Chapter 407: The Price of Betrayal

Looking at the increasing number of casualties, Franz also felt a headache, and as Carlo Ferrangeri had expected, Austria also needed face.

If it can be exposed to fight with the French, then the loss of 10,000 and 8,000 is nothing at all. The problem is that Austria is not ready for a decisive battle with the French.

Once the window paper is pierced, all-out war is doomed. If a local war does not exist, neither side can admit defeat, and once the war begins, it will rise to the point of life and death.

The arrogant French will not concede defeat, and Napoleon III can only fight to the end; Austria has a population advantage and has the upper hand in terms of war potential, and Franz is even more unlikely to concede defeat.

This means that it is useless to decide winners and losers in local wars. Everyone is unwilling to give in, and the war will continue.

Either play for three years and five years, and whoever can't hold on first will admit defeat, or lose both sides;

None of this can be ended in a short period of time. In this era of no planes, tanks, and cars, we just rely on two legs to march, and blitzkrieg does not exist.

The fight is to comprehensive national strength. When you open the map, you will know that the geographical locations of France and Austria have been determined, and whoever launches an attack will suffer.

At most, most of the Sardinian kingdom will be laid in the Italian region. This is not the core of the French, and the local area is a group of Italians who cannot be tamed. Occupying it has no effect.

On the contrary, it increased the pressure of logistics supply, and Franz did not think that the Austrian army had the ability to cross the Alps and hit Paris all the way.

More likely, subject to logistical constraints, and then driven back by the French. After all, the French could be transported by sea and fight the war of attrition with the Austrians here.

Central Europe is separated from the German Federal Empire and Switzerland. Just think about it by "borrowing". What is the difference between this and an invasion?

Unless the French are induced to take the initiative to send troops, it is impossible for Austria to take the initiative to attack. Franz didn't want to feel excluded, it wasn't a wonderful experience.

If all these are tolerable, the most unacceptable thing for Franz is the cost of war. If France wins, it will be a war reparation at most.

Even if the land is ceded, Austria is out of reach! Besides, the French land Franz is really not interested.

The only bordering kingdom of Sardinia does not dare to ask for it, otherwise the number of Italians in the country will explode, which is not conducive to national integration and increases the possibility of explosion.

colony? After Fao starts to fight, it is unknown how much the Austrian navy will be left in the end. If it is possible to keep the existing territory, God will bless it. Where can there be the ability to expand?

Even if it is war reparations, it is unknown whether it can be obtained or not. If John Bull gets involved, it might be a waste of time.

Don't count on the Russian-Austrian alliance, it's unreliable. Austria can paddle in the Russian-Prussian war, and the Russians can paddle in the Franco-Russian war, not to mention the fact that the Russians are still fighting with Prussia and can't help at all.

If the window paper is not pierced, this number of casualties will embarrass the Austrian military. Going on, it was inevitable that the casualties would outnumber the Osa War.

At present, the smell of gunpowder on the Italian peninsula is getting stronger and stronger, and both France and Austria are constantly increasing their troops, only one spark will detonate.

Napoleon III and Franz felt the same, or more uncomfortable. In the Italian region, Austria will be in vain, and the French Balkans will not be guaranteed.

The French navy is very strong, and the Austrian navy is not weak. At least in the Adriatic Sea, the French navy could not hold back Austria, and the French army on the Balkans became a lonely army at the beginning.

Losing the French Balkans is acceptable if the war can be won. The problem is that it is limited by geographical location, and the most suitable battle point at present is the Italian region.

Napoleon III in Central Europe did not dare to touch it, otherwise the enemy would not be an Austria, but an anti-French alliance.

From Italy all the way to Vienna, this distance is enough to make the French collapse n times. Austria's railways are indeed well built, but everyone's tracks are different, and they cannot be connected, and the railways cannot be counted on at all.

This is still an ideal state. Under normal circumstances, the French army will mostly stop in the Lombardy area. There are perfect fortifications in the area, and it is not so easy to break through.

