Turin's utter inability to put up a fight had much to do with Bellevue's conduct in the past and the French Army's arrogance and high-handedness.
Moreover, the Austrian army had moved far faster than the French Army could have imagined. Before the latter had time to organize a defense, the former was already preparing to storm the city.
The firepower of the Austrian main force was also beyond anything the French Army could have imagined. Tens of thousands of rockets blasted the French troops so thoroughly that they could barely raise their heads.
Whenever they managed to look up, they saw monstrous beasts flying across the sky and orderly ranks advancing below. The blow to French morale was devastating.
Worse still, the former troops of the Kingdom of Sardinia and the people of Turin rose up within the city. They had long been unable to endure the French oppression; until now, they had held back only because of the French Army's overwhelming strength.
The Austrians were just as invincible in the eyes of the Sardinians. The arrival of the Austrian army was the perfect opportunity for the Sardinians to exact their revenge.
And events unfolded just as they had hoped. The French troops fighting the Austrian army were stretched too thin to spare forces to put down the rebellion.
The rebels surged toward the Royal Palace of Turin and the shops lining the streets, snatching up every item they could lay their hands on.
Besides that, everyone had another, more important target: the mastermind behind it all—French Marshal Bellevue.
They could avenge themselves on him and, even better, offer him—or his corpse—to the Austrians outside the city. Surely that would earn them great merit.
In no time, rebels were everywhere. Seeing the masses of people and the flames soaring in