“Charge!!!” Amid the shouts and cries of battle, the siege of Turin began. As the key point of the southern campaign, both the French and Austrian forces were fully committed to the fight. The outcome of Turin would not only determine the fate of the Kingdom of Sardinia but also influence control over the entire Italian region. The local collaborators had already made preparations. Everything depended on the result of the Battle of Turin. If the Austrians succeeded in capturing the city, then all factions would join forces to expel the French. If not, they would have to think carefully before taking further action. To demonstrate their loyalty, these groups had already launched several armed uprisings across Italy, tying down at least 200,000 French troops. In order to improve command efficiency, General Morkes, commander of the southern front, relocated his headquarters to the front lines. He could not afford to take this lightly. Urban warfare was perhaps the French army’s best chance to turn the tide, and they were unlikely to let the opportunity slip by. In open terrain, the Austrian armored divisions had free rein and crushed all opposition. But in cities, it was a different matter entirely. Even a few obstacles could block their advance. Once immobilized, an armored vehicle became easy prey. As long as the French soldiers were willing to risk their lives, a single explosive could destroy one. Austria’s armored units, as a groundbreaking innovation of the era, had one defining characteristic which was high cost. The Austrian military even joked that they were “land cruisers.” This was no exaggeration. The most advanced tanks cost nearly as much to build as the cheapest naval cruiser. Even basic armored cars cost tens of thousands of guilders. The most advanced tanks could cost up to 200,000. Given Austria’s financial resources, they had only managed to field four full tank divisions and eight armored divisions in total, which already tells the whole story. In truth, even those twelve divisions were understrength. Since there was no need for anti-air capabilities at the moment, anti-aircraft artillery units had been excluded, and motorized mechanized infantry regiments had yet to be assembled. The number of tanks was also severely insufficient. Each division had only about 150 to 260 tanks, while the armored divisions fared slightly better, with around 220 to 300 armored vehicles per division. And that’s just the theoretical count. In reality, the number of tanks and armored vehicles that each division could actually use was even lower, due to inevitable battlefield losses. To make matters worse, tanks and armored vehicles of this era had high failure rates. Often, after a single campaign, a third of the armored force would be out of commission, and the rest would require maintenance. This was one of the key reasons why the French were able to regroup and establish new defense lines. It wasn’t that the Austrian army didn’t want to press the advantage, the problem was that their ace-in-the-hole, the armored divisions, simply couldn’t execute a true blitzkrieg. The current situation of Austria’s armored forces was this: on paper, each division had full strength, but in practice, only a single regiment’s worth of troops could be sent into battle, while the rest were tied up in equipment repairs. The French may have been stunned by the initial assault of the steel torrent, but that didn’t mean they had lost their fighting capacity. In fact, the French army still displayed top-tier combat strength and resolve for that era. Of course, the French resurgence was also partly due to direct orders from the Austrian government. To inflict the greatest possible losses on the French in battle, the Austrians had to give them hope. If the French army were crushed all at once, the most Austria could achieve would be the elimination of a few hundred thousand troops, and then… nothing more. Once hope of victory was lost, even if Napoleon IV didn’t want to surrender, others would make the decision for him. Voluntary surrender and forced surrender after resistance are two entirely different matters. In the former, nothing has been gained, and everything must be settled at the negotiation table. In the latter, the facts are already established, what remains is just to formalize them with a treaty. There were many countries that didn’t want to see France completely destroyed. If Austria wished to realize its strategic objectives, it had to break into mainland France before the French gave up and surrendered. … When dealing with a certain kind of enemy, one must adopt the appropriate attitude. Austria clearly deserved to be taken seriously by the French. After the outbreak of the continental war, the French commander-in-chief, Adrien, immediately ordered the strengthening of city defenses. As a vital location encompassing strategic, transportation, political, and economic value, Turin naturally became a top priority. One fortress after another rose from the ground, and with the city’s buildings forming part of the structure, Turin had transformed into a monstrous war machine. Under the