I Became A Genius Of The French Royal Family [EN]: Chapter 330

The unification of the newly formed Italian Empire was dramatic, but lacked a certain grandeur.

They criticized the Holy Roman Empire, claiming to be the true Rome, but no one took their claims seriously.

Of course, the Holy Roman Empire countered that *they* were the real Rome. And what else could Italy be, with Rome as its capital, if not the descendants of Rome? But it was largely dismissed as just another squabble.

The other nations of Europe merely scoffed, questioning what kind of Rome they truly were.

Still, on the surface, the Italian Empire didn’t appear too bad.

It controlled the entire Italian Peninsula and boasted a population of over 20 million.

However, a closer look revealed a chaotic interior.

The Italian Peninsula had been a patchwork of numerous independent states since the Middle Ages.

Naturally, each city-state had its own distinct culture, economic structure, and level of commercial and financial development.

The ruling powers initially overestimated the economic potential of the unified Italian Peninsula.

When confined to a room, drafting plans with a pen, it’s easy to fall into the delusion that everything will work out perfectly.

They believed that by uniting the Italian Peninsula into a single, vast economic community and abolishing tariffs, commerce would flourish and wealth would multiply effortlessly.

Of course, they realized that this wasn’t going to work out as planned in less than a year.

The day laborers in the south, traditionally focused on agriculture, had no interest in such commercial activities.

They lacked the purchasing power to even buy goods, so how could trade possibly thrive?

Even the roads were in such poor condition that it was difficult to drive a carriage, let alone build railroads, hindering the proper transport of goods.

Later, the Italian Empire’s parliament, having consolidated its power, shifted its goals.

Instead of pursuing balanced growth across the country, they created large-scale industrial zones in the relatively wealthy north.

However, as expected, there was no virtuous cycle where industrial development spurred agricultural development.

It might seem good enough that at least the north was developing, but social conflicts rarely resolve themselves so rationally.

To boost internal unity, they needed to find a convenient scapegoat to exploit.

Of course, there was no easy target in Europe to serve as a punching bag for the new Italy.

To the north was the Holy Roman Federation, vying with Britain for the position of the world’s second power.

Adjacent to it was France, the world’s strongest power.

And right next to them was Spain, still a force to be reckoned with.

The only somewhat manageable target was Greece, but even a war with Greece wouldn’t guarantee a victory.

Decisively, if they caused internal strife in Europe, France, acting as the world’s policeman, could intervene.

“Our Italian Empire, inheriting the spirit of ancient Rome, hereby declares that it will contribute to establishing world peace.”

As a newly formed nation, they absolutely couldn’t start a war of aggression.

Italy, wisely assessing the political landscape, turned its gaze to Asia and naturally became interested in the conflict between Thailand and Vietnam.

“This is a golden opportunity!”

“We have already sent a proposal for an alliance to Thailand through a statement from the parliament. If Thailand accepts, we can send troops to Thailand under the pretext of protecting the alliance.”

“But how is the war progressing now? I heard that the capital of Thailand is in danger.”

“Vietnam has more allies backing them. Laos and Cambodia have already been breached, and Thailand seems to be in dire straits if things continue this way.”

“Tsk, tsk, as I see it, the battles between Asian countries are decided by who uses *our* weapons better.”

Italian parliament members didn’t even consider the possibility of losing if they got involved.

They just thought it was lucky that they could make a big show of helping Thailand when it was in danger.

However, there are always people who see the situation with a cool head.

Giuseppe Garibaldi, a young man from Sardinia, raised his hand and stood up from his seat.

“Honorable members of parliament! It’s good to plan for after the victory, but the most important thing is to calmly assess whether we can really win the war.”

“Of course we can win. Are you suggesting we might lose to some Asian country?”

“I’m not saying we’ll lose, but we need to examine the situation closely…”

“Do you think we’re fighting another European country? We’re dealing with barbarians who were fighting with bows and spears until recently. It’s obvious we’ll win.”

No modern nation in Europe had ever lost a full-scale war against an Asian country.

France and Britain, of course, and even the Holy Roman Empire and Spain, though only briefly, had easily crushed the Qing Dynasty army.

History and records proved it, so it wasn’t strange for the parliament members to be confident.

However, Garibaldi’s thoughts were a little different.

He had jumped into the Italian unification war as a teenager and made remarkable contributions as a war hero.

Recently, he had been studying the advanced strategies and tactics of France and Britain, adopting not just intuition but also formalized theories.

From his perspective, this war plan was, in a word, ‘Is this right?’ [Meaning: Is this a good idea?]

“Everyone. Of course, if we fought here in Europe, we wouldn’t lose to Vietnam or any other Asian dragon. But the battlefield will be in Thailand.”

“Why is that? Do you think we’re discussing this without knowing that?”

Garibaldi suppressed the urge to shout and pointed to the world map.

“Look, if we send troops from here, they have to cross the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal [a sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea], and exit the Red Sea. Then they have to go around the Arabian Sea, enter the Burmese Sea, and finally reach Thailand. That’s quite a march. We have to fight the enemy after moving that far.”

“I see what you’re trying to say. But isn’t that why we’re forming an alliance with Thailand? If Thailand provides us with supplies locally, I believe our troops will easily crush the pathetic Asian army.”

