The Life of Francisco di Arnaud Part 1: The Second War of the Spanish Succession
Arnaud�s first action as Prime Minister is to enact a number of protective industrial tariffs and socialist reforms. Labor unions are legalized, and tariffs against major industrial nations such as Britain and France are enacted to stimulate the ailing factories of Lombardy and Tuscany. Arnaud lowers taxes by an equivalent of the moneys attained by the tariffs to appease the industrialists.
Arnaud�s actions appeal to Garibaldi and his ragtag army, and after a brief discussion outside Mentana, Italy, he agrees to disband. Along with his plan of industrial stimulation, Arnaud asks Parliament to provide funds for updating and retraining the Italian military. Arnaud intends to follow the new Prussian tactics seen during the Seven Weeks� War. Helmuth von Moltke is asked to help in this restructuring, and an Italian War College is founded in Naples. Moltke graciously declines, but sends a group of officers from the general staff, headed by Ferdinand von Zeppelin. Guiseppe Garibaldi is asked to work with Zeppelin and his staff, and become an advisor on military and socialist issues. Garibaldi agrees, and by 1870 the Italian army has begun to use the new tactics and strategy introduced by Zeppelin and his staff.
During the Franco-Prussian diplomatic crisis from 1868-1870, Arnaud affirms Bismarck that in the event of war with France, Italy will support Prussia. The Italian ambassador to Prussia also tells Bismarck that Italy will declare war as well, on the condition that the French territories of Nice, Savoy and Corsica are returned to Italy after the conflict. Bismarck agrees, as victory in this war is vital to his agenda and the two nations prepare for war.
On July 21, 1870, France declares war on the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Kingdom of Italy declares war in turn. Italy fields 200,000 soldiers in four armies. The First Army with 35,000 men is based in Perugia on the Tiber, and aims to take Rome from the Papal forces there along with a small French force. The Second Army with 50,000 men is based in Aosta, and aims to take Chambery. The Third Army with 75,000 men is on the border near Monaco, and aims to take Nice and Marseilles. The Fourth Army with 40,000 men is headquartered in Turin and will take Grenoble. Arnaud gives Guiseppe Garibaldi the honor of leading the First Army and being the first to march into Rome.
In August, the Second Army crosses into France through the Little St. Bernard Pass and engages the French at the Moutiers on the third. The French number about 22,000 and utilize the mountain passes to their utmost. The small French army barely manages to escape destruction after a rear assault on the town gives them an unpleasant surprise. A bribed Frenchman showed the route for the rear assault to the Italians, and the press quickly begins to call the battle �The French Thermopylae�, the first major battle of the Second War of the Spanish Succession. Italian losses number about 1000 and French about 2000 killed and 8000 captured.
German forces overrun the French at many points and the battles of Weissenburg and W�rth end in overwhelming German victories, and Marshal Bazaine is ordered to retreat to Chalons on August 6th.
Three days later, the First Army enters Rome victoriously after discovering the departure of the French force there, and encounters small resistance inside the city by Papal forces. Garibaldi rides in at the forefront of the army and is immediately excommunicated by an angry Pope Pius IX. Regardless of Vatican actions, the King celebrates and prepares to travel to Rome and install it as the new capital of the Kingdom of Italy.
The Italian Third Army advances into France along the coast, where General Bronzino encounters General MacMahon�s 60,000-man army. The two armies clash at Menton, 24 km from Nice, and battle ensues. MacMahon�s men take up a defensive perimeter of the town, and attacks with a cavalry charge at dawn of the 13th. The attack surprises the right grand division of Bronzino�s army, and the newly conscripted troops flee eastward. MacMahon moves to flank the right of the Italians, and Bronzino is forced to pull back to Breil, and reorganize his army.
Emperor Napoleon is personally leading French forces east of Metz and is defeated badly at the Battle of Moyeuvre on the 14th, where he loses 20,000 men of his 100,000-man army. Napoleon is also defeated at the Battle of Gravelotte on August 17, and is forced into Metz. Napoleon is intent in his belief that the fortified town can stem the German assault.
As the French press squeezes every bit of prestige out of the rare victory at the Battle of Menton, the Italian Second and Fourth Armies capture Chambery and Grenoble respectively, and the French �armies� there ordered to hold the cities at all costs. The commanders of the two Italian armies plan a two-pronged campaign to take Lyons, and complete their reclamation of Savoy.
On the 19th, General Garibaldi replaces General Bronzino. Garibaldi was born in Nice, and is once again given a great honor, to take his hometown back from the French. Garibaldi receives 15,000 men from the First Army and moves to attack Nice with 85,000 men. Outside Nice, MacMahon takes up a defensive position, and Garibaldi breaks through the French lines by a well-planned artillery barrage and an attack column of 30,000 men. The artillery enfilades the French, and the breakthrough captures 15,000 of MacMahon�s men, and the French retreat to Cannes. Garibaldi returns home to his elderly mother and gives her a kiss, and pictures of this are put into papers worldwide.
Arnaud sends a wire to Bismarck, informing him of the successes over the French, and congratulating him on German victories. Intelligence reports Austro-Hungarian troops massing near Verona. Arnaud has a wide grin on his face as he thinks of being able to fight the people who slaughtered his family with the second best army in the world.