49 Chapter 108: Turin has fallen

It is also not easy to form an alliance between nations. The major powers in Europe are full of contradictions, but Austria can only form one form of alliance. The moment the alliance is formed, the remaining nations will automatically become their enemies.

Perhaps Metternich saw through the essence of the matter very early. After the anti-French war, he took the initiative to shrink Austria's sphere of influence and tried to balance the strength of European countries, putting Austria in a detached position.

In this era, these diplomatic measures are all successful, the only failure is that Austria's internal reform failed, and its own strength was not able to keep up with its policies.

Without sufficient strength, it is naturally impossible to continue the Vienna system, and Austria has to make a new choice.

"Wait a minute and see what the British have to offer. If they continue to support the unification of Italy, then the Kingdom of Sardinia cannot stay. The big deal is that we lose a little bit and help the French manage their turf first. When the domestic situation stabilizes, we can sell it to them!" said Franz sternly.

On the Italian issue, the French can undoubtedly be bought. They have long been eyeing the Italian region, but Austria's strategic focus is not here at all, and there is no core conflict of interest between the two sides.

...

In the Kingdom of Sardinia, Charlie Albert has become an ant standing on a pile of explosives that is about to blow, and the development of the war has exceeded his expectations.

In the era of hot weapons, it is no longer possible to win wars only by relying on a large number of people.

Even with the unprecedented outbreak of the Sardinian army, the local fighting spirit doubled, but still cannot changed the nature of the mob.

Coupled with the shortage of weapons and ammunition, the equipment in the hands of many soldiers are weapons left over during the cold era, and no matter how high their patriotism is, they cannot stop the bullets from flying toward them.

"Your Majesty, let's go! The enemy is about to invade the city, and Turin can't hold it anymore!"

Prime Minister d'Azeglio's loyalist thoughts broke out. After the defense line fell, Charlie Albert was notified as soon as possible to run away.

There is no way, the Sardinian kingdom is not big, Turin is just over 100 kilometers away from Milan, and as soon as the troops on the front line collapse, they can only prepare for the battle of Turin.

Charlie Albert said desperately: "No, I'm not going anywhere, I want to live and die with Turin!"

"Your Majesty, for the future of the Kingdom of Sardinia, you must leave here immediately." Li Qi, the Minister of War, persuaded with a sad face.

The monarch in continental Europe is also a huge bargaining chip. If the king of Charles-Albert is captured by the Austrian army, then the Kingdom of Sardinia can be said to be finished for good.

This is not to rely on the emperor to command the princes but to control the monarch and force Charles-Albert to sign a series of treaties, or even simply annex the kingdom of Sardinia.

Even if other powers want to intervene, they have no righteous bargaining chip, which is very unfavorable to the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Charlie Albert roared: "You all are a bunch of idiots... If it weren't for you incompetent people, how could we fail? Up to now, you only think about how to run away from the enemy, instead of trying to find ways to repel the enemy forces..."

Time passed by, and under everyone's persuasion, Charlie Albert still ran away. Of course, whether this has something to do with the arrival of the Austrian advance troops in Turin, no one knows.

When the British Foreign Secretary Palmerston arrived in Vienna, news of the Austrian army's capture of Turin came.

After sorting out the information in his hands, even Palmerston, who was confident, felt a headache for the Sardinian Kingdom.

Things were beyond their expectations. According to the British plan, at this time, Austria was still competing with the Kingdom of Sardinia for the Lombardy region, and at most Austria had just recovered its lost ground.

However, the performance of the Kingdom of Sardinia has truly disappointed the British government. The first national mobilization completely drained Sardinia of its blood, and the second wave of mobilization was essentially sending the people to their deaths.

Especially those "patriots" and "Italian nationalists" thought they would fight the Austrian army to the end, but the final result told the world that words, in the end, are only words.

The one who shouted the slogan the loudest was often the fastest deserter on the battlefield. The battle has just started, and the people have already lost track of where these speakers went.

Charlie-Albert put these people on the front line as cannon fodder, but he didn't expect that these people would have directly deserted and directly the advantage to the Austrians.

This made Palmerston embarrassed. Negotiating with Austria before they occupied the Kingdom of Sardinia, and after occupying the Kingdom of Sardinia, have two very different prices to be paid.

If it weren't for the internal instability of France, and Austria who had no allies, and that it would be very difficult for Austria to completely swallow the Sardinian kingdom, otherwise he would have already gone home.

This worry did not last long, and the welcome banquet prepared for him by the Austrian Foreign Ministry began.

...

Berlin

After receiving the diplomatic support of Austria, the arrogance of the liberal bourgeois government was once again at an all-time high. In their view, the entire German Confederation was not worthy of an opponent, and the Russians weren't even that scary.

Don't look at the fact that all European countries are showing solidarity with the Danes. In fact, only the Russians will truly take action. The purpose of the Swedes is to ensure that the Kingdom of Denmark will not be destroyed, but they have no plans to help the Danes regain their lost land.

Especially after seeing that the French people broke out the June Uprising in order to support the Polish Revolution, the determination of the liberals to support Polish independence became firm again.

Frederick William IV couldn't bear it any longer, and let the liberals continue, and Prussia will start a fight. Now 250,000 Russian troops have arrived at the Prussian border.

The tsarist government's patience with the Kingdom of Prussia has reached its limit, and any move to provoke the Russians is unwise.

Before the Crimean War, Russia was famous on the European continent, and it was not at all comparable to the Kingdom of Prussia, which had not yet unified Germany.

Under his instigation, the Junker aristocrats, who hated the revolution, formed the "Alliance to Defend the Motherland", and at the same time tightened their control over the army, looking for various excuses to clean up the republican elements in the army.

A counter-revolutionary coup is brewing within the Kingdom of Prussia. The bourgeois government, which has no experience in struggle, seems to know nothing and continues to implement the idealized plan of unification.

...

The Anglo-Austrian negotiation started, and Palmerston was worried that the Sardinian government would surrender to Austria, worrying that it would continue to drag on, and their investment there would be wasted.

After the greeting, Palmerston went straight to the topic and said, "Mr. Metternich, for the sake of world peace, we need the Austrian government to carefully handle the conflict with the Kingdom of Sardinia."

Metternich laughed and said: "Mr. Palmerston, the conflict between us and the Kingdom of Sardinia will soon cease to exist, and the Italian region will soon be stabilized. Your country does not need to worry at all."