On April 1, 1848, after the Austrian army abandoned Lombardy, the Kingdom of Sardinia's troops, eager for action, swiftly moved in to fill the gap.
Amid the cheers of the populace, the Kingdom of Sardinia entered Lombardy without shedding a drop of blood. It seemed as though the good days they had been hoping for were about to arrive.
Before departing, Marshal Radetzky had helped promote them. In everyone's eyes, the Kingdom of Sardinia seemed capable of satisfying every faction's interests, including the republicans'.
Tricolor flags fluttered in the wind as people throughout the streets and alleys congratulated one another.
"Long live the Republic!"
The cry spread throughout Lombardy, and a provisional government led by Casati was established.
The Austrian army seemed to have left in too much of a hurry. They had not even had time to take away the political prisoners from the jails, and these people all became members of the provisional government.
Anyone paying attention would have noticed that Milan's granaries were empty. After the Kingdom of Sardinia declared war on Austria, Marshal Radetzky had requisitioned Lombardy's grain under the pretext of centralized food allocation.
Because of time constraints, this had not been carried out in the countryside. But Milan's grain had indeed been gathered together.
The Austrian army had secretly transported part of it out of the city. As for the rest, they simply doused it with lamp oil and set it alight.
With the grain gone, the people were not panicked in the least. Hadn't the Kingdom of Sardinia's army already entered the city?
What?
Before the Austrian army withdrew, rumors had spread that King Charles wanted everyone to burn the city's grain, forcing the Austrians to retreat so Milan would not be destroyed by the flames of war.
Thus, Marshal Radetzky had sent