"Honorable Your Majesty!"

The Austrian Ambassador also smiled as he threatened Victor Emmanuel II, "I advise your country to consider carefully, the time left for you is limited!

If your country cannot give us a reply within 48 hours, then the Austrian Empire will consider your country unwilling to conduct peaceful negotiations with us at the negotiating table!

Our army will also automatically enter a state of war after 48 hours!"

"You..." Victor Emmanuel II’s veins bulged as he angrily responded to the Austrian Ambassador, "You are crossing the line; the international community will absolutely not agree with your reckless actions, your behavior is destroying the Vienna Congress you initially established!"

Facing Victor Emmanuel II’s angry and shameful threat, the Austrian Ambassador fully displayed the imperialistic face.

He still smiled at Victor Emmanuel II, politely saying, "Honorable Your Majesty, I think you may have forgotten!

The main purpose of the Vienna Congress was to prevent conflicts between major powers and maintain the balance of power on the European Continent.

Prime Minister Metternich chose to let your country be restored based on this principle.

Your recent tolerance towards the Charcoal Party’s assassination attempts against the monarchs of the Duchy of Tuscany, Modena Duchy, and the French Empire has gravely violated the initial intention of the Vienna Congress.

The Austrian Empire made this choice precisely to uphold the Vienna Congress!

However, as long as your country agrees to the conditions proposed by us, our country is still willing to maintain peace with the Sardinian Kingdom!"

Even though the Austrian Empire’s Ambassador didn’t utter a single offensive word throughout, the contempt revealed in his words still made Victor Emmanuel II feel particularly resentful and sad.

To be fair, the Sardinian Kingdom is considered a country just below the top tier (England, France, Prussia, Austria, Russia) in Europe, yet the disparity compared to the top tier is unimaginable.

Purely in terms of the military, the Sardinian Kingdom currently has about 50,000 troops, even with various additional militiamen and volunteers, it’s only about 80,000.

[The 120,000 troops the Sardinian Kingdom claimed in 1848 were completely numbers relied on by assembling forces from various states and inflating them.]

However, the Austrian Empire’s standing force is around 460,000, with 80,000 to 100,000 troops deployable on a single frontline, meaning the Sardinian Kingdom cannot compare with the Austrian Empire in terms of military numbers.

As for the individual soldier’s quality... hmm! Let’s look at the neighbors in Prussia! Folks!

Apart from the military, there’s also a considerable economic gap between the Austrian Empire and the Sardinian Kingdom.

The most prosperous land in the Apennine Peninsula is in the hands of the Austrian Empire.

The Austrian Empire can completely rely on the finances of Lombardy and Venice to overwhelm the Sardinian Kingdom.

Of course, the talents of Lombardy and Venice are not only used locally but also for subsidizing other areas (military subsidies).

In summary, under Victor Emmanuel II’s leadership, the Sardinian Kingdom, having missed the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in 1848, is very unlikely to defeat the Austrian Empire with its own strength.

The atmosphere fell into a tense state after the Austrian ambassador said those words, and after a while, Victor Emmanuel II stiffly said to the Austrian Ambassador, "Your Excellency Ambassador, I now ask you to leave in the capacity of the Sardinian Monarch!"

"I await your reply in the embassy! Your Majesty!" The Austrian Ambassador politely bowed to Victor Emmanuel II and then turned to leave.

Shortly after the Austrian Ambassador left, Victor Emmanuel II suddenly erupted, in his extreme anger, he picked up a stool and threw it in the direction the Austrian Ambassador had left.

Only hearing a "snap", the round stool slammed against the wall.

Then, Victor Emmanuel II picked up another round stool and threw it against the wall, and the solid wood legs broke into two sections.

After throwing two round stools in succession, Victor Emmanuel II finally calmed down a bit. He walked slowly to the doorway, opened the door of the reception room, and said stiffly to the servant outside, "Come in and clean up!"

Hearing this, the servant instinctively shrank his neck, then obediently replied, "As you command!"

The servant entered the room, while Victor Emmanuel II left the reception room.

Walking in the corridor, Victor Emmanuel II saw the aide-de-camp about to go upstairs at the corner, he immediately stopped the aide-de-camp and said to him, "You are to immediately go to the Ministry of War and call over the Minister of War Lamamor!

Remember to be quick!"

