Chapter 370: Currently Selling Out Teammates
The high-level members of the Hungarian Independence Organization gathered in Venice, making final preparations for the uprising. No, to be precise, they were making final preparations to flee.
Putting on a complete show, one can never escape the words fame and fortune in life.
Stephen and the others had already gained enough wealth to comfortably spend the rest of their lives. Now, the most important thing was to preserve their reputation.
While others could be traitors, these high-ranking members of the independence organization could not afford to, or rather, they could not let it be known that they had become traitors.
Otherwise, how could the Americans who funded them possibly let them off the hook? Their assets were now in America they could flee the missionaries but not the church.
Stephen spoke up, The ship has been arranged. Once the uprising fails, well immediately head to Albania, then proceed by land to Greece, and then through the Ottoman Empire to the Persian Gulf to Asia, detouring to Japan before taking a ship to San Francisco.
Soram questioned with confusion, Mr. Stephen, why go through such a big detour? The Austrians have promised they will only symbolically pursue us. We could simply take a boat directly to the United States.
Stephen explained, Youre right, the Austrians have promised to let us leave, but what if something goes wrong?
The decision to let us leave is highly confidential. The Mediterranean is full of Austrian naval activity. What if were unlucky and get caught?
To reduce the risk, we have no choice but to take a detour. Well take an unnoticed fishing boat from Venice into the Balkans, and depart from areas not covered by Austrian influence. Thats the best option.
To make it look more realistic, Stephen had also gone all out. It wouldnt do if only the underlings suffered; even if just a little, they had to put on a show of fleeing in panic.
Paul chimed in, Mr. Stephen is right. We must be cautious at this time. Rushing back to the United States may not be wise as the civil war is nearing its end.
If the federal government wins, thats one thing, but if they lose, theyll need foreign intervention to maintain power.
In such a scenario, to seek assistance from other countries, the Lincoln administration is likely to hand over all of us revolutionaries.
For safetys sake, its best to wait until after everything settles down before returning to the United States.
Everyones expressions changed drastically. If the Americans really did plead for help from the European nations and hand over all domestic revolutionary organization members, then their fortunes in America would be gone.
Seeing everyones concern, Stephen reassured them, Dont worry. As long as were still on the wanted list, no one will dare to touch everyones property.
No one would dare to rob the money of fugitives. This meant having money but no life to spend it at all.
Ottokr was a rising star of the Hungarian independence organization. He was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and had participated in the American Civil War as a battalion commander.
On the battlefield, his daring fighting spirit earned him fame. The bigwigs of the Hungarian independence organization were all people who did not seek glory or fortune, so the critical task of commanding this Venice uprising fell to him.
Looking at the thousands of soldiers under his command, Ottokr was full of vigor. The only regret was the lack of weapons. According to Mr. Stephen, this was for safety reasons.
After all, they were in Austrian territory, and if thousands of armed men appeared, the local garrison would have attacked long ago.
Ottokr found it very reasonable. The Austrian system was already very strict. Although firearms were not completely banned and there were plenty of firearms in civilian hands, most of them were hunting rifles.
To legally obtain proper infantry rifles, one had to register with the police and apply for a firearms license.
Getting a firearms license isnt something just anyone can obtain, at least none of them met the requirements.
Buying guns in Austria is very easy; Venice alone has no fewer than ten firearms shops, and even cannons are available for sale. Its a colonial empire; how could overseas colonial teams survive without weapons and equipment?
But while weapons are easy to buy, ammunition is another matter.
If for overseas colonial use, then any amount was available. But for domestic use, one could only obtain ammunition by showing a firearms license to the local police station.
The government harshly cracks down on all illicit weapons and ammunition production, as well as the smuggling of arms. Those involved in underground arms trading can be legally shot on sight by the police.
Over time, everyone got used to it. If you wanted to play with weapons, you could just go to the hunting grounds or clubs; as long as you had money, you could even play with cannons.
There was no need to risk ones life in the black market, where being mistaken for an arms dealer could get you killed with no opportunity to explain.
Without a market, theres no buying or selling.