roar of artillery, Captain Adler was leading his Third Company in an assault. Or more accurately, they were crawling forward. Bullets whizzed just above Adler’s head. One unfortunate soldier raised his head a bit too high and was struck by a flying bullet. He only had time to scream before meeting his end. Death on the battlefield was completely normal. Since the beginning of the war, three-quarters of the Third Company’s soldiers had been replaced. Adler was already the fifth officer to lead the company. That didn’t mean all four of his predecessors had died. Only one had lost his life. The other three were still alive. One was promoted, and the other two were recovering in hospital. Such was the harsh duality of war. Junior officers died quickly, but they also got promoted quickly. As long as someone survived a few campaigns, rising through the ranks became inevitable. There was no need to worry about being held back by superiors, because they had either been promoted, hospitalized, or killed. In any case, the position was vacated. In this environment, the idea of a soldier rising to the rank of general was no longer a myth. As long as the war dragged on, anything was possible. Captain Adler wasn’t a military academy graduate and had no connections. Yet, less than a year after the war began, he had already become a company commander. Besides his sharp mind and solid military skills, luck played a major role. If he had lost his parents or come from a tragic background, he might as well be the main character of a novel. Although Austria had plenty of reserve officers, most were only assigned to the platoon or squad level. In the midst of rapid military expansion, Adler, as a veteran, was directly promoted to squad leader. That wasn’t even the worst part. In his very first battle, Adler’s company suffered heavy casualties. His direct superiors, the platoon commander and deputy platoon commander, either died or ended up in the hospital. Before the battle was over, Adler had already become the acting platoon leader. It had nothing to do with promotion. In his platoon, everyone with a higher rank had left the battlefield, so by the rules of the Austrian army, the command naturally fell to him. After successfully completing the mission and achieving military merit, it was only natural for him to be promoted from acting commander to a true commander. After a few more accomplishments in later battles, Adler, still in a daze, had become a company commander. He wasn’t arrogant or exceptionally brave, and he hadn’t performed any miraculous feats. Adler was an ordinary young officer, and at this point, his luck had just about run out. There was no helping it. The higher the rank, the fewer the positions, and senior officers were no longer expected to lead charges into battle. As a result, their chances of being killed or wounded dropped significantly. With fewer available slots, the standards naturally became higher. In peacetime, very few people had military merit, so anyone who had it could rise in rank. Even if their ability was lacking, they could be slowly trained. But now things are different. Soldiers with battlefield achievements were everywhere. Unless someone had truly outstanding merit that justified an exception, they still had to pass professional exams. The more troops an officer commanded, the higher the requirements for their ability. Aside from a handful of geniuses, most people had to be properly trained before they could handle the job. A full-scale counteroffensive was already underway. With the end of the war in sight, a massive demobilization was inevitable. As a result, training programs for junior officers were simply not going to happen. It would be absurd to start training a new group of officers only to hand them discharge notices before they even finished their coursework. Adler wasn’t the protagonist of the story. There were many soldiers in the Austrian army with similar backgrounds and experiences. No matter how rare something might seem, when the sample size gets large enough, it stops being rare. You could say that every soldier who made it through the hellfire of war without a scratch was a legend in their own right. Turning back, once he confirmed the identity of the dead soldier, Captain Adler cursed loudly, “Keep your heads down. Don’t be an idiot like Kohl!” Was he sad? Perhaps. But after seeing so much, the nerves eventually go numb. Maybe to avoid heartbreak in moments like this, Captain Adler had made a point of keeping some emotional distance from everyone around him. Before Adler could finish his sentence, a fresh wave of French gunfire erupted. The Gatling guns, though not as efficient as the Maxim, were still a deadly force when mounted in fortress emplacements. With Kohl’s fate fresh in their minds and bullets whistling past their ears, everyone instinctively lowered their heads as much as possible. Then came a deafening boom. To Adler’s right, two soldiers were blown apart, their bodies shredded. Half a head landed just in front of him, within arm’s reach. His head spinning, Adler struggled to shake off the disorientation from the