Peace Negotiations

Murat led his cavalry in pursuit of the Austria cavalry all the way to the vicinity of the Austria bastions, until the cannons on the bastions opened fire on them, at which point Murat ended the pursuit.

Murat and his cavalry moved out of the range of the bastion cannons, stopped to show off their power for a while, and then turned to chase after Napoleon's main force.

After catching up with Napoleon, Murat, with a boastful air, recounted the details of the battle to Napoleon.

"Ah, Murat, how can you still be so thoughtless!" Napoleon said. "Why don't you run away first and lure them into pursuit? That would make it easier to control the distance and shoot. And during the chase, they'd be more likely to get carried away and not realize how much they've lost. By the time they do, their casualties will be enormous, and then they'll turn around and run away. Because they turn around and run away instead of charging straight ahead like you are now, it'll be much slower. Although you'll also need to turn around to pursue, you'll have a chance to catch up and kill some more, and then chase them back. That way, you'll suffer fewer losses, and they'll suffer more—isn't that better? You really are..."

Napoleon initially wanted to emulate Joseph's assessment of Murat, calling him "too young and too naive," but then he remembered that Murat was actually a few years older than him, so he kept quiet.

Although Murat's performance in this battle was not as perfect as Napoleon had hoped, the fact that two hundred France cavalrymen defeated an Austria cavalry force five times their size still made the Austria extremely nervous.

The Austria cavalry, under Archduke Karl's orders, set out again to search for Napoleon's main force. This time, however, they dispersed their troops completely, generally in groups of ten. They were also ordered not to attack unless they encountered a lone France cavalryman. If the French Army cavalry showed any intention to attack, they were allowed to retreat on their own.

The Austria cavalry received intelligence that Napoleon's army had not entered any cities, but had quickly taken control of large swathes of countryside, where they had obtained ample supplies and were gathering the villagers daily to study revolutionary truths.

Archduke Karl knew, of course, that he could not let the France continue to cause trouble like this; otherwise, wherever the France went, it would become a rebellious region in the future.

However, Archduke Karl dared not engage the French Army in a direct confrontation. Fortunately, the Austria cavalry still had a significant numerical advantage. The French Army, in order to wreak havoc in the vast countryside, also needed to disperse its troops. Therefore, Archduke Karl decided to use his numerical advantage in cavalry to attack the dispersed French Army and the traitors who served the French Army.

Thus, the two sides began to engage in various small-scale battles, and the result of these battles—naturally—was that both sides claimed victory.

According to the France, they repelled the Austria army in the vast majority of engagements and achieved a favorable exchange ratio. The Austria, on the other hand, claimed that their cavalry could quickly concentrate their forces and use superior numbers to besiege the outnumbered France army, thus securing more victories.

Both arguments have merit. The French Army had a clear weapon advantage, giving them a clear advantage in the exchange ratio; however, tactically, the Austria, with their greater number of cavalry, did have the advantage of being able to quickly concentrate their superior forces. In fact, both sides suffered losses in this series of small-scale engagements, as evidenced by their subsequent actions.

The France began constructing relatively simple fortresses on the estates they occupied. They demolished the houses of the noblemen and used the salvaged building materials to construct circular fortresses about two to three stories high, resembling the later Neapolitan watchtowers in North China, except that they added signal fires on top of the fortresses— the France probably wouldn't have done this unless they had suffered losses under the siege of superior forces.

And the Austria? They began to emphasize that eliminating traitors was also a way of fighting the invaders. If they hadn't found themselves unable to defeat the invaders, why would they have attacked these so-called "traitors" first?

So after a while, the battle pattern changed to the France and some "traitors" setting up observation posts on high ground in certain areas. At the slightest sign of trouble, they would immediately issue a warning, and small groups of France, along with local farmers—whether or not they were "traitors"—would run into fortresses or similar places to hide. (Because when the Austria cavalry arrived, they wouldn't bother distinguishing between civilians and traitors. Often, to complete their mission and return as quickly as possible, they would just kill, and kill as many people as possible.) Meanwhile, the French Army cavalry also went on alert, ready to provide support at any time.