To purchase enough weapons and ammunition for several thousand men was absolutely impossible. So Ottokr, the commander-in-chief of this rebel army, had only ten guns at his disposal, including eight hunting rifles and two old revolvers.
These were sponsored by local Italians inclined towards the revolution. Theres no way to acquire more; they can only wait until the uprising erupts to seize them from the enemy.
On February 1, 1865, in the headquarters of the uprising, several spirited youths were devising battle plans.
Dont underestimate them because of their youth; these individuals are among the few military talents in the Hungarian Independence Organization, most of whom have participated in the American Civil War.
If not for the dire situation, the Federal Army would not have released them, as everyone knew how badly the Americans needed officers now.
Ottokr opened a draft of a map and said, This is the information provided by Mr. Amco. Although Austria allows firearms, ammunition control is very strict.
All the weapons stores have no ammunition. Only hunting grounds, firearms clubs, police stations, and local garrisons have stockpiles of ammunition.
The garrison is out of the question; with just these few guns in our hands, we probably wont even get close to their gates before being gunned down.
The hunting grounds are far from the city; we cant raid them dozens of miles away to seize weapons and then rush back to launch the uprising.
The ammunition reserves in the firearms clubs are probably not much; their ammunition also comes from the police station, and its basically replenished every 2-3 days, which cannot meet our needs.
To ensure the success of the uprising, we must first take over the police station and seize enough ammunition.
After saying this, Ottokr felt extremely frustrated. The ammunition depot in Venice was right next to the naval base, making it impossible to seize.
Or rather, even if they did seize it, it would be useless, as they would be torn apart by naval artillery before being able to move the ammunition away.
Venice is not suitable for launching an uprising. Whenever we go out, we have to take a boat, and these small boats cannot leverage our manpower advantage.
With just these few guns in our hands, its almost impossible to seize the police station. Even the smallest north branch of the city is not something we can take over.
Moreover, these Italian mercenaries are not reliable. If something goes wrong, they are likely to scatter and flee.
The one raising objections was a youth named Taft, who had also participated in the Civil War and had some military knowledge.
However, he was too straightforward in character and had always been marginalized within the revolutionary organization. If this uprising were not so important and he did not possess military capabilities, there would be no place for him in the command headquarters.
Ottokr patiently explained, From a military perspective, Venice is indeed not suitable for launching an uprising. Even if we occupy it, this city on the water would still be under the threat of the Austrian navy.
But politically, we must do this. The military must serve politics. To achieve a sensational effect, the organization has decided to launch the uprising simultaneously in Milan and Venice.
Once successful in these two cities, Lombardy and Venetia will be shaken, and the entire Italian region of Austria will seek independence.
By utilizing the independence of the Italian region, we can attract the attention of the Austrian government and provide cover for the organizations uprising in Hungary.
The Austrians cannot bombard Venice at the very moment of the uprising, and that is our opportunity. By leveraging this time gap, we can assemble a revolutionary army and extend the war into the inland regions.
The greater the commotion we create in Italy, the higher the chances of success for our uprising in Hungary. So from the beginning, this uprising has no strategic objective.
We only need to create a greater commotion, disrupt the Venetian region, and enlist more people into the revolutionary army. Victory or defeat is not important. Even if the uprising fails, only Italians will die.
This explanation satisfied the group. Having grown up in America from a young age, everyone was naturally influenced and believed politics took precedence over the military.
Little did they know that before seizing power, the order should be reversed. Only by first achieving military victory can there be room for political maneuvering.
The final statement, Even if the uprising fails, only Italians will die, left Taft speechless.
Stephen had not ordered them to fight to the last drop of blood. From the very start, he had told them that stirring up trouble in the Italian region was merely a diversion, providing cover for the uprising in Hungary.
As long as they could create a commotion and attract the enemys attention, the ultimate outcome of the uprising was not within the organizations considerations.
It was almost an outright statement telling them to flee if the uprising failed, treating these Italian mercenaries as expendable pawns.
Otherwise, Ottokr wouldnt be so relaxed. To expect a bunch of rabble to overthrow Austrian rule in the region, wouldnt that be madness?
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