Chapter 648 Don’t be nervous, I’m just passing by
Count Segur smiled slightly: “Thank you for the reminder, but I believe it is not too late. In fact, the soldiers of the Royal Guards Corps will be here three days later. We can get here.”
Before, the Guards Corps that went to Baden for exercises happened to be halfway there. After receiving the order, they immediately went south. After continuous rapid march, they had already arrived in Turin, Sardinia. nearby.
Ercole III's eyes immediately widened: "So fast?! But..."
He fiddled with his cane and glanced at the ground: "I still need to summon the ministers to discuss ”
As a small country with a population of only 800,000 and an area less than one-fifth of Switzerland, Modena does not want to get involved in the entanglement between behemoths like France and Austria.
Segur said seriously: "Your Majesty, you should know very well that Austria's exercise is not only about the trade agreement.
"The 30,000-strong army is a huge threat to the entire Italian region. threaten. "
He picked up the tea cup and took a sip: "Especially Modena has discord with Parma and Lucca, and they all have close relations with Austria.
"If one day Parma asks for Austria's support, there is no need for 30,000 troops at all. Only one-fifth of the troops is not something your country can resist."
He glanced at Ercole III's thoughtful look and continued: "In addition, Sardinia has also always claimed sovereignty over central Italy.
"It can be said that your country Always facing danger. "
The Grand Duke of Modena looked at him with some confusion: "What do you mean? "
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince believes that France and Morocco can take the opportunity of this exercise to carry out some military cooperation. Segur said, "To be specific, our country can help you train the army, provide weapons, and even directly station troops." "
Ercole III couldn't help but think - if he could get the support of France, Modena's security would be better guaranteed. But at the same time, France itself is a threat to Modena, especially the garrison...
Segur smiled and said: "If you think it is necessary, we can sign a military agreement, or a secret agreement, which will allow you to avoid the threat from Austria."
He met Erko Rai III was still hesitating, so he took out the "bait" given to him by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince: "Oh, the sales of our country's synthetic board furniture are increasing in Italy, so we plan to Build a split packaging factory here. If our two countries achieve cooperation, I think Modena is the best place to build the factory."
Ercole III nodded almost immediately: "I am looking forward to Modena. If we can cooperate with the great France, let’s sign a secret agreement at some time.”
You know, synthetic board furniture is selling like crazy in Italy. If we can take over the division and packaging work, it means that we can get a share of all the French furniture sold to Italy.
For a small country like Modena, this is enough revenue to significantly improve the country's financial situation.
Four days later.
After the exercise, the Austrian army, under the command of General Keim, set out from Pisa in Tuscany and headed north via Lucca, preparing to return to southern Austria via Parma.
Actually, you can reach Austria directly by going north from Tuscany through Modena. However, because the in-laws Parma and Modena did not deal with it, the Austrians still chose to take a detour.
Just as the 30,000 Austrian troops arrived near the town of Tersuco at the junction of Parma, Lucca and Modena, diplomats from Modena suddenly arrived and informed General Keim that France and Modena were about to conduct military exercises. .
Kim was a little surprised at first, then burst into laughter and said to the officer beside him: "The French also want to practice. Don't they think it's too late?"
All the officers laughed. Yesterday, Parma also stated that it would increase tariffs on French goods. By the time the French army came to conduct exercises, the trade dispute would have been over long ago.
The Modena official bowed and saluted, turned his horse's head and left.
General Keim didn't take this episode to heart at all, and continued to move forward while chatting leisurely with his staff, waving to the citizens of Tersuco Town who were watching the excitement from a distance from time to time. However, when the Austrian army arrived near a narrow depression, they heard a loud bang from the side and rear.
“It’s a cannon!”
An officer looked around in surprise: “Ranger, what happened?”
Then, there was another violent sound of artillery. Kaim suddenly thought: "This is not the French doing exercises, right?"
The officer next to him was stunned: "Why did they come here to exercise?"
Waiting for them Thinking about it carefully, there was another intensive gunfire on the slope on the east side.
These experienced officers immediately heard it. There were at least two to three thousand soldiers there.
Since Keim did not take the French military exercise seriously before, he did not inform the soldiers. Immediately, the entire Austrian army became tense under the influence of the sound of gunfire.
With a "plop" sound, a large piece of soil was lifted up on the grass hundreds of steps away. It was obvious that a cannonball had landed there.
The Austrian army suddenly panicked, and a junior officer shouted: "The enemy is attacking, blow the trumpet!"
"Line up! The enemy is in the southeast!"
"Everyone is gathering around me. Quick! Get it. Shoot, you idiots!"
The next moment, the sound of drums, trumpets and shouts in the Austrian army were mixed together. Some companies were preparing to line up on the spot to defend the enemy, while others were preparing to attack the regiment. The commander moved closer, and soon chaos ensued.
Cam's face was ashen and he loudly ordered the herald to tell his men that this was just a drill by the French. But at this moment, the ground shook, and then a team of nearly a thousand cavalry appeared on the right wing of the Austrian army.
These cavalry lined up neatly, galloping like the wind, almost passing by the Austrian army, while raising their carbines and shooting into the sky.
The Austrian soldiers only knew that a large group of cavalry was attacking, and then heard the sound of gunfire. They were already scared out of their wits and subconsciously ran away from the cavalry.
The middle and rear part of the long and narrow Austrian army column was like an earthworm being pecked off by a bird, and a large piece was missing in an instant.
About half an hour later, Kaim’s order finally reached the officer. The officers of each regiment began to rush to gather the soldiers.
However, at this moment, several people holding notebooks came quickly to Keim and shouted to him through the guards:
"General, we are reporters from the "Genoa Commercial News" .Excuse me, why did your army come out just now? Is there chaos?”
Kim looked up and saw a dozen reporters asking the soldiers this and that in the chaotic army. There seemed to be reporters interviewing people from the town of Tersuco.
A bad feeling suddenly surged in his heart.
The next day, after General Keim finished washing, he picked up the newspaper hotted by his attendant. Suddenly his eyesight went dark and he saw the headline on the front page: "French Army's 5,000 Soldiers Exercise Southwest of Modena. Order." 30,000 Austrian troops fled in panic."
The following content describes in detail how the Austrian army fell into chaos after hearing the sound of gunfire and fled as the French cavalry approached. Dozens of people were even injured when they were trampled by their own people.
(End of this chapter)