Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 94
Chapter 94: Chapter 94, Divine Assist
Translator: 549690339
“The enemy has five divisions,” Marshal Bardoglio’s first reaction was that the enemy’s reinforcements had arrived, but he quickly dismissed this judgment.
The main force of the Austrian Army was in Hungary, and the transportation in the Hungarian region at that time was not very good; it was not so simple to send five divisions from Hungary to Trento.
By train? The railroads from Hungary weren’t even connected yet, were they?
Or maybe it was cavalry? In terms of time, it was indeed possible for the cavalry to arrive within a week.
But militarily, this didn’t make sense, unless the Vienna Government had gone mad and decided to send five divisions of cavalry to Trento!
Marshal Bardoglio did not rule out the possibility that frontline officers were falsely reporting military intelligence; this was an enemy that could defeat three Sardinian divisions overnight. No matter how you looked at it, the enemy’s strength could not possibly be small!
“Has the enemy made any large troop movements?” Marshal Bardoglio asked suspiciously.
“No, except for sending two regiments to reinforce Trento on May 18th, there have been no significant troop movements,” Chief of Staff Otrales assured him.
It was totally impossible to draw forces from the Venice Area—Austria didn’t have even a hundred thousand troops there. If they had pulled five infantry divisions from their lines, the defenses would have been breached long ago. How could this have escaped their notice?
After a moment of silence, Marshal Bardoglio said with a bitter smile, “I’m afraid the enemy’s reinforcements have indeed arrived.
Perhaps the reinforcements from Hungary were just a decoy, deliberately used to trick us into a misstep. The real reinforcements must have come from Austria.
The Hungarian Republic was just a ragtag bunch, and the Austrian Government didn’t need to mobilize so many troops to suppress the rebellion.
Perhaps from the start, the enemy was bluffing, with Radetsky, that old fox, deliberately creating the illusion of an under-resourced force to lure us into the trap.
The troops Austria sent to suppress the revolution in Hungary never amounted to four hundred thousand, and a large part of those forces were directed at us from the beginning.”
Hearing the marshal’s deduction, everyone’s faces turned pale—it was the most logical explanation.
They didn’t believe that three Sardinian divisions couldn’t defeat three Austrian regiments. If the disparity in strength was that great, the war would have ended long ago.
They all had political savvy; duping an ally was the most common diplomatic tactic, and the Hungarians’ failure to inform them of this in order to expedite their march on Venice was normal.
Chief of Staff Otrales said anxiously, “Marshal, Austria may be decaying, but it is still one of the great European nations. If the Vienna Government is willing, it would be no problem to commit two to three hundred thousand troops to the Venice Area.
If we can’t ascertain the number of enemy reinforcements, we may suffer a great loss in the upcoming battles!”
This was a very real issue. How had Austria managed to send troops to Trento without anyone noticing? And how many reinforcements were there?
Weaponry, firepower—these were things they needed to clarify immediately.
Marshal Bardoglio thought for a moment and said, “Send someone to reconnoiter the enemy’s forces immediately. With so many troops, the enemy cannot possibly hide without leaving some traces.”
He paused, then pointing at the unlucky Guard who reported the military situation, he asked in annoyance, “Idiot, what are our casualties?”
The named unfortunate Guard stammered in response, “Marshal, the three divisions that took part in the Battle of Trento have all been severely hit, and casualties are still being tallied. Preliminary estimates suggest losses will not be less than ten thousand…”
Hearing the specific number of losses, everyone’s faces turned ashen. This meant that for a long time to come, these three divisions would be without fighting capability.
“Marshal, as the enemy’s reinforcements have already arrived, it’s almost impossible for us to conquer Venice. We should stop the advance and secure our current gains first!” Major General Mantuya suggested bravely.
They really didn’t want to fight anymore; the Austrian army was not the waste the politicians had described but was very strong.
