Morning came and dawn pulled the curtain on the battlefield. The blood stained earth seemed to paint an eerily beautiful picture in conjunction with the burning-red fireball rising from the east.

The battle had come to an end. Austrian soldiers in groups of two and three were busy cleaning up the battlefield. From time to time, these soldiers were seen escorting groups of captives away.

Lt. Col. Gregor commanded, "Take care of the enemy's deceased as soon as possible. Unfortunately, we do not have enough priests to provide them with their last rites."

The summer of 1848 had not been too warm, but the temperature had risen to 32 ° C by the first week of the month. Therefore, in order to avoid the spread of a plague, they had no choice but to have the corpses burned.

A pyre had been constructed and soon a blazing fire began to burn. The priests amongst the captives demanded to participate in the funeral ceremony and Lt. Col. Gregor did not stop them.

At the same time as the cremation ceremony of the enemy, the Austrian soldiers also said goodbye to their comrades-in-arms. Watching the familiar lads being buried in the soil, Lt. Col. Gregor had a solemn air about him.

Last night's raid had been successful but the Austrians had not been left unscathed. Many had died and many more had been wounded, especially of the 800 men who participated in the raid; close to half had died, not to mention over a hundred wounded.

The Austrian casualties had been high but their gains had been equally amazing. They had killed more than 3,000 enemies, captured close to 6,000 enemies and seized most of the Sardinian supplies and weaponry in the area, winning the biggest victory since the outbreak of the war.

Most importantly, following the Austrian victory at the Battle of Trento, the tide of the war would shift dramatically. One could say that the biggest boon from this victory had not been the victory itself but the uncovering of the incompetence and inadequacy of the Sardinian army which had now become clear as day. The morale of the Austrian army had ballooned and many generals were flexing their muscles, hoping to take the fight to the Sardinians.

As it was recorded in history books, the Battle of Trento became the turning point in the Austro-Sardinian War. Following this battle, the offensive and defensive situation reversed as the Austrians set off a wave of counterattacks and Lt. Col. Gregor, the architect of this victory, succeeded in leaving his name in the history books in one fell swoop.

* * * * * * * * * *

Fabio Lanzano, the Sardinian intelligence officer, reported to Marshal Franzini, "Lord Marshal, the current situation is very unfavorable to us. We've confirmed that the Papal army has begun retreating. Following their defeat, the Tuscans have barricaded themselves inside the fort of Brescia, fifty kilometers from the battlefield. Even if they decide to come to our aid, it will take them at least two days. I am afraid we are fighting alone now."

Since the Battle of Venice, there had been a varying degree of chaos in the Sardinian army, which had left him exhausted. While it was frustrating that their allies were useless, he also knew that his lack of experience with commanding such a large army had also played a role. In fact, not just him, there was no general in the entire Sardinian army who could manage 200,000 troops.

After all, experience is gained on the battlefield. Prior to this war, the Sardinian standing army had only been 23,000 strong, and there were few generals in the army. Suddenly being promoted to the post of Marshal with command of over 20 times the men they had ever commanded would require anyone to go through a period of adaptation. At present, Marshal Franzini was still adapting.

After rubbing his forehead, Marshal Franzini said, "Let us not waste anymore time on the Papal forces. Now that things have changed in the Papal States, their interest in this war must have waned.

The Tuscans are only left with a single regiment, so they are dispensable in this war. If not for political needs, I wouldn't mind kicking them out immediately, lest they stay and continue to do more harm than good!

For now, we must spread our spies out to-"

Suddenly, a man rushed into the tent, only to be tackled by the guards. Still, he continued to resist, "Lord Marshal! Lord Marshal! You have to hear this!"

Marshal Franzini glared at the man and yelled, "Quiet, fool! The sky isn't falling down! Who are you and why have you intruded into my quarters?!"

The man caught his breath and calmed himself down as much as possible and said, "Lord Marshal, I've news from the Trento front. Our forces besieging Trento were ambushed by the enemy last night in a night raid. They suffered heavy casualties! General Messier is currently retreating to Bergamo!"

As soon as the words fell, Marshal Franzini's baton flew, hitting the hapless messenger's forehead.

Before the guards could react, he rushed over, grabbed the messenger's collar and demanded, "How is that possible?! How dare you spout such lies?! Do you know what we do to liars?!"

The messenger was close to soiling himself from terror but he somehow mustered up enough courage to reply, "Lord Marshal, these are the battle reports from the front. We have sent someone to verify it, and it is absolutely accurate!"

Hearing this, Marshal Franzini became even more enraged, glaring at the messenger with a murderous glint, and said fiercely, "Why did you not report it sooner?!"

The hapless messenger was dumbfounded. Report it sooner? The veracity of the report was uncertain; the magnitude of losses was also uncertain. What should he have reported? Did the Marshal expect him to report that the front line may or may not have suffered a major defeat and that they may or may not have suffered heavy casualties?

Glancing at the enraged Marshal Franzini, the senior staff chose to remain on the sidelines. Even if they desperately wanted to know what happened on the front line and how General Messier was defeated, they knew better than to speak now.

After venting his anger, Marshal Franzini slowly calmed down, took deep breaths, and finally said, "Bastard, say it. Tell me what happened. Could Messier, that fool, not win against a few regiments despite having three entire divisions at his disposal?"

The two guards standing nearby quickly pulled up the confused messenger.

The infantry division in the Sardinian army was slightly smaller than other European armies. Since the expansion of the army, most divisions had somewhere between 8,500 and 9,000 men, including the medics, engineers and non-combatant units. Regardless, the three divisions had an absolute advantage over the few Austrian battalions stationed in Trento. There was no possibility of a comeback from the Austrian side.

The messenger quickly reported, "Lord Marshal, we had been tricked! The Austrians had much more than a few battalions in Trento. Our preliminary investigation states that there were at least three more divisions hiding in ambush!"

-TO BE CONTINUED-