During the Australasian War, the Sardinian Kingdom broke its defense line by means of an internal sneak attack, but now there are not so many internal responses.

In this context, even if the French army occupied the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, in fact, the two sides could only be regarded as a tie.

If you want to win the war, unless like the original time and space, Franz personally leads the troops + blind command.

Today is different from the past. If Franz and Napoleon III lead soldiers to PK together, no one really knows the result. After all, neither of them is a master of soldiers.

In the original time and space of the Austrian-French War, Napoleon III did not have time to play, so the French army won. If he explodes with all his strength, the outcome is still unknown.

There have been examples of the Near Eastern War, the Civil War, and the Prussian-Russian War. The Paris government has also been a lot more cautious, and has no arrogance of being number one in the world.

Different from the time when he was playing the country, Napoleon III, who had a big family and a big business, was no longer that gambler. His throne is not so orthodox, the French people cannot tolerate failure, and any failure will shake the foundation of his rule.

This intervention in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies is just a temptation to Austria, and risking a war for a temptation is really not worth it.

Neither side wants to go to war, but the situation in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies makes it impossible for the two countries to step down. Everyone wants to save face. Whoever gives in first means admitting defeat.

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Although there is no real loss in admitting defeat, this tone must be gambled. In this context, Prime Minister Carlo Ferranjeri acted.

Foreign Minister Urdinov looked at the evidence in his hand and questioned: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, these documents are too unconvincing. I'm afraid the French and Austrian ministers will not believe it."

His heart is broken, even if he is framed, he must be a little professional! Directly holding a pile of documents as evidence, any print shop on the street can wholesale it, which is not convincing at all.

Prime Minister Carlo Ferranjeri smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, they don't need to believe it. When you see these things, do you think of anything?"

Urdinov nodded, and he heard Prime Minister Carlo Ferrangeri's implication. If it is said that the Americans provoked the Fao conflict, it is estimated that few people will believe it.

The federal government has neither the strength nor the courage, and more importantly, it does not have enough interests to allow them to do so.

If it were British, it would be almost the same. John Bull has had several records of provoking the relationship between the two countries and was discovered by the two countries. As a habitual criminal, he is naturally the key suspect.

This excuse has an explanation, both internally and externally. There is no use in denying it by the London government, Paris and Vienna will simply believe it.

The relationship between France and Austria has not progressed further. The main reason is that the British interfered with it, otherwise the two countries might have formed an alliance a few years ago.

The plan for the joint partition of Europe proposed by Franz was actually the source of Napoleon III's ambitions. After annexing the Kingdom of Sardinia, it was even more out of control.

In the Fao Mito, there was a plan to expel the British from the Mediterranean, and it has now been implemented.

Whether it is Greece, the Ottoman Empire, or Egypt and North Africa, the expansion of the British in these years has not been smooth.

Being stumbled by two local snakes together, the London government is naturally unhappy. It's just that these are all small actions in the dark, and everyone is still good neighbors and friendly people on the bright side.

The unhappy John Bull naturally took revenge, and provoking relations between the two countries was one of them. Many of the methods of the British are conspiracy, and even if they are exposed, it still affects the relationship between Fao and Austria.

Otherwise, France and Austria are still happily dividing the European continent, how could it be possible to get to this point?

Soon, the evidence prepared by the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was passed to Paris and Vienna, but the protagonist was replaced by the British.

Prime Minister Carlo Ferrangeli did not dare to provoke the British, but the two countries were different. The two sides tacitly put the dung pot on the British head.

This is not wrong. The newspapers in London have already exposed the truth of the civil war between the two Sicilies, and used a lot of pen and ink to describe the secret black hands of the French and Austrian countries.

Due to the lack of sufficient film and television materials, the words were unfounded, and these news were naturally denied by the governments of Paris and Vienna.

However, under the promotion of the British, the news quickly began to spread in the European continent, which made the melon eaters watch the excitement.

