"Major General, the enemy is rushing here so recklessly. Is it possible that they have some trick up their sleeves?" Colonel Fischer asked, his eyes filled with uncertainty.

Major General Staudinger, the 7th Division commander, analyzed, "That's unlikely. According to the intelligence, this enemy force should be acting alone since the nearest enemy force is more than a day's march from here.

Even if they are here to act as bait and lure us out, by the time their reinforcements arrive, they would be annihilated as there's no way that their ragtag army can last an entire day against our  7th Division."

"If that's the case, the enemy commander's behavior is truly moronic. Daring to recklessly cross the Po river with just 7,000 soldiers and without any reinforcements? Does he think that he is Napoleon during his Italian expedition?" mocked Colonel Fischer, filled with righteous indignation.

Even though Napoleon had brought the mighty Habsburgs to their knees and had destroyed their Holy Roman Empire, it did not prevent soldiers, even those of Austrian origin, from worshiping this European God of War. Many decades had passed since his fall from grace but Napoleon was still the idol of every soldier and officer.

Major General Staudinger patted his subordinate's shoulder and said, "Even if they're here to lure us out, we will swallow this bait since our task is to destroy the enemy as soon as possible and get back in time for the main battle.

In fact, maybe we're overthinking this. This time, our enemies are from four different states, so perhaps this foolish maneuver is the result of some internal contradiction between them."

After some thought, Colonel Fischer also felt that this might be the case, but he still said, "Regardless, I will deploy another intelligence company nearby to make doubly sure that the enemy has no reinforcements!"

Major General Staudinger nodded and ordered three battalions to launch a preemptive attack from three directions. Then, with the cracking of gunshots, the battle for Venice officially began.

* * * * * * * * * *

Minutes before the Austrian offensive

"I will bring that codger Ferdinand and that brat Franz Joseph to their knees before I crush them under my feet. Remember this moment, men! This is the moment when we will go down in history as the men who brought down an empire!"

Colonel Giovanni Magherini, the commander of the Tuscan expeditionary force, was busy making boisterous claims, ignorant of the sickle of death that loomed over him and his men. Spurred on by his skills of oration and the Sardinian propaganda, many literate and patriotic Tuscan youths joined him as officers in the expeditionary force.

Colonel Magherini was certainly an excellent orator and skilled in the art of rhetoric, but he was not a military strategist. Influenced by the positive response from the officers and their dissatisfaction with the slow march, he made the amateur mistake of marching with a pace that was faster than the rest of the army. Ultimately, Colonel Magherini and the impatient officers appeared at the forefront of the army.

They knew that it was dangerous to march in the front, but due to Sardinian propaganda, in their minds, the Austrian Empire was a decadent and hollow state with a weak army that was akin to a fangless tiger. Surely, the Austrians would never dare to meet them on the open plains and if they did they would send them back with their tails between their legs. According to them, the Sardinian bloodless occupation of Lombardy was proof of this.

Therefore, when they first heard the sound of gunshot, their first reaction was not panic, but pleasant surprise, and the officers did not hesitate to quickly order a counterattack. However, the thoughts of the common soldiers, who mainly consisted of serfs, farmers and petty felons, were quite different. 

"Attack, you bastards!"

"Assholes, get up and attack!"

Colonel Magherini and the officers scolded angrily. The words of the young officers displayed their bravery and patriotism, but the soldiers were different. Within the safety of the cities such Florence, Pisa and Lucca, they had screamed slogans of freedom and cursed the Austrians, however, now, on the battlefield, before they had even seen the enemy's shadow, they were all cowering from the enemy.

In fact, their capitulation was also because the common soldiers genuinely did not wish to fight against Austria. Prior to the Napoleonic Wars, Tuscany had been a part of the Holy Roman Empire for centuries. In fact, their ancestors had been especially loyal to the Habsburgs, who had been the Grand Dukes of Tuscany since the time of Franz Stefan, the husband of Maria Theresia and the Emperor-Consort.

Even though they were no longer ruled by the main branch of the Habsburgs, Austria still had a strong influence in Tuscany. This century-long influence could not be eliminated within a few decades, especially since the Austrians had not invaded Tuscany and the soldiers were not fighting to defend their homeland. Therefore, the soldiers had mixed feelings towards this campaign against Austria.

In fact, this was the case everywhere in Italy, except the north. The anti-Austrian movement in Italy had been initiated by the bourgeoisie for their own benefit. Even if the common people shouted anti-Austrian slogans on the streets, they were not fools. There was no comparison between a beating from the police and being killed on the battlefield.

The only people who truly wished to defeat Austria were the capitalists, the intellectuals, and the nationalists, all members of the bourgeoisie. If all the Italians had truly wanted to expel Austria from their land, it would not have been possible for an Austria weakened by riots to historically defeat the Italians and continue to rule Lombardy-Venetia for many years.

"Colonel, we are being attacked by the main force of the Austrian army. Let's ask our allies for help!" A young officer quickly suggested.

Even if they had been full of themselves just moments ago, after the sight they had just witnessed, their arrogance had deflated like a popped balloon. The Tuscan expeditionary force was filled with unqualified people from top to bottom. The high-level commanders only knew how to brag, the grass-roots officers were all hot-blooded youths who could only shout slogans, while the soldiers didn't even want to fight.

After realizing the gravity of their situation, Colonel Magherini finally ordered, "Okay, send someone from the intelligence troop to Marshal Franzini to ask for reinforcements and order the soldiers to prepare for a strategic retreat!"

After giving the order, he suddenly thought of a sentence he had heard many years prior from his father, who had heard this sentence from his own father, a soldier in the Duchy of Savoy: 'If you can't fight, you run; if you can't run, you surrender.'

Colonel Magherini bitterly smiled and consoled himself, 'This is also an Italian tradition.'

It was hard to say when it began but since the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Italians' combat effectiveness had significantly plummeted. Since medieval times, Italian mercenaries had been known to be unreliable, who would escape at the first sign of trouble, unlike the hardy German or Swiss mercenaries who never backed down from a tough fight. Such was the unfortunate legacy of the mighty Romans who had once conquered half of the known world.

-TO BE CONTINUED-