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

Chapter 1913 Covering the Rear
The rebel forces did not have a real supervisory team, and in fact, by this point in the battle, even the organizers had begun to doubt themselves.

Seeing that no one was stopping them, more people began to turn and flee. The rebel ranks began to crumble, but the French army did not rush to pursue them.

Because the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia is nearby, they will not let those rebels go unpunished; those are all achievements in battle.

The French army, however, was not so rigid; their mission was simply to quell the rebellion, while the clearing and suppression work was naturally left to the Sardinian army to handle.

The French army had something even more important to do: looting. They were quite professional at this, and that's what they did all along the way.

The officers, who came from high society, would first identify the targets, and then the soldiers would follow their instructions to begin a systematic robbery.

The French army focused their looting on former palaces and noble residences, as well as libraries and museums.

Robbing a museum is easy to understand, since antiques are quite valuable. But robbing a library is something that leaves many people scratching their heads.

Actually, there's something very counterintuitive about this: modern people live in an age of information overload, yet they also have very cheap ways to search for information.

However, in the 19th century, an ancient book or a map containing precise information could be priceless, and even a key location could determine the outcome of a war.

After all, there was no satellite navigation back then, and many times marching relied solely on maps, guides, and the general's intuition.

As for the value in terms of technology and cultural heritage, it seems too frivolous when it comes to robbery for money, so I won't list them all.

Artworks, antiques, gold and silver artifacts, maps, and Sardinian government documents were the officers' main focus, while civilians were left to the soldiers to handle as they pleased.

One more point to mention regarding the materials and archives of the Kingdom of Sardinia is that information in the 19th century was extremely valuable, especially first-hand and accurate sources.

In fact, after conquering a city in Europe, the army was given the right to loot for three days. During this period, even Napoleon did not dare to provoke the soldiers.

The Austrian army was a special case. Franz initially bought discipline with money, and later used a combination of carrots and sticks for many years before the Austrian army began to improve.

Since the French army had already captured Turin once in 1848, many of the people who participated in the rebellion in Turin had already fled beforehand, knowing that they were no match for the enemy.

After capturing the city, the French army did not mop up the remaining enemy forces, but instead handed them over to the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which further gave the people the opportunity to escape.

Most people chose Genoa for a simple reason: it was a place that was both wealthy and prosperous.

On the other hand, it had a complete road system, but was also blocked by the Apennine Mountains. The narrow mountain roads made it difficult for the French cavalry to pursue them, and were a nightmare for the artillery and supply troops.

As times change, artillery is becoming increasingly heavy, and the importance of logistics is constantly increasing.

Why not choose Valais, which is protected by the Alps? Wouldn't that provide better protection?
This is an escape, not a challenge to the Aotai Line; safety and feasibility must be considered.

Those who fled hastily to Valais would most likely die on the way; at least before the 19th century, Gypsy families and disbelieving travelers died in the Alps every year.

Going to Valais would be like fighting for survival.

Furthermore, despite its considerable size, Valais has extremely poor land carrying capacity and infrastructure, making it terribly impoverished.

Valais was the region in Europe most severely affected by cretinism and goiter (due to iodine deficiency), and many circuses would come to Valais to recruit talent at that time.

The Sardinian government chose to ignore this, instead increasing taxes, conscripting soldiers, and even raising the price of iodized salt, striving to squeeze out its last remaining resources.

The governance of the Kingdom of Sardinia in recent years has been a complete mess, and corruption has exacerbated the already impoverished conditions of the region.

However, not everyone will avoid Valais; those with power, money, and ability will still choose this route.

Valais was indeed safer, with virtually no chance of being pursued by the French army. Moreover, they had more funding and manpower, and could even hire experienced guides and mercenaries, which greatly increased their safety.

In fact, there is another reason why the wealthy and powerful flee to Valais: Genoa is extremely hostile to the elite class of the Kingdom of Sardinia, and only hates the powerful and wealthy.

Why didn't anyone simply cross the plains to the east and flee to Austria across the Ticino River? Was Austria not good enough?

