Chapter 1055 Negotiations Must Begin

Bellevue thought that 40,000 troops were enough to quell all the rebellious areas, but in fact, Sacco's