I Became A Genius Of The French Royal Family [EN]: Chapter 333

Tatatatang!

“Ughaaaaack!”

“Enemy! It’s the enemy!”

“Left! It’s on the left!”

“There’s no one on the left! It’s not the left, it’s behind us!”

“You dirty bastards! Let’s fight fair and square!”

The jungles of Southeast Asia are different from the forests of Europe.

Even the European armies, who have had less and less experience fighting in forests since the modern era, were unable to properly cope with the jungles of Vietnam.

It was by no means easy, even for the French or British armies, who usually undergo rigorous training.

How could Italy, a newly formed nation masquerading as a great power, possibly succeed?

The Italian army suffered slow but steady losses due to the Vietnamese army’s elusive guerrilla tactics that made the most of the jungle.

If it had been the edge of the jungle, they could have simply retreated, but the Vietnamese and Allied forces deliberately waited for the enemy to penetrate deep inside.

The Italian army, unable to retreat or advance, was in a situation where they could only be constantly beaten like a sandbag.

“Cazzo! [Italian profanity, meaning ‘shit’ or ‘damn’] If we just burn this whole forest down, wouldn’t those bastards all die too?”

“Oh! You’re really smart. If we set a fire, those bastards would all burn to death, right? After we all die first, that is!”

“No, then what do we do! Those bastards won’t fight us properly!”

The Italian soldiers wished they could line up the Vietnamese soldiers and commanders in a row and slap them across the face and bash their heads in with bayonets.

They had never seen such sneaky bastards in their lives, they swore.

They seemed to know the geography of this area inside out, ambushing only when they came to terrain where counterattacks were difficult. It was also common for them to strike from behind when approaching the river to replenish water.

No matter how many sentries or scouts they set up, the enemies avoided their defenses like ghosts.

“They take long meal breaks! Let’s focus our attacks at this time.”

“After watching them for a while, it doesn’t seem like the officers are very capable. It always felt like they were reacting two beats later than our attacks.”

“There were even those who commanded while drinking wine, so it’s certain.”

“But we must not be careless. They may be observing us now and devising a response.”

“That’s definitely true. Looking at them now, it’s clear they have something up their sleeves.”

At first, the Allied forces suspected that the Italian army had some kind of secret weapon.

But what do you know?

The current Italian army was showing such poor combat power that it made one wonder what they were relying on to push so far in.

Not only the Vietnamese army, who were familiar with this area, but even the Korean Imperial Army and the Japanese army began to doubt the Italian army’s strength.

Wouldn’t it have been better to just retreat and fight on the plains at that point?

The officers who were feeling guilty made desperate excuses to Ryu Hyowon.

They had to retreat to assess the Italian army’s strength, and they needed to observe further as the Italians might just be hesitant because they were not familiar with the jungle.

Of course, Ryu Hyowon did not blame his subordinates.

The call for retreat was not just the opinion of the Korean Imperial Army officers, but the opinion of the entire alliance.

“Right. Still, aren’t they the descendants of Rome, who once dominated Europe? They must have some hidden potential, so let’s not be careless and keep pushing them.”

“Yes!”

“That’s right! They must be strong!”

They threw away the chance to take Bangkok themselves, and now the guys who caused it turned out to be weaklings?

This was something that could be brought up later, even if they didn’t say anything now.

They were unilaterally beating the enemy, yet they were self-hypnotizing themselves that the enemy was by no means weak.

The jungles of Southeast Asia were a magical place that plunged not only the enemy but also their allies into confusion.

※※※

Don’t be careless. Don’t be careless.

It had been exactly a week since they had been chanting this almost like brainwashing and driving the enemy.

The Italian army was still shouting, “Let’s fight fair and square!” while being helplessly beaten, and the Allied forces were slowly tightening the noose around the enemy’s neck.

Still, as time passed and the enemy’s strength was being whittled down, the situation naturally changed.

How could they not be excited when they got a reaction every time they poked at them?

The Allied forces were becoming more and more daring, blatantly reveling in tormenting the Italian army.

When they came to their senses, the Italian army had lost nearly 30% of its forces without even fighting a proper battle against the enemy.

The reasons varied—death, injury, or dehydration—but the result was the same: they could not hold a gun.

Even in the midst of this, the elite troops who had been under Garibaldi’s command during the unification war were earning their keep, or rather, their pasta.

It was their ingenuity that led to a small victory by counterattacking the Vietnamese army who were trying to ambush them.

But that was it.

A victory in a small-scale battle was only enough to provide a small amount of comfort; it did not have the decisive power to turn the tide of the war.

And decisively…

“I think we’re running out of water.”

Garibaldi clicked his tongue at the commander-in-chief’s absurd complaint and asked.

“There’s no way the drinking water is already running out.”

“No, it’s true that the officers keep complaining that they’re running out of water.”

“Why is that! I had my men set the appropriate rations, but did the enemy’s ambush make the water unusable?”

“No. It seems the officers couldn’t contain their anger from the continued battles and used food and drink to relieve their stress. They seemed to have had a big feast last night.”