In fact, it wasn't just the French army that took advantage of the chaos; don't assume that the Sardinian army didn't rob the people of Sardinia.

Soldiers are soldiers, and civilians are civilians; the two are clearly separated. Even the army of the once-red giant, the Soviet Union, was no exception, and perhaps even more so.

The People's Army is a proper noun.

At this time, the people of Sardinia dared not seek refuge with the Sardinian army, let alone those suspected of participating in the rebellion.

The roads were crowded with people on foot, some carrying bags, others driving horse-drawn carriages laden with their belongings, with no order or compassion whatsoever.

An old woman was knocked down, and the bundle on her back fell to the ground. Although it contained only a few old clothes and some simple pots and pans, she hurriedly gathered them in front of her, as if afraid that they would be taken away.

Someone collapsed from heatstroke, but no one was willing to stop and help them to the side of the road. A horse-drawn cart loaded with goods slowly passed by, and with a slight bump, a life was lost forever.

No one cared; everyone's eyes were filled with confusion and indifference.

An explosion came from behind, and the crowd seemed to regain some of their energy, hurriedly running forward a few steps.

However, the explosions behind were not caused by French artillery fire, but by the Piedmont militia themselves after the last few luxury carriages crossed the bridge.

Their objective was naturally to block the French and Sardinian troops that might pursue them, but blowing up the bridge also blocked the escape route for many more people behind them.

In fact, there were still many people fleeing on the bridge when they blew it up, but clearing the area was impossible, since no one was willing to give up their chance to survive.

In fact, those people didn't dare to explain the situation. They were also afraid that if the people found out the truth, they would refuse to let the rebel leaders leave first, which would be troublesome.

Those who can become warlords in chaotic times and survive internal strife are all formidable individuals.

If things are difficult to explain, then don't explain them; if things are difficult to do, then assign them to different people. The people who planted the explosives didn't know why; they thought it was just to stop the possible arrival of French troops.

The people who lit the fire had no idea it was explosives, let alone that they would be killed in the explosion.

Even if the truth came out, the blame could be placed on the French, or those who planted the explosives could be made to take the fall. When the smoke cleared, the carriages of the dignitaries had vanished, leaving only even more desperate refugees.

A lawyer slumped to the ground, documents scattered everywhere. He had always thought he was important, but at that moment he realized that he was nothing in the eyes of those important people.

The lawyer angrily pulled a sealed document bag from the files and held it above his head.

“I’m telling you! I have evidence of Sevier’s crimes!”

But nobody cared; they didn't even know who Sevik was.

The broken bridge in front of them filled them with despair. A woman pushing a stroller and carrying a child on her back sat on the ground and wailed. Her young child was trying to comfort his mother, while the little brother on her back was crying for his father.

But their father had already disappeared. He had risked leaving home to buy some food and had never returned.

Perhaps they were killed by the mutinous troops, perhaps they were conscripted, or perhaps they were killed by the French who entered the city, mistaken for rebels.
A middle-aged man with a limp climbed onto a stone block on the side.

"Don't be afraid! We will survive! I am the supreme commander of the Po River Guard, Colonel Joseph Giuseppe Zober of the Austrian Empire!"

A boat will come to pick us up tomorrow!

I swear to God!

People looked at the man with suspicion, wondering if they had misheard him; they had indeed heard of Joseph the Cripple.

There are many stories about this crippled Joseph. It is said that he was a pirate who defected to the Austrians in 1848 and made many contributions in battle.

What the people know more about him is that he solved the problem of the river bandits that had plagued the Po River for thousands of years. He always took the lead in every battle and never killed innocent people indiscriminately. He would always share his money and food with his soldiers and those who wanted to drown themselves.

He would fight against river bandits, he would fight against natural disasters, and he would argue with his superiors, but he rarely arrested those ordinary people who risked their lives to make a living.

In fact, it would have been incredibly easy for the armed steamships allocated to the Po River Guard by the Austrian Empire to sink the smugglers' canoes.

But he never ordered the cannons to be fired or the guns to be rammed; he mostly used searchlights to drive them away.