blast. As soon as he came to his senses and saw the mangled remains of his comrades, he nearly vomited. Fighting off the nausea, Adler gave a decisive order, “The enemy laid mines ahead. We don’t have any mine-clearing gear. Pull back for now.” There was no question about it. This probing attack had failed. And even if they had brought mine-clearing tools, the enemy’s overwhelming firepower would still have made it nearly impossible to advance. It had been the Austrians who first pioneered this style of combat. The French were merely following suit. While there hadn’t been time to copy the Maxim gun, the Gatling served well enough as a substitute. With the enemy so thoroughly prepared, it would be sheer folly to continue throwing away lives. The Austrian military did not believe in blind courage for its own sake. Pursuing victory at the cost of soldiers’ lives without careful strategy was a fast track to a military tribunal. Despite the failed assault, General Morkes didn’t feel disappointed. The losses hadn’t been meaningless. Through the probing attacks during the day, the Austrians had already mapped out the French outer firepower positions, laying the groundwork for the next offensive. At the allied command post, General Morkes asked, “How is the formation of the Italian corps coming along?” After all, a war to liberate Italy could not proceed without Italian participation. This was where the value of the Italian independence organizations came into play. With every new area the Austrians captured, they immediately raised troops in the name of these local independence organizations. To fully respect the sentiments of the Italian people, these units were organized along regional lines. For example: the Sardinia National Independence Army, the Lucca National Independence Army, the Modena National Independence Army, the Parma National Independence Army, the Tuscan National Independence Army, the Papal States National Independence Army, and the Two Sicilies National Independence Army… Regardless of their size, every Italian state had its own “National Independence Army” in name, which ensured that everyone’s pride was accounted for. Whether or not the Italian independence organizations were willing to accept this structure no longer mattered. If they accepted it, then all parties would benefit. If they did not, Morkes had no issue with appointing commanders directly. There were plenty of Italian nobles who had already defected, and it was easy to find someone willing to cooperate. The Italian independence organizations were a scattered force, popular mainly among the common folk. Among the nobility, they held little real influence. Even Victor Emmanuel III, the nominal leader of the movement, had chosen to compromise in the name of national restoration. The lesser figures beneath him had even less room to resist. A burly middle-aged officer reported, “As of now, the Sardinia National Independence Army numbers two hundred thousand. The Papal States’ army is at eighty thousand. The others are still little more than skeleton units, with all of them combined totaling fewer than ten thousand. We’ll need to occupy those regions before the rest can be properly formed. Judging by the current situation, we likely cannot count on them anytime soon.” Up to this point in the war, the Austrian forces had secured most of their southern victories within the territories of the Papal States and the Kingdom of Sardinia. Naturally, the organized independence armies drew mainly from those populations. To demonstrate equality among all the Italian states, these units were not merged together. The sharp contrast in their troop numbers emerged as a result. Skeleton forces clearly could not be deployed to the battlefield. No matter how badly cannon fodder was needed, Morkes would not waste the “seeds” of future allied governments. After all, these very seeds would form the foundations of future administrations in the various states. Austria was committed to supporting them, not destroying them. After a brief moment of contemplation, Morkes shook his head and said, “Two hundred and eighty thousand is still too few. Taking Turin alone may cost us tens of thousands, and there are still more cities waiting to be captured. Keep intensifying recruitment efforts in the occupied territories. Besides promoting national independence, you can also promise land, tax exemptions, and pensions to the soldiers. The specific figures are up to you, as long as they are tempting enough.” In order to recruit more Italian manpower, Morkes had abandoned all restraint and was now making promises on behalf of these future governments. Whether those promises would be honored depended entirely on the integrity and governing ability of those governments. In any case, this was a war for Italian national independence, and Austria had no intention of footing the bill.
*** https://postimg.cc/gallery/PwXsBkC (Maps of the current territories of the countries in this novel made by ScH) Support the translation and read more chapters at https://ko-fi.com/dragonlegion
[Previous | Table of Contents | Next]
Comments
Post a Comment