The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1339: Letter to the French People

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

Such a speed of assembly and such a large force size, this is simply a trap. The French army's plan to take advantage of the situation and cut off the enemy's support will fail.
The generals and staff officers around all looked pale. The Austrian army was said to have 200,000 soldiers, but even without looking at the battle formation, there were probably more than 100,000 of them.

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

Otherwise, the Austrian Empire has nearly 4700 troops and a population of million, plus the entire German Confederation. If the siege fails for a long time, Russia may even send troops to support it. Then even if France is powerful, it may be difficult to withstand it.

Now the Austrian Empire was not only prepared, but had even attacked. This forced the French generals to retreat. After all, before entering the territory of the Austrian Empire, there was still room for easing tensions between the two sides.

But when Cavaignac learned that the Austrian imperial army had crossed the Ticino River, he laughed out loud.

"What a bunch of arrogant fools the Austrians are! That old fellow of Radetzky must be getting senile!

Did he really think that he could forget himself by defeating those antiques of the old times and the remnants of the new? We should let Radetzky remember the horror of France!
Let the Austrians remember that no country in the world can defeat France head-on! "

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

"Indeed, they are the great French warriors, they are invincible, they"

Even if it was 80,000 against 200,000, it didn't matter. Cavaignac still had a secret weapon. The specially made extra-long cannon could attack airships flying at medium and low altitudes. Although the large number of rockets were crudely made, they were enough to stop the advance of the Austrian army.

Most importantly, he has reinforcements.
A week later.

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

"Marshal, the reinforcements are not coming."

"what?"

Cavaignac almost fainted, but fortunately he was supported by the generals beside him.

"Have the Austrians cut off our retreat?"

"No, Louis Napoleon betrayed us. He accepted the Treaty of Vienna and declared us Republicans to be 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."

"The evil thief who stole the country!"

Cavaignac's roar was heart-wrenching, but he had no chance.

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

When the villagers found this man covered in wounds and wearing a French military uniform, they rushed over without hesitation and beat him to death. After a careful search, they threw him into the septic tank along with other bodies.

When the news of the French army's failed attack on Vienna reached Paris, people felt unprecedented fear. They did not want to bear the wrath of the Holy Alliance again. Austria still had hundreds of thousands of troops in Spain (most of them were Spanish vassal troops), plus the troops of the Austrian Empire and the German Confederation, France was unable to resist at this time.

Albert de Lafleur claimed that this was a personal act of Cavaignac, and 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. He had turned a blind eye to the actions of the Republicans because he was waiting for this opportunity, which was why the Republicans' actions had been so smooth before.
Paris, National Assembly.

"France has suffered too much since 1848. This is inseparable from the Republican members present here. You have launched wars again and again, and the result is that we have lost both people and territory today.

Now the workers have no jobs, the farmers have no land, and the soldiers have no supplies. All of this is caused by you.

From national factories to national farms, to the French Republican Army, you have accomplished nothing. If it weren't for us who are trying to turn the tide, France would have been destroyed by you!
I cannot continue to tolerate your desecration of my sacred motherland."

Louis Napoleon publicly attacked in the National Assembly, throwing all the dirty water since 1848 on the republicans led by Albert de La Fort 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 at all.

The news of defeat at the front made the Republicans' reputation plummet to the bottom. No one wanted to be retaliated by the Holy Alliance. Once the war spread to France, everything would be destroyed, so there had to be a scapegoat.

The French Republicans are undoubtedly the best candidates for being the culprits behind all this.
In fact, Louis Napoleon made a lot of preparations. In order to win over the army, he advanced 2500 million francs from the Bank of France to bribe senior military officials.

Lieutenant General Magnan alone received a bribe of one million francs. Colonel Pièce, commander of the 42nd Infantry Regiment of the Bourbon Palace, who was responsible for the security of the National Assembly, was promoted to presidential aide-de-camp with an annual salary of 30,000 francs. Even the soldiers received bonuses.

Louis Napoleon's actions were much more practical than the democracy, freedom, national glory and other things that the French Republicans kept shouting about.

(According to the records of French historian Saite, on December 1851, 12, the eve of the coup, Louis Napoleon took out 1 francs to reward 842 soldiers of the nd Infantry Regiment on average, 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 greater goals.

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

“We must dissolve Parliament! It is a den 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 cannot allow these guys who are only good at talking big to influence the country's decision-making.

Marches and all demonstrations should be banned to prevent conspirators from taking advantage of the opportunity to create chaos!
In order to stop the war, we must accept the Treaty of Vienna, and we must accept it in the form recognized by the Holy Alliance.

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

I need the power and position to accomplish these great tasks, and so I, Louis Napoleon, have decided to be crowned Emperor of the Second French Empire today."

Napoleon III's "Address to the French People" shocked Europe, but only Franz thought that this guy was both conservative and hasty.

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