ch8

‘Your Majesty, you must take responsibility.’

‘As the mother of 100 million subjects.’

No. I hate it. I didn’t even want this crown.

‘The evil woman who killed my son!’

‘Give us back our dead husbands!’

I’m sorry. It was my fault. Because it was my fault. Please…

‘You die too.’

‘I sentence you to death.’

Thud!

My neck is getting tighter.

My Adam’s apple is being crushed.

I can’t breathe. Oxygen isn’t reaching my brain. Thump, thump, thump. My blood pressure is rising.

I don’t want to die. I want to live. Why are you transmigrating me against my will? Why are you making me an emperor against my will, and why are you…

Why. Why.

Why.

“Ugh…”

I slowly opened my eyes. The complex patterns on the ceiling seeped into my vision.

It’s a ceiling I’m slowly getting used to.

“Ha…”

I felt pathetic for being relieved by that ceiling.

I ran a hand over my face and got out of bed.

I reached for the newspaper and coffee on the table.

The newspaper read: ‘Savoy-Two Sicilies Army Repelled in Lombardy!’

“Hmm.”

Just another daily headline, like ‘The sun rose in the east!’

August 17, 1915.

Immediately after the Savoy-Two Sicilies Kingdom’s declaration of war was delivered to Vienna,

“Fire!”

Bang!!!

Artillery fire echoed across the border between the Holy Roman Empire and the Savoy-Two Sicilies Kingdom.

“Warriors of Italy! Let us reclaim our lost lands!”

Surprisingly, aside from being a second-rate power, the Savoy-Two Sicilies army was a modernized, strong army worthy of being called a great power.

Revenge against the Holy Roman Empire, which had long treated them as inferiors, the cause of unifying the Italian peninsula, and the confidence that came from being an undefeated army1).

In terms of morale, which generals of this era emphasized so much, the Savoy-Two Sicilies army was comparable to most great powers.

If their opponent had been another second-rate power, the Savoy-Two Sicilies army would have once again heralded a victory.

“Charge! Charge!!”

The Savoy-Two Sicilies army charged towards the trench line that stretched along the Po River, the border between Lombardy and the Savoy-Two Sicilies Kingdom.

And the machine guns mounted in the trenches spewed fire at them.

“Ughhh!!”

“Mom, Mom,”

“S, save me!!”

The Savoy army, charging across the open fields of the Po River, where it was difficult to find any cover, was nothing more than easy prey for the Imperial army.

It was only a matter of moments before the proud sons of the Savoy-Two Sicilies Kingdom became well-minced meat.

“General! The damage is too great!”

“What are the results? How far have we pushed back the enemy lines?”

“They remain the same.”

Even France and England, with their abundant resources produced in colonies around the world, and the Holy Roman Empire, boasting the world’s largest steel production and the world’s strongest army, had to be prepared for enormous sacrifices to break through a well-established trench line.

What about the Savoy-Two Sicilies Kingdom?

Its doctrine had not changed significantly since the 19th century, and since its founding, it had always struggled to find an occasion where it had enough Field Guns and various types of ammunition.

Because bullets and shells were in short supply, training was also poor, and even machine guns, the symbol of trench warfare, were only available in insignificant numbers, making them almost useless.

It would have been stranger if such an army had easily broken through the Imperial army’s defense line, which consisted of barbed wire, trenches, and thick concrete fortresses.

And finally…

“These incompetent fools… I clearly ordered them to recapture Milan today! Why are they still just looking at the Po River?!”

The incompetent command of Baron Badoglio Caporetto, the commander-in-chief of the Savoy-Two Sicilies army, dealt the final blow to this Savoy-Two Sicilies army.

“But General. Only three hours have passed since the offensive began, and already 15 battalions have disappeared! 15 battalions!”

The Savoy-Two Sicilies army’s report card at the start of the battle was devastating.

Approximately 15,000 casualties.

In just five hours, it was as if one small town had disappeared.

“You incompetent fools! We were supposed to have lunch in Milan and dinner in Venice! Why haven’t you even left the Po River yet! Why!”

Bang, bang, bang!

Badoglio vented his anger by smashing innocent objects.

It was a display of splendid martial arts skills that made one think he could easily take on 100 Imperial soldiers if he fought on the front lines.

“Hoo…”

Now that he had released some of his anger, he collapsed into a chair.

“This is an order. Cross the Po River within the next 24 hours. Or climb over the Alps. We must recapture Milan by tomorrow.”

“But…”

At that moment, Giuseppe Garibaldi, a young officer in the Savoy-Two Sicilies army, vaguely realized that it was impossible to persuade him.

