A few days after the outbreak of the war, Archduke Albrecht was in no hurry to attack, but he still had to do it.

On the frontal battlefield, Albrecht did not intend to let his troops rush directly, because he himself was afraid that Italy would not be able to withstand a charge, so he ordered the Austrian troops outside the Alpine line to feint from the north, giving the Italians the illusion that Austria-Hungary intended to break through from the north.

This trick works very well, the northern defense line is much longer than the southern defense line, that is, the road is not easy to walk, and the personnel and materials are not easy to pass.

But behind the northern defense line is not only Venice, but also Lombardy, and the southern defense line is short, and only in the narrow plain east of Venice, but the aura of the famous general of the Grand Duke of Albrecht makes the Italians have to pay attention, in case Albrecht really wants to hit Italy from the north by surprise!

So when the Austrian army made a slight move, Italy began to strengthen its forces in the north, and the northern defense line relied on the Alps, in fact, Italy strengthened these places, which was also a kind of pressure on its own logistics.

In addition, this had the advantage of making the Italian forces more dispersed, and the Kingdom of Italy would have to draw more troops from the rear.

……

About 10 kilometres southwest of the Roman city of the Papal States, where the Austro-Hungarian army was stationed.

Antonio and other Austro-Hungarian soldiers were shedding the Italian country clothes they had worn for more than two months.

In order to facilitate the training of the troops, they were all dressed as Italian farmers before, although this place is already very remote, but in case it is discovered by someone who cares, it is very likely that the news will leak.

As soon as he changed into a military uniform smuggled from the sea, as the last button was fastened, Antonio, the commander of the 3rd Regiment of the 4th Brigade of the 2nd Division of the Austro-Hungarian Expeditionary Force, sorted out his imperial military uniform and complained to the brigade commander: "Brigade commander, if I don't put on the military uniform again, I doubt that I have really become an old peasant in Italy!" Look at the cocoon of my pistol, it has changed from the hand holding the gun to the hand holding the farm implement! ”

"Hehe, my brigade commander is not working in the field with you, what is there to talk about, and as far as you look like when you are farming, let the real farmers see it, it is estimated that they will chase after you with the soles of their shoes in anger, and they will use brute force stupid." The commander of the fourth brigade said to his subordinates.

"I'm embarrassed to say that I, brigade commander, you are no better, you can't do a good job of turning over the soil, and the fields near here are the most ugly in your land." Antonio retorted.

"Farming, itself is not to see, but to see how much fruit can be harvested, although we can't farm, but our value is reflected in the battlefield, the next two months of our efforts can still be achieved or to see the results."

Naturally, it was impossible for the Austro-Hungarian Expeditionary Force to really conduct serious military training in Italy, and even guns had not been distributed before, so in order to prevent these soldiers from being raised and wasted, General Karl really drove them and the officers of the Austro-Hungarian Expeditionary Force to work in the fields, mainly to prevent their muscles from slackening and slacking off.

As for gunsmithing, don't worry about it, these are good soldiers selected from the Austro-Hungarian army, the most military-literate group, and they will not become rusty even if they don't get their hands on firearms for a few months.

Antonio pretended not to hear what the brigade commander said, and muttered: "I don't know if the corn I worked so hard to grow will sprout." ”

"Don't think about it, those seeds are just for you to make a look, and you really think that if you plant crops for two days, you will really become a farmer."

……

The number of Austro-Hungarian troops here now stands at more than 10,000, twice as many as two months ago.

In order to hide so many troops in the papal territory, the Austro-Hungarian Empire rented a large farm around the area, which used to be the site of a sports center outside the city of Rome, and now it is a large desert, so the price is very cheap, and the owner of the farm is a nobleman who lives in the city.

The conditions here are actually not too bad, there are some slopes, the land is much more barren than the surrounding areas, and there are no big rivers around it, the water source is relatively scarce, and some food can still be grown, but the yield is pitiful, so most of the time it is deserted.

A businessman from Austria paid a lot of money to rent such a large piece of rotten land, much to the delight of the landowner.

It was absolutely dizzying that someone would take money to invest in agriculture here, but this did not arouse his suspicions, and he speculated that this Austrian businessman might have rented this place in a daze, after all, he was a foreign "friend" and did not know much about the local situation, which was also reasonable.

Then the farmer turned around and took the rent of the land paid by Austria-Hungary and went to Rome.

"Are you all here?"

The Supreme Commander of the Austro-Hungarian Expeditionary Force, Lieutenant General Karl, appeared in front of everyone at this time, his glasses had not yet been removed, his hands behind his back, holding the map.

"Report to the commander, the troops have been assembled!"

"Very well, we will stab the Italians in the heart next, this time we are deep behind enemy lines, the situation is not without danger, you are not afraid!"

"Die for the Empire!"

"Don't say such discouraged words, I want you all to live, and I hope you can go to Florence with me for a military parade!"

"Hahaha......" Lieutenant General Karl's words caused everyone to laugh.

After everyone's laughter finally stopped, Lieutenant General Karl immediately changed his face, and said with a serious face full of experience: "Okay, let's get down to business, according to the information revealed by the Italian high-level, more than 30,000 people from the Italian Kingdom are rushing to the Roman area, and among them, there is also the Italian self-proclaimed hero, Garibaldi, although he is suspected of boasting, but his ability is still much stronger than that of a group of Italian Kingdom officers, so he is an opponent worth paying attention to." At the moment, there is no serious resistance to the army of the Kingdom of Italy in the Papal States except Rome, so the enemy will soon arrive in Rome, probably tonight, and if we want to go to the parade in Florence, we must defeat this Italian army first. ”

"Commander, are we going to enter the city of Rome to change our defenses?"

"No, after the Papal State army fights with the army of the Kingdom of Italy led by Garibaldi and others, we will be responsible for the sneak attack."

"What if the Papal state forces surrender outright?"

"At this point, you don't need to worry, the most unlikely thing for Italy to surrender is Pius IX, the Roman army, the main force is also composed of foreigners such as France and Switzerland, so it will not be crushed with one blow, and our people will tell Pius IX alone to prevent the pre-war news from being revealed."

Raising his left hand and looking at the time on his watch, Lieutenant General Karl said: "It's almost afternoon, let the cooking class start cooking, take out all the best supplies we have stored, and open the meat today!" The night was so energetic that it caught the Italians off guard! ”

"Yes, Commander!" The subordinates happily agreed.

(End of chapter)