Chapter 867 Battle of the Ticino River (Part 2)

Besides, Marshal Radetzky ordered the whole army to press forward before the first round of artillery fire ended. He did not want to give the other side a chance to regroup.

The reason for waiting for the other side to discover him was not out of arrogance, but to destroy the other side's living force as much as possible.

At this time, the soldiers of the Sardinian army were crowded together like sheep, scrambling to escape to the other side of the river.

The number of people who were trampled to death and fell into the river could not be counted. However, squeezing together was also a problem for the Austrian cavalry, because they could not rush into the crowd, even if it was a chaotic crowd.

So the cavalry had to give credit to the infantry, but the first batch of people who came over were only some hunters and skirmishers, and their main task was also harassment. The real large group of infantry was still marching at a fast pace.

This was not because Radetzky was pedantic and refused to let the infantry charge. On the contrary, this was a reflection of the well-trained and disciplined soldiers under his command.

Facing the enemy, they were still able to maintain their formation while advancing. This unit was undoubtedly an elite soldier in the traditional sense.

Soon the two sides came into contact, and the surrounded Sardinian army was torn apart layer by layer like cabbage.

The gunshots were very neat, like a band with a conductor, but what was written was a chapter of death.

The army of the Kingdom of Sardinia did not hold out for too long, and the vanguard of the crossing chose to surrender. For the sake of safety, Eusebio directly ordered the bridge and the two newly built pontoon bridges to be blown up.

For the pawns who had already crossed the river, this was the real death warrant. Many of them were farmers, workers, craftsmen, and small businessmen before. They came here because the king and the pope said there was honor and wealth here.

In the end, there was only endless marching and endless hard labor, as well as guns and death.

The faces of the surrendered Sardinian soldiers were full of confusion. What they wanted to know most at this time was "Why are we here?"

But the corpses on the ground and the Austrian soldiers holding guns brought them back to reality. They had no way of knowing their fate, so they could only put down their weapons and walk forward with their heads down one after another.

On the other side of the Ticino River, Eusebio was panting. He hadn't run so fast for a long time. He was almost crushed to death on the bridge.

"Fortunately, the Austrians didn't cross the river."

Eusebio let out a long breath, then looked at the remaining half of his army and smiled.

It was perfect. He not only completed the task of harming the revolutionaries, but also preserved his own strength. Although he lost the battle, his status will definitely rise again after returning home.

But that was based on the premise that the Austrian army did not cross the river. At this time, Eusebio felt that it was very wise for him to blow up the bridge.

Judging from the previous confrontation, this should be the ambush circle set up by the main force of the Austrian Empire. Fortunately, he let those unstable factors cross the river first to save his own troops.

"I'm sorry, sir. We tried our best."

A cavalry officer fell to the ground. He felt very guilty because he did not play a role at all.

"Look at it, young man. We didn't lose. We successfully blew up the bridge and stopped the Austrians from advancing. We are the real heroes!"

The cavalry officer was a little confused.

"Sir, we just escaped from the other side of the river..."

Eusebio shook his finger.

"No, young man. This is the territory of our Kingdom of Sardinia, not the other side. We defended the border and did not let the Austrians in. This is our victory.

Now our battle has just begun! Tell everyone to cheer up! Be careful of the Austrians crossing the river at night!"

On the east bank of the Ticino River, Colonel Anton saw that fortifications were indeed being built on the other side of the river and immediately reported to Marshal Radetzky.

"Sir! The Piedmontese are really busy on the other side! Aren't they going to attack Milan?"

The old marshal smiled.

"Eusebio is afraid of us attacking him. He is still so cowardly after decades."

"Then let's go back and clean up the mess in Milan?"

Colonel Anton said frankly that he hated the Italians in Milan. He didn't have much prejudice against the Italian soldiers in the army, but the citizens of Milan gave him a bad impression.

Back then, Colonel Anton was put in solitary confinement by his father because he dealt with two Italians who openly conspired to rebel. He was almost angry to death.

Fortunately, God opened his eyes. Vienna knew about this and dealt with those scums who deserved it.

In history, this colonel was angry to death. From his perspective, it was to maintain the dignity of the law and the country, but Austria adopted a policy of appeasement towards the Italian region, that is, trying not to infringe on the interests of local people.

This did not conform to Franz's values, so he slightly changed history to help the colonel avoid that kind of aggrieved death.

Marshal Radetzky looked at his silly son helplessly. The deployment of troops was so obvious before. If an officer with a little experience, he would not say such a stupid thing.

"No, we're going to Genoa."

"Ah? But it's more than 100 kilometers away from Genoa!"

Colonel Anton couldn't help but exclaimed, and Marshal Radetzky said with a smile.

"I'm not afraid at my age, what are you afraid of?"

"But father, is it still in time?"

"It's still in time. Read more Sardinian newspapers. Their Second Corps just set out yesterday. Maybe we will arrive first."

The old marshal was still very humorous, but Colonel Anton's forehead was sweating because they had marched from Milan before. If they marched to Genoa again, the soldiers might not be able to bear it.

However, Marshal Radetzky was very confident in his battle plan and even more confident in his soldiers.

In addition, the accuracy of intelligence was also one of the sources of his confidence. Large-scale military mobilization was difficult to conceal.

But this time, Carlo Alberto simply did not hide it in order to build momentum. He sent the troops out of the city with great fanfare, and other regions followed suit.

Although this made the Kingdom of Sardinia and the entire Italian liberals see Carlo Alberto's sincerity, it also exposed their route intelligence.

For veterans like Radetzky, they could almost judge the opponent's marching speed from the interval between pigeon letters.

Three days later, the Sardinian army was defeated again in Genoa, but Radetzky did not enter the city, and did not even take prisoners, but confiscated all their military supplies.

The news of the two defeats came back to Turin one after another. Carlo Alberto was furious. This was no longer a failure, but a humiliation.

Because after two battles, the Sardinian military did not know who they were fighting against, how many troops they had, and where the enemy was.

Both the north and the south said that they had encountered Radetzky's main force, and the news from Milan said that the Austrians were launching a general attack on the rebels.

"Could it be that Radetzky has three heads and six arms?"

On the other side, Franz in Venice shot more than a hundred officers in one breath, and this news was once officially declared a rumor by Vienna.