Chapter 860 The Age of Transition

In addition to scrapping the general reserve in the Venetian region, Alois Palfi successfully caused Vicenza, one of the four corner fortresses, to fall.

And this group of rebels was also extraordinary. They blew up the nearby railways and bridges at the first time, causing Franz to gather troops in the distant Verona.

Franz did not intend to attack the city. He planned to bypass Vicenza and head straight to Venice.

At this time, there were still 20,000 garrison troops and more than 2,000 naval soldiers in Venice. Moreover, there were more than 100 large and small artillery batteries outside the city of Venice, and the defense was abnormal.

Theoretically, such a strong city could not be conquered by the rebels who did not even have artillery, but where there is a sleeping dragon, there must be a phoenix. At this time, the garrison commander of Venice was Ferdinand Lizzie, a famous waste in the Austrian Imperial Army.

This kind of god who could let Garibaldi run away even with 10,000 people against 800 might really lose Venice.

The reason why Fernand Lizzi and Alois Palffy could appear in the battle sequence of the Austrian army was entirely because of the power of their family.

After the compromise of the imperial government after multi-party bargaining, both of them actually had extraordinary resumes, which were all the result of the family's deification.

The older the family, the more they like to artificially create some idols for the world to worship. The perfect personality helps them consolidate their position.

This is also why so many people in power are dismissive of Franz's deeds.

Franz only brought his own Royal Dragoon Regiment and the Guards trained in Tyrol, with a total of more than 5,000 people, and there was also a supply force of the same number behind.

Although the number of people is not large, they are well-trained and well-equipped, and everyone can ride two horses each. Moreover, all members are equipped with the latest lever-action rifles, and the firepower output per unit time can completely crush a traditional army of 30,000 people.

In addition, there are new lightweight rodless spin rockets, grenade launchers, wooden-handled grenades, smoke bombs, shotguns, etc.

If it was an encounter in the wild, Franz believed that even if he could not win a big victory, it would not be a problem to retreat unscathed.

In fact, he was a little curious about what kind of rebel army directly dispersed the 50,000 troops of the Austrian Empire.

If it was said that the Venetian rebel army could wipe out the 50,000 troops of the Austrian Empire in a few days, even if it was the Redwood Army, Franz would not believe it.

To borrow a sentence from "Drawing Sword", 50,000 pigs could not be caught in three days.

The result was very different from Franz's guess. There were Austrian fleeing soldiers everywhere along the way. These people not only had weapons, but also several days of dry food, and some teams even had complete organizations.

They just didn't know where the superiors had gone.

These soldiers were originally scattered all over Venice. After the Papal State officially declared war, they were gathered by Alois Palfiti as a mobile force.

After that, Feltre and Malaestica rebelled one after another, and Alois Palfiti's army went north.

They first arrived at Malaestica, but when the army arrived, the rebels had already fled. Then they continued north to Feltre, but they were disappointed again.

Alois Palffi was going to retreat to Verona, but when he was away, a rebellion broke out in the Verona fortress, and the fortress had already changed hands.

General Alois Palffi immediately ordered a fierce attack on the Verona fortress, but the soldiers had no way to deal with the fortress without heavy weapons.

Alois Palffi had no choice but to go to Malaestica to rest and then transfer some heavy artillery from Venice.

As a result, when they arrived at Malaestica, the city had been occupied by the rebels. The exhausted army could not fight again, so they had to continue north.

However, Feltre had also been occupied by the rebels, so they had no choice but to besiege Feltre.

But when they woke up the next day, they found that their commanders were gone. Without a leader, these armies from different regions naturally collapsed.

Although it was very annoying, it was good news for Franz. It seemed that there was no supernatural power.

Otherwise, he would not be able to handle the meteorites falling from the sky.

Moreover, these defeated soldiers actually retained a strong combat effectiveness, and those whose organization was not broken up could be used directly.

At this time, Franz found a talent, a sergeant from Slovenia, who stole a set of costumes from a theater and actually gathered thousands of troops.

If he had not met Franz's team, maybe this swindler could have made a legion.

And the most important thing is that this sergeant did not mess around with the power in his hands, but just gathered the troops to withdraw to Venice, which greatly increased Franz's favor for him.

After all, Franz has seen too many guys who act recklessly with a little power in their hands, especially the recent escape of two senior officers made him very angry.

Prince Eugen is an Italian from France, Wallenstein is a down-and-out Czech mercenary, and what about the generals trained entirely by Austria?

There are historical reasons why the Austrian Empire has never been able to train outstanding generals. These guys who do nothing have occupied important positions in the army for hundreds of years.

The only native general in Austria is Archduke Karl, but he is a member of the royal family and naturally will not be commanded by those old nobles.

Archduke Karl was just a young man when he first went to the battlefield. You can say he was a genius in war, but it also highlights the incompetence of the Austrian aristocratic bureaucracy.

The anti-French war in the past created a group of military talents for Austria, but now it has reached a time of transition.

Marshal Radetzky, Archduke Karl and others have reached the age of burial, and the young Gabrenz and Benedek are still inexperienced.

Especially Benedek is a civilian, and his path to promotion will be more difficult.

So Franz was very happy about the discovery of grassroots talents at this time. At least this sergeant did not flee or be at a loss like other officers.

At least he has organizational skills. Franz plans to let a major of the Royal Dragoon Regiment help them and give them a flag of the Habsburg family.

This should be enough for them to gather the fleeing soldiers. The Po River defense line is very fragile at this time. If the Italian coalition forces really attack.

This may be a good thing for the Austrian Empire. After all, military discipline in this era is not guaranteed at all. As long as they loot a few villages or cities, Pius IX will lose his voice.

The so-called holy war will become a joke like the Crusaders attacking Constantinople.

Moreover, the Austrian side can retreat to the solid four-corner fortress. Historically, Radetzky used these fortresses to delay the Italian coalition forces including the Kingdom of Sardinia for half a year.

Before, Franz had specially asked people to reinforce these fortresses just in case, but at this time, northern Italy was still Austrian territory.

Franz did not want to repeat the mistakes of the past. The defeated soldiers wandering in Venice, plus Albrecht's 50,000 reinforcements, and the terrain advantage of the Po River should be able to steadily resist the Italian coalition forces.

Now Franz's only goal is to rush to Venice to take over the city defense before Venice has problems.