Slaughtering the New Year Pig

While recruiting others to join the alliance, Joseph had the factories work overtime to produce weapons to supply Joubert and his men, and he also kept Napoleon informed of these developments.

In the brothers' view, the French Army, equipped with Minié Rifle, was beyond the Austrian army's ability to withstand. Even though the Army of the North's pay was far less than that of the Italian Legion, resulting in lower morale, the Austria still could not possibly resist them.

However, equipping, re-equipping, and finally achieving combat readiness for the Army of the North was not a matter of a day or two. Joseph, who had done a lot of staff work, could easily judge the extent of the Army of the North's preparations just by looking at the order status. This couldn't be faked, and even Joubert couldn't hide it from Joseph.

In this way, Napoleon knew exactly when Joubert would have the ability to launch an attack.

Napoleon decided that, while Joubert launched an attack to tie down the Austria, he would cross the Alps again, advance directly to Vienna, and force Austria to surrender.

But before that, he had one more thing to do: to blackmail His Holiness the Pope.

If there were anyone among the living people of this world who hated revolutionary France the most, Pope Pius VI would certainly be among the top contenders. When the new regime demanded that Catholicism priests swear allegiance to the government in 1791, Pope Pius VI formally condemned the "Civil Constitution of the Clergy" and criticized the revolutionary authorities. Pope Pius VI also played a significant role in the formation of the Anti-French Alliance in 1793.

After Napoleon's successive victories over the armies of Kingdom of Sardinia and Austria in Italy, the various small and large kingdoms on the Italy peninsula trembled with fear, some even resorting to bribery. However, the Pope Pius VI remained unwavering in his hostility towards the Napoleon French Republic.

Napoleon also sent a note to the Papal States with the same content as he had sent to the Duchy of Parma and the Republic of Venice. However, the Pope would not send anyone to explain to such a bandit. Not only did he not bribe Napoleon to keep him safe, he even ordered Napoleon's excommunication, effectively expelling Napoleon from the Church.

Whether or not the Pope was breaking away from Christianity was something Napoleon didn't care about at all. In fact, France as a whole had already broken away from Christianity. However, the Pope's reckless attitude greatly displeased Napoleon.

"What makes the Pope think he can act so arrogantly in front of me? I bet he's just planning to go to Avignon for a proper rest. Doesn't he even know how many divisions he has under his command?"

The popes at this time were considerably more powerful than their later counterparts. The Holy See's direct territory then extended beyond the tiny Vatican; it encompassed the entire Papal States of Rome. Furthermore, the pope's retinue consisted of far more than just a hundred Swiss Guard; he commanded a substantial army.

However, this army was insignificant compared to Napoleon's massive army. At Napoleon's command, the army quickly assembled. The soldiers were indignantly denouncing the Pope's crimes and cursing him to fall into the fiery pit that Dante had supposedly witnessed; at the same time, they were also gleefully discussing how much spoils they would gain from this campaign. As a result, their morale soared even higher.

"Bring the Pope back to Avignon!"

Such shouts could be heard everywhere in the army. The soldiers were full of vigor and determined to destroy the reactionaries' stronghold and plant the banner of revolution on the dome of St. Peter's Basilica.

Upon receiving news that the France army was preparing to march south, the Papal States were thrown into chaos. Priests, carrying images of Christ Crucifixion, rushed around, urging people to fight bravely for their country and their faith. In the end, Pope Pius VI managed to cobble together an army of over ten thousand men to fight against the demons from France.

Pope Pius VI blessed the army and prophesied that, with God's protection, they would surely destroy the France devil. But His Holiness the Pope seems to have forgotten one crucial point: whenever France and the Holy See clash, God will always stand firmly on France's side! After all, France is God's dutiful son; the Holy See, at best, is merely a gatekeeper for God's household. Otherwise, why would the Papal States' flag bear two keys?

As expected, the army that the Holy See had painstakingly organized immediately revolted upon hearing that the French Army was approaching, declaring that they had long wanted to stand on the side of the revolution. Thus, the French Army advanced directly to the gates of Rome without firing a single shot. The Pope was forced to flee Rome and sent envoys to Napoleon to express his surrender.

If the Pope had yielded to Napoleon earlier, Napoleon's demands wouldn't have been so great; two million francs at most (the Directory had already reformed the currency, replacing the rival with the Livre) would have sufficed. But now, since the Pope is refusing to listen to reason and is instead facing a penalty, the penalty is naturally different from the initial offer. After all, using the army costs money. And once the army is used, the money obtained must be recorded and a share must be given to the France government.

