The Kingdom of Sardinia also announced that it was sending troops into Switzerland. Carlo Alberto had one problem, though: the only way he could enter Switzerland was through Valais or Ticino.
But the roads through Valais were too rugged for a large army, while Ticino was occupied by a French commander.
Charles Duchatelet had already raised the French flag over Ticino. With a guilty conscience, he naturally refused Sardinia's request and instead ordered the border sealed.
And so Carlo Alberto found himself in a thoroughly awkward position: he had no way forward and no city to occupy.
The French army advanced at a frightening pace, but there were only a few routes into Switzerland: either by way of Lake Geneva or through Neuchâtel.
There weren't many ships on the lake, and the French had never considered building warships on an inland lake. That didn't mean the Swiss hadn't.
Vaud placed great importance on developing its naval forces and had more than twenty warships of various sizes. They were all tiny vessels of under a hundred tons, and even their combined tonnage was less than that of the flagship of the French Grand Orient Fleet.
But they were still more than a match for civilian fishing boats. In short, the French were weaker than the Swiss on Lake Geneva.
The other route was just as troublesome. Neuchâtel was actually a royal possession of Prussia, and William I, who was stationed there at the time, firmly refused to let French troops enter.
Although he had brought only five hundred men, William I was still a member of the Prussian royal family and had plenty of influence. He quickly raised a militia force of eight thousand.
Even eighteen thousand men would have been no match for the French army, but in mountain warfare,