I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 648 Don’t be nervous, I’m just passing by

Count Segur smiled slightly: "Thank you for the reminder, but I believe it is not too late. In fact, the soldiers of the Royal Guards Corps will be able to arrive here in three days."

Previously, the Guards Corps that went to Baden for exercises happened to be halfway on the way. After receiving the order, it immediately went south. After continuous rapid march, it had arrived near Turin in Sardinia.

Ercole III immediately opened his eyes: "So fast?! But..."

He fiddled with his cane and glanced at the ground: "I still need to summon the ministers to discuss it."

As a small country with a population of only 800,000 and an area less than one-fifth of Switzerland, Modena does not want to get involved in the entanglement between behemoths like France and Austria.

Segur said seriously: "Your Majesty, you should be very clear that Austria's exercise is not just about the trade agreement.

"The 30,000-strong army is a huge threat to the entire Italian region."

He picked up the tea cup and took a sip: "Especially Modena has problems with Parma and Lucca, and they all have close relations with Austria.

"If one day Parma asks for Austria's support, there is no need for 30,000 troops. Only one-fifth of the troops is not something your country can resist."

He glanced at Ercole III's thoughtful expression and continued: "In addition, Sardinia has also always claimed sovereignty over central Italy.

"You can say that your country is in danger at any time."

The Grand Duke of Modena looked at him with some confusion: "What do you mean?"

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince believes that France and Morocco can take the opportunity of this exercise to carry out some military cooperation." Segur said, "Specifically, our country can help you train your army, provide weapons, and even directly station troops. "

Ercole III couldn't help but feel something in his heart - if he could get the support of France, Modena's security would definitely be more secure. But at the same time, France itself is a threat to Modena, especially the garrison...

Segur smiled and said: "If you think it is necessary, we can sign a military agreement, or a secret agreement, which will allow you to avoid the threat from Austria."

Seeing that Ercole III was still hesitating, he took out the "bait" given to him by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince: "Oh, the sales of our country's synthetic board furniture are increasing in Italy, so we plan to build a divided packaging house here. Factory. If our two countries achieve cooperation, I think Modena is the best place to build a factory.”

Ercole III nodded almost immediately and said: "I am very much looking forward to Modena's cooperation with the great France. Let's sign a secret agreement at an appropriate time."

You know, synthetic board furniture is selling like crazy in Italy. If we can take over the division and packaging work, it means that we can get a share of all the French furniture sold to Italy.

For a small country like Modena, this is enough revenue to significantly improve the country's financial situation.

Four days later.

The Austrian army, which had concluded its exercises, under the command of General Keim, set out from Pisa in Tuscany and headed north via Lucca, preparing to return to southern Austria via Parma.

In fact, you can reach Austria directly by going north from Tuscany through Modena, but because the in-laws Parma and Modena are not willing to deal with it, the Austrians still choose to take a detour.

Just as the 30,000 Austrian troops arrived near the town of Tersuco in the junction area of ​​Parma, Lucca and Modena, diplomats from Modena suddenly arrived and informed General Keim that France and Modena were about to conduct military exercises.

Keim was a little surprised at first, then burst into laughter and said to the officer beside him: "The French also want to practice. Don't they think it's too late?"

All the officers laughed. Yesterday, Parma also stated that it would increase tariffs on French goods. By the time the French army came to conduct exercises, the trade dispute would have been over long ago.

The Modena official bowed and saluted, turned his horse's head and left.

General Keim didn't take this episode to heart at all, and continued to move forward while chatting leisurely with his staff, waving to the citizens of Tersuco who were watching the excitement from a distance from time to time. However, when the Austrian army came to a narrow depression, they heard a loud bang from the side and rear.

"It's a cannon!"

An officer looked around in surprise: "Ranger, what happened?"

Then, there was fierce gunfire again. Kaim suddenly thought: "Isn't this a French exercise?"

The officer next to him was stunned: "Why did they come here to practice?"

Before they could think about it, intensive gunshots rang out again on the slope on the east side.

These experienced officers heard it immediately. There were at least two to three thousand soldiers there.

Since Keim had not taken the French military exercise seriously before, he did not notify the soldiers. Immediately, the entire Austrian army became nervous under the influence of gunfire.

With a "plop" sound, a large piece of soil was lifted up on the grass hundreds of steps away. It was obvious that a cannonball had landed there.

The Austrian army suddenly panicked, and a junior officer shouted: "The enemy is attacking, blow the trumpet!"

"Line up! The enemy is in the southeast!"

"Everyone gather around me. Quick! Get your guns, you idiots!"

The next moment, the sound of drums, trumpets and shouts in the Austrian army were mixed together. Some companies were preparing to line up on the spot to defend the enemy, while others were preparing to move closer to the regiment commander. Soon it became a mess.

Cam's face was ashen and he loudly ordered the herald to tell his men that this was just a drill by the French. But at this moment, the ground shook, and then a team of nearly a thousand cavalry appeared on the right wing of the Austrian army.

These cavalry lined up neatly, galloping like the wind, almost passing by the Austrian army, while raising their carbines and shooting into the sky.

The Austrian soldiers only knew that a large group of cavalry was attacking, and then heard the sound of gunfire. They were already frightened out of their wits, and subconsciously ran away from the cavalry.

A large piece of the middle and rear part of the long and narrow Austrian column was instantly missing, like an earthworm being pecked off by a bird.

About half an hour later, Keim's order finally reached the officer. The officers of each regiment began to rush to gather the soldiers.

However, at this moment, several people holding notebooks came quickly to Kaim and shouted to him through the guards:

"General, we are reporters from the Genoa Commercial News. Excuse me, why was there chaos in your army just now?"

Kaim had a sullen face and asked people to drive them away. When he looked up, he saw a dozen reporters asking questions to the soldiers in the chaotic army. There seemed to be reporters interviewing Tersu in the distance. People from Kezhen.

A bad feeling suddenly surged in his heart.

The next day, after General Keim finished washing, he picked up the newspaper pressed by his attendant. Suddenly his vision went dark and he saw the headline on the front page: "French Army's 5,000 Soldiers Exercise Southwest of Modena, causing 30,000 Austrian Army to Flee in Panic." 》.

The following content describes in detail how the Austrian army fell into chaos after hearing the sound of gunfire and fled as the French cavalry approached. Dozens of people were even injured when they were trampled by their own people.