There are many people who want to fight between the two countries. For example, the two countries, Prussia and Russia, who are at war, they want to watch someone accompany them.

Only when a war broke out between France and Austria, who were watching the excitement, would everyone's strength be pulled to the same level again. Whether they like to admit it or not, both Prussia and Russia are left behind.

Alexander II had the most say. He witnessed the Russian Empire from prosperity to decline. Now it is only a nominal European hegemon, and its actual strength has fallen behind France and Austria.

This is not just a question of money, but the overall backwardness of comprehensive national strength. An agricultural country cannot win against an industrial country, and the gap between the times cannot be made up by the number of people.

Vienna

Foreign Secretary Wesenberg suggested: "Your Majesty, this Fao conflict must be stopped, and if it continues, the British will benefit.

Now is not the time for a decisive battle between France and Austria, we need time to prepare. "

War is no child's play, especially a war between two great powers. The world war in the original time and space is an example. Both sides have made sufficient preparations before the fight begins.

Now that Austria is not prepared for anything, what will it use to fight?

Chancellor of the Exchequer Carl objected: "This time the incident was provoked by the French, so forget it, where do we put our face?"

This is also one of the problems. Someone must be responsible for this conflict, and it must not be Austria. The Vienna government must save face.

Prime Minister Felix said fiercely: "Whoever provoked this dispute will be responsible for this incident. Since Francesco II has brought wolves into the house, he is not qualified to continue to be the king of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Francesco II has many brothers, and we can completely replace a pro-Austrian king, his younger brother, the Count of Trani, is a good choice. "

The actions of Francesco II have constituted a betrayal in Vienna's view, and the traitor must pay the price. It's just that he is the king, and Vienna can't possibly kill him, but it's still possible to abolish the throne.

This was Francesco II's own suicide. Originally, he made a mess in the country and was very unpopular, but he foolishly asked Napoleon III for help, which made many people in the Bourbon family very dissatisfied with him.

Against this background, the Vienna government demanded the abdication of Francesco II, who had few supporters at all.

As for the French? Forget it, Napoleon III was not a charity. The price to pay to keep Francesco II is too great, and the benefits far outweigh the costs.

special

Full name of Count Rani: Luigi Maria, half-brother of Francesco II, born on August 1, 1838, is not yet 18 years old.

This is not the point, the important thing is that Luigi Maria is the son of the Austrian Archduchess Maria Theresia Isabella, and his grandfather Archduke Karl, the Austrian military god, has Habsburg blood.

Francesco II was able to inherit the throne, not because of how strong his supporters were, but entirely because of European succession laws.

As a big noble, whether it is the Bourbon family or the Habsburg family, they are the maintainers of the rules, and they follow the rules completely.

Therefore, Francesco II can grow up safely and inherit the throne, and there is no so-called bloody plot in the middle.

Everything is treated according to the standard of the crown prince, and the abuse by the stepmother does not exist at all. Grand Duchess Isabella was a educated person, and would not do such tasteless things.

Because of the loss of his mother when he was a child, everyone sympathized with Francesco II. He was the love of the whole family since he was a child. Compared with several younger brothers who were strictly required since childhood, he was the one who grew up with a happy education.

Having no setbacks since childhood is not a good thing for a king, which is one of the reasons why Francesco II did stupid things.

The world does not revolve around one, and now the tragedy of Francesco II. The French-Austrian conflict needs an explanation, and Austria's face needs to be maintained.

As the culprit, Francesco II is to blame, and abdication is the only option.

This is not about Franz, and Count Trani has no friendship with him. It's not that Archduke Carl has no sons, and Yi Ze can't fall on his grandson. It just coincides with current events, and the Vienna government is just pushing the boat.

Franz sneered and said: "Then Francesco II abdicates, but he can't let the French go like this. If he dares to stretch his hand, he must pay the price.

Our strategy against the French can begin. Napoleon III is still too busy and must keep them busy. "

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