Chapter 52: Aftermath (Request for Votes)
Chapter 52: Aftermath (Request for Tickets)
Which is more important, politics or military?
There was no precise answer to this question.
Militarily, Marshal Radetsky’s decision was completely correct, but politically it was just plain wrong.
His retreat was seen by outsiders as a sign that Austria had lost on the battlefield, or that the Austrian Empire was rotten.
This would have added confidence to the ambitious at home and complicated the situation at home; at the same time, internationally Austria’s international position would have been shaken.
“The matter has come to a head, there is no point in talking about it!”
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will first communicate with Britain and France, we can’t let them give substantial support to the Kingdom of Sardinia, the focus will be on the French, and we can let the French into the North Italian region if necessary.” Franz said without hesitation
Deep down, he also supported Marshal Radetzky’s approach, as long as he could win the war, what’s wrong with paying a little bit of a price?
Political adverse effects, the big deal is to let the cabinet take the blame, anyway, he is still young as the Regent Crown Prince, and is a five good youth, the public will not scold him.
Prime Minister Felix’s face is gloomy and terrible, but unfortunately Marshal Radetzky is far away in Venice, even if he has a big fire, there is no place to send it ah?
He couldn’t order Marshal Radetzky to recapture the Lombardy region right now, could he? War is not a child’s play, how can it be taken for granted?
Should we change? This idea flickered in his mind, change of generals in the battlefield is the military taboo, not to mention that the Crown Prince will not agree, even he himself do not dare to take this risk ah?
Franz has already expressed the attitude, first solve the aftermath of the problem before. If this war is won, then Marshal Radetzky is a hero, is Austria’s merit, and vice versa, needless to say, the consequences are very serious.
“Your Highness, the French are not enough to worry about. Since the end of the war against France, the strength of the French Army has been limited, and they only got rid of it after the February Revolution in Paris.
Now the internal struggle in France is serious, the conservatives who are not willing to lose are making a counterattack, and the French can’t take care of themselves, the most they can do is to support some of the supplies.
On the contrary, the British are troublesome, they are less affected by the revolution and have the spare capacity to intervene in the Italian battlefield, we have a good relationship with the British, we should seek their support at this time!”
On the surface that was true, Austria and Britain had always had good diplomatic relations since the days of Metternich, and everyone wanted to maintain the balance of the European continent.
With the same political purpose, the relationship between the two sides was naturally good, and Austria had always been an ally of the British in maintaining the balance of the European continent.
Metternich shook his head and said: ”Your Excellency the Prime Minister, from the standpoint of the British, it is more in line with their interests to establish a unified Italian Kingdom and check Austria and France at the same time.
On this issue, it is almost impossible for us to gain their support, and it is good enough to keep the British neutral.”
To the British Metternich still studied very thoroughly, what relationship is false, only the interests are the most reliable.
In maintaining the balance of Europe everyone is an ally, but the British do not need a strong Austria, they only need to be able to a can hold back the Russian expansion of Austria on the line.
None of them had France in mind, the Vienna system had collapsed, but the countries were still wary of France.
When the news of the February Revolution in Paris reached St. Petersburg, Tsar Nicholas I wanted to intervene with armed force, but had to give up the plan due to financial constraints.
Nevertheless, the Tsarist government declared that it had severed diplomatic relations with France, and before the Russian ambassador to France, Kiselev, evacuated Paris, he warned the Parisian government to demand that the French observe the territorial boundaries established by the Congress of Vienna and the Peace of Paris.
The British likewise expressed concern on this issue and have so far watched the foreign policy of the Paris government without recognizing their legitimacy.
Against this background, if the French government dared to send troops to Italy, it was likely to start a new round of war against France, and it was obvious that the Paris government did not have the courage to do so.
Minister of Finance Karl suddenly spoke up and said, “Your Highness, our war with the Kingdom of Sardinia has only just begun, and even if the British were to support the Kingdom of Sardinia, they would not be as efficient as they are.
Our biggest problem at this time is still at home, the loss on the Italian battlefield will stimulate the ambitions of certain people.”
To rely on the Kingdom of Sardinia to dry out Austria, this could not be done with verbal support. Either the British would have to send troops directly or support large amounts of money and supplies.
It was impossible for the British to send troops directly, unless they wanted Austria to fall to Russia; supporting money and food that was not a small amount, at least a million pounds to start with.
This decision is not easy to make, in case the money and food is given, the Kingdom of Sardinia still lost, their investment will be wasted.
Austria is also a great power, the same is a temper, may be France and Austria compromise directly divided Italy, the British can only sit wax.
Karl’s last sentence, the crowd’s line of sight once again pulled back to the domestic. Compared to the Italian problem, in fact, the domestic rebellion is the real heart of the problem.
Other places are not sure, the Kingdom of Hungary is sure to rebel, just a matter of time.
“Well, a loss on the Italian battlefield will definitely cause a chain reaction, but we are not unprepared.
Order the troops to increase their alert, and if a rebellion occurs, suppress it immediately.” Franz said in a murderous voice
After pacifying the Vienna Rebellion, Franz immediately began to reorganize his troops and prepare for war, many reservists were enlisted, and Austria’s total military strength had been expanded to 578,000 men.
If not for the fact that the new recruits still need time to get used to, Franz did not even bother to pull the wool over the eyes of the Hungarians, and solving the Hungarian problem by force is the correct operation.
Franz was not prepared to fight a prolonged war, suppressing the rebellion had to be quick and easy. Dragging it out for a year or two, like in history, would be killing people.
War fighting is money, history because of the delay in the domestic rebellion can not be pacified, not only caused huge economic losses, for this reason, the Austrian government is also burdened with a huge amount of foreign debt.
So much so that in the later development, Austria slowed down a step, this step let Austria fell into the abyss.
“Your Highness, should we send another reinforcement to Marshal Radetzky?” Finance Minister Karl asked with some concern
“No need, after giving up the Lombardy region, Marshal Radetzky already has enough troops in his hands to defend Venice without a problem!” Franz thought about it and said
Since it is to lure the enemy in, if there are too many troops, what if the Italians don’t dare to come?
The Sardinian Kingdom’s home base is limited, at most, it will put in 100,000 or 800,000 troops, the two sides are equal in strength, Franz does not believe that the Austrian army can’t even beat the Italians!
(End of chapter)