October-December 1864: Hunting Garibaldi
Well as may have been clear from the last post a united Italy is not a happy place. Now this is both a monumental pain and very accurate.
In reality there was nothing inevitable about the events of 1859. The period between the signing of Piombieres and Austrian declaration of war saw both Cavour and Louis Napoleon panic that the Austrians wouldn’t bite (and the British were trying to negotiate a settlement that would have seen an Italian federation form instead). When Napoleon pulled the plug on military support it was because a revolutionary Republican movement seemed to be out of control (especially in Tuscany and the former Papal States) and he was afraid this would spread.
Equally Cavour invaded the Two Sicilies to stop Garibaldi who he had previously sponsored again to stop the creation of a republican state.
In general European history books, the unification of Italy is treated as a pair with that of Germany, seen as a set of pretty much inevitable sequential stages and then their attention wanders off. Italian history books refer to the ‘miracle of 1859’ and those from a left wing perspective put a lot of stress on both the suppression of political republicanism by the new regime and the massive peasant revolt in the south.
Which is a round about way to say that what I’ve got on my hands may seem implausible but its not ahistorical.
My first goal is to send a large army to Reggio Calabria in order to retake Sicily. I’m expecting a tough battle as they will be entrenched and there is a malus for crossing the straights.
Some of the army goes by rail
And other parts will be moved by sea. I don’t really want infantry marching down there and arriving too exhausted to be of any real use.
While I’m doing this, I decide to cash in all those nice new conscript companies and raise a fresh infantry corps
Equally I collect together all the various brigades and bits I have inherited from the other states.
I also have a new fleet that I send north to join the rest at La Spezia
Anyway by the end of November, a decent army is gathered, and my commanders are prepared to move. Death to the traitor? Well I do decide on a degree of caution in my combat stance just in case.
Well that was grim, but at least I did win.
Now Garibaldi has run away back to the mainland. So this time I set up more of a trap in an attempt to stop any more escapes and prepare to attack him again.
This gets worse, at least I lost no elements but the death toll is growing. At the same time as all these momentous events, a minor hissy fit breaks out between Russian and Prussia. Seems that Prussia won.
So in the snows of late December I decide its time to end this campaign. Lots of units to block off retreat routes so the end is nigh.
In an attempt to reduce the unrest I try to pass as many social decrees as I possibly can. I also go hunting for more gold than my previous random allocations. Quite prepared, for a while to pay extra. Unfortunately I’m too late to build my very own gold mines.
Not that by the end of December have I got very far in reducing militancy
Economic development.
Despite all the war and chaos, I have an economy to build. This is helped by the huge stockpiles I have inherited, so first goal is to complete the rail net and then start building new industry. I can also briefly reduce taxes and invest heavily in research as I may as well burn down that state cash mountain. I won’t show the economic changes as they are predictable and I don’t want to make this report too long. But my new builds include:
And the united Italy sees a patriotic surge of fish.
Well that is good except I have most of the fishing industry closed down.
Replacements
The new formations are all being upgraded. This is just a single report but I have a lot, with an impact on my replacement stock.
Prestige is growing (slowly) as is the numbers of dead.
Despite all the war, I decide its time to invest in really developing my colonial status. I know have a number of options that will significantly increase my influence
And start to make Djibuti the centre of my actions. I want to take control and build up a fort and naval base before moving on to bigger goals.