Chapter 121： expedition

On June 1, 1849, the outskirts of Rome, the capital of the Papal State/Roman Republic.

The outskirts of Rome, which had been shrouded in heavy rain overnight, exuded a stench and a musty smell.

This is the fourteenth day after the siege of the city of Rome. Since May 17, the "bandit army" of the French Republic [a derogatory term for the French Republic by the Volunteers of the Roman Republic] occupied the suburbs and villages of the city of Rome, and the war has revolved around the suburbs of Rome.

Reigno, the commander-in-chief of the Roman Expeditionary Force, who led more than 14,000 French soldiers, moved steadily and relied on the navy's strong transportation capacity to transfer nearly 20 heavy artillery pieces. The purpose of coming to Rome was to protect the Roman Republic.

Of course, the ruling Roman Republic headed by Mazzini was unwilling to believe Renio's words.

After all, on the 16th, Reño severely damaged their painstakingly running the National Guard in a rural area near Rome. How could there be such a person who declared to protect the other side and also severely damaged the other side's army.

Although Mazzini was reluctant to believe Reinho's nonsense, the French soldiers were already in the city, and the army of the Republic was in urgent need of rectification.

Mazzini had no choice but to deal with Reynolds while he reorganized the army and wrote to his French comrades, hoping that they could stop the army's invasion of the Republic.

The republic cannot fight the republic, this is Mazzini's appeal.

Of course, this is also the subjective factor that Mazzini subconsciously believed that the Roman Republic army was inferior to the French army.

As for Reigno, he also understands Mazzini's intentions, and now he also needs time to transfer some of the teams stranded in Civitavecchia.

In the first round of competition for the suburbs of Rome, Reño found that his more than 14,000 advance troops could not completely eliminate the Roman Republic, and he had to call all the remaining teams in Civitavecchia. Just come.

On May 28th, the envelope of Jerome Bonaparte was delivered to General Reno.

General Reño, who was well prepared, decided to follow the president's orders and fight a beautiful annihilation.

On the evening of May 28, with the order of General Reño, the French war machine, which had rested for more than ten days, started again.

A cannon with solid shells set up the artillery overnight and was completely constructed around three in the morning.

During this period, the Roman Republic also discovered Renio's actions. Under the leadership of Garibaldi, the only remaining commander of the Roman Republic, they formed a death squad in an attempt to break into the artillery array and destroy the cannons.

This action was blocked by the French army, and the two sides fought in the suburban streets, blood spattering on the streets and walls.

Originally, the pair did not know each other, and even said that there was no deep hatred between the two parties, but under the guidance of the government, they became life-and-death opponents.

The French army, the owner of Continental First, quickly forced the army of the Roman Republic to several strategic points inherent in them.

With the order of General Reño, all the guns were pointed at several strategic points and city walls in the city of Rome.

A loud roar of cannons woke the inhabitants of the Roman Republic, the first round of uncalibrated cannons were fired, and some solid shells that veered off course "just happened" over the inner city walls and hit their apartments .

The cannon that carried the huge impact slammed into the room's owner's side before he could react. The room owner who only had the thought of "Where am I? Who am I" was instantly smashed to pieces by the solid shell, leaving only the There was a cloud of blood mist and a blur of blood-red flesh on the wall.

Such a situation was common in Rome on the night of the 28th. Under the salvo of nearly 20 cannons, let alone them, even Mazzini, the ruler of the Roman Republic, almost died.

Mazzini, who was on the wall of the Roman Republic, ordered the soldiers on the wall to counterattack. The soldiers on the wall could only respond hesitantly. Their artillery and range simply could not overwhelm the French Republic. It is better to preserve their strength than to fire at them now. , waiting for the French Republic to approach before attacking.

Mazzini had to give up his plan to counterattack, and the cannon firing took nearly an hour to stop.

At this time, the city of Rome looked like a goddess with a slashed face, leaving only ruins and mourning from time to time.

"They will definitely pay for it!" Mazzini's expression was full of resentment, looking at Rome, which was already full of ruins.

Perhaps God did not want to see the Roman Republic perish so quickly.

In the early morning of May 29, under the raid of the French Republic soldiers, the Roman Republic's outpost defense key points of Villa Corny, Villa Pamphili, and the barricades near Mount Yaniculum were lost.

On the evening of the 29th, the artillery formation was moved to Mount Yanikurumum under the order of Renio. Anyone with a little military knowledge knew that General Renio was about to launch a general attack on the Roman Republic.

Just as General Reño was about to continue his offensive to defeat the suburbs and enter the inner city in one fell swoop, a large cloud of dark clouds appeared over Rome, shrouding the suburbs of Roman rain, with lightning and rumbling thunder haunting the clouds.

Judging from the thickness of the clouds, a heavy rain is inevitable, and rainy days are obviously not conducive to launching the general attack.

