Chapter 860 The era of lean years

Chapter 860 The era of lean years

In addition to destroying the general reserves in Venetia, Alois Parffy succeeded in the fall of Vicenza, one of the four fortresses.

And this group of rebels was unusual. They blew up nearby railways and bridges at the first opportunity, so Franz could only assemble his troops in Verona, which was farther away.

Franz did not plan to attack the city. He planned to bypass Vicenza and go straight to Venice.

At this time, there were still 20,000 garrison troops and more than 2,000 naval soldiers in Venice. Moreover, there are more than a hundred forts, large and small, outside the city of Venice, and their defensive capabilities are extremely high.

Theoretically speaking, this kind of fortified city cannot be conquered by the rebel army that does not even have artillery, but wherever there is a sleeping dragon, there must be a phoenix chick. At this time, the garrison commander of Venice City is the famous trash Fernand in the Austrian Imperial Army. De Lizzi.

This kind of god who can put Garibaldi away ten thousand to eight hundred might actually lose Venice.

The reason why Fernand Lizzie and Alois Palfi could appear in the battle sequence of the Austrian army was entirely due to the power of their families.

The result of the imperial government's compromise after a multi-party game. Both of them actually have extraordinary resumes. This is the result of the family's creation of gods.

The older the family, the more they like to artificially create some idols for the world to worship. Perfect characters help them consolidate their status.

This is why so many people in power dismiss Franz's deeds.

Franz only brought his own Royal Dragoon Regiment and the Guards training in Tyrol. The total number was only more than 5,000, followed by a supply force of the same number.

Although the number of people is not large, the advantage is that they are well-trained and well-equipped, and everyone can ride two horses each. Moreover, all members are equipped with the latest lever-action rifles, and the firepower output per unit time can completely crush a traditional army of 30,000 people.

In addition, there are new lightweight rodless spinning rockets, grenades, wooden handle grenades, smoke grenades, shotguns, etc.

If it were an encounter in the wild, Franz believed that even if he couldn't win a big victory, escaping unscathed would not be a problem.

In fact, he was a little curious about what kind of rebel army directly dispersed the 50,000 troops of the Austrian Empire.

If it was said that the Venetian rebels could annihilate the 50,000-strong Austrian Empire army in a few days, even if the Sequoia Army came, Franz would not believe it.

To borrow a sentence from "Bright Sword", even 50,000 pigs could not be caught in three days.

The result was completely different from Franz's guess. Austrian troops were defeated everywhere along the way. These people not only have weapons, but also several days of dry food, and some teams even have complete organizations.

They just didn't know where the officers were.

These soldiers were originally scattered throughout Venetia. After the Papal State officially declared war, they were gathered by Alois Parffy and used as a mobile force.

Afterwards, rebellions broke out in Feltre and Malestica, and Alois Parfetti's army moved north.

They first arrived at Malasteica, but the rebels had already fled when the army arrived. Then they continued north to Feltre, but they failed again.

Alois Parffi prepared to retreat to Verona, but during his absence a rebellion broke out in the fortress of Verona, which had already changed hands.

General Alois Palfi immediately ordered a storming of the Verona Fortress. As a result, the soldiers were unable to attack the fortified city without heavy weapons.

In desperation, Alois Palfi planned to go to Malaysia to rest for a while, and then transfer some heavy artillery from Venice.

As a result, when they arrived at Malastika, the city had been occupied by the rebels. The exhausted army could no longer fight, so they had no choice but to continue heading north.

However, Feltre had also been occupied by the rebels, and they had no choice but to besiege Feltre.

But when they woke up the next day, they found that all the officers were missing. Without a leader, these armies from different regions naturally collapsed.

Although it is very annoying, it is good news for Franz. It seems that there is no supernatural power.

Otherwise, he would really be unable to bear the meteorites falling from the sky.

Moreover, these broken troops actually still retain considerable combat effectiveness, and those whose formations have not been broken up can be used directly.

At this time, Franz discovered a talent, a sergeant from Slovenia. The latter stole a costume from a theater and ended up gathering thousands of troops.

If he hadn't encountered Franz's team, maybe this bluffing guy could have created an army.

And the most important thing is that the sergeant did not use the power in his hands to mess around, but just gathered the troops to withdraw to Venice, which greatly increased Franz's favor with him.

After all, Franz has seen too many guys who do whatever they want with a little power in their hands. Especially the recent escape of two senior officers made him very angry.

Prince Eugen is an Italian from France, Wallenstein is a down-and-out Czech mercenary, and what about a general trained entirely by Austria?

There is a historical reason why the Austrian Empire has never been able to cultivate outstanding generals. This group of cadavers has occupied important positions in the army for hundreds of years.

The only war general born and raised in Austria was Archduke Karl, but since he was a member of the royal family, he would not be subject to the random command of those old nobles.

Archduke Karl was just a young boy when he first entered the battlefield. You can say that he was a war genius, but from the side it further highlighted the incompetence of the Austrian aristocratic bureaucracy.

The anti-French war once created a group of military talents for Austria, but now it has reached a period of decline.

For example, Marshal Radetzky, Archduke Karl and others have reached the age of burial, while the young men such as Gablenz and Benedek are still relatively young.

Especially since Benedek is from a civilian background, his path to promotion will be even more difficult.

So at this time, Franz was very happy to discover the talent at the bottom. At least the sergeant did not flee or be at a loss like other officers.

At least he had organizational skills. Franz was going to ask a major of the Royal Dragoons to help and give them a Habsburg flag.

This should be enough for them to gather the defeated troops. The Po River defense line at this time is very fragile, if the Italian coalition forces really attack.

This may be a good thing for the Austrian Empire. After all, military discipline in this era is not guaranteed at all. As long as they sack a few villages or cities, Pius IX's right to speak will be gone.

The so-called holy war will become a joke like the Crusaders attacking Constantinople.

Moreover, the Austrian side can completely retreat into the solid four-corner fortresses. Historically, Radetzky used these fortresses to delay the Italian coalition forces, including the Kingdom of Sardinia, for half a year.

Franz had previously reinforced these fortresses just in case, but at this time Northern Italy was still Austrian territory.

Franz did not want to repeat the mistakes of the past. The broken troops wandering in Venetia, plus Albrecht's 50,000 reinforcements, and the terrain advantage of the Po River should be able to steadily resist the Italian coalition's front.

Now Franz's only purpose is to rush to Venice and take over the city's defense before problems arise in the city.