In Turin, thick smoke rose with the thunderous roar of artillery. The haze of gunpowder enveloped the entire city. The once-proud eagle banners flapped in the wind, now tattered and torn, as if they might fall at any moment. Amid the rubble of collapsed buildings, corpses lay strewn across the ground. The cries of the wounded echoed intermittently, faintly revealing bleeding wounds left unattended. No one stepped forward to help. The pungent mix of blood and sweat filled the air, suffocating and foul. Still, the war raged on. Outside the city, the Italian soldiers had begun their charge. Like surging waves, they rushed forward, their battle cries shaking the heavens. This was a cry from the soul. The sound spread contagiously, one voice igniting another, driving away much of the fear that lingered in their hearts. Inside the fortresses, Gatling guns still spat fire. The long, shrill bullets sliced through the sky like a swarm of locusts. One after another, soldiers fell. Yet this hidden firepower did not last long. After a brief pause in the assault, a barrage of artillery shells followed, leaving behind nothing but a wasteland. When the shelling stopped, the Italian troops in the rear launched their attack once more. Heart-wrenching screams, frenzied slaughter, and the blazing heat of battle pushed both armies to new heights of madness. The fighting grew ever more brutal. Aboard the airship, General Morkes had already set down his telescope, as if unable to bear watching any longer. Had he not seen it with his own eyes, Morkes would never have believed that the troops fighting below were Italian soldiers. The scene was undeniably chaotic, clearly showing a lack of training. But the fighting spirit displayed by the Italians had taken him by surprise. Even heavy casualties had not frightened them. Determined to seize the position immediately after the bombardment, many Italian soldiers had gone prone over a hundred meters away, lying in wait to strike. One must understand that in this era, artillery targeting had no advanced technology to guide it. Even if coordinates were confirmed, they only pointed to an approximate location. Accuracy relied entirely on the gunners’ experience and luck. A slight miscalculation could result in a deviation of hundreds of meters. This meant that the Italian soldiers who had not retreated faced not only enemy fire but also the very real risk of being hit by their own artillery. Such a fearless spirit was worlds apart from the image of the Italian army that was rumored to play dead and slack off on the battlefield. While deeply impressed, General Morkes also felt a growing sense of caution toward Italy. At last, he understood why there had been domestic opposition to the unification of the Italian regions. With so many willing to risk their lives for their nation, a unified Italy would soon rise to become a mid-tier great power. For Austria, which already faced the French Empire to the west and the Russian Empire to the east, the south did not need to produce yet another power to add to the military burden. Though France and Italy might be mortal enemies for now, politics is ever-changing and nothing can be predicted with certainty. Once he had gathered his thoughts, General Morkes gave the order, “There’s nothing more to see. Take us back to headquarters.” Austria had already achieved its objective. By using the Italians to wear down French forces, it not only deepened the hatred between France and Italy but also made Italian unification more difficult. Turin was the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia. In this campaign to reclaim their capital, the Sardinian army had no excuse not to be at the forefront. As it stood, the main Italian force on the battlefield consisted primarily of troops from Sardinia. War is merciless. Judging by the current battlefield situation, once this campaign was over, the three hundred thousand Sardinian troops would have suffered devastating losses. The strength of the most powerful Italian state would be significantly diminished. With the power gap between the remaining states narrowed, Austria’s strategy of regional balance would finally take shape. Everything was moving in a favorable direction. … At French headquarters, Marshal Adrien questioned furiously, his face dark as thunder, “This is the so-called impregnable city fortification you spoke of? You said the Austrians would bleed dry. What I see is that it’s the young men of France who are bleeding dry!” It wasn’t that Marshal Adrien lacked mental fortitude, but reality had struck too harshly. Under the heavy bombardment of Austrian artillery, the carefully planned fortifications had become nothing more than target practice. After losing a large number of cannons in earlier battles, the French defenders in Turin now lacked sufficient heavy firepower. They couldn’t even mount a proper counter-bombardment. Of course, this wasn’t the only issue. After losing air superiority, even if the French had enough artillery, they couldn’t fully utilize it. Once an artillery position was exposed, it would be immediately targeted by enemy air strikes. Heavy guns were too cumbersome to relocate. When air raids came, there was simply no way to escape. Deploying the artillery in dispersed fortress positions also limited their effectiveness. In siege warfare, the attacker only needed to break through at a single point. Once a breach was made and urban combat began, immobile cannons inside the city became nothing but dead weight. Lieutenant General Tom, responsible for the city fortifications, rushed to explain, “Marshal, we did not anticipate the enemy’s firepower to be this overwhelming. Turin’s fortifications are among the best in the world. They were designed based on the scale of the Prusso-Russian War. No one could have foreseen that the enemy would...” Admitting to cutting corners was out of the question. Too many vested interests