“…Understood.”

As a junior officer, he had no choice but to faithfully carry out the orders of his stubborn superior.

“Hoo…”

He stepped out of the barracks and let out a sigh of despair.

It was just so damn unfair, the sky was clear.

In contrast to the bloody carnage of the Savoy-Two Sicilies army on the Lombardy-Veneto front, the Savoy-Two Sicilies army on the Lazio front against the Papal States achieved some success.

“Charge! Charge!”

Around the time the first shots were fired on the Po River, the Bersaglieri, the elite troops of the Savoy-Two Sicilies Kingdom, whose symbolic hats were decorated with black feathers, began to advance into the Papal States.

“Italian heroes! Let us advance for the unification of Italy!”

For hundreds of years, the Papal States had been virtually a vassal kingdom of the Holy Roman Empire. Since the 19th century, they had even revived the Teutonic Knights (a battalion made up of Catholics, despite its grandiose name) and stationed troops in Rome.

The Italians were furious at this move by the Holy Roman Empire, but the difference in size between the Holy Roman Empire and the Savoy-Two Sicilies Kingdom was absolute.

In the end, the Savoy Kingdom could only grit its teeth and bide its time, waiting for an opportunity.

And today, the whole of Europe united to oppose the Holy Roman Empire, a monstrous chimera that had survived for 1000 years by changing its guise.

Finally, the opportunity that the Savoy-Two Sicilies Kingdom had been waiting for for hundreds of years had arrived. An opportunity to bring the Papal States under the Italian flag.

“Advance! Keep advancing!”

The Savoy-Two Sicilies army’s offensive began on all fronts in Lazio. Due to the overwhelming difference in mass, the Papal States’ army, which was defending fortresses in various parts of Lazio, such as Orvieto, Viterbo, Alatri, and Frosinone, retreated helplessly.

The Savoy-Two Sicilies army, which had literally entered most of the Lazio region without bloodshed, sounded the trumpet of liberation in various parts of Lazio. It was not uncommon to see Savoy-Two Sicilies soldiers marching through the city and kissing village girls.

“Comrades of Rome, the liberation army has arrived!”

And exactly 12 hours after the Savoy-Two Sicilies army’s invasion began.

The Savoy-Two Sicilies army, which had not encountered any resistance except for a shepherd’s flock of sheep blocking the road, reached Rome, the ‘Eternal City’ of 1000 years, 10000 years, no.

“Brothers of Italy, Italy has awakened! She has bound her head with Scipio’s helmet!”

Beyond the walls of Rome, the unofficial anthem of the Savoy-Two Sicilies Kingdom, the Mameli Hymn, resounded throughout the entire Italian peninsula, except for Lombardy-Veneto.

For how long had they lived under the watchful eyes of the Germanic bastards, for how long had they been prevented by the Germanic bastards from retaking Lazio, the city of Rome, the soul of the Italians?

For those Italians, the siege of Rome meant the end of humiliation and, at the same time, the beginning of glory.

On the day of the siege of Rome, the Savoy-Two Sicilies army immediately sent an envoy to the Papal States.

This was done at the strong insistence of Vittorio II, the king of the Savoy-Two Sicilies Kingdom, who wanted to peacefully recover Rome.

The Count of San Martino, who was dispatched as an envoy, looked up at the Pope with a sneer.

The being in front of him now was not a giant leading the religion of all of Europe, but a tired old man hiding behind the Germanic barbarians.

And now, at this moment. He was about to drag the old man who had been hindering the unification of Italy out from behind the Germans. As a patriot, and before that, as an Italian, he could not have been happier and more gratified.

“Your Holiness the Pope. The tide of the times cannot be stopped. Currently, all of Europe is hostile to the Germanic Empire, so the protection of the barbarians that has lasted for 1000 years will end forever today. And our Savoy-Two Sicilies Kingdom will take the place of those barbarians.”

He took a letter from his pocket and placed it on the table.

“These are our demands. Please read them carefully.”

“…”

In effect, it was a demand to hand over all the land except for the tiny Vatican to them.

The Pope’s face turned red as he shouted at the Count of San Martino.

“What great loyalty! You are all a brood of vipers, whitewashed tombs, and faithless men!”

Clang! The Pope threw the letter on the table and said.

“I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I dare say that you will never set foot in Rome again!”

“Pfft.”

The Count of San Martino raised the corners of his mouth as if he couldn’t help himself.

“In that case… I wish you good luck, Your Holiness the Pope.”

The Count of San Martino, who came out of Rome, immediately contacted his lord.

‘The Pope has rejected our proposal.’