Chapter 793: From Strategic Offense to Strategic Defense

However, as the boxes were opened one after another, everyone was dumbfounded. What was inside was neither gold, silver, jewelry, nor any big weapons, but stacks of yellowed indulgences.

"Soldiers! This is an indulgence personally consecrated by the Pope! As long as you hold this, no matter how many crimes you commit, you can ascend to heaven without any hindrance.

What are you waiting for! Go! ” shouted Bishop Minofil.

The morale of the soldiers of the Orthodox Alliance was plummeting. After all, everyone thought it would be something more practical.

Now the rewards are gone, and morale is gone.

In fact, Pius IX really wanted to support the Orthodox Alliance in Switzerland, but the Papal State had no money and already owed hundreds of millions of francs to the French Bank. Not to mention the principal, even the interest had to be borrowed from Austria.

So the Pope could only send his strongest generals and loyal Jesuits to help, but it seemed a bit shabby to be left empty-handed.

At this time, Parma Monsi, Pius IX's most trusted secretary of state, suggested.

"Is it possible to send the unsold indulgences in the Holy City to Switzerland? This would allow the Orthodox Alliance to express gratitude to the Holy See for its grace and also digest the inventory. After all, warehouses also cost money.

Moreover, this Swiss civil war is equivalent to promoting our indulgences. As long as we can build a reputation, orders from various countries will fly in like snowflakes. Are we still afraid that we will not be able to recoup the cost?

So I think the investment is worth it. "

The Secretary of State's words struck a chord in King Pius IX's heart, making the latter very satisfied. However, Pius IX just nodded, because he believed that speaking less could increase the mystery and make it easier to rule.

Back on the battlefield north of Fribourg, the soldiers of the Orthodox Alliance were reluctantly driven into the narrow mountain pass.

The soldiers of the other side's Free Alliance were equally reluctant. The strength of the other side's troops was not known to be dozens or hundreds of times that of our own.

They join the army just to have a better life, not to die here.

Mads Dickinson is the captain company commander responsible for garrisoning this fortress. In fact, he originally only had more than fifty people under his command who were just hanging around every day.

However, the Swiss Confederation's conscription law is really easy to use. In preparation for war, his company was immediately expanded to 500 people.

But he knew everything here very well. As a veteran, Youzi knew what the soldiers were thinking.

If he really fights to the end, he is afraid that his group of big-headed soldiers will push him off the cliff before the enemy attacks.

But having said that, the fortress itself is very strong and built against the mountains, and there is only a narrow mountain road in front of it that is very steep. There are hundreds of people guarding here, not to mention tens of thousands, and even millions of people cannot attack it.

"Captain! The enemy! The enemy is coming!"

The captain of the sentry ran in in panic.

"What's there to panic about? Can they fly up? The many rocks and wood just thrown are enough for them to move for a while."

Mads Dickinson said impatiently, if the young man in front of him was not his sister's biological son, he would not bother to care about it.

"Uncle, didn't you say you were going to run away last night?" the sentry captain asked cautiously.

"What nonsense are you talking about! We Swiss are the most honest people since ancient times! How can we run away casually after accepting employment? And the military pay given by General Dufour is quite a lot."

Listening to his uncle's righteous words, the sentry captain was a little confused and thought to himself: "Why is it different from what was promised!"

The people around were also a little confused. They didn't know what illness the company commander had. There were at least tens of thousands of people under the dark mountain.

They are not afraid of bullets while hiding in the fortress, but what if the opponent uses cannons? The artillery fired directly at close range, and the scenes of blood and flesh flying after shotgun shells, solid bullets, and explosive shells hit the human body were played out repeatedly in their minds.

Just when they were wondering whether to push the "stubborn" company commander off the cliff to cause an accident, Mads Dickinson said.

"We must at least fire a few shots to be worthy of General Dufour."

"Yes! Your Excellency, Captain!"

Everyone let out a sigh of relief. In fact, Captain Maz Dickinson had his own plans. The spirit of the contract was important, but his own life was more important.

However, it is still necessary to put in two casual shots. If the Orthodox Alliance wins, they say that they do not want brothers to kill each other for the sake of the peace of the Federation, so they abandoned the fortress; if the Free Alliance wins, they can also say that the enemy's offensive is too fierce. , they had to retreat when they ran out of ammunition and food.

However, the reality is that one shot can destroy hundreds of meters, making it invincible. The valley fortress was at least a few hundred meters away from the Orthodox Alliance army, but as soon as the gunfire rang out, "dead bodies were strewn all over the road hundreds of meters along the valley mountain road."

Even if someone didn't fall down immediately, everyone would fall to the ground after looking around for a while. The Tiantong Alliance soldiers behind looked at it for a while and rushed down the mountain road with shouts.

"It's witchcraft! The people of the Freedom Alliance have sold their souls to the devil, run away!"

Captain Mads Dickinson looked at the rifle in his hand that was like a tactical nuclear weapon and was a little confused as to what to do.

The surrounding soldiers and relatives didn't even know where to praise him, because there were flaws everywhere. You may say that he is right, but this scene is a bit indescribable.

In short, Captain Mads Dickinson repelled tens of thousands of troops from the Orthodox Alliance with a single gunshot.

In fact, when the army first collapsed, Bishop Minofel actually planned to organize an exorcism ceremony, but unfortunately, the defeated soldiers fled too fast and did not give him a chance.

One of the priests who failed to escape was even trampled to death and became the only victim of this battle.

When Henry Dufour led the main force of the Swiss Free Alliance to arrive, they did not find a battlefield full of corpses and smoke, but piles of stones and logs.

Captain Maz Dickinson was smart in that he did not choose to fight hard or give up escaping directly, but chose to block the road with stones and logs, the most primitive way.

People can climb over these obstacles, but it is very difficult to climb over these obstacles and fight with the fortress defenders. After all, once you climb over, you may not be able to come back.

That's why the army of the Orthodox Alliance was destroyed dozens of meters away by Captain Maz Dickinson's shot.

Although these temporarily recruited farmers and unemployed workers have low education levels, they are not stupid. They can still distinguish between those who may die and those who will die.

Moreover, the indulgences of Bishop Minoffel and Pope Pius IX were not very effective, so the army of the Orthodox Alliance was defeated as soon as the gunfire sounded.

Historically, the army of the Orthodox Alliance was not that strong, and it suffered the bitter fruit of defeat with only two deaths.

These obstacles were troublesome for the army of the Orthodox Alliance, and they were also a big problem for Dufour's Free Alliance army.

Therefore, Dufour's main force had to carry out three days of clearing obstacles before the army could pass.