Chapter 266 The Second Restoration of Rome
When the Austro-Hungarian Expeditionary Force was actively preparing for the war, the Roman Liberation Coalition Army, composed of the Italian Kingdom Army and Garibaldi Volunteer Army, was heading towards the city of Rome. At this time, they were only more than 20 kilometers away from the city of Rome. distance.
"There was no resistance along the way. It seems that the Italian people and soldiers in the Pope's country also supported our actions. With their support, this trip to Rome will definitely solve the final problem easily." Italian Kingdom General Card Dona said to Garibaldi optimistically.
Garibaldi did not refute, but he was soberly aware that he did not encounter decent resistance. It was not because of the kindness of Pius IX, but because he concentrated all his power in Rome, so he said: "Unification is the common wish of the entire Italian nation." , but our real enemy has not yet appeared, only Rome, the place where the pope is located, is the last stumbling block to the unification of Italy, and at the same time is the base of the last remnant on the road to unification of Italy, only by taking Rome can our cause be considered complete!"
"Well, that's right, but our army will easily crush them." Cardona said confidently.
In Italy, a region where combat power is obsessed, the Kingdom of Sardinia is considered to be the most armed, or those unified Italian national governments are too incompetent.
Facing the Pope alone, Cardona can be sure that the last piece of the unification of the great Italian kingdom will be completed by himself today, and he will be recorded in history by Italy.
Coincidentally, when Garibaldi and Cardona arrived in Rome on August 30, Napoleon III also withdrew to the Sedan area. In the last war, because the Hechingen brigade had already lost a lot of battles before it passed, nearly one-fifth of the wounded, after completing the final blow to France, Ernst also planned to withdraw them, and the following things Just leave it to Prussia to complete it.
…
Rome.
At this moment, Pius IX was very impatient. He walked back and forth in his palace, because he had received information that the Italian army was about to approach the city.
But as I expected a few days ago, the flames of war in Italy planned by the Austro-Hungarian Empire were everywhere, but they did not appear. That is to say, except for the Austro-Hungarian Empire army that is not making major moves in northeastern Italy, the Pope is now fighting alone.
Could it be that he was tricked by the Austro-Hungarian Empire! Thinking back carefully, I had a conversation with Freud that day. The Austro-Hungarian envoy did not say anything about the specific plans of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Could it be that the Austro-Hungarian Empire just wanted to block their guns?
The more he thought about Pius IX, the angrier he became, and at the same time he felt fear, coupled with the scorching weather, Pius IX was not calm, and hurriedly ordered his subordinates: "Quickly invite Freud's special envoy from the Austro-Hungarian Empire! "
Soon, Freud slowly came to the palace of Pius IX. Seeing Freud, Pius IX seemed to grasp the straw.
"Your Excellency Freud! You are finally here!" He grabbed Freud's arm excitedly and said.
"Your Majesty, what do you want me to do?" Freud looked at the anxious Pius IX and asked.
what happened? At this time, I still pretend to be garlic with myself! Pius IX felt he was being played.
He asked sadly: "The good things your country has done? Don't you admit it!"
"?" Floyd had question marks all over his face.
Pius IX went on to say: "The promised countries (other nobles of the Italian Kingdom that were annexed) jointly boycotted the Kingdom of Italy. Why didn't it happen? Didn't you swear a few days ago that the Austro-Hungarian Empire would solve everything? Let me prepare with peace of mind." What? In the end, your Austro-Hungarian Empire just regarded us as a discarded pawn. Could it be that faith has no appeal! The Lord will not allow you treacherous people to be redeemed..."
"Ah!" Why did it involve God, the old man? And what is going on with the boycott of Italy by all countries? I never said that!
Floyd asked in a daze. "Your Majesty the Pope! What do you mean? Are there other countries? Are you secretly contacting other countries? Is it Spain?"
Pius IX was furious: "Didn't your Austro-Hungarian Empire plan those nobles from various countries who were unwilling to be annexed by the Kingdom of Italy to rebel against the Kingdom of Italy? Why, pretend to be confused with me now?"