At first, the lookouts could only issue very basic alarms, indicating that Austria were approaching, without specifying the direction or number of enemies. However, the alarm system quickly improved. More "traitors" joined in, riding horses to deliver messages to various manors, making Austria attacks increasingly difficult and prone to mishaps.

Of course, the Austria did not come away empty-handed in these battles. At least they now knew the secrets of the French Army's weapons. In previous small-scale battles, they had also captured some Minié Rifle and revolvers.

Neither of these two weapons is particularly difficult to manufacture technically; they're the kind that are easy to conceive at first glance. However, producing enough of these weapons to equip the troops in large quantities will not be a short-term task.

While Napoleon was wreaking havoc on the Austria countryside, Joubert's Army of the North launched a new offensive against the Austria and Prussia. Supported by new rifles and new tactics, Joubert successfully defeated the Austria had already redeployed their main forces back home, and the Prussia were struggling to hold out on their own, and occupied the entire Rhine Region.

Although the Austria were trying to produce new weapons as quickly as possible, the collapse of the Rhine Region and their growing concerns about the expansion of Napoleon's territory led Austria to once again demand peace from France.

Of course, Lombardy was no longer included in the Austria's conditions this time. They recognized France control over Lombardy and the Rhine Region, and all they demanded was France Napoleon withdraw from Austria territory immediately.

But Napoleon once again made an exorbitant demand, stating, "The Austria peasants are my brothers; how can I abandon my own brothers? Therefore... I demand more money."

The debate raged on over the exact amount to be added, but finally, an agreement was reached. In addition to ceding the two lost territories, the Austria paid France ten million francs in reparations. This figure greatly displeased Napoleon: "Such a vast country as Austria has only managed to scrape together so little money; compared to His Holiness the Pope, the Emperor is far too stingy."

For such a price, how could Napoleon possibly sell out his brother? But... but... since the Directory had agreed to the agreement, as a soldier, Napoleon naturally had to obey orders. Thus, Napoleon could only reluctantly prepare to leave Austria.

During this period, Napoleon repeatedly met with representatives of the peasants in his controlled territories. He told them that when his army left, he would leave them some of the weapons. Before that, he had already helped them master the skills to use various weapons.

"My brothers, I have to leave you. After we leave, the nobles will definitely want to come back. They will definitely want to take back everything they have, and they may even want to do something even worse. But as long as you hold your guns and weapons firmly in your hands, they will not be able to bully you as they used to."

My brothers, remember what we taught you, and hold tight to the weapons we left you.

From now on, when those nobles discover you are armed, they will smile at you, reduce your taxes, and act as if they are your friends. But, my brothers, remember, they do this not because they have become kind, nor because they truly like you, but simply because they see you armed. As long as you hold weapons, even a black bear will appear docile.

They might even feign concern and say, "Friend, carrying that weapon must be tiring. Put it down. It's safe here now, we're all friends, why are you still carrying this heavy weapon?"

But my brothers, remember this: never lay down your arms, for once you do, they will drop their sheep's clothing and turn back into man-eating wolves! They will devour you until not even bones are left!

My brothers, beware of those who try to get you to lay down your arms. They are vipers, wolves in sheep's clothing. When they speak these words to you, not only do they have human oil on their lips, but their hearts are also filled with the desire to devour you.

My brothers, how shall we deal with those wolves? -- We welcome friends with fine wine, but if wolves come, they will be met only with hunting rifles! So, my brothers, grip your weapons tightly, for -- weapons are freedom, weapons are destiny."

After that, Napoleon's army gradually withdrew, but during the retreat, he left a large number of weapons to the peasants and even helped them establish their own guilds. Napoleon believed that this region would cause the Austria a lot of trouble for a considerable period of time.