Reño could only give up the attack on the city of Rome and ordered the cannon to be taken care of.

The rain fell for nearly two days, and it finally cleared up on the night of June 1.

The late night with a bright moon hanging in the sky was particularly deserted, and the storm from France was launched in the deserted.

At 8 o'clock in the evening on June 1, General Reño issued an order to the expeditionary force to march into the city of Rome.

The cannons in the artillery array were activated again, and this time their per mu yield was not the inner city of Rome, but the city walls surrounding the city of Rome.

More than 40 cannons loaded with solid shells fired simultaneously towards the city walls.

After a volley, the Roman walls were quickly blown out once breached.

Edgar Ney, the commander of the raiding force, pulled out the command knife in his hand and shouted: "Enter Rome and hang Mazzini!"

The sharp and cold command knife flickered under the moonlight, making people feel a chill pouring into my heart.

Seeing this, the surrounding commanders also raised the command knife in their hands and shouted diligently: "Enter the city of Rome and hang Mazzini!"

Thousands of soldiers armed with MTL1842 breech guns, under the leadership of their respective commanders, formed a confrontation and rushed towards the gap like locusts.

In the city of Rome, the National Guard and the Volunteer Army, dressed in all kinds of troops and armed with "made in all countries" rifles, gathered at the gap under the leadership of Garibaldi.

Garibaldi is giving his final mobilization speech: "Soldiers, you are fighting for the Republic! Fighting for the millions of Italians, France has betrayed their faith, and their army has fallen into a An army full of "gangsters" and "ambitionists"!

I see in you the vigor of the new army. Although our weapons are not as good as theirs, I believe that the degenerate "bandit army" cannot fight against an army with only ideals and vigor! Their defeat is inevitable, and I will take the lead in this battle with you! "

After the speech, Garibaldi clenched his fists and shouted loudly: "Long live Italy, long live the Roman Republic!"

The National Guard and Volunteers present were a group of energetic troops, eager to give their all to the unification of Italy.

Encouraged by Garibaldi, they also shouted: "Long live Italy, long live the Roman Republic! Down with the French bandit army!"

This loud voice seemed to contain a power that could shake the earth, and it passed through the Roman city wall and reached the ears of the French army.

There was a small wave of riots in the French army on the march, and some new recruits could not help but doubt the justice of the war.

However, under the "kind" leather shoes of the veterans and the commander's knife, they didn't dare to think about attacking the gap.

General Reño, who used the artillery array as a command post, frowned slightly. He pointed to the gap and gave an order to the artillery commander beside him: "All the cannons are fired at that, I want to see them. How to defeat our army!"

"Yes!" The regiment commander in charge of the artillery formation quickly acted.

Another salvo, this time with shotgun shells instead of solid shells.

The shotgun that entered the inner city through the gap exploded at the moment of landing, and the countless shrapnel hidden in the shotgun shot out in all directions.

"Be careful!" The soldier beside Garibaldi instantly threw Garibaldi to the ground.

"what!"

Garibaldi, whose body was close to the ground, could only hear countless wailing sounds coming from his ears.

Garibaldi, who reacted, wanted to get the soldiers up, and he wanted to continue the war.

It was only then that he realized that the soldier who had jumped on him had died.

The blood merged with the soldier's red uniform, and a grieving Garibaldi gently pushed the dead soldier away and got up again.

The sharp-edged soldiers who fought against the French vanguard suffered heavy casualties from Reigno's artillery.

These were all the teams he brought out by himself. Some of them also followed him to fight the Austrians in Lombardy. Those who survived at the hands of the feudal monarchy died at the hands of their "compatriots" who were also republics.

Thinking of this, Garibaldi's heart is like dripping blood.

"Hang Mazzini!"

A hoarse cry pulled Garibaldi out of his grief and anger. Garibaldi, who adjusted his mentality, wanted to gather the remaining team to block the French troops.

"General, let's go! We can't stop them!" The blood-stained adjutant grabbed Garibaldi's arm and shouted hard.

"I..." Garibaldi glanced at the remaining soldiers beside him, he knew that even if he fought to the death here, he would block the French soldiers more and more He could only gradually retreat to the inner city, relying on the streets and Rome The inhabitants of the city were the most effective way to fight against France.

"Ugh!"

Even though Garibaldi's heart is full of unwillingness, it can only be turned into a powerless sigh at the moment.

"withdraw!"

Under Garibaldi's orders, the remaining Roman Republic army had to give up blocking the gap.

The French army, like the tide, occupied the gap under the leadership of Edgar Ney.

"Tell the commander that we have opened the road to the inner city, and we need further instructions!"

Edgar Ney wiped the sweat from his forehead and ordered the soldier beside him.

"Yes!"

The soldiers who received the order of Edgar Ney quickly set off for General Reño.