"Nothing! Who told you this? Why didn't I, the special envoy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, know that the Empire still had this plan?" Freud asked back. He suspected that someone pretending to be someone from the Austro-Hungarian Empire fooled Pius IX .
"That's right, that's right..." Without saying the word "you", Pius IX suddenly stopped!
Just a moment ago, he suddenly recalled that Freud did not seem to have said these words to himself, and these were all made up by himself a few days ago.
The scene was a bit embarrassing, Pius IX tried to calm himself down, and stammered: "Oh! Look at my temper, it must have been disturbed by the hot weather, which caused some memory confusion. I'm really sorry, Freud Your Excellency, I made you laugh."
"It doesn't matter. The recent tense situation may also be due to this factor. His Majesty the Pope is overworked, so it is understandable that his thoughts are affected!" Floyd smoothed things over.
Pius IX, who had reacted, carefully recalled the content of the conversation between Freud and himself that day, and he still discovered the abnormality.
I was cranky that day, so what was Freud affirming? At that time, he also specially confessed not to tell his subordinates about this matter, so what is the hole card of the Austro-Hungarian Empire?
"Your Excellency Freud, I have just received information that the Italian army is about to approach the city of Rome. What is the trump card of the Austro-Hungarian Empire that you mentioned a few days ago? Now it is a critical moment for the survival of the Pope. , can you tell me!"
"Ah! Didn't you guess it a few days ago?" Floyd asked in surprise.
"Uh, now I find that my guess may be a little different from your country..."
"Then, let me keep it a secret. When the war starts, His Majesty will know. Don't worry yet." Floyd finally knew what was going on at this time, and Pius IX, who was emotional, was guessing wildly. Later, he beat him up.
Pius IX was in a hurry: "Your Excellency Freud, the current situation is very critical. The Kingdom of Italy is about to attack the city of Rome. How can you make me feel at ease?..." Just when Pius IX was about to speak.
"Boom...boom...boom..."
The sound of artillery came from outside the city.
The Italian army has begun to attack.
"Your Majesty, since you want to know the hole cards of our Austro-Hungarian Empire, why don't I go to the front line to have a look?" Freud said.
"Uh, let's forget it! I still need to be in charge of the affairs in Rome." Pius IX said vaguely.
Floyd smiled knowingly, and said: "In this case, why not have a cup of coffee with us here, His Majesty the Pope, and wait for the outcome of the war together."
Floyd is taking himself as a hostage to reassure Pius IX. If he doesn't plan to run away, he must be prepared.
…
In the city defenses of Rome, the Papal State army composed of believers from all over the world is exchanging fire with the Italian Kingdom army outside the city.
Garibaldi and others just tried to use the slogan of Italian unification to wake up the soldiers and civilians in Rome, prompting them to give up resistance and peacefully unify Rome.
However, the Pope's army after Pius IX's large coin distribution did not persuade Garibaldi and others to surrender at all, and because of the huge number of foreigners, who would sympathize with you for the fate of Italy.
What responded to Garibaldi was a bullet fired by a Dutchman, which almost hit Garibaldi himself. After the communication failed, the Kingdom of Italy could only use artillery to influence these ignorant Papal State soldiers.
The two sides started shelling, and with the help of bunkers and city walls, the relatively small number of the Pope's army fought back and forth with the Italian Kingdom's army.
"Boom...boom...boom..."
Although it has been reinforced before the war, the city of Rome, which has not suffered war for a long time, has been severely damaged, and small gaps have been opened in some places.
However, Garibaldi and others did not dare to let the soldiers rush up directly. Compared with history, this time the Kingdom of Italy attacked Rome in order to deal with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so the number of people attacking Rome was halved, so it must be sparing.
"Continue to bombard, and when there are bigger holes in the city defense of Rome, our people will charge in again." Garibaldi said to Cardona.
"Well, the artillery is ready!" Cadona ordered to the Kingdom artillery.
…
The sound of the cannon is the signal.
