War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

When Cavaignac learned that the Austrian Empire's army had been assembled, he felt deep fear.

With such speed of assembly and such scale of troops, this is simply a trap. The French army's plan to take advantage of the situation and draw fuel from under the cauldron will fail.

The surrounding generals and staff officers all looked ashen. The Austrian army was said to number 200,000 people. Even if they didn't watch the battle, there would probably be more than 100,000 people.

Everyone knew that the key to this sneak attack was speed, and Vienna must be captured before the Austrian Imperial Army returned to defense.

Otherwise, the Austrian Empire has nearly 600,000 troops and a population of 47 million, plus the entire German Confederation. If the attack fails for a long time, Russia may even send troops to support it, so even if France is powerful, it may not be able to withstand it.

And now the Austrian Empire is not only prepared, but has even come to fight. This made the French generals have to think about retreating. After all, before they entered the territory of the Austrian Empire, there was still room for relaxation between the two sides.

But Cavaignac laughed out loud when he learned that the Austrian Imperial Army had crossed the Ticino River.

"The Austrians are a bunch of arrogant fools! That old guy from Radetzky must be an old fool!"

Did he really think that he would be able to forget himself after defeating those antiques of the old era and the remnants of the new era? We should let Radetzky remember the horror of France!

The Austrians should also remember that no country in the world can defeat France head-on! "

Cavaignac's words reignited the fire of hope among the French soldiers.

"Indeed, they are the warriors of the great France, they are invincible, they"

It doesn't matter even if it's 80,000 to 200,000. Cavaignac also has a secret weapon. The specially-made ultra-long artillery can hit airships flying at medium and low altitudes. Although a large number of rockets are crudely made, they are enough to stop the advancement of the Austrian army.

The most important thing is that he still has reinforcements

A week later.

A messenger crossed countless lines of fire and finally came to Cavaignac.

"Your Excellency Marshal, reinforcements are not coming."

"What?"

Cavaignac almost fainted, but fortunately he was supported by the generals on the side.

"Did the Austrians cut off our retreat?"

"No, Louis Napoleon betrayed us. He accepted the Treaty of Vienna and declared that we republicans were the cause of the war and that we were rebels.

Our reinforcements have sworn allegiance to Louis Napoleon and are on their way to Paris to suppress us republicans."

"Thieves who steal the country!"

Cavaignac's roar was heartbreaking, but he had no chance.

In the subsequent breakout, the French army's organization was completely broken up. In order to avoid the pursuit of the Austrian army, Cavaignac hid in a farmer's cowshed.

When the villagers discovered the man covered in bruises and wearing a French military uniform, they swarmed him without any hesitation and beat him to death. After a careful search, they threw him and other corpses into a septic tank.

When the news that the French army failed to attack Vienna returned to Paris, people felt unprecedented fear, and they did not want to bear the wrath of the Holy Alliance again.

Austria still has hundreds of thousands of troops in Spain (most of them are Spanish servants), coupled with the troops of the Austrian Empire and the German Confederation, France at this time is really difficult to resist.

Albert de Lafre claimed that this was Cavaignac's personal behavior. The former felt that he could distance himself from the latter, but the French were not all fools.

Louis Napoleon had been waiting for this day for a long time. The reason why he turned a blind eye to the actions of the Republicans was because he was waiting for this opportunity, so the previous actions of the Republicans were so smooth.

Paris, National Assembly.

"France has suffered too much since 1848. This is inseparable from the Republican MPs here. You have launched wars again and again, but the result is today's situation of losing both people and land.

Now workers have no jobs, farmers have no land, and soldiers have no supplies. All of this is your fault.

From state factories to state farms to the French Army of the Republic, you have accomplished nothing. If it weren't for people like us who are turning the tide, France would have been destroyed by you!

I cannot continue to tolerate you desecrating my sacred motherland."

Louis Napoleon publicly launched an attack on the National Assembly, pouring all the dirty water since 1848 on the republicans headed by Albert de Lafre and Cavaignac.

The republican troops were all taken away by Cavaignac, so when Louis Napoleon launched a coup in Paris, the republicans of the Second French Republic had no power to resist.

The news of the defeat on the front line brought the reputation of the Republicans to the bottom. No one wanted to be retaliated by the Holy Alliance. Once the war reached France, everything would be destroyed, so there must be a scapegoat.

The French republicans who caused all this are undoubtedly the best candidates

Louis Napoleon actually made a lot of preparations. In order to win over the army, he advanced 25 million francs from the Bank of France to bribe the top military officials.

Lieutenant General Magnan alone received a bribe of one million francs. Colonel Pies, commander of the 42nd Infantry Regiment of the Bourbon Palace in charge of the security of the National Assembly, was promoted to presidential aide, with an annual salary of 30,000 francs. Even the soldiers received their share of the reward.

Louis Napoleon's actions were much more practical than the democracy, freedom, and national glory that the French Republicans were shouting all day long.

(According to the records of French historian Saite, Louis Napoleon gave 60,000 francs to 842 soldiers of the 42nd Infantry Regiment on December 1, 1851, the eve of the coup, which was equivalent to half a year's salary.)

Of course, Louis Napoleon had to deal with not only the Republicans, but also anyone who might oppose him, because he had a more ambitious goal.

This carefully prepared coup was a huge success, so Louis Napoleon began his second step plan.

"We must dissolve the parliament! It is a nest of conspiracy! The instability of the country and the decline of the economy are all caused by these conspirators.

France has reached a critical moment, and these guys who can only talk big cannot be allowed to influence the country's decision-making.

Parades and all demonstrations should be banned to prevent conspirators from taking advantage of the opportunity to cause chaos!

In order to stop the war, we must accept the Treaty of Vienna, and we must accept the treaty in the form recognized by the Holy Alliance.

As the President of France, my obligation is to protect and save France and its people. In order to ensure the stability and prosperity of France, prevent my people from being used by ambitious people and become a tool to destroy peace.

I need the power and status to complete these great missions, so I, Louis Napoleon, decided to be crowned as the Emperor of the Second French Empire today."

Napoleon III's "Letter to the French People" shocked the European continent. Only Franz thought that this guy was conservative and hasty.

There is only one chapter today. I am not satisfied with the writing, and I may change it. But I may not change it.