The aide-de-camp heard the impatience in Victor Emmanuel II’s words, quickly replied "Yes" in response, and then turned and ran downstairs.

Before the aide-de-camp could take two steps, he suddenly turned around again to ask Victor Emmanuel II where later he would meet with Lamamor.

"Study!" Victor Emmanuel II succinctly replied.

"Yes!" The adjutant once again turned and ran downstairs, while Victor Emmanuel II hurried towards the study upstairs.

As Victor Emmanuel II reached the door of the study, he suddenly thought he should communicate this matter via telegraph to Cavour, who was far away in Paris.

If Cavour could persuade Jerome Bonaparte to support the Sardinian Kingdom, then the Austrian Empire surely wouldn’t dare to act rashly.

Thus, Victor Emmanuel II casually called over a servant, instructing him to head to the telegraph room at the Turin Royal Palace to send a telegraph to the Sardinian Embassy in France, informing them of the Austrian Empire’s final ultimatum to the Sardinian Kingdom.

Finally, Victor Emmanuel II specifically added, "After sending the telegraph, report back to me immediately!"

The servant, upon receiving the order, turned towards the telegraph room, and Victor Emmanuel II pushed open the door to enter the study.

About 10 minutes later, the servant whom Victor Emmanuel II had dispatched to the telegraph room appeared in his study.

"Your Majesty, I’ve sent out the message!" The servant reported succinctly to Victor Emmanuel II.

After listening, Victor Emmanuel II nodded, saying, "I understand! You may leave!"

"Yes!" The servant respectfully exited the study.

A few more minutes passed, and the sound of knocking was heard again. Victor Emmanuel II spoke in a dignified tone, "Come in!"

The door slowly opened, and the Sardinian Minister of War, interim Prime Minister Marshal Lamamor appeared before Victor Emmanuel II.

Upon seeing Lamamor, Victor Emmanuel II stood quickly and said to Minister Lamamor, "You finally returned!"

"Your Majesty, may I inquire what you need from me?" Lamamor asked respectfully to Victor Emmanuel II.

"Just now..." Victor Emmanuel II recounted word for word what the Austrian Ambassador had said to Lamamor.

After listening, Lamamor also revealed an angry expression, "The Austrian Empire is utterly detestable!"

"Therefore, I want to ask you, as our war hero, what should we do now!" Victor Emmanuel II flattered Lamamor just a bit.

Lamamor thought for a moment and cautiously responded to Victor Emmanuel II, "Your Majesty, I believe the most urgent issue now is to clarify the misunderstanding with the Austrian Empire!"

Victor Emmanuel II paused at Lamamor’s statement.

Lamamor’s remarks were completely different from what Victor Emmanuel II hoped to hear.

Thus, Victor Emmanuel II directly asked Lamamor, "If the Austrian Empire is determined to launch military action against Sardinia, how confident are you in resisting the Austrian Empire’s attack?"

Lamamor contemplated for a long time and then helplessly answered Victor Emmanuel II, "Your Majesty, please forgive my bluntness!

If the Austrian Empire truly initiates war with us, our army can only hold out for 72 hours!"

"72 hours!" Victor Emmanuel II looked at Lamamor in shock, "Isn’t that just three days?"

"If we employ a divide-and-conquer strategy, we might slightly extend the duration!" Lamamor indirectly told Victor Emmanuel II.

"Is our army really so fragile?" Victor Emmanuel II asked with some agitation.

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Cavour cut the military budget by 30% recently!" Lamamor indirectly expressed his dissatisfaction with Cavour to Victor Emmanuel II.

Victor Emmanuel II showed a hint of embarrassment on his face; the 30% reduction in military spending was implemented with his consent following Cavour’s request.

After all, no one previously anticipated Austria taking action against them.

Maintaining a full-strength regular army of 50,000 men is somewhat challenging for the finances of a medium-sized country.

"The military budget matter was indeed not thoroughly considered!" Victor Emmanuel II conceded to Lamamor, "But can we really only hold out for three days?"

"Five days!" Lamamor spread his hands to Victor Emmanuel II, "Our army can endure Austrian attacks for a maximum of five days!

Your Majesty, if the Austrian Empire truly decides to move against us, we have only five days to seek external aid!

After five days, the Austrian Empire’s forces will completely occupy all of our territories except Sardinia!

By then, we can only pin our hopes on the coordination among the major powers!"