After eating and drinking, the Austro-Hungarian Expeditionary Army had already started to advance towards Rome when Garibaldi and others arrived in Rome. After hearing the sound of cannons, Lieutenant General Karl divided the Austro-Hungarian Expeditionary Army into two groups , rushing towards the city of Rome from east and west directions at a high speed.
"Today, we will work with the Roman defenders to attack the Italian army from inside and outside, so that they will never come back." Lieutenant General Karl said fiercely.
At this time, the Italians, who were concentrating on attacking Rome, obviously didn't know that a surprise army was double-teaming them from the south.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire did a good job of keeping secrets. Even its partner Pius IX did not know that there was an Austro-Hungarian army under his nose.
With the bombardment of artillery fire, the time came to five o'clock in the afternoon. Garibaldi felt that the time was almost there, and some parts of the city of Rome had already collapsed.
He said to Cardona: "It's time to begin!"
"Attack!" Cardona ordered after receiving Garibaldi's confirmation.
In order to boost morale, Garibaldi, as in the past, personally led the team and launched a general attack on the city of Rome with the Italian Volunteer Army as the vanguard.
Many people in the Papal State’s army on the top of the city are planning to retreat at this time, but the special features of the Pope’s State have also played a role. As Pius IX said, does faith really have no appeal?
Of course, devout believers do not intend to retreat with temporarily hired Italian soldiers. They want to protect Rome and fight to the death with the Kingdom of Italy.
The two sides launched a **** battle in the walls and bunkers, but with the advantage of numbers, the Kingdom of Italy gradually gained the upper hand.
The believers retreated towards the city, trying to resist with the help of streets and buildings in the city, and the Italian army, led by Garibaldi's support corps, finally broke into Rome.
Right now, "the overall situation is settled" in Rome, Garibaldi shouted excitedly: "Soldiers who fought for the freedom of Italy! We are back! This is Rome, the hometown of our Italians."
Just when Garibaldi was about to completely wipe the Pope from the map of Italy, there was a sudden sound of guns behind him—the Austro-Hungarian Empire is coming!
…
Before the Italian army rushed into the city of Rome, they were shot black from behind before they could react.
Lieutenant General Karl led the expeditionary force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to arrive at a critical moment, just as the Italian army entered the city from outside the city. In addition, there was still fighting ahead, and the Italian army did not find the enemy behind them in time.
However, Garibaldi, who was rushing to the forefront, was the first to realize that the sound of gunfire was not right with the sound of cannons!
Unfortunately, it was too late. The elite of the Austro-Hungarian Empire killed from behind. The Italian army was turned into sandwich biscuits by the Roman defenders and the Austro-Hungarian Expeditionary Force, and was caught in a narrow area and could not effectively counterattack.
Cadona, who was taken aback by the Austro-Hungarian army, staggered to Garibaldi's side.
He cried in a tearful tone: "It's over, Mr. Garibaldi! It's all over!"
Garibaldi was already out of breath because of the previous battle, and his chest expanded and contracted greatly with his breathing.
Holding the gun in his hands with firm hands, he said calmly: "No, it's not over yet. As long as I'm alive, I must fight to the last moment. The enemy can destroy my body, but the free will of Italy will never was wiped out."
After all, Garibaldi ignored Cardona. He looked at his teammates who had been following him and said, "Brothers, today we fell, are you afraid! Next we may have to fight with the comrades who died before." We meet!"
"Mr. Garibaldi, we are not afraid, we fight for freedom!"
"Okay, fight for freedom! Let's make one last rush!"
Garibaldi's Volunteer Legion ignored the Roman defenders and turned to charge the Austro-Hungarian army. Even though the Papal State army behind them was still attacking, at this moment Garibaldi and his comrades had nothing but love for Austro-Hungary. The resentment of the invader of the Empire.
"Boom...boom...boom..."
The army of the Kingdom of Italy, under attack from both front and back, surrendered directly under the leadership of Cardona, while Garibaldi, the Italian hero, and his comrades fell in a pool of blood.
The city of Rome was captured twice today. The first time was the Kingdom of Italy, and the second time was the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was restored once for the Kingdom of Italy and once for the Pope.
(end of this chapter)