“…”

No matter how much he had contributed to the war, being young was a major weakness in the political arena.

The parliament members patronized Garibaldi as if he were a child, not budging from their opinions at all.

“You’re still young and don’t understand, but what we need now is results. We need to show how powerful our new Italian Empire is and boost the morale of our people.”

“I understand. But it means nothing if we lose.”

“Are we really going to lose? Hahaha! And we have the young tactical genius Giuseppe Garibaldi, don’t we?”

“Hahaha! That’s right. The pride of Italy! The reincarnation of Caesar and Scipio! [Famous Roman generals] A genius commander comparable to Napoleon of France! Why worry when we have Garibaldi?”

Even though the person in question was unsure, what kind of strange rhetoric was this?

Garibaldi instinctively realized that further persuasion was impossible.

The root cause of this problem was the disastrous track record that Asia had shown in wars with Europe.

‘Tsk… is there really no other way?’

If war is unavoidable, the reality is that you have to come up with a way to win.

Garibaldi decided to make a slightly more positive prediction.

No matter how much Vietnam and its allies struggled, Asia was still Asia, as the parliament members said.

They might win more easily than they thought.

Garibaldi could only watch the alliance with Thailand being passed by an overwhelming majority with a deep sigh.

※※※

Krungthepmahanakhon, the capital of Thailand.

Also known as Bangkok, this city was currently deep in thought.

As befitting its name as the impregnable city of the god Indra [a major deity in Hinduism and Buddhism], it had withstood one Vietnamese offensive, but the opponent’s strength was much greater than expected.

“The enemy’s strength is much greater than expected. Is there no good way to overcome them?”

Originally, Thailand and Vietnam had been fighting over the Cambodia and Laos regions.

They thought this was just an extension of that fight, but what do you know?

Vietnam, backed by the power of its newly formed alliance, easily pushed Thailand’s forces out of the Laos and Cambodia regions with tremendous force.

The subsequent battles were also a series of defeats.

The situation was so bad that the previous king, Rama II, who was already old, was shocked and passed away.

Naturally, the eyes of the newly crowned Rama III were also filled with worry.

“Your Majesty. I am sorry to say, but it seems difficult to stop the enemy with our army’s strength alone. The enemy’s weapons are so powerful, and they have allies helping them, so their momentum is not breaking.”

“Aren’t their allies just those in Northeast Asia far away? Are they even coming down here by boat to attack us?”

“They are not sending troops directly, but it seems that a considerable amount of supplies has been sent. Vietnam seems to have promised to repay them with the profits from this war…”

“So we have no choice but to believe their words.”

Rama III’s trembling eyes turned to the fresh letter that had arrived today.

“But what on earth is this country called Italy? I’ve never heard of it. Does anyone know about it?”

Rama III was not completely ignorant of the situation in Europe.

Of course, he knew the name of France, the world’s strongest power, and he also knew the names of Britain and the Holy Roman Empire.

He had even heard of the recently emerging Northern European Federation and Spain, which occasionally made headlines.

But frankly, he had never heard the name Italian Empire before.

“According to the diplomat, the new Italian Empire is a country that succeeds Rome.”

“Rome? I know Rome. But isn’t the Holy Roman Empire the successor to Rome?”

“The diplomat says that they are the real ones and the Holy Roman Empire is fake. As proof, he showed a map that Rome, the capital of the old Roman Empire, is currently their capital.”

Indeed, when he looked at the map of Europe, the capital Rome was in the Italian Empire, not the Holy Roman Empire.

“And the territory of the Holy Roman Empire is not closely related to ancient Rome. Rather, the Italian Peninsula, which looks like a boot, was the key area where ancient Rome began to flourish. Just in case, I looked up books that translated Western literature, but it wasn’t a lie.”

“Hmm, then that’s strange. What basis do those Holy Roman Empire guys have for saying they succeeded Rome?”

They don’t have a capital, their territories don’t overlap, and their people are different.

Isn’t it a little strange to be a successor when nothing overlaps?

“So in Europe, they are ridiculed as not being holy, not Roman, and not an empire.”

“Ahem… I guess that could be true. By the way, what is the reason why those successors of Rome want to help us?”

“They want to secure a trading base in Asia, and they have determined that we are the right partner. They also added that they think they can trade on better terms because we seem to be in a crisis situation now.”

“I like their honesty. There are no people as suspicious as those who offer unconditional help.”

In fact, they have confidently offered to help in this situation, so their power will not be weak.

Until now, the track record of European countries, including France and Britain, has been so brilliant that he was inclined to accept.

“We just want to get rid of those wretched jungle beggars… For now, let’s accept their offer. If something seems strange later, we can just overturn it.”

The country of Rome was a great empire that Rama III had heard of, even though it had disappeared into history more than a thousand years ago.

They are claiming to be the successors of such an empire, so they must have the power to do so.

That’s why they are sending troops across the distant sea to this place.

Surely, they wouldn’t have joined the front lines with such fanfare if they weren’t even capable of the basics?

Even though it is said that ‘what if’ can ruin a person, it seems that there is no need to doubt this time.

A smile appeared on Rama III’s lips for the first time today, as he met an unexpected savior.

He felt like he could stretch out his legs and sleep soundly for the first time in a long time.