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

Chapter 1570 Thugs
If they hadn't been driven to the brink, those silk workers and silkworm farmers wouldn't have put down their work to protest and petition.

They dared not go to the city hall or the police station anymore, so the silk workers and silkworm farmers surrounded the mansions of several factory owners, and some even threw stones and smashed the windows of the mansions.

The factory owners immediately summoned their supervisors and thugs to mingle with the workers. They had a psychological advantage, since they had been doing this for years and no one had dared to resist.

It wasn't just the factory owners who thought this way; the overseers and thugs thought the same way, after all, this was their job, and what made them different from those poor bastards.

"Get back here! You bunch of lazybones! Instead of working properly, you're causing trouble here? Want a taste of whipping?"

The short, foreman at the head of the foremen grinned menacingly, his dark gray face making him look exactly like a goblin from legend. Behind him followed seven or eight burly men.

Since ordinary people were not allowed to carry swords on the street at that time, the strong men carried nail-headed clubs, the sharp steel nails on them signifying their power of life and death.

Most of the marchers were emaciated; you could count their ribs if you took off their clothes. This was the result of prolonged hunger and strenuous labor.

Upon seeing the overseers and thugs appear before them, the workers instinctively lowered their heads, except for one middle-aged man carrying a pickaxe who continued to glare angrily.

Several burly men naturally understood the principle of capturing the leader first, and they immediately surrounded the middle-aged man, but the man also raised his pickaxe and showed no intention of backing down.

The burly men were all ruthless, but they couldn't do anything to the man in front of them for the time being, since no one wanted to get hit by a pickaxe.

The short "goblin" overseer inwardly berated his subordinates for their incompetence, but outwardly he smiled.

"I know you, old Barry. A couple of years ago, your eldest daughter was sexually assaulted and left dead in the wilderness. I wonder if your younger daughter will end up like her sister?"

Old Barry immediately recalled the image of his eldest daughter's tragic death in the Saône River. He himself was not afraid of death, but he did not want his youngest daughter to suffer the same fate.

At the same time, he was also angry that the other party had slandered his eldest daughter's innocence.

In a fit of shock and rage, a burly man struck Old Barry on the back of the head with a club, instantly turning the area into a bloody mess. Seeing the pickaxe slip from Old Barry's hand, several burly men rushed forward, intending to beat the stubborn man to death.

Suddenly a gunshot rang out, and a burly man stared in disbelief at his chest as large gushes of blood flowed uncontrollably. Several other burly men around him also stopped what they were doing.

The short "goblin" overseer's smile vanished. He had thought that killing the ringleader in front of the rioting crowd would demoralize them, and all that would remain was a pursuit of the fleeing enemy.

However, he never expected that someone would be carrying a gun and even dare to fire at this moment.

"Killing! Killing!"

The short "goblin" overseer wanted to call the police and military police, but he forgot that his boss had already paid them to leave.

Old Barry seized the opportunity, picked up a pickaxe, and smashed a burly man next to him, shouting as he did so.

"Fight them! If they don't die today, we'll be the ones who die tomorrow!"

Upon hearing Old Barry's shout, everyone rushed forward, grabbing whatever was around them and throwing it at the burly man and the overseer.

It wasn't that the workers in Lyon were particularly barbaric; it was entirely the fault of the few burly men and the foreman in front of them. They were used to bullying men and women and acting recklessly, and everyone had accumulated a lot of resentment, which just happened to erupt at this moment.

Even the most honest people can easily go mad at the sight of bloodshed. After smashing the bullies who had harassed them into a pulp, the people decided to storm the mansions of the gentry to reclaim what was rightfully theirs. The enraged crowd tore down the walls and rushed into the mansions, looting indiscriminately. Soon, all the food, cloth, gold and silver artifacts, and even furniture inside were plundered.

This was not an isolated incident; a group of councilors and wealthy individuals quickly approached Mayor Claude Marie Dubois.

"Mayor, look at what those rioters have done! When did France become like this?"

"That's right! You must take responsibility and compensate us for our losses!"

"You must protect the lawful citizens of France!"

"This is a riot! Those thugs must be punished; they looted our homes!"

Claude Marie Dubois was helpless against the agitated gentry and officials, but the police under his command could only protect the city hall and the residences of a few important figures. He would have to find another way to suppress the rebellion.

Mayor Dubois ordered his secretary to immediately send telegrams to the garrison command and Paris respectively.

"A rebellion has broken out in Lyon. Please send troops to suppress it immediately."

No ruler is immune to rebellion, and Napoleon III was no exception; he immediately granted the mayor of Dubois's request.

"Approved. Suppress the rebellion immediately. Do not let a single rebel escape."

Mayor Dubois breathed a sigh of relief and immediately sent the reply from Paris to the garrison command.

Landon de Boulogne, commander of the Lyon garrison, was highly skilled at suppressing rebellions. In fact, he wasn't the only one; almost all the local military commanders in France at that time were adept at it.

After all, diligence leads to mastery.
Randon de Bureau knew his time to make a name for himself had come. He understood the importance of speed in warfare, so he immediately deployed his troops into the city.

On the other hand, the disorganized crowds in Lyon were still busy looting, with only a few experienced veterans organizing and building barricades.

Barricades are a French specialty. These rudimentary fortifications effectively hindered the army's advance, dragging the battle into brutal street fighting and greatly reducing the military's weapon advantage.

However, barricades are not a panacea. For example, they are difficult to deal with attacks from both sides and flanking maneuvers, and they cannot make up for the generational gap in firepower.

As an expert in suppressing uprisings, Randon de Boulogne naturally knew the insurgents' weaknesses. Therefore, his troops rapidly moved into the city from all directions, leaving the insurgents completely unaware of the government forces' movements, and defense became impossible.

At the same time, countries are learning from each other's techniques for suppressing uprisings. For example, the Austrians like to use Congreve rockets, which have been proven to be very effective in suppressing uprisings and can quickly and effectively destroy barricades.

Randon de Broglie naturally wouldn't abandon this tactic; close-range artillery fire and direct rocket fire quickly destroyed the few barricades remaining in the city.

However, what Rondon de Broglie did not expect was that the misuse of the Congreve rockets caused a large fire to break out in the city.

The soldiers responsible for suppressing the rebellion naturally couldn't abandon their task of quelling the uprising to fight the fire. As a result, by the time the rebellion was quelled, the fire was already out of control.

Rondon de Boulogne and the mayor of Dubois would not take responsibility; they would only say that rioters set the city on fire, and that the tens of thousands they killed were all rioters.
(End of this chapter)