Chapter 1051 IOU
Friedrich was not a conventional commander, and he could not understand why Franz objected to weakening France too much.
However, Friedrich understood that obedience is the bounden duty of a soldier, and it was for this reason that Franz dared to entrust him with important tasks.
Franz still knew something about land warfare, but for commanding naval warfare he could only place his hopes on others.
He could only give some principled suggestions. For example, after the naval battle in the Mediterranean, Franz asked Friedrich to put pressure on the French to force them to surrender.
Friedrich also immediately blocked the French sea lanes. The French navy, which had lost the Grand Eastern Fleet, had no combat effectiveness in the Mediterranean.
The Great Eastern Fleet took away a large number of craftsmen and supplies before leaving, and even destroyed the coastal defense of Toulon Port.
Later, the Grand Duke of Algeria, the Duke Omar (self-proclaimed), repeatedly sent Francois Trouvier to lead the Grand Orient Fleet to raid the French coast to plunder supplies.
It was naturally impossible for Friedrich to watch the French perform. He also led a fleet to sweep along the coast of France, and even captured Genoa along the way.
Garibaldi experienced many bloody battles in the Ligurian Pass before reaching Genoa. He was confused for a time.
At first Garibaldi's idea was simple, that is, to revolt at the critical moment when Austria launched a general attack on Liguria.
Anyway, there are many Italians in the army. As long as they use the banner of nationalism, they will not be afraid of being unable to rally the troops.
Garibaldi despised Radetzky's tactics at this time. Among the 5,000 men in the vanguard, 4,000 were Italians and only a few hundred Germans.
He felt that Radetzky was using the Italians as cannon fodder, and at the same time there were not enough people sent to monitor and supervise the battle.
Garibaldi had already experienced a crushing defeat in the Holy War launched by the Papal States, and there was no doubt that this time it would be a tragic defeat.
But he will definitely bring his people back, and it won't be like last time.
However, the battle between the two sides entered a fierce stage as soon as it began, and the number of casualties continued to increase.
Seeing familiar faces disappearing one after another, Garibaldi quietly began his own actions. He persuaded the soldiers to revolt and join the side of justice.
Garibaldi felt that although France and Austria were both invaders to the Italians, France, which believed in freedom, democracy, and equality, was obviously more noble than Austria.
However, Garibaldi changed his view after a battle. After capturing a stronghold, the Austrian army went to the nearby mountain villages to rent some houses to rest and place wounded soldiers as usual.
But when Garibaldi arrived at the village and found corpses and charred houses everywhere, he instinctively believed that the Austrians had carried out the massacre.
The German officer leading the team said that this was already the case when they arrived. Naturally, Garibaldi could not believe it, so he pointed a gun at his commander.
Sergeant Cullen: "Sergeant Giuseppe, I swear to God, I didn't do it."
"Fuck you German God! You devil who only kills civilians!"
"I guarantee on the honor of my family that I have never killed an unarmed civilian!"
"Only a ghost would believe your words! How much is your reputation worth?"
"How dare you question my honor!"
For a time, the two teams were at war with each other. A little more stimulation would trigger a large-scale conflict.
At this time Riberio walked over and slapped Garibaldi hard on the face.
"Look at these bodies, look at these ruins, did this happen within a few hours? Sergeant Cullen's attack sequence was behind us, how could he have done this?"
Garibaldi looked at the pale corpses and the temperatureless ashes. He knew that this tragedy was not done by Sergeant Cullen, but was done the day before the troops originally stationed here were evacuated.
But Garibaldi didn't want to believe it. He would rather believe that all this was a German conspiracy.
In fact, Garibaldi had heard from prisoners many times that the French army was not a human being in the Kingdom of Sardinia, but he felt that it might be a rumor, or it might be some Sardinians pretending to be powerful, or it might be a necessary evil in war. .
However, in the remote mountain village just now, every household was looted. The wells were filled with corpses of men, women, and children, and all the female corpses were stripped naked.
The corpses were mainly concentrated in the church. It was obvious that this was a premeditated massacre rather than an accidental conflict.
Pointing a gun at a colleague is a taboo in any army, but Sergeant Giuseppe was only demoted and was not directly shot.
All this was thanks to the intercession of Sergeant Cullen. Sergeant Cullen did not know the identity of Garibaldi. He only thought that the other party thought that he had massacred civilians, so he took out his gun out of righteous indignation.
Although he was not directly shot, Garibaldi was incorporated into a complete cannon fodder unit, and the soldiers gave them a more vivid name "Suicide Squad".
They will be thrown directly into the battle to attack the enemy's hilltop fortress. They will either win or die. If they dare to retreat, their own sharpshooters will shoot them; if they hesitate, they will also die; if they try to escape, On the battlefield, they will still be chased by the supervising team.
But I have to say that Garibaldi's luck and ability were really strong. He actually led a group of scum and deserters to successfully capture the most difficult fortress in the Liguria Pass.
However, after entering the Genoa area, Garibaldi was not happy at all, because everything he saw was devastation.
Almost all villages and towns were plundered. Although there was no massacre like before, the life of the locals was visibly painful.
Beggars were everywhere, and every time he entered a town, there were always countless women trying to drag him, a lame man with a stubble on his face, just for a meal or a few supes.
At this time, the economic relationship between the Kingdom of Sardinia and France was quite close, so the monetary systems of the two countries were almost identical.
1 lira = 1 franc
1 Su Pei = 1 Su
1 denarau = 1 centime
1 Lira = 20 Supe = 240 Denarau
Garibaldi used all his and Riberio's savings to help the poor, but it was only a drop in the bucket.
The French army was warmly welcomed by the Sardinians at first, and had sufficient supplies, so they did not make many extraordinary moves.
However, as there was no fighting for a long time, and the Austrian Imperial Navy cut off the supply line of Bellevue's army, military discipline could no longer be guaranteed.
The Kingdom of Sardinia has lost a large amount of supplies in the war with Austria, and coupled with the impact of natural disasters and economic crisis, the people have already been miserable.
The food they used to comfort the French army was the last food in their hands. They fully thought that after France came, they would no longer have to worry about food.
However, the reality is that the French also need them to provide food, and the French's consistent style is to issue IOUs and borrow food. If they can't borrow it, they will levy it, and if they can't levy it, they will rob it.
(Historically this is what the French did in Italy.)