So Napoleon made an outrageous demand, holding up five fingers to the papal messenger.

"Five million?" the envoy exclaimed in astonishment. "General, isn't that too much?"

"Five million?" Jourdan in astonishment. "Only five million? We have a full 100,000 soldiers here. That's only fifty francs per soldier? We've come all the way from Paris, and you're going to send us away with fifty francs? How dare you ask for that! Dream on!"

The French Army in the Italian Legion certainly didn't number 100,000. Even if you included the Italy auxiliary troops, or even the army that had just "revolted" on the battlefield, there were definitely not that many people.

"So what exactly...?"

"If it's less than fifty million, don't even bother asking! We'll go get it ourselves!" Murat chimed in.

"But where would the Holy See find so much money all of a sudden?"

That's your problem!

"If you don't have money, something valuable will do!"

"We accept paintings, sculptures, gold and silver artifacts, and all kinds of sacred objects—but don't try to fool us with fakes!"

The France officers then began to chatter amongst themselves, helping the Papal States' envoy calculate how to raise the fifty million francs. What a helpful bunch of people!

Finally, the Holy See reached a peace agreement with Napoleon using 30 million francs in cash (all in gold and silver coins of equal value), along with a large number of works of art, and then the France army left the Papal States satisfied.

The soldiers kept sending their surplus pay back home. Soon, rumors spread throughout their hometowns that someone had gone on a trip with General Napoleon and had enough money to buy a house, land, and get married.

Some soldiers who had made enough money left the army and returned to their hometowns, but many more, drawn by the news and filled with a thirst for victory—or more accurately, for the spoils of war—joined Napoleon's forces. When Napoleon first crossed the Alps, his army numbered only about 40,000, but now, the number of combat troops available for the expedition alone had reached 50,000.

Based on the information provided in Joseph's letter, Napoleon judged that Joubert's offensive should be about to begin, and he began his own preparations.

In September 1796, amidst the bleak autumn winds, Napoleon's army left Lombardy and began its assault on Vienna, the capital of Austria.

In the Battle of Castiglione, Napoleon, with 20,000 troops and fewer than 2,000 casualties, defeated 40,000 Austrian troops in less than half a day. Austria then transferred Archduke Karl, his most outstanding general, from the Rhine front to the Lombardy region to guard against a possible invasion.

After learning about the various aspects of Napoleon's army from the retreating officers and soldiers, Archduke Karl was so anxious that he could hardly sleep at night. No one dared to dismiss this intelligence as mere gossip anymore. But if this intelligence was true, Archduke Karl realized it meant that the France wouldn't need any further tactics in their battles against him; they could simply charge headlong into his territory, leaving him virtually helpless.

"This truly shows that the French Army is invincible when it has fewer than ten thousand soldiers, but more than ten thousand!" Archduke Karl thought to himself.

Since "fighting in open fields is absolutely out of the question," the only option left is to "defend the city." Fortunately, marching from Lombardy Vienna also requires crossing the Alps. This means that Napoleon's army cannot carry too many heavy cannons. In this light, "defending the city" seems like a good solution.

Of course, Archduke Karl couldn't possibly resort to blocking the city gates with bricks. He knew that would be self-defeating in terms of counterattack capability. Even if the enemy bypassed such a city, it wouldn't have any serious consequences.

Archduke Karl established some outposts along the mountain roads, but these outposts could not stop Napoleon because the terrain was treacherous, the Austria could not get cannons to those places, and those places could not hold much supplies, so they could not hold out for long.

Furthermore, Napoleon had plenty of guides familiar with the terrain. The Italy who benefited from this, and even the Austria who were eager for the "land redistribution," were all willing to lead the way for Napoleon. The French Army skirmishers were strong, and in this kind of terrain, they could outmaneuver the Austrian army and scatter them. Therefore, the greater purpose of these strongholds was to delay the French Army, giving the Austrian army more time to prepare.

On the road leading out of the mountains to Vienna, Austria spared no effort in building a series of fortresses of varying sizes.

Archduke Karl believed that if Napoleon attacked one fortress at a time, Napoleon would definitely suffer losses. However, if Napoleon dared to bypass these fortresses, the cavalry stationed there could continuously harass and even cut off Napoleon's supply lines.

Taking advantage of Napoleon's fortunes in Italy, Austria managed to complete the fortress complex, albeit hastily constructed and of poor quality. However, with these fortresses, Archduke Karl felt he finally had the confidence to defeat Napoleon.