Chapter 1173 Illyria
Greater Illyria, province of Croatia.
When the news came, the whole country grieved, the cries echoed in the mountains, and the color of heaven and earth changed. People's heart-wrenching cries could be heard everywhere.
Tears blurred their eyes, some people knelt down and covered their faces, some people beat their chests and feet, some people were filled with grief and anger, and some people couldn't get rid of their hatred.
Even young children were affected by this emotion, and tears burst out of their eyes unconsciously.
As subjects of the Austrian Empire, the Croatians' sorrow was sincere, but their cries contained fierce murderous intent.
At this time, there were a large number of Hungarians living in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. Although the war had been going on for a long time, except for a few people who really jumped out and rebelled, the vast majority of people were still living similar to the past. days.
The so-called Magyars in history were only half a million people with noble status and one million civilians with free citizen status in Hungary.
In fact, most Hungarians were serfs, and the policies that were supposed to benefit them actually had little impact, even less with Franz's intervention.
The revolution has little to do with these people, and they naturally don't feel much about the death of Archduke Stefan. These people seem so numb, but they worship the Kossuth faction who killed the royal family unusually.
Some people cry and others laugh. This is the normal state of the world. Even if someone is laughing at the crying person, it is not incomprehensible to some people.
But at this time, some people smiled and disappeared. Cities, wilderness, mountains, guns, hammers, sickles, and even stones.
The laughter was finally drowned in the fierce cries. This time, it was not just the unkind landowners and the desperate Hungarian nationalists who suffered.
All Hungarians, Hungarian supporters, and Hungarian cultural symbols were liquidated.
The blood flames quickly dyed the entire Croatia red, and only the refugee camps in the entire Viceroyalty were not affected.
Josip Jelacic may not be a qualified general when leading the war, and the pastor may not be a qualified governor, but only his loyalty does not require too many questions.
Jelacic stubbornly carried out Franz's order. He sent all his confidants to the refugee camp and gave a death order not to allow anyone to approach the refugee camp. Everything in the refugee camp remained as usual.
Soldiers take obedience as their bounden duty. It is impossible for soldiers to be unorganized, undisciplined, and madly disobedient at this time.
Although the Croatian soldiers were also very angry, they had to obey the imperial order conveyed by their leader.
In fact, the Hungarians in the refugee camps were closer to the royal family and the imperial government. After all, they had received help in times of crisis.
On a cold winter night, the shrill wind roared in the valley.
However, what is colder than this winter night is Kovac's heart. As Jelacic's right-hand man, he has enjoyed a lot of glory and wealth over the years, so he is not afraid of death.
But the dim lights that were gathering in front of him made him feel fear. The Croatian people were very poor, so poor that most of them could only rely on sleep to escape the pain of hunger on winter nights.
What makes people prefer to waste precious fuel on winter nights to travel?
It was probably a brown bear that killed people, or a wild wolf that stole sheep, he thought, and unknowingly, the crowd shouting "Blood debt must be paid with blood" had already arrived in front of the checkpoint.
The soldiers blocked the center of the road as if facing a formidable enemy, and the angry crowd held weapons still dripping with blood.
"Get out of the way! Let us in!"
"I want them to pay with blood!"
"Yes! Kill all these traitors!"
"revenge!"
"revenge!"
"revenge!"
The officer blocking the road could not control that much. He was given a death order. Either he stopped the crowd in front of him, or he was punished for escaping from the battle.
"Get out of here! No one is allowed to enter this important military area!"
There was not much verbal exchange between the two sides. After saying "Fuck you", the long queue of torches began to attack the checkpoint. The soldiers used giant trees to hold up the fence and refused to take a step back.
A sharp gunshot sounded, and a ball of light rose into the sky, dragging a long tail flame, and suddenly exploded into a red fire lotus, which instantly turned into dots of starlight and disappeared without a trace.
At this time, Europeans rarely see fireworks, but this sudden arrival shocked everyone.
Major General Kovac appeared behind the fence.
"Enough blood has been shed today! Don't force me, go home now! We are soldiers, I will not surrender, let alone leave my position!"
"What about the blood feud between our relatives? What about the royal family? They must pay with blood today!"
"Yes! My brother died on the battlefield in Hungary!"
A young man roared with blood-red eyes.
"My children haven't come back either!"
A rickety old woman covered her face and cried.
“My wife and daughter were both captured by the Hungarians, and I was the only one who escaped, woo woo woo.”
"My land and houses on the plain are gone! All gone! Our family's savings for generations are gone!"
Among the long fire dragons were a pair of firm and angry eyes.
"Every grievance has its owner! Every debt has its owner! Go to whoever has harmed you. These are all victims of the rebellion. If you want revenge, go to Budapest to find Kossuth and Baujani!"
In fact, in this era, most ordinary people, especially in border mountainous areas like Croatia, had a deep respect for nobles and officials engraved in their bones.
If they were not forced into a corner, they would not even dare to speak in front of the nobles and officials, let alone confront them loudly.
Major General Kovacs made the crowd fall into silence with just a few words. This was the pressure from the noble officials.
But at this time, someone in the crowd suddenly shouted.
"We are not looking for these refugees! We are looking for Hungarian soldiers who have mixed in with the refugees! They are not innocent!"
"Yes! Hand over those Hungarian soldiers!"
A small stone immediately caused an uproar.
"Yes! Hand over those murderers!"
"Hand over those demons!"
Major General Kovacs also began to hesitate. Just as he was considering whether he should send someone to check whether there were Hungarian deserters mixed in the refugee camp.
Suddenly, there was a sound of horse hooves, and a cavalry was approaching quickly.
Due to the mountainous environment and lack of funds, there are not many cavalry in Croatia. And there are very few people who can mobilize these cavalry, and the people who can mobilize so many cavalry are about to come out.
Jelachi stopped his horse between the crowd and the army. After roughly understanding the situation, he glanced at his unpromising subordinates and scanned the angry crowd.
The crowd fell into complete silence, and even the leaders bowed their heads and said nothing.
"Listen, if you want revenge, then join the army. His Majesty the Emperor has issued a war order, and we can attack at any time.
If you are really brave, make achievements on the battlefield, kill all the Magyars who have oppressed us for seven hundred years, and kill all the Huns who invaded Europe!
Hang them on the tree with their intestines and let them drown in their own blood!"
"Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!"
In fact, the Hungarians in the Croatian region are very familiar with the language and living habits of the Croatians because they have lived with the Croatians for a long time.
The different dialects and customs every ten miles are more obvious in the mountainous areas. The most important thing is that they do not believe in Orthodox Christianity like the Serbs. As long as they do not admit that they are Magyars and have no property or land, the Croatians will not be able to see through their identities.