Chapter 809: The Intrusion of Count Chambord

The situation in Zug was also not optimistic. Since Augustin Keller underestimated the enemy and rushed forward, the Orthodox Alliance's counterattack has never stopped.

At the same time, in order to maintain the huge military expenditure and to appease the allies of the Free State, Joseph Roy imposed a series of economic sanctions on Fribourg and Zug.

However, the reality is that even if the taxes of these two states are fully raised, not much oil and water can be squeezed out. After that, a series of compensation agreements and conscription plans were introduced, but the overall situation continued to deteriorate.

So Joseph Roy had to consider more radical means. The ultimate winner of the Swiss Confederation in history was not a mediocre person. He knew what could be touched and what could not be touched.

Civilians themselves had no money, not to mention that they had sent their children, husbands, and fathers to the battlefield.

As for the officials, they could not be touched either, because he still had to rely on these people to maintain order.

The Jesuits, monasteries, and clergy were a good breakthrough. After all, everyone was going to die, who would speak for God?

Joseph Roy ordered the raiding of all monasteries, the confiscation of property, and the sending of priests and nuns to the front-line military camps.

All Jesuit property also needed to be confiscated, and those who had funded the Jesuits had to donate double the amount to the federal government, otherwise they would be treated as aiding the enemy.

A large number of historic monasteries were burned to the ground, and many precious books, materials, and holy relics were lost.

But even so, his funds were still insufficient.

Switzerland's products were not abundant, and many things had to be imported from abroad, and these powerful neighbors happened to stand on the side of the Orthodox Alliance.

Since the war began, France, Sardinia, Austria, and the entire German Confederation have imposed an embargo on the Swiss Free State, which has led to an increase in the prices of many materials, and the prices of the most important strategic materials: gunpowder and saltpeter have risen twenty times.

The most pitfall is that Switzerland's main salt mines are all in the area ruled by the Orthodox Alliance, and the largest Bex Salt Mine in the Free State was attacked by several fanatics.

After the collapse of the underground salt cave, which is thousands of meters deep and complex like a maze, it is impossible to resume production within one or two months in this era without large-scale excavation equipment.

Even more unfortunate is that good news does not travel far, but bad news travels far and wide. The news of the explosion of the Free State Salt Mine spread throughout Switzerland in a very short time.

So the salt grabbing incident took place in Switzerland in the 19th century. As for how crazy people were for salt at that time, I will not describe it.

And this led to a series of chain reactions, and the price of daily necessities began to rise wildly, among which the price of sugar increased fifty times.

In fact, although Austria and France both announced an embargo, businessmen with official backgrounds never stopped trading with Switzerland.

It's just that the price increase is very outrageous. Only the Kingdom of Sardinia is really implementing a complete embargo, because Carlo Alberto really wants a new territory.

In addition, consumption is also a big problem. The army of Frei Holose is that each soldier eats ten meals a day, and it does not use 3,000 tons of food a month.

However, the North had to face the threat of the southern German states and clear the internal resistance forces (actually Tanner Amherd's guerrillas), so Joseph Roy could only turn a blind eye.

Dufour gathered the main force in Lucerne, but was blocked by the fortress in the valley. After several battles, the Free State suffered heavy casualties, but the front line did not advance a single point.

The Swiss Confederation's army was ridiculously monotonous, but Dufour could not be blamed for this. In fact, since the French Revolution, the army has rarely attacked bastions.

The way Napoleon, the god of war of that era, dealt with bastions was also high-speed maneuvers, bypassing the bastions and attacking the enemy's rear.

However, how to bypass the Swiss mountainous areas? With the organization of the troops of this era, if a 100,000-man army entered the mountains and half of them came out, it would be considered a strong army.

But in fact, considering factors such as supply, it is impossible to learn from Hannibal to climb the mountain.

What about earthwork? In winter, the surface of the land is frozen hard, and even dogs can't dig. After finally digging up the hard surface, it was discovered that the groundwater level was quite high due to the influence of the Reuss River. If forced construction was carried out, there would be a high probability of landslides.

However, this was the best solution Dufour could think of at this time, by constantly digging trenches to approach the bastion.

In the middle, he also tried to use the Congreve rocket, a powerful weapon, but this thing was very limited in power for sandstone buildings. After firing hundreds of rounds and finding no obvious effect, he gave up.

As time went on, both sides of the civil war gradually became tired, while the outside world became lively.

The British blossomed on both sides of the east and the west. On the one hand, they continued to expand their interests in the East, and on the other hand, they strongly rejected the request of US President Polk to redraw the US-Canada border on the American continent.

On the European continent, Henry V, the orthodox Bourbon of France, announced his participation in the Vienna Conference in a high-profile manner, but the title he used to participate in the Vienna Conference was Count Chambord.

This Count Chambord was actually the object of support by the French orthodox faction. Since Louis XIX had no heirs, he became the legal heir to the Bourbon throne at this time.

In fact, at this time, Count Chambord only had one Chateau de Chambord in France, which seemed insignificant compared to Louis Philippe, who owned the whole of France.

However, in November 1846, Count Chambord made a surprising decision, which was to marry Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este.

This kind of back-and-forth operation is common in the history of the Bourbon family, but everyone has to admit that he pulled in the Austrian Empire, a strong ally, which made the balance of victory and defeat tremble again.

You must know that the neighborly relationship between France and Austria at this time was not harmonious. Louis Philippe had fought with the Austrian Empire twice, either actively or passively.

Austria had every reason to put the more pro-Austrian Count Chambord on the French throne, and the British also wanted to use him to stop the Orleans dynasty's ambitions for Spain.

As soon as this news came out, the French orthodox celebrated, the Bonapartists expressed strong indignation, and the Orleansists chose to lie flat.

In fact, the reason is very simple. The Orleansists have money and industry. As long as the monarch wants to stabilize the country, they can't do without them. And for so many years, they have clearly known that Louis Philippe is not a good king.

The Bonapartists were completely different. Although they were strong in France at that time, the army was the most vulnerable place to be purged.

It was true that Louis Philippe was a waste, but he still had hope of restoring the country in the Bonapartist faction. If a pro-Austrian king came to power, there would be no way for them to survive, so they behaved particularly fiercely.

Louis Philippe himself was even more confused. He really didn't expect that a Count of Chambord would appear.