Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 739 - 647 Dont be nervous Im just passing by

Chapter 739: Chapter 647: Don’t be nervous, I’m just passing by

Chapter 739: Chapter 647: Don’t be nervous, I’m just passing by

Count Saigul smiled faintly, “Thank you for your reminder, but I believe it is not too late. In fact, the soldiers of the Royal Guards will be able to reach here in three days.”

The Guard Corps that had previously gone to Baden for a military exercise was still en route when they received the order and immediately headed south. After a series of forced marches, they had already reached the vicinity of Turin in Sardinia.

Ercole III’s eyes widened in surprise, “So soon? But…”

He fiddled with his cane, his gaze shifting toward the ground, “I still need to convene my ministers to discuss this.”

Modena, as a small nation with a population of only 800,000 and an area less than one-fifth the size of Switzerland, had no desire to be entangled in the complications between the great powers of France and Austria.

Saigul spoke with conviction, “Your Majesty, you should be well aware that the Austrian exercise is not just about the trade agreement.

“An army of 30,000 is a tremendous threat to the entire region of Italy.”

He picked up his teacup and took a sip, “Especially since Modena has disputes with both Parma and Lucca, and they all have close ties with Austria.

“If one day Parma seeks Austrian support, not even one-fifth of that military force would be needed for your country to be undefendable.”

After glancing at the thoughtful expression on Ercole III’s face, he continued, “In addition, Sardinia has always claimed sovereignty over the Central Italy region.

“It can be said that your nation is always in danger.”

The Duke of Modena looked at him, puzzled, “What do you mean?”

“Crown Prince believes that France and Modena can take this opportunity of the military exercise to engage in some military cooperation,” proposed Saigul, “Specifically, our country can help you train your troops, provide weapons, and even station troops directly.”

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Ercole III couldn’t help but be moved. With the support of France, the security of Modena would undoubtedly be better assured. But at the same time, France itself posed a threat to Modena, especially the notion of stationing troops…

Saigul smiled, “If Your Majesty finds it necessary, we could sign a military agreement, or even a secret agreement, which would allow you to avoid threats from Austria.”

Seeing that Ercole III was still hesitating, Saigul pulled out the “bait” the Crown Prince had given him, “Oh, our laminate furniture sales are soaring in the Italian region, so we plan to build a splitting and packaging factory here. If our two countries engage in cooperation, I believe Modena would be the best location for the factory.”

Ercole III almost immediately nodded, “I very much look forward to Modena cooperating with the great France; let us choose a date to sign a secret pact.”

To know, laminate furniture was selling like crazy in Italy. If they could undertake the splitting and packaging work, it meant that all French furniture sold to Italy could be shared with them.

For a small country like Modena, this was a source of income that could significantly improve the nation’s financial situation.

Four days later.

After completing the exercise, the Austrian Army, under the command of General Kem, departed from Pisa in Tuscany, passed through Lucca to head north, and prepared to return to Southern Austria via Parma.

Actually, from Tuscany, going north through Modena would have provided direct access to Austria, but due to the family relations, with Parma and Modena at odds, the Austrians chose to take a detour.

Just as the 30,000-strong Austrian Army arrived near Terzuk Town, at the junction between Parma, Lucca, and Modena, suddenly a diplomat from Modena came to inform General Kem that France and Modena were going to conduct a military exercise.

At first, Kem was somewhat surprised but then burst out laughing, turning to the officer beside him, “The French people want to exercise too? Don’t they think it’s a bit late?”

A group of officers laughed along. Just yesterday, Parma also indicated they would raise tariffs on French goods; by the time the French Army arrived for the exercise, the trade dispute would have already ended.

The Modena official bowed and then turned his horse to leave.

General Kem paid no attention to this little incident, and, chatting leisurely with his staff, continued on his way, occasionally waving to the townspeople of Terzuk Town who were watching the excitement from a distance.

However, when the Austrian Army approached a narrow depression nearby, they heard a tremendous roar coming from the side and rear.

“Cannon fire!”

An officer looked around in surprise, “Cavalry Scouts, what’s happened?”

Then came another burst of violent cannon fire. Kem suddenly remembered, “Could it be the French people conducting military exercises?”

The officer next to him was taken aback, “Why would they be conducting exercises here?”

Before they had time to think it through, more intense gunfire erupted from the slopes to the east.

These seasoned officers immediately recognized that there were at least two to three thousand soldiers there.

Since Kem had not taken the French Army’s exercises seriously beforehand, he had not informed his troops, and the entire Austrian Army became tense under the influence of the gunfire.

With a “thud,” a large patch of earth was thrown up on the grassland a few hundred paces away, clearly from a cannonball landing there.

Panic immediately struck the Austrian forces, and a lower-ranking officer began to shout, “Enemy attack, sound the bugle!”

“Form up! The enemy is in the southeast direction!”

“Gather around me. Quick! Take up your arms, you fools!”

The next moment, the Austrian camp was filled with the mingling sounds of drums, bugles, and cries. Some units prepared to form ranks to face the enemy on the spot, others to move closer to their commanders. The entire army quickly descended into chaos.

Kem’s face turned ashen, and he loudly ordered his aides to tell the troops that this was just the French people conducting military exercises. But just at that moment, the ground trembled, and then nearly a thousand cavalry appeared on the right flank of the Austrian forces.

These cavalrymen were in neat formation, charging like the wind, almost grazing past the Austrian forces while raising their carbines to fire into the sky.

The Austrian soldiers, knowing only that a large force of cavalry was attacking and hearing gunfire, were already scared out of their wits and ran subconsciously away from the cavalry.

The lengthy Austrian column in the middle and rear was like a worm nibbled by birds, instantly missing a large chunk.

About half an hour later, Kem’s orders finally reached the officers. The officers of each unit began to frantically gather their soldiers.

However, just at that moment, several people holding notebooks briskly approached Kem, shouting at him from behind the guards, “General, we are journalists from the ‘Genoa Business News,’ may we ask why your troops just now fell into confusion?”

Kem kept a stern face and had them driven away, but looking up, he saw a dozen more journalists amidst the chaotic troops asking this and that of the soldiers. It seemed there were even more journalists interviewing the people from Terzuk Town in the distance.

A bad feeling suddenly welled up in his heart.

The next day, after General Kem finished washing up and casually picked up the newspaper that his attendant had ironed, his vision went dark, and he saw the headline on the front page: “5,000 French soldiers in military exercises southwest of Modena, causing 30,000 Austrians to panic and scatter.”

The content below detailed how the Austrian Army fell into confusion upon hearing gunfire and broke into a rout as the French cavalry approached, with even dozens injured from being trampled by their own men.