“Are they crazy…?”

Perhaps because he didn’t even have the energy to sigh anymore, only a dry laugh escaped.

Some were trying to safely escape this hellish jungle, while others were throwing parties and wasting water?

“This is too much… Ah, this must be a dream. I must be having a nightmare… But how do I wake up from this dream? This is bullshit!”

“…There’s no choice. Let’s agree to surrender for now.”

“Yes? Surrender?”

Just a while ago, they were confidently saying that they would quickly crush the uncivilized Asians, but now they’re immediately discussing surrender?

This is what happens when someone with this kind of mentality is in charge of the expeditionary force.

Pellegrino made excuses to Garibaldi, who was exuding murderous intent as if he would strangle him right away.

“There’s no choice, is there? The soldiers and even the officers have already lost their will to fight. If we insist on holding out, we have to consider that our subordinates might even start a rebellion.”

“Ah, yes. I didn’t realize you had such deep intentions.”

He’s saying he’s surrendering because the freeloaders who devoured all the remaining pasta and wine last night might start a coup.

It was so convincing that even the seething resentment and anger seemed to disappear.

He was just a fool and an idiot for struggling to do something until now.

“Yes. I understand. Let’s just surrender.”

Watching his allies raise the white flag without even fighting a proper battle, Garibaldi couldn’t help but have a deep question.

‘Why did we come all the way here?’

Surely, at first, they said they would show the power of the unified Italian Empire or something.

But why now… No, never mind.

Let’s just not think. It makes things easier.

Garibaldi, who had reached a state of emptiness, stared at the fluttering white flag with indifferent eyes.

White is the cloth, and pathetic is Italy.

He can only laugh.

Of course, it wasn’t enjoyable.

※※※

[Major Defeat in Asia! Europe’s First!]

This shocking headline spread throughout Europe in a matter of days.

It was a major event that decorated the front pages of newspapers in all countries, including France, Spain, the Nordic Federation, the Holy Roman Empire Federation, and the Commonwealth of Nations.

The ones who achieved this amazing and brilliant feat were none other than the self-proclaimed rightful heirs of Rome, the Italian Empire.

I was more surprised that the result was exactly as I had expected.

I knew they would be weak, but I didn’t know they would be this weak.

As expected, the title of the first great power in Europe to be defeated in Africa in the original history still holds true.

Still, this time, it was a one-sided fight against four, so they might have an excuse.

I turned my attention to the report detailing the disgraceful behavior of Italy in this war.

“…They entered the jungle in pursuit of the retreating enemy, were ambushed in the center, lost most of their forces without even fighting a proper battle, surrendered, and accepted disarmament…”

“They’re idiots.”

Napoleon, who was listening to the story next to me, cheerfully summarized it in one line.

To be able to encapsulate so much meaning in one sentence, he truly is a marshal of France.

“Let’s see. The domestic atmosphere in Italy… Riots have broken out in various cities, and even petitions have been filed to execute Pellegrino, the commander-in-chief. To be sentenced to death for losing a war, it’s like ancient times.”

“That’s how shocked they are, I guess.”

It was the first time a European country had been defeated by an Asian country, no less.

Even in the original history, Japan defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War, but the timing was different then and now.

At that time, Japan was a country that was evaluated as being able to cosplay as a great power by following Europe.

On the other hand, the Asian countries of today are only babies just taking their first steps.

But they were thoroughly thrashed by those babies, so the disgrace is unparalleled.

“I’m most curious about the reaction of the Holy Roman Empire Federation. They kept insisting that they were the true Rome.”

“I’m looking at it, and it seems like they’re the most excited. All the newspapers are covering this Italian defeat very intensively.”

“To be honest, if I were a citizen of the Holy Roman Empire Federation, I would have thought it was a good thing.”

The headlines of the Holy Roman Empire Federation’s newspapers showed a clear intention to tear them apart.

[The self-proclaimed descendants of Rome were utterly defeated by an Asian country. Since when has the name of Rome become so light?]

[Great job, Italy! Once again proving the dignity of the self-proclaimed original.]

[Italy was confident that they were different from the Holy Roman Empire Federation. They certainly were.]

[Is it a festival now? No, it’s Italy’s funeral.]

In fact, it wasn’t just Italy.

Europe and the Nordic Federation were angry that Italy had tarnished the honor of Europe, and some countries even demanded an apology.

Hey, stop it. They’re going to cry.

It’s already sad that they lost the war, but demanding an apology is too cruel, isn’t it?

In fact, it’s funny and pitiful that Italy flopped, but the problem now is the self-proclaimed Four Dragons [likely referring to emerging Asian economies].

They’ve strengthened themselves with Italy, so how much more confident would they be?

As expected.

I naturally clicked my tongue at the message from Guangdong France that decorated the last page of the report.

“…The Coalition of Civilized Nations is scheduled to officially announce a statement saying, ‘Asia will manage Asia, so Europe should not intervene’….”

Is this the Asian-style Doctrine?

Italy… how much misguided confidence have you instilled in them?