Sunday morning in Milan. A throng of Austrian soldiers, on Radetzky’s orders, in defiance of the proclamation to abstain from smoking tobacco, offer tobacco to passersby. At the entrance to the Caffe Martini, next to La Scala, the situation escalates when an officer becomes too provocative and fills his mouth with cigars, and a Milanese man slaps him, knocking his cigars out. A melee breaks out, and the Austrian gets the worst of it. It turns out he is Count Albert Niepperg, son of Marie Louise. Niepperg is furious and orders reprisals. This is the start of the incidents that will lead to the Five Days of Rebellion.
