time, the Swiss no longer wanted to fight, whether it was the warlords at the top or the people at the bottom. As a result, most of the German Confederate troops who were beaten to death chose to surrender.
Since everyone spoke the same language and looked similar, there was no sense of disobedience in accepting it, and there were not many bloodshed incidents.
The very few who resisted were attacked from both inside and outside. No matter how strong the fortress or the dangerous terrain was, they could not protect them.
Soon the Swiss Free State was almost completely occupied, and the French were still stuck on the shores of Lake Geneva.
Only then did Louis Philippe realize that he had made a mistake, and Baron Pasquière was once again sent to Vienna in the hope of negotiating with the Austrian Empire.
At this time, Free State representative Joseph Loy once again proposed using negotiations to solve Switzerland's internal problems.
The Orthodox Alliance's state representative Konstantin Sigvort and Field Marshal Ulrich Salis felt that the other party was at the end of its strength and it was a good opportunity to regain its previous position.
result
Joseph Loy looked a little tired. He lit a cigar and coughed up blood as soon as he put it in his mouth.
"Gentlemen, you have time for a cigarette. Of course, you can also choose not to sign."
As a result, the third document that humiliated the country appeared in the headquarters of the Orthodox Alliance. This time, representatives from various states resolutely refused to recognize the legitimacy of this document, but it was legal.
So everyone came up with a good way to disband the Orthodox Alliance, wouldn't that be good?
Seeing that the situation was over, Joseph Loy decided to sell the cantons of Vaud and Geneva to Louis Philippe. The price agreed upon by the two parties was 20 million francs and a ticket to the New World (the United States).
The desperate and distressed Louis-Philippe naturally had no choice but to agree to the deal. Joseph Roy was still somewhat happy when he signed the territory transfer agreement. After all, the heavy burden was finally lifted.
However, after the French army landed in Geneva, the first thing they did was to capture Joseph Loy and deliver him to Archduke Karl who was stationed in Bern. The purpose was naturally to show goodwill.
With the cantons of Geneva and Vaud being occupied by the French, the Swiss Civil War also came to an end.
Only the cantons of Geneva, Vaud, and Ticeno that originally belonged to the Swiss Confederation were in the hands of the French. The remaining states were either in the hands of the Orthodox Alliance or under the occupation of the German Confederation.
Louis Philippe had already suffered two losses at the hands of the German Confederation. He did not want to make the same mistake again, but he could not figure out why the loose German Confederation chose to side with Austria.
It would not be surprising if some countries close to Austria would do this, but the three South German countries have always been wavering, and Prussia is Austria's opponent. It is too abnormal for them to do this.
It's actually very simple, because at a temporary meeting in Vienna, Franz announced that Austria would only take back the Aargau canton where his homeland of Eagle Castle is located, and Switzerland would join the German Confederation.
However, these two points are not the most important. The most important point is the last point, which is that in order to prevent another outbreak of war, all free states must choose a German monarch.
You must know that it is already the 19th century, and there are not many opportunities for those small countries to expand their territory. Moreover, Switzerland is mainly German, so it is not difficult to rule.
As a result, the entire German Confederation went crazy, and even Prussia went crazy, because they were on a first-come-first-served basis, and the Hohenzollern family's territory in Neuchâtel was the best springboard.
That's why William I was so desperate. After all, except for a few powerful countries on the European continent, it was too difficult to expand territory.
Moreover, the Austrian Empire has made it clear that it will only return to its ancestral homeland and will not occupy too much territory. How can such generosity prevent these German princes from shouting Franz's "heroic name".
In fact, the resources in Switzerland are of little value to Austria, so historically Austria and France have used it as a buffer zone, but taking back their ancestral land will indeed increase Austria's influence.
As for the population, Franz can attract people from North Germany, and he can also attract people from Switzerland.
The biggest advantage of this is to use the German Confederation as a barrier, and those states have to seek Austrian support for stability.
To put it simply, it kills two birds with one stone, gaining fame and avoiding real disaster.