I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 922 The End and the Beginning

Francis II's journey was very smooth, after all, he was escorted by thousands of soldiers from the palace guard.

Even if the rioters in Vienna got guns, they would not dare to attack the regular army.

In fact, most people, seeing the royal emblem from a distance, habitually stay away from it.

As for the young men in the recruit camp, they were confronting the Hungarian army in the east of the city at this time. They were basically loyal to the royal family, and their target was only "treacherous ministers such as Tugut."

So two days later in the afternoon, Franz II's carriage had already passed through the Vienna Woods on the north side and headed for the first stop, Hammensdorf.

The next day, Grashokovich also completed his rest and then, following Horndorff's orders, launched a general attack on the Viennese rebels.

The less than 800 recruits led by the recruit camp instructor Elers were no match for the Hungarian regular army. They lasted only two hours before being divided and defeated.

In fact, they have done a very good job.

You know, these recruits had only been trained for more than 20 days, and many of them fired with their eyes closed. If it weren't for Lucas and the other hundreds of nobles who had received military training since childhood and served as the core to defend the line, they probably wouldn't have been able to hold out for even half an hour.

Of course, Ehlers’ command skills were totally inadequate. After all, he was only a captain and could not fight a war based on ideals alone.

Soon, Ehlers and Lieutenant Schwartz, each with two or three hundred men, retreated into the outer city of Vienna and called on the people in the city to fight against the Hungarian executioners.

However, in the evening of the same day, the Hungarian Legion's artillery finally arrived in Vienna and began to select gun positions in the open space on the outskirts of the city overnight.

On the other side, Ehlers quickly gathered nearly 2 citizens, ready to fight the suppression troops outside the city.

Under the light of torches, Ehlers was teaching the citizens how to build a breastwork when he saw a clerk from the city hall running over breathlessly. He pulled him aside and whispered, "I heard that His Majesty the Emperor is no longer in Vienna..."

Eller was shocked.

He fought hard here just to be able to "request" the emperor to depose Turgut and announce reforms after repelling the Hungarian army, and he would become a legendary hero.

But if he couldn't find His Majesty the Emperor, would he really lead his troops to occupy Vienna?
He hurriedly led more than a hundred people to the Schönbrunn Palace, but saw that although there were still guards guarding outside the palace, the palace inside was nothing like the brightly lit scene of the past.

He staggered and almost fell off his horse.

That night, Ehlers didn't talk to anyone, but just kept muttering in a low voice: "It's over, it's all over..."

On the contrary, after the sans-culottes learned the news of the emperor's escape, they excitedly prepared to enter the palace to make some money.

However, they had no organizational skills. After a brief and chaotic exchange of fire with the palace guards, they fled, leaving behind a pile of corpses.

If Francis II saw this scene, he would probably regret his decision to leave the palace - although these rabble in the city were numerous and had guns, they did not pose much threat to his guards.

After dawn, the Hungarian Legion's artillery began to roar.

The "Vienna Resistance Army", which had originally had high morale, was instantly frightened. Before the Hungarian infantry line launched an attack, most of them had already fled in panic.

Lieutenant Schwartz had no choice but to order the remaining troops to retreat into the city and prepare for street fighting with the Hungarians.

Yes, Ehlers suddenly fell into severe depression and was no longer able to command the insurgents. He was now the supreme commander. Just five days later, Schwarz and more than a thousand insurgents were blocked in the western part of Vienna.

The sans-culottes continued to loot and destroy everywhere "carefree". In fact, most of them did not know why they were fighting with the Hungarians.

They initially came to demand pensions, the abolition of war taxes, or to buy cheap bread.

But now, no one remembers any of this except Schwartz and a hundred or so recruits.

This uprising, which lacked planning, preparation, program, and unclear goals, was on the verge of failure just at the beginning...

Essenmarkt, a remote province in southeastern Austria.

In a dilapidated house in the dilapidated town of Mures, a middle-aged man with two thick black mustaches on his upper lip and wearing a gray-yellow double-breasted robe was peeling peanuts and speaking Hungarian to several vendors beside him:
"There has been a serious riot in Vienna and the emperor has left. This was reported four days ago."

The short man next to him curled his lips and said, "What does this have to do with us?"

"Claudio, you never like to use your brain." The sturdy young man opposite said, "This is our chance."

"Shandor is right." The middle-aged man who was shelling peanuts nodded, "Especially, the Debrecen Corps was transferred by the emperor to Vienna to quell the rebellion."

The eyes of the people nearby lit up instantly.

Previously, because the Holy Roman Emperor was going to war with France, he had transferred a large number of Hungarian nobles' troops to northern Italy, and there were very few garrisons in Transylvania.

Now the most powerful Debrecen army has also left. There is almost no army in the southeast of the empire that they can fear!
Sandor immediately leaned forward, his eyes gleaming with excitement: "Baron Kossuth, are we going to do something?"

"The rebels have this plan. But we have to get in touch with the Romanians and Serbs first."

"They will definitely agree." Another middle-aged man with brown hair said, "Especially the Serbs. Many of their people have died in the past two years, and they have long wanted revenge."

Kossuth threw a handful of peeled peanuts into the bowl and nodded, "That's right. That's why I asked you to come here."

"Gather your people after you go back. If everything goes well, we may start the action in half a month. Take out all your assets, as such good opportunities are rare."

The people around him immediately nodded seriously.

They were all armed forces under the Hungarian independence movement, mainly tribal leaders in the southern mountains, and there were also secret organizations in towns.

Yes, the core of the Hungarian independence movement is these grassroots.

As the vested interest group of the Austrian Empire, the Hungarian Parliament of Nobility had the ability to bargain with the emperor and was actually a staunch royalist.

The Hungarian lower classes suffered extremely difficult lives due to the dual exploitation of the Empire and the Hungarian lords, so they constantly launched independence movements.

The Transylvania region in the southeast of the empire had a large mixed population of Hungarians, Romanians, and Serbs, all of whom were keen to break free from Austrian control.

As a result, this place became the hardest hit area of ​​rebellion in the empire.

(End of this chapter)