War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

"Pasang! Go kill them!"

"I?"

The leader of the Sardinian puppet army was speechless for a while. He wanted to say something, but his voice was drowned by the subsequent sound of artillery.

The twelve steel cannons were so powerful that they tore the city gate to pieces with just one salvo.

Since the special steel strengthens the barrel, and the shells used are specially made high-power explosive shells, the shooting effect is very explosive.

This kind of power made Garibaldi feel unbelievable. He had seen many cannons in so many years of fighting, but it was the Austrian artillery that impressed him the most.

In comparison, the artillery of the Brazilian government forces was like a joke. Garibaldi thought that the legendary Urban cannon that blasted away Constantinople was nothing more than that.

After two rounds of shelling, Garibaldi called a halt to the shelling. As soon as the shelling stopped, a group of people rushed out of the gap between the city gate and the city wall, screaming.

Seeing this scene, the French commander on the city couldn't help shouting excitedly.

"Covering fire!"

On the other hand, the soldiers of the Volunteer Army immediately jumped into the trenches to prepare for the battle, but they soon discovered that something was wrong, because those who rushed out were men, women, and children. Although they had guns, most of them beat them randomly.

"Shoot at the French troops on the wall and let them come over."

The volunteers fired their guns and artillery, and the French army, which had already experienced the power of the opponent's artillery, immediately retreated.

As the sound of gunfire faded, the French commander stuck his head out, and was stunned by the scene in front of him. He clenched his fists, stood up, and cursed loudly.

"Damn traitors! Italians are all liars!"

A bullet hit the wall next to the commander, and he immediately retracted his head because he knew that there must be more than one sharpshooter targeting him at this time.

Garibaldi looked at the shattered gates and crumbling walls, as well as the recently surrendered Sardinian Republican Army, and he sent an envoy.

Garibaldi felt that his side had an advantage, whether it was in terms of troops, firepower, or psychology. The most important thing was that the reinforcements that the French had expected had failed to come. He felt that the battle was over.

However, Garibaldi's messenger, holding a white flag, was shot to death on the order of the French commander in the city before he could reach the city.

"The two countries are at war without killing each other. Isn't that bad of you?"

said a Sardinian Republican Army officer who did not defect.

Maybe the Sardinian Republican Army officer didn't mean anything else, but in the French officer's ears, he was hinting at himself.

"How can we surrender if you do this?"

"They are rebels! We don't need to be moral when facing traitors!"

The French commander did not understand the reason for this. The previous defeats suffered by the French army at the hands of the guerrillas were inseparable from the duplicity of the Sardinian army. The group of traitors just confirmed this conjecture.

Killing the rebel messengers in public not only showed his attitude to anger the enemy, but also prevented these Sardinian republicans from defecting again.

Garibaldi's messenger was shot dead, which immediately caused a burst of exclamations from the volunteers. Some cried, some roared, and some cursed.

At this time, the staff officer from the Austrian regular army said something.

"These Gaulish barbarians killed our envoys. They have violated the rules of war. We should massacre the city after the victory to warn those who underestimate us."

Garibaldi hurriedly stepped forward and covered the staff officer's mouth to prevent him from saying more terrifying words. Except for a small number of Austrian regular troops, most of the so-called volunteers were farmers who had just laid down their hoes, as well as the Sardinian army who had repeatedly surrendered. .

The consciousness of these people is not very high. The words massacre may not frighten the French army, but will frighten these volunteers who think they are the righteous side.

And as an Italian nationalist, Garibaldi could not agree with the Austrian staff officer's approach.

Doing so will not only make the remaining Sardinian soldiers and civilians in the city determined to fight against the French, but will also hurt the national sentiments of the Sardinians.

However, killing messengers is indeed a serious crime. Garibaldi had seen the power of Austrian heavy artillery before, and he ordered without hesitation at this time.

"Gentlemen, please unleash your anger to your heart's content!"

The heavy artillery immediately began to roar, and temporary launchers were set up one after another, and then they fired at Savigliano together.

Soon the city walls of Savigliano were filled with stone chips and dust, ancient buildings continued to collapse, and human body fragments were thrown into the air from time to time.

Thick smoke, blood mist, and dust obscured the defenders' eyes, and only constant explosions and wails could be heard.

The guerrillas cheered and shouted excitedly when they saw this. They had never seen such a spectacular sight.

But soon the French counterattack began. The French gunners pushed aside their dead comrades and aimed and fired in the smoke and rain of blood.

Large-caliber city defense guns fired back one after another, and huge iron balls hit the trenches. The powerful impact directly tore the sandbags apart, penetrated the side defenses, and embedded themselves deeply into the soil.

The French army faced the powerful firepower of Austrian equipment. It was not that there was no chance of counterattack, but the killing efficiency alone was too low.

Solid bullets that can only hit a single point have no advantage over Austria's new blooming bullets.

But what is even more frightening is the gap between the two sides in terms of accuracy and range. Austria's steel rifled cannons are not even a bit stronger than the old-fashioned smoothbore cannons cast in the Kingdom of Sardinia used by the French army.

As a new thing that only appeared in the eyes of the armies of various countries in 1846, the rifled gun has not yet been generally accepted by the armies of various countries.

In fact, even the inventor of the breech-loading rifled gun, Major Cavalli, a military engineer from the Kingdom of Sardinia, did not realize what changes his invention would bring to subsequent artillery development.

Most of the French troops inside the city and the volunteers outside the city could not understand this technical detail. They would only admire the Austrian artillery and craftsmen.

And compared to artillery, those rockets were what impressed them the most. Unlike heavy artillery, the launch speed of rockets is simply staggering.

Putting on the shelf, fixing it, igniting it, and launching it, this series of actions only takes a few seconds for a skilled rocket soldier.

The power is even more astonishing, at least it seems to have the same effect as a heavy artillery.

It's just that there is a big gap in accuracy. It is obvious that the rocket rack has not moved, but the three consecutive rockets can be inserted into the ditch under the city wall, one can hit the main castle, and the other can fly directly into the city.

Of course, at times like this, especially for these guerrillas, it's all about having fun.

In the end, the volunteers fired more than 3,000 rockets at Savigliano in one breath, and everything was in chaos.

However, the French army had no intention of surrendering. They emerged from the rubble and still stood firm.

Garibaldi couldn't help but clenched his fists after seeing all this in the telescope. He had experienced the firepower of the Austrian army. It was a doomsday-like bombing that could even scare a good boy crazy.

Seeing an army that could survive such bombings without collapsing, Garibaldi knew that this battle would be difficult to win.