Ever since the battle of Venice had begun, they hadn’t gained much of an advantage. With the enemy reinforcements arriving at this time, their superiority in numbers no longer existed, and the battle became even less winnable.
Marshal Bardorio thought for a moment and said, “Order all units to stop the attack and switch to defensive positions.
Major General Mantuya, you take the 4th, 5th, and 8th Divisions to the Ara region to set up defenses and keep an eye on the enemies at Trento.
The deployment of forces in other areas remains unchanged. Everyone will continue with their duties. As for the rest, I will report to the homeland. Everyone, wait for the orders from home!”
The People of Sardinian had been completely misled. The Austrian reinforcements had indeed arrived in the Venice Area, but instead of going to Trento, they had rushed to Vicenza.
To avoid responsibility, General Messe falsely reported military intelligence, leading the Sardinian command to make an erroneous military deployment, using a large amount of their mobile forces to defend against the non-existent main Austrian troops at Trento.
At this time, Major General Messe naturally couldn’t worry about so much; he was busy conscripting men to fill the gaps in his troops.
Helpless, after being suddenly attacked by the enemy, many of his troops were scattered. Everyone was in a rush to save their lives, and no one cared about regrouping the routed soldiers.
After running to Bergamo, his three divisions combined didn’t have enough men to form a full-strength division. These circumstances were something General Messe could never dare to report.
With no choice but to maintain appearances, Messe had to resort to drafting people to pad the numbers. After all, it was wartime. After a few more battles, he could easily cover up the losses.
The Kingdom of Sardinia wasn’t so bureaucratically clean either. General Messe was still the King Charles Albert’s direct line. As long as things looked decent publicly, everyone would turn a blind eye.
Walking the streets of Bergamo, seeing the alarmed looks of the citizens, Zier felt a chill in his bones and, steeling himself, suggested, “General, something is not right here. I fear this is no place to stay for long!”
Major General Messe, however, seemed much tougher, sneeringly saying, “What are you thinking? They’re just a bunch of wretched commoners. Are they even worth worrying about?”
Morale? That concept had long ceased to exist. Once the troops retreated to Bergamo, military discipline had completely broken down.
The frustrated Sardinian Soldiers vented here, like intimately ‘visiting’ the young women of the city and incidentally collecting a fee for services rendered upon leaving.
This, too, was a European tradition. For centuries, armies from various countries had doubled as robbers while waging war. Although the Sardinian Army had transitioned towards a modern army, these detestable practices had still been preserved.
For Zier, a young nobleman whose conscience had not yet been numbed, this was somewhat hard to accept. But for General Messe, who had fought in the wars against France, it was nothing out of the ordinary.
Zier said uncomfortably, “But General, if we do this, won’t there be trouble when Italy is unified? Those parliamentary members, if they take issue with these problems, I fear…”
Messe patted Zier’s shoulder and sighed, “Zier, you worry too much.
Let’s not even talk about whether we can unify Italy. Even if we truly unified Italy, no one will remember these things.
Don’t forget, the power of speech is always in the hands of a few. We haven’t touched a single noble or capitalist, and as long as they don’t hate us, that’s all that matters!”
Undoubtedly, this battle had deflated Messe’s spirits, completely losing faith in this war.
At this time, he wasn’t thinking about how to win the war, but rather was looking for ways to escape punishment, to avoid being purged after the war.
This was a society where morals had decayed, and money reigned supreme; nothing that money couldn’t solve, and if there were, certainly it was because the amount wasn’t enough!
General Messe wasn’t the commander-in-chief, and even if a scapegoat was needed for a military defeat, he wouldn’t be suitable. It was best now to amass a fortune and then take it back to the homeland for some maneuvering, shifting the blame for the defeat was undoubtedly the choice that aligned most with his self-interest.
The people of Bergamo unfortunately became the sacrifice, fully experiencing what it meant to receive “warmth from the Kingdom of Sardinia.”
