Chapter 808 Back to the Starting Point

So Charles Duchat got his first "angel investment", and Ticino suffered an unprecedented catastrophe.

In fact, there was another reason why Charles Duchat occupied Ticino, that is, he did not wait for Louis Philippe's order.

In the eyes of the latter, the volunteer plan had already failed, and the former had long been forgotten by him.

At this time, Louis Philippe was considering whether to go to Vienna in person.

In fact, the interests of France and Austria are consistent, and dividing Switzerland should be beneficial to both countries. However, the monarch's personal attendance was still too much face for Austria.

But Louis Philippe thought about it again. What if he didn't give this face, would the other party really let Switzerland maintain the status quo?

After all, the passage to Ticino has been opened, but the Austrian side still has no action. Could it be that Austria has reached some kind of agreement with the Swiss Orthodox Alliance?

Will a pro-Austrian government be established?

The more Louis Philippe thought about it, the more afraid he became. He decided to go to Vienna. Presumably, if he gave this face, the other party would not embarrass him.

Switzerland, on the banks of the Reuss River.

Dufour once again cheered up and gave an exciting speech. He really wanted to maintain peace in the country of peace, but the development of the war had exceeded his control.

Dufour really wanted to end this meaningless war, and the officers in the audience were also excited.

But the soldiers didn't want to go to the battlefield to die at all. Although the ice was frozen, there was no problem with people and horses, and even a hammer couldn't break it.

But who knows what will happen if the shells hit it?

The soldiers looked at the frozen river in front of them anxiously, and no one was willing to take the first step.

But this was not up to them. The military drums sounded, the officers raised their whips, and the soldiers were driven forward like mules and horses.

The soldiers of the Orthodox Alliance on the other side also didn't want to fight, but they couldn't think more when the enemy was at the gates. The long-range shooting of the artillery was obviously not the protagonist of the battlefield.

The surrendered soldiers from Fribourg were called up again. They will be the first batch of cannon fodder to step into this land of death.

When the attacking Free State troops had reached one-third of the way, the artillery of the Orthodox Alliance began to pour on the ice.

As expected, the ice layer was fragile under the bombardment of artillery shells.

So the surrendered soldiers on the ice were embarrassed, with the enemy in front and the supervision team behind, and the ice under their feet could collapse at any time.

In this situation, the first reaction of people must be to flee back, but the supervision team behind seemed to be determined to kill them, and actually brought cannons loaded with shotgun shells.

The killing of shotgun shells to infantry at close range is very terrible. Retreating is a dead end, so what about rushing forward?

Some people think they are soldiers of the Orthodox Alliance, so they run back while shouting, hoping that someone will recognize them.

"Our own people! Don't shoot!"

But the battlefield is chaotic, with the rumbling of artillery, the roar of officers, and the roar of soldiers, the voices of those surrendered soldiers were soon drowned out.

Seeing the enemy rushing towards them, the soldiers of the Orthodox Alliance began to fight back driven by the survival instinct. It was almost impossible to rush to the other side alive.

So what about staying where you are? Waiting to die, naturally you get what you want.

Whether it was forward or backward, some people survived by chance, but those who waited to die in the same place were all buried here.

Just when Ulrich Salis was celebrating another great victory on the front line, an unfortunate news came that a troop of the Free Alliance had successfully crossed the river from the flank.

In fact, those surrendered soldiers of Fribourg were cannon fodder. They made a strong attack posture on the front, and Dufour took this opportunity to send one of his elite troops to the other side of the river first.

This mistake was caused by many factors. First of all, Dufour's high-profile attack on the front attracted too much attention from the Orthodox Alliance. Many troops were temporarily transferred to the bridgehead, resulting in the emptiness of the defense force along the river.

At the same time, the previous observation hot air balloon was so useful that everyone had a mysterious confidence in it.

As a result, the Orthodox Alliance was blinded by the cold and windy weather that day, and the hot air balloon could not take off.

At this time, the Orthodox Alliance could choose to counterattack with all their strength and drive the enemy back.

But doing so was very risky, and Archduke Karl disagreed with this approach, because an encounter in the wild was exactly what Dufour wanted.

The Free State had an absolute advantage in terms of military strength at this time, and this kind of fist-to-flesh bloody battle was exactly what they wanted.

Archduke Karl had no troops that could gain an advantage in an encounter except his own guards and the elite Austrian veterans.

There were only more than 3,000 of these people left, and he could not afford to be consumed at all.

As for the soldiers of the Orthodox Alliance, the same thing applies: they can defend the city, but forget about encounters.

On the surface, Dufour seemed to have finally won a move, but in fact, both sides were still at the starting point.

After that, he used those surrendered soldiers to add trenches several times, but the troops with low morale, lack of heavy weapons, and no siege experience could not get any advantage in front of a modern defense master.

There was no suspense in the several battles, and the surrendered soldiers did not even capture the outermost bastions.

However, Dufour was not in a hurry at all, because there was no point in being anxious. Unless he could take a detour, he would have to gnaw at each bastion one by one.

This was determined by the terrain, and he had no choice. In this era, it was normal to siege for half a year or a year, not to mention this kind of fortress with natural barriers.

However, he could wait, but Joseph Roy in the rear could not. Because every day the war lasted, the possibility of interference from the two great powers of France and Austria increased.

Joseph Roy has always been confident in the Swiss Confederation, but no matter how confident he is, he does not think that Switzerland can withstand the attack of the two great powers.

What's more, Switzerland's enemies may not only be France and Austria, and on the other hand, the British promised that only half of it was fulfilled. The latter did lodge a solemn protest to France and Austria, but did not take the next step.

And the supply of nearly 200,000 troops is too heavy for the Swiss Confederation. What's more terrible is that as the war time continues to prolong, governors from all over the country begin to enjoy this feeling of holding power.

These people use war to make up excuses, rob and eliminate dissidents, just like warlords. Some people in the Free Alliance have begun to suggest the adoption of a confederation system because it is more free.

However, this runs counter to Joseph Roy's ideals. He hopes for a strong and unified Swiss Confederation, not a return to the original confederation.

So Joseph Löwy began to encourage his generals, promising them high positions, high salaries, fame and beauty.

As the saying goes, a big reward will always bring a brave man, but there is also a saying that a gangster will be a plane all his life if he doesn't use his brain.

A young Free State general decided to attack the St. Gotthard Pass, but was ambushed by Heinrich Irabem in the valley, losing more than 3,000 people and didn't even touch the wall of the St. Gotthard Fortress.