War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

At this time, in a small town bordering the Kingdom of Sardinia and France, the townspeople were still working and living monotonously as usual.

Suddenly, smoke and dust rose in the distance, which made people feel a little unusual, and some townspeople climbed up the bell tower.

"It's the cavalry!"

The townspeople on the bell tower shouted, and then rang the alarm bell.

This border town had just suffered a disaster a year ago. When the townspeople heard that the cavalry appeared, they immediately began to flee.

Some people fled into their homes and blocked the doors and windows with heavy objects. Some people took their families and property and fled the town as much as possible.

Of course, some people took up weapons and told each other to try to defend their homes.

But the French cavalry came too fast and rushed into the town in less than a quarter of an hour.

As the vanguard, the French officers did not say anything nonsense. As soon as they entered the town, they launched a charge against the militia who had just gathered.

The courage that the militiamen had just developed disappeared without a trace. The French cavalry cut down two militiamen who dared to resist and forced the rest into a corner. The militiamen naturally laid down their weapons as if everything was natural.

At this time, a French officer rode out and spoke in French.

"Where is the mayor? Who knows?"

"The mayor is hiding at home."

A militiaman said tremblingly.

"You can speak French? Take us to see the mayor, there are benefits."

Under the leadership of the townsman, the cavalry quickly came to the mayor's residence.

Soon the mayor was dragged out by two French cavalrymen.

"Tell the residents of this town to gather in the square immediately and surrender to our army."

The residents of the town were already familiar with the process of surrender. They had to hand over part of their property and then vacate their rooms for the French soldiers to live in.

The towns on the Sardinian border fell one after another. The reason why the French army could enter the land as if it were no one's land now was entirely the result of the evil brought about in 1848.

The war caused the economy of the Kingdom of Sardinia to shrink drastically. After taking office, Cavour was appointed. Faced with the mess, the latter adopted shock therapy.

The advantage of shock therapy is that it can reduce government spending and stabilize the economy to the greatest extent, but its disadvantage is that it greatly weakens the government's control, which is reflected in the military as the slack of armaments.

The Sardinian army on the border chose to surrender without firing a shot when they saw the French army, which made the natural barriers and defenses of the border useless.

The vanguard of the French army arrived in Piedmont almost at the same time as the news of the French invasion.

"The French are coming!"

The cavalry in charge of the messenger didn't know whether he was a French spy or a novice. He shouted all the way and his voice was hoarse when he entered Turin.

But the effect was also very outstanding. The garrison troops along the way either fled like birds and beasts or directly surrendered to the French. After all, the French military discipline was not good. Resistance might be counterproductive, and the Sardinians had long lost confidence in the Kingdom of Sardinia.

The news of the French invasion also reached Vittorio Emanuele II. He was a little overwhelmed. Although he felt that he was different from his weak father, he could only scold the French cavalry for not following the rules when facing the undeclared war.

"The French actually fought without declaring war, how shameless!"

"Yes, yes!"

The ministers around Vittorio Emanuele II also nodded in agreement.

"What should we do now?"

After Vittorio Emanuele II asked the question, the officials of the Kingdom of Sardinia looked at each other. What could they do?

There was no need to explain the actions of a behemoth like France to an ant like Sardinia. This was the sadness of being caught between great powers.

Seeing that the officials around him were silent, Emanuele II felt a chill in his heart and couldn't help but said angrily.

"You all speak up!"

No one answered.

"Are you all dumb?"

"You are a bunch of rubbish who are still clamoring to take back Genoa and unify Italy. Dream on!"

"Your Majesty, you didn't allocate funds to the army. How can we defend Turin?"

A general retorted. He was telling the truth. No money, no soldiers, no weapons, no one was willing to die.

"Where's my money?"

Emanuele II asked back.

"I don't know."

The officials and generals answered confidently. Emanuele II was so angry that he looked at Cavour.

Cavour replied coldly.

"The kingdom is now heavily in debt. Your Majesty, you not only have no money, but you are also in debt."

"You!"

Emanuele II felt a pain in his heart. In fact, the property of most royal families and governments in Europe is separate.

Reading the error-free version! 6=9+Shu_Bar first published this novel.

But in order to quickly revitalize the Kingdom of Sardinia, Emmanuel II handed over the property of the Savoy royal family to the Sardinian government. Then, after a series of complex capital operations, Emmanuel II himself successfully took on the debt.

At this time, a servant rushed in in a panic.

"Your Majesty! The French envoy wants to see you!"

"French envoy?"

Emanuel II was a little confused, but the Sardinian officials saw a turning point.

"Please ask him in!"

Soon the French envoy came in.

"Your Majesty, Emmanuel II, the great French army needs to attack our enemy, the Austrian Empire, through your country. I hope you can allow it and provide enough supplies for our country."

The Sardinian kings were somewhat surprised by the French envoy's straightforward speech. First of all, they didn't expect that the French were not coming for them.

Secondly, the French were too rude, right? They sent troops in without permission?

Finally, wasn't this embarrassing for the Sardinian Kingdom? Agreeing to the French request was equivalent to boarding the French pirate ship, and the Austrians would definitely settle accounts with the Sardinian Kingdom in the future.

If they disagreed, I'm afraid the French army would attack the city.

The officials of the Sardinian Kingdom all looked at Emmanuel II, who wanted to strangle all these useless guys to death.

"Your Majesty, please reply to me within an hour. I'll take my leave first."

The French envoy saluted and turned away.

Emanuel II opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

After a long time, Emmanuel II asked.

"What should I do?"

No one answered.

"What should I do?"

Still no one answered.

"What should we do!"

The anger suppressed in the chest of Emanuele II finally broke out.

The officials around him looked at each other. At this time, nationalism was still very popular in Sardinia, so no one was willing to be a traitor, but no one was willing to die. Everyone here had a lot of wealth, thousands of acres of land, and many children.

So everyone said in unison.

"Your Majesty, please make the decision."

The ball returned to Emanuele II's hands again, and the coolness of the autumn wind made him shiver.