were involved. If the truth came out, no one would walk away unscathed. In this context, the blame would naturally fall on the designers. Only if they took responsibility could the matter be swept under the rug. But before Tom could finish, Marshal Adrien snapped, “Silence. I don’t want to hear any more excuses. The fact is that our fortifications are failing miserably, and we must address this immediately. If the city defenses cannot hold, then we’ll be forced to shift to urban combat ahead of schedule. The front lines are being held by Italians. No matter how many of them we kill, Austria won’t feel a thing. Don’t expect the enemy to show restraint. This is the city of Turin. It has nothing to do with Austria. They won’t care in the slightest how many civilians die in this place.” In fact, even before the Battle of Turin began, the French army had considered evacuating civilians. However, they were met with overwhelming opposition from the public. From the perspective of France, Turin was considered their own territory. Since they needed the Italians to fight on their behalf, the French military could not afford to act too harshly. Moreover, while evacuation sounded simple in theory, putting it into practice was another matter. It would not be a task completed in just a day or two, and the defenders simply did not have that kind of time. There are always two sides to everything. The presence of large numbers of civilians inside the city increased the logistical burden on the defenders, but it also served as a deterrent. After all, this was continental Europe. No one wanted to be labeled as a butcher of civilians. However, reality proved bitterly disappointing. Judging by the enemy’s unrestrained use of artillery during the siege, Marshal Adrien realized that he had badly miscalculated. Times had changed. Before the outbreak of the continental war, Austria was merely one of several great powers in Europe and had to care about how the rest of the continent would react. But things are different now. If France were defeated, Austria would stand alone at the top. As the new hegemon of Europe, a few rumors or criticisms would no longer pose any real threat. What’s more, the main force storming the city was the Sardinian national independence army. For political reasons, the future Sardinian government would likely step in and endorse Austria’s actions, placing all the blame squarely on the French military. After hesitating for only a moment, Tom said grimly, “Marshal, since Austria is using the Italians as cannon fodder, then we can use cannon fodder against cannon fodder. Arm every able-bodied man in the city and detain their families as hostages to force them into defending the city.” Forced conscription was nothing new. History was full of such cases. However, with the advent of the firearms era, it became clear that hastily conscripted civilians were of limited value on the battlefield. With the rise of liberalism, the cost of forced conscription became increasingly high. It risked losing the hearts of the people. And with the rise in population, nations no longer lacked soldiers, so the practice gradually faded away. Tom would not have made such a suggestion without a reason. As far as he was concerned, public support had never existed for France in this region, so there was nothing to lose. Judging from the current situation, the French army would not be able to remain in the Italian region for much longer. The conflict between France and Italy had already taken root and would almost certainly result in long-term hostility after the war. Forcing Italians to fight now was effectively a way to weaken a future enemy in advance and reduce pressure on France in the post-war period. After a brief silence, Marshal Adrien shook his head and said, “It’s useless. The Italians won’t follow orders that easily. Even if we capture their families and threaten them to fight, they’ll still find ways to sabotage us. Think of the Italians we recruited earlier. You’d be better off calling their deployment a field trip rather than a military campaign. The worst part is that the law cannot punish everyone. Even if we catch them slacking off or disobeying, we can’t realistically execute their families. At this stage, we have to start thinking about the aftermath of this war. Our government is already trying to establish contact with the anti-French alliance. We must not give the enemy any more excuses or make negotiations harder than they already are.” When a war cannot be won, negotiations begin. This was an established tradition in European politics. The French government’s secret contacts with the anti-French coalition were already an open secret among senior officers. Adrien openly acknowledging it now was a clear sign that he had completely lost faith in the war effort. After all, the enemy had already broken through Switzerland and invaded deep into French territory. The room fell silent. After a moment, Lieutenant General Tom let out a sigh and said, “If that won’t work, then our young men will have to fight for their lives. With the forces we have, we can hold out for a while. But the casualties will be impossible to control.” It was clear that Tom was not merely putting on a show. He was genuinely worried about the fate of France. He may have profited along the way, but as a member of the vested interests, his future was already tied to that of France. The shoddy construction of the city’s defenses was not entirely his fault. From the beginning, the Turin fortifications had been more about lining pockets than actually preparing for an enemy assault. Besides, the continental war had broken out so suddenly. Frontline troops were given priority for materials. Even if they had wanted to build a solid defense for Turin, there simply hadn’t been enough time.
*** 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
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