Chapter 90: Politics Triumph All

The Papal Army Command, the power struggle within the Papal State had already spread to the front-line army at this time.

"Your Majesty, the great Pope has sent an order, ordering us to stop advancing and return to Rome to suppress the rebellion immediately!" said a middle-aged officer with a frown.

There was no way, before receiving the order of His Majesty the Pope, the cabinet government also issued a military order to them, ordering them to cooperate with the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia to conquer Venice as soon as possible.

Borkin has a headache. Listening to the Pope or the Cabinet is a terrible multiple-choice question. One wrong step in the political struggle will lead to doom.

Don't look at the fact that the democrats seem to have the upper hand. Pope Pius IX is in exile in Naples, thinking that the winner is a winner. In fact, this power struggle has just begun.

As the religious leader of Europe, the Pope is also the master of the summoning people. He can't do away the bourgeoisie at home, but he can call a helper. Historically, France and Austria sent troops to help him regain his rights.

"Your Excellency Commander, what should we do now and who should we listen to?" an officer asked hesitantly.

Borkin shook his head helplessly. He really didn't know what to do. Deep down, he was inclined towards the Pope, but the problem was that he could not guarantee that the Pope would win this political struggle.

This question didn't last long, and a young officer broke in and broke the tense atmosphere: "Your Excellency Commander, the main enemy army are being ambushed ahead and requesting for support!"

Borkin ordered without hesitation: "Order the second regiment as reinforcements immediately, and send the order to let the third regiment of the rear army quicken their pace."

Since the enemy has appeared, there is no need to think about it so much, let's fight a battle first!

It is a pity that the army of the Papal State has long since decayed, and the papal guards dare not use them, so they know what they are.

What happened in the country had long been spread in the military camp, and the Pope's army, who didn't have much desire to fight, completely let go of themselves at this time.

When people's hearts are scattered, it's not easy to take care of morale. If it is on the battlefield, the consequences are quite horrible.

By the time the second regiment caught up, the vanguard had already been defeated. In the era of platooning guns, what everyone fought for was courage, but unfortunately, what the Pope's army lacked was also courage.

Seeing that the defeated soldiers were all running away, they don't know who first started, but everyone started to followed the command officer and ran away. The second regiment that had just come to reinforcements collapsed without a fight. The battle had not yet started, but they have all scattered due to losing the will to fight.

...

After running for twenty miles, the sky gradually darkened. After confirming that the Austrian army was not chasing after him, the Pope's army stabilized, and General Borkin was still confused.

Why did the battle that just start and they already scattered? There were no other way, he was also a confused general fighting a confused battle.

Borkin was able to rise to the top by virtue of his noble background and shrewd political mind. As for military ability, when does the Pope's national election general need to test his military ability?

Looking at the chaos of the barracks, Borkin frowned and asked, "Has Nelson's losses been counted?"

"Your Excellency Commander, 3,300 officers and soldiers have returned now, and there should be more people coming back one after another. We are helping them to rebuild!" Nelson replied mechanically.

Don't think that he is also called Nelson, and think he is a famous European general. In fact, it is just a very coincidental name. There are not 10,000 or 8,000 people with this name.

"Ah, God, what kind of battle is this! Summon me a lieutenant colonel and above right away, and come over for a meeting," Borkin growled.

I will just forgive him this one-time on the basis of the great generation after all it was his first time on the battlefield commanding so many soldiers. After suffering such a large defeat, he didn't have a mental breakdown is already good enough for me.

In this battle, the casualties of the Pope's army were not large, except that the vanguard was ambushed by the Austrian army.

The troops behind did not engage the enemy at all. On the third day, the total number of officers and soldiers who returned one after another reached more than 6,300. For a force of 7,000, the loss was less than 10%.

After a defeat, Borkin became conservative, and stayed where he was, waiting for logistical supplies while gathering the defeated troops and watching the situation on the battlefield.

A middle-aged officer whispered: "Your Excellency Commander, Marshal Bardorio ordered us to immediately attack the Austrian army and help the Sardinian army attack the flank!"

Borkin sneered. "Order us? Who is this Bardario? When has the Marshal of Sardinia command the troops of our Papal State? Do you think that I'm also that idiot Maherd, running to be cannon fodder and rush in like an idiot?

Paul, tell the Sardinians that our army is fighting hard against the enemy's main force and is unable to support fellow soldiers. I believe that the heroic Sardinian army will definitely defeat the enemy and win the war!"

On the issue of fighting against Austria, the four Italian states have verbally agreed that Marshal Bardorio is the commander-in-chief of the coalition.

However, the actual effectiveness of this coalition commander who the hell knows know if it will work.

Originally, everyone was a competitor. This was not a verbal agreement that could eliminate the gap between them.

The Sardinian army could sit back and watch the Tuscans lose, and Borkin could also sit back and watch the Sardinian army and the Austrians fight hard.

"Yes, Commander!" Paul replied

"Order the troops to pack up, we will retreat the day after tomorrow and leave the battlefield to the Sardinians." Borkin added.

Standing up against allies, who is afraid of whom?

Borkin never regarded the Kingdom of Sardinia as an ally. In his opinion, the Kingdom of Sardinia was ambitious to unify Italy, and the threat to the Papal State was far above Austria.

There is no defection on the battlefield, which is worthy of the "ally".

On the surface, Borkin lost the battle this time. If he can't wash away the shame of defeat, he will definitely be unlucky when he goes back.

However, politically speaking, this defeat was a timely, allowing Polkin to survive the political difficulties.

After a battle with the Austrians, the cabinet government can explain it, and he has already carried out the order.

It is normal to fail when trying to win. This is completely a "non-war crime". It is enough to enlarge the strength of the enemy a little bit. Anyway, no one thinks that the Pope's army can defeat Austria, and their expectations are not high.

Of course, the Pope will have to change the statement. For example, because of the attack by the Austrian army, a large number of wounded have been added, and the speed of retreat will naturally be slow.

By the time they slowly withdraw, the domestic political struggle will almost be over.

History is always an amazing coincidence. Because of necessity, Borkin made the same choice and withdrew from the war after a losing battle.