Chapter 796: The Fall of Fribourg

Archduke Karl had always planned to have the Canton of Lucerne as the battlefield for the decisive battle. First of all, it was the core of the Legitimacy Alliance. Secondly, except for the Canton of Zug, all other cantons had natural barriers.

Especially the St. Gerda Pass in the south, where only a small number of troops were needed to completely block the road. Although Heinrich Bellaim's personal ability was a little poor, it shouldn't be a big problem to just defend.

In fact, this was also a helpless move, because the Swiss Confederation, especially the Legitimacy Alliance, was really short of officers.

Fortunately, Colonel Charles Duchat went to the Canton of Ticino, otherwise Archduke Karl would have to assign a qualified officer to eliminate the rebels in this canton.

Finally, the fastest way for the Free Alliance to end the war was to take over the Canton of Lucerne, which was also the most suitable area for large-scale military operations.

However, the battlefield that Archduke Karl came to was not a wide plain area, but a narrow mountain road.

Constantine Sigwart and Ulrich Saliss started a new round of conscription and grain collection.

There was no way. The situation in Fribourg was unclear, and the rebellion of the three states directly stretched the strength of the Orthodox Alliance.

Just when Archduke Karl was arranging his troops, Dufour's main force moved, and the latter decided to launch a general attack on Fribourg.

This did not seem to be a very wise behavior, after all, Fribourg also had a solid fortress at the entrance of the valley.

These fortresses could not be easily taken down by relying on a large number of people, because the width of the entire mountain road was limited, and the number of troops that could participate in the attack was even more limited.

So even if there were more troops, they could not show their advantages.

And when it really came to the point where they could not defend, as long as the road was blown up, it would take the other side several days to weeks to clear the obstacles.

Bishop Minoffel was therefore very confident, so he decided to go to the front line to command the defense in person.

Before the war, both sides routinely sent letters of persuasion to each other, and the content was almost the same:

"'Those who follow the will of heaven will prosper, and those who go against it will perish'. Now I have a million soldiers and thousands of generals; you can turn your back on the enemy and surrender with courtesy, and you will not lose your title. Isn't it wonderful that the country is safe and the people are happy? "

However, Bishop Minoffel's letter is still quite unique.

"Dear General Dufour.

I sincerely hope that you will seriously consider my words before making those stupid decisions that may cause your soldiers to lose their lives in vain.

Your opponent is me, the first general under the Holy See, the 'unbeatable' Minoffel. As generals, you and I know that war will only bring pain, destruction and endless sorrow.

If you can stop this wrong behavior, I assure you that we are willing to provide generous conditions to protect your people and property and ensure their safety and dignity.

As long as you can recognize the correct faith, we will still be brothers."

After reading the letter, Henry Dufour knew that it was the Pope who was making trouble again, but Minoffel was wrong. This was not the religious war that Pius IX thought.

It was a war to unify 11 units of length, 82 units of grain measurement, 50 units of weight, and more than 10 currencies.

Although this was not a religious war, the Pope and the Papal States were definitely a very good target.

"Our war does not need a third country to intervene. We are brothers! You have all been deceived by the Pope's lackeys!"

The soldiers of the Free Alliance shouted loudly under the command of the officers. The soldiers of the Orthodox Alliance, who had no intention of fighting, began to hesitate, and even their eyes changed when they looked at the Jesuit priests.

When Minoffel saw this, he was afraid that there would be a mutiny here. The Swiss tied him up and sent him to the Free Alliance.

So he roared: "Fire! Fire! Fire!!!"

The Jesuit priest took the opportunity to grab the gunner's torch and ignited the fuse. A shell shot out, but because the angle was not adjusted, it hit the front of the two armies directly.

However, this also became a signal for the two sides to start a war. Dufour brought 60 four-pound guns and 12 heavy guns produced in France.

Before Dufour's artillery deployment was completed, the Jesuit priests in the fortress could fire several rounds, but because the two sides were too far apart, the shells were not accurate at all.

Finally, after the Orthodox Alliance fired three rounds, the first round of artillery fire from the Free Alliance arrived.

The dense massed fire was naturally more powerful than sporadic artillery fire. After only one round of artillery fire, the Orthodox Alliance soldiers and Jesuit priests in the fortress began to flee in all directions, and even some officers joined the panicked crowd.

Minoffel patted the dust on his head and grabbed the torch angrily.

"Reload quickly! I want to fire!"

"But Bishop..." The artilleryman on the side wiped his blackened face.

"But what? Are you a Protestant spy?"

"No! No! No! But the barrel is already very hot, and it may explode if you fire again."

"Nonsense! The barrel exploded after just three shots? Reload quickly! Otherwise, I will kill you first!"

"Yes, yes..." The artilleryman replied quickly.

Two minutes later, a dull explosion sounded in the fortress.

"Burst? These guys are so stupid, maybe they got their brains damaged by chanting sutras." Dufour's adjutant Augustin Keller laughed.

Dufour put down the telescope and clicked, but his face was sad, because the bombardment of 72 cannons did not have much effect on the fortress built on the mountain.

However, after bombarding for several hours, General Dufour discovered a problem, that is, the fortress no longer fought back.

Dufour, who didn't know why, planned to send another person to persuade them to surrender. After all, the cost of the strong attack was too high.

Then he got an unexpected good news, that is, the fortress was empty, and he won the battle.

Dufour decided to pursue the victory, but when he arrived in Fribourg, the city had already raised the white flag.

It turned out that the previous explosion directly led to the death of Bishop Minoffel, the supreme commander of Fribourg, so the Jesuit priests fled in all directions, and the Valais troops that originally planned to support Fribourg also retreated to Valais.

This battle caused 41 deaths in the Orthodox Alliance and 3 deaths in the Free Alliance. The cruelty of the war has exceeded the most brutal Battle of Gisicon in the Swiss Civil War in history (a total of 38 people were killed on both sides).

Dufour ordered the disbandment of the Orthodox Alliance Army in Fribourg. Although he did not continue to hold Fribourg responsible, he also required them to bear the military expenses and to conscript labor to help the Free Alliance transport supplies.

However, this result was considered very generous by the parliamentarians of Fribourg, so the Free Alliance won the first battle in the Swiss Civil War.

Henri Dufour and Augustin Keller did not stay, but went to Aargau as soon as possible.

Their plan was to send a small number of troops to attack Zug first, and then take the opportunity to lead the main force to attack Lucerne.

Because the terrain of Zug is open, the army of the Free Alliance has an absolute advantage over the Orthodox Alliance at this time.

130,000 to 40,000, in the eyes of the top leaders of the Free Alliance at this time, there is no possibility of losing this war. They all dreamed of ending the war within two weeks, because they had eliminated more than half of the opponent's troops in the first four days of the war.

This war was outrageous in history, and the whole war lasted only 27 days. The Swiss Federal Army had 78 deaths and 260 injuries; the Orthodox Alliance Army had 26 deaths and 114 injuries.