This is why Joseph the Cripple was frequently reported by multiple countries and repeatedly dismissed from his post, which is why he remained a colonel for so many years.

However, he was also deeply loved and even admired by the soldiers. It wasn't just the heroic deeds of Joseph the Cripple, but also the heroic spirit and free-spiritedness he possessed.

There are many heroes who can achieve unparalleled feats, but few are willing to give up their wealth and power as superiors.

The Genoa City Council even bestowed upon him the title of "Marshal of the Genoa Navy," which is the highest honor in Genoa besides the Grand Consul and the Governor.

The so-called Grand Consul could only be Franz, while the Governor-General was the highest-ranking official in the Genoa region appointed by Franz.

Although Genoa does not have a navy, the title of admiral of the navy is still quite impressive.

However, few people have actually seen this mysterious hero, and the Kingdom of Sardinia has always been very wary of so-called foreign elements, so the people of Sardinia have never even seen a picture of Joseph the Cripple.

The Sardinian government was unaware of Joseph the Cripple's true identity, but they knew he was not one of them and could not be won over, so they were determined to smear him.

At this point, Garibaldi's faded red shirt was no longer convincing, since in the minds of most Sardinians, Austrians always liked to swagger around and looked down on everyone as if they were Africans.

In fact, the people of Sardinia usually encountered Lombards or Venetians, who had a strong sense of superiority. Not to mention foreigners like Sardinians, Lombards and Venetians looked down on each other all the time.

In Venice, "peasant" is an insult, while in Lombardy, "Venetian" is inherently vulgar. The conflict between the two has a long history, even tracing back to the clash between maritime and agrarian civilizations.

On the other hand, the Austrian Empire was powerful enough to inflate their confidence. Garibaldi was somewhat helpless, as he didn't really like wearing the uniform of the Austrian army.

However, his wife, who was also his adjutant, had already brought the brand-new uniform. Adani Riberio, also known as Silvia, an Austrian at the time, was more perceptive than Garibaldi in certain matters of human relationships.

Although Garibaldi often criticized the uniforms of Austrian Imperial officers as a dog's skin, Silvia knew very well that this dog's skin could make countless people bow down, and in many cases was even more effective than swords and guns.

For example, when Garibaldi put on that colonel's uniform, the crowd immediately quieted down, and the panic and unease subsided, replaced by a kind of fanaticism.

"Commander Joseph! Let's fight back! The French only have a few thousand men!"

"Yes! It's better to let the Austrian Empire rule Turin than to hand it over to the French! At least the Austrian emperor won't flee in disarray and leave us to the French!"

"Yes! Give the order! We're all willing to become Austrians!"

Each of these words was like a sharp knife piercing the heart of Garibaldi and his men, whose actions were not in accordance with the orders of the Austrian Empire.

These people were true Italian nationalists, the kind who were willing to give their lives for that great cause.

When they heard that an uprising had broken out in Turin, these people came to Turin without hesitation, wanting to fight for some rights alongside the people of Turin.

But during their time in Turin, all they saw and heard was absurdity; everyone was vying for power and profit while turning a blind eye to the suffering of the people.

The Sardinian government's choice was even more ridiculous; they actually called in the French and even offered to cede Nice and Savoy (from the Piedmontese perspective).

This was not just unbearable for Garibaldi and his friends, but incomprehensible.

Since the Savoy dynasty originated in Savoy, why was Victor Emmanuel II able to abandon it without any burden?
Does such a useless coward really have the right to lead Italy?

Isn't their talk of reviving Italy just a scam to fool people?
Even the most devout believers, after experiencing more than a decade of bloody lessons, find it hard to believe the great figures' talk of reviving Italy for the sake of the Italian people.

The fact that these so-called leaders chose to blow up the bridge shows their shamelessness.

There is no doubt that these people are not qualified to lead Italy, and it seems that only His Majesty Franz Joseph I is qualified to rule this land.

Because after they contacted the Po River Guard by telegram, the Austrian Empire immediately agreed to their request and would send warships to help them transport refugees.