Chapter 259: Italy: "Now It's My Turn!"
The next day, when the sun rose—
Only then were the results of the previous night's battle tallied. The Hechingen Brigade had 256 casualties, including 78 killed in action; another three were missing.
On the French side, the 54th Brigade had 2,324 men captured overnight, with 687 killed. The rest fled into the forest. By the next day, over a hundred had wandered back, lost, and surrendered to the Hechingen Brigade.
As for the commander of the French 54th Brigade, Allède, he was stabbed to death in the chaos of last night's fighting, found with two knife wounds. Because it was dark, no one knew who dealt the fatal blows.
It was undeniably a great victory, yet Heinrich still felt pained by the loss of over two hundred men. Leopold, used to the harsh reality of war, only remarked, "That's how brutal war can be."
…
While the Franco-Prussian War raged on and Prussia currently held the upper hand, the Kingdom of Italy could no longer stay on the sidelines.
"Your Majesty, our intelligence officers confirm that France's last contingent withdrew on July 28. Now that Germany and Prussia are locked in fierce combat, this is the perfect chance for us to reclaim Rome!"
Victor Emmanuel II, however, remained cautious. "We really don't know how the war on the front is going. What if France still has the strength to interfere with Italy's unification? And what if Prussia loses, and the French come after us later for payback?"
"That's not our concern," declared Italy's foreign minister. "Right now, both France and Prussia want our favor. Whichever side we join will gain the upper hand, so both will try hard to woo us. In such circumstances, if we incorporate the Papal States, they'll only keep quiet."
"This is our best chance," insisted Garibaldi, one of Italy's 'three founding fathers.' "Right now, France and Prussia are bogged down in Alsace and Lorraine, while Austria-Hungary's forces are preoccupied by Prussia and Russia. Every obstacle to Italian unification is gone! If we don't act now, we may never get another opportunity. Last time, Napoleon III went back on his word—otherwise, we'd have unified Italy already. Now that Napoleon III has been dragged into the conflict by the Prussians, we can't afford to hesitate any longer, Your Majesty."
Garibaldi had long dreamed of a unified Italy. When France declared war on Prussia, he saw this window of opportunity, which was why he'd come to the royal palace in person.
Victor Emmanuel II was a prudent man, but with all his advisors urging him, he began to waver. He was about to speak when—
"Your Majesty, bad news!" an intelligence officer burst in holding a telegram.
"What happened?"
"Just yesterday, His Holiness the Pope in Rome issued a joint statement with Austria-Hungary. Austria-Hungary is proclaiming that Rome is a sacred land for all Catholic nations and that its sovereignty is inviolable. Meanwhile, the Pope has declared the Papal States under Austro-Hungarian protection."
…
Rewind one day earlier
Rome
Once the French troops left, nobody was more alarmed than the Catholic Church in Rome. No matter how Pope Pius IX pleaded, the French still pulled out. With the French gone, Pius IX realized no one remained to rein in the Kingdom of Italy's ambitions.
Of course, Pius IX did not want to end up a prisoner. The problem was that, with the French gone, his few inadequate soldiers were hardly enough to resist the Italian Army. He certainly didn't believe the Kingdom of Italy would go easy on him just because he was the Pope. The last time, that fellow Garibaldi nearly seized Rome outright.
Just as Pius IX was despairing, an envoy from Austria-Hungary arrived.
"Your Holiness, our empire is ready to protect your state, on the condition that from now on, the Papal States stand firmly on the side of Austria-Hungary and oppose the Kingdom of Italy's aggression."
For the desperate Pius IX, that was hardly a condition. No one was more opposed to Italian unification than he was.
Following the envoy's guidance, the Papal States signed a raft of agreements with Austria-Hungary, including garrison rights. Then the two parties summarized these agreements and publicly announced them—essentially revealing their hand to the Kingdom of Italy: "The Papal States are under our protection now."
…
"Insufferable!" Even Victor Emmanuel II, usually patient, could not swallow such humiliation. Though Italy's last war with the Austrian Empire had ended badly, they had still come out the victors.
As for Austria, it was no longer the same empire; Austria-Hungary wasn't on par with its former self at all. Victor Emmanuel II, living next to them, knew better than anyone how much weaker they had become. Moreover, with the Russian Army threatening from the east and Prussia guarding against them from the north, how could they challenge Italy?
Worst of all, they'd made this "nonsensical declaration" with the Pope right after the French withdrew, without even asking Italy for an opinion. Victor Emmanuel II suspected Franz was just trying to intimidate them by waving Austria-Hungary's banner. Now that the French had left, Rome was basically at Italy's mercy.
"The Austrians clearly fear that if Italy annexes the Papal States and completes unification, we might threaten them in the future," he reasoned. "But their meddling doesn't make sense. Austria-Hungary is worried we'll become strong enough to challenge them once we're united."
"Your Majesty," said the foreign minister, "they're just trying to apply diplomatic pressure, in true Habsburg style, hoping we'll back down. But the Austrians have no real means of defending the Papal States. They can't sail across the Adriatic to help. Their main force is pinned by Russia and Prussia. If we shore up defenses around Venice, they'll be helpless while we annex the Papal States."
Garibaldi chimed in, "Indeed. Austria-Hungary can only stir up a few minor troubles near Venice. Their troops are on guard against Russia and Prussia, so if we reinforce Venice, they have no way to interfere. They'll just have to watch us absorb the Papal States."
Garibaldi had good reason to speak so boldly. He'd once commanded a volunteer force of just over a thousand men that wiped out an Austrian battalion and captured more than 400, waging guerrilla warfare that caused huge problems for Austria's Marshal Radetzky. He had even crossed swords with French troops a few times, so he felt little awe of any "great powers."
Though both Garibaldi and the foreign minister made sense, Victor Emmanuel II still hesitated. He had a nagging feeling the timing wasn't right.
He asked, "Might Austria-Hungary be acting like the French did last time…?"
Previously, France had teamed up with Austria and Spain under the banner of "Catholic unity" to block Italy from taking Rome.
"They won't succeed," someone replied. "France is preoccupied, and Spain just emerged from chaos. Plus, Spain's King is one of our own now. Austria-Hungary can't gather any allies this time."
The King of Spain, Amadeo I, was Prince Amedeo, Victor Emmanuel II's second son. Far from thwarting Italy, Spain might actually support it—or at least the king personally would.
After double-checking every possible backup plan Austria-Hungary might have, Victor Emmanuel II finally felt reassured.
"Very well, then. We shall advance on Rome! Still, to prevent any Austrian interference, we need to station more troops around Venice and deploy our finest regiments there against Austria. Meanwhile, Garibaldi, you and the rest of our army will go and conquer Rome!"
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