After Jerome Bonaparte issued the order, Nie’er swiftly returned to the General Staff and sent a telegram through the Staff Department to the Alps Army (also known as the Italian Army) stationed in the Lyon region, ordering the mobilization of the troops.

General Troche, the commander of the Alps Army, upon receiving the telegram from Chief of Staff Nie’er, excitedly raised the telegram and shouted to the army staff, division commanders, and officers in the headquarters, "The Chief of Staff commands our army to march towards the Sardinian Kingdom!"

Everyone in the headquarters cheered loudly upon hearing Troche’s order. In their view, the French Army entering the Sardinian Kingdom meant that there was bound to be a major battle against the Austrian Empire, and they could gain promotions and titles.

At this moment, they were unaware that this march into the Sardinian Kingdom was not at all for war. Their desire for promotions and titles had been extinguished from the beginning.

Following the order of General Troche, nearly 60,000 troops of the Alps Army began to assemble.

The various division headquarters surrounding Lyon completed the assembly in just about one day.

Just as Troche was about to issue the command for the entire army to advance towards Savoy, Troche’s aide-de-camp entered the camp and reported startling news.

"What did you say!" Troche seemed not to have heard the aide-de-camp’s report clearly, and he widened his eyes to inquire.

"Commander, His Majesty the Emperor and the Chief of Staff are now near the military train station!" The aide-de-camp repeated to Troche.

"Why didn’t you invite them over!" Troche stomped his foot in reproach at the aide-de-camp beside him, then hurriedly got up to make his way towards the military train station. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"Commander, His Majesty and the Chief of Staff insisted on staying near the military train station, and couldn’t be persuaded to leave!" The aide-de-camp said with a hint of grievance.

Troche then realized that near the military train station there was a warehouse of the Italian Army. Perhaps His Majesty and the Chief of Staff intended to personally inspect the warehouse!

Thinking of this, Troche hurriedly asked his aide-de-camp, "Are His Majesty and the Chief of Staff near the warehouse?"

The aide-de-camp first shook his head, then after thinking for a moment, nodded to Troche and replied, "That’s right, His Majesty and the Chief of Staff are heading in the direction of the warehouse!"

"It seems they are indeed preparing to inspect the warehouse!" Troche breathed a sigh of relief and muttered quietly.

Luckily, he had not engaged in embezzlement during his tenure with the Italian Army.

Otherwise, he would surely have been reprimanded this time.

Possibly even relieved of his duties!

"Hurry, let’s go welcome them!" Troche said to the aide-de-camp, then quickly walked out of the camp.

The aide-de-camp followed Troche’s steps out of the camp, both of them mounted horses and rode towards the military warehouse.

When Troche and his aide-de-camp arrived near the military warehouse, a squad of soldiers was already guarding the area. Troche and his aide-de-camp quickly dismounted and slowly approached the soldiers.

As Troche and his aide-de-camp neared the soldiers, the soldiers loudly questioned, "Who goes there!"

It was then that Troche and the aide-de-camp realized the soldiers before them were not from the Italian Army, but from the Guard Division below Guardianship.

Troche hurriedly responded to the soldiers, "I am Troche, the commander of the Italian Army, and this is my aide-de-camp!"

The soldiers glanced at Troche and the aide-de-camp’s epaulettes, then quickly saluted Troche, saying, "Commander Troche!"

"May I pass through?" Troche asked the soldiers.

The soldiers swiftly cleared a path for Troche, allowing him and his aide-de-camp to continue forward.

Soon, Troche and his aide-de-camp reached the warehouse. Inside, they saw a dark mass, including Jerome Bonaparte, Nie’er, and staff and aides from the General Staff. At that moment, Jerome Bonaparte and the others were walking out of the warehouse, while Troche and his group were approaching the entrance, and the two parties encountered each other near the warehouse door.

At the moment Troche saw Jerome Bonaparte, his mind seemed to short-circuit, and he couldn’t speak for a long time.

It wasn’t until the aide-de-camp carefully nudged Troche with his foot that Troche finally responded to Jerome Bonaparte, saying, "Your Majesty!"

"Troche, what’s wrong!" Jerome Bonaparte smiled at Troche and said, "I was just planning to look for you!

I didn’t expect you to arrive so soon!"

"Your Majesty, please forgive my tardiness!" Troche bowed and apologized to Jerome Bonaparte.

"It’s not your fault!" Jerome Bonaparte shook his head and replied to Troche, "It’s my fault; I didn’t inform you before departing!

Your prompt arrival is already commendable!"

Troche lowered his head and remained silent as Jerome Bonaparte praised, "Your Italian Army’s military warehouse, which I briefly inspected earlier, is excellent!

"The items inside the warehouse are not arranged from worst to best, which is worth learning from by other armies!"

"Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty!" Trocch humbly replied to Jerome Bonaparte.

Before Trocch could bask in his delight, Jerome Bonaparte changed his tone and said, "However, the classification of the entire warehouse is rather poor!

If the items could be further categorized, it would be better!"

"Your Majesty, I will arrange it immediately!" Trocch quickly responded to Jerome Bonaparte.

"No need to arrange it now!" Jerome Bonaparte raised his hand to stop him, "You have more important matters to attend to right now; the reclassification of the warehouse can wait!"

"Yes!" Trocch nodded to Jerome Bonaparte.

After instructing the details, Jerome Bonaparte issued orders to Trocch to head to the Italian Army Headquarters.

Under Trocch’s guidance, Jerome Bonaparte and his entourage arrived at the Italian (Alps) Army Headquarters.

Trocch then introduced everyone at the headquarters to Jerome Bonaparte.

Jerome Bonaparte shook hands with every member of the army in turn, politely asking their names, about their families, and if they needed any assistance.

Everyone uniformly replied to Jerome Bonaparte, stating that they did not need help as long as they could serve His Majesty the Emperor.

Jerome Bonaparte also smiled and offered them a few words of encouragement.

After becoming acquainted with all the senior and mid-level officers of the Italian Army, Jerome Bonaparte turned to ask Trocch, "When will the troops depart?"

"Your Majesty, the troops can depart at any time!" Trocch replied to Jerome Bonaparte with his chest out proudly.

"Then let’s depart now!" Jerome Bonaparte said calmly.

Trocch was taken aback for a moment, then replied firmly to Jerome Bonaparte, "Yes!"

The troops quickly assembled and departed. After marching for over eight hours, the vanguard arrived near the border between France and the Kingdom of Sardinia.

As the sun set, the last rays of sunlight painted the sky crimson, dyeing the once blue and clear sky red. Under this fiery hue, the troops stationed at the Sardinian border saw masses of black dots approaching them from afar, resembling a swarm of locusts.

The border soldiers quickly took out a monocular telescope to look into the distance. Through the telescope, he saw the vanguard of the French Empire advancing in an orderly fashion towards the defensive area they guarded.

Upon witnessing this scene, the border soldier hastily put down the monocular and reported the news to the major stationed in the border area. As the highest-ranking officer at the Sardinian border, the major was well aware of the French Empire’s intentions.

Thus, the major hurriedly put on his uniform neatly and said to the soldiers beside him, "Quick! Move the barriers away!"

The soldiers hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do.

"The French Army is here to help us resist the Austrian Empire!" a Sardinian Kingdom officer responded to the soldier.

"Understood!" The soldier quickly saluted Jerome Bonaparte and then left the major’s room to return to the border, "Quickly, move all the roadblocks away!"

The surrounding soldiers also revealed puzzled expressions, to which a soldier quickly replied, "The French Army is here to help us jointly resist Austria!"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers hurriedly began clearing the roadblocks, removing them swiftly.

After a while, the major also arrived with a military band, hastily issuing orders to the surrounding soldiers, "Attention, everyone! Stand ready to welcome them!"

The soldiers quickly lined up on both sides of the road, and when the French troops arrived, the officer promptly ordered the military band to play.

The rousing "Marching Song" played under the tune of the Second Empire’s "national anthem" (the Second Empire didn’t officially have one), and the French vanguard quickly encircled them, "Major, please lay down your weapons!"

The major looked bewildered at the "allied forces" before him, hastily asking, "Isn’t this a mistake! You are here to help us!"

The French vanguard shook their heads and replied to the major, "We are not mistaken; the orders we received are to disarm your troops entirely, so abandon your resistance!"

Thus, the major at the border was disarmed in complete confusion.

Subsequently, all officers in the border area were disarmed and detained by the French Army.

Around 8 PM, the vanguard arrived in Chambéry. The governor of the Savoy Province, Camilo Valne, still unaware of the border forces’ capture, also led his provincial government officials and members of the Chambery National Guard to greet them.

This time, the French Army did not capture them but informed Camilo Valne that the Emperor of France would arrive shortly.