Chapter 1067 The Treaty of the Po River

Marshal Radetzky's response surprised Carlo Alberto. Although the latter was a king with an extremely noble status, it was no more difficult for the former to crush the latter than to kill an ant.

Carlo Alberto could only smile awkwardly and said.

"I was so angry that I lost my mind. The French were too cruel and tyrannical!"

To be honest, Marshal Radetzky was 82 years old and well-educated. He looked like a kind grandfather, so the soldiers liked to call him Father Radetzky.

But Carlo Alberto's words really angered him. During the entire war, at least tens of thousands of Austrian soldiers died forever on this land, and there were even more wounded.

And generally speaking, for every soldier injured or killed in a war, there would be dozens or even dozens of civilians who suffered.

Although burning, killing and looting were immoral acts, they were a very effective means of decompression for the army.

As far as Marshal Radetzky knew, all armies from ancient times to the present, even the Crusaders who marched east in the name of God, could not escape this.

But the army of the Austrian Empire did it at this time, and he was sincerely proud of the young men in his army.

The propaganda of the government and the church, the strict discipline, the generous rewards, the supervision of the royal family and nationalism and many other factors combined to create such an army in this era.

And now Carlo Alberto, this villain, dared to wrongly accuse these bravest people and make them suffer. Even if the old marshal had no temper and good cultivation, he couldn't stand it.

Although Archduke Franz asked to minimize the harm to civilians, Carlo Alberto was not a civilian, right?

On the night when the Austrian army withdrew, Carlo Alberto's temporary palace was attacked and property worth millions of liras was looted.

After the Austrian army completed the handover with the Kingdom of Sardinia, dozens of prisoner-of-war camps rioted

The anti-French volunteers directly became local separatist forces after the withdrawal of the Austrian army.

Carlo Alberto and his ministers had no way to deal with this situation. In their minds, what could they do if the French could not solve the problem?

In fact, Garibaldi was also in Radetzky's army. He had hoped to meet Carlo Alberto, the last hope of the Italian nation.

(Cavour commented on Carlo Alberto in the "Reconquista" he founded.)

However, the meeting outside Turin made Garibaldi very disappointed.

After the Austrian army left, the Kingdom of Sardinia was in chaos. Carlo Alberto's stupid moves made Garibaldi completely disappointed.

Not long after, Carlo Alberto signed the "Po Treaty" with the Austrian Empire to establish the Pan-Po Free Trade Zone.

Garibaldi became the first commander of the Po River Guard. In fact, 80% of this army was composed of Austrian soldiers. Their mission was to protect free trade and occasionally help the Kingdom of Sardinia solve some minor troubles.

Garibaldi was also registered as an Austrian by Marshal Radetzky, Joseph Giuseppe Zoppo (zoppo, Italian for cripple), Colonel of the Imperial Army, Commander of the Po River Guard.

The French troops trapped in the Kingdom of Sardinia were repatriated by the Sardinian side, and Carlo Alberto had no courage to collect the ransom from the French.

However, in order to avoid being beaten less in the future, it was necessary to do some small actions to reduce the manpower of the French army.

Inciting the people to attack French prisoners of war was a good idea, at least Carlo Alberto thought it was very smart.

In addition, the Alps are high and the roads are dangerous. It is normal for some French soldiers to have some accidents, right?

So out of more than 200,000 French soldiers, only less than 100,000 returned alive.

After Cavaignac confirmed that these people did not sign any shitty declaration of honor with the Austrians, he dragged them all to the battlefield to quell the domestic rebellion.

The signing of the Treaty of Po River not only established the Pan-Po River Free Trade Zone and the Po River Guard, but also protected the interests of the Austrian Empire in the Genoa region.

According to Franz's plan, some of the wounded soldiers will be directly rehabilitated, and the land will be their reward.

As for the Genoese farmers who lost their land, they will enter the factory. Of course, Franz still pays more attention to his image. These factories are run by local compradors, and even the funds have to be provided by themselves. The Austrian Empire only provides them with a market.

Most of the first batch of compradors were Genoese bankers and local gentry who had dealings with the Austrian Empire before, but there were also some noteworthy names.

Among them was the famous Camillo Benso Cavour, one of the three famous Italian heroes in history, and a famous constitutional monarchist and patriot in the Kingdom of Sardinia at that time.

Some people may not understand Cavour's behavior, but Franz thinks there is nothing strange about it. After all, how can a capitalist go against money?

Of course, if Franz understands these, he will not have the joy of having all the heroes in the world in his grasp. He just smiles calmly.

With the formal entry into force of the Treaty of Strasbourg, the Austrian Imperial Army and the German Allied Forces began to withdraw their troops.

With the external pressure lifted, the pressure on the French government was also much less. However, Cavaignac did not choose to continue the civil war and completely eliminate dissidents. Instead, he chose peace negotiations and promised fair elections.

In fact, Cavaignac has always been very concerned about his status. He always felt that he was not a legitimate president, so he had to hold an election to consolidate his position.

The news spread quickly, and a middle-aged man in a tavern in London picked up his glass and drank it all.

"France is going to be in chaos again. Cavaignac is really an idiot. Doesn't he know that France can't be without a backbone at this time?"

"Maybe he thinks he is the backbone."

"A self-righteous guy, he is only worthy of being a police chief!"

"Are you still going back? Your compatriots don't seem to welcome you very much."

The middle-aged man glanced at the person who spoke, his eyes burning like fire.

"It seems you have an idea."

"Haha, of course. How can our big shot give up? Just like putting Mr. Hugo in jail can shut him up?"

"Isn't Mr. Hugo a congressman? How could he be sent to jail?"

"Haha! The king was driven out, so what's impossible?"

"That's true."

"But the situation in France is not optimistic. We lost half of our men last time, and this time we might be wiped out.

You have to think it through."

"There's nothing to be afraid of. If it weren't for our big shot, I would still be locked up in that insane asylum."

"Haha, interesting! Interesting! I want to see how far you can go."

"Count me in!"

"And me!"

At this time, the middle-aged man finally put down his glass and stopped the noise in the tavern.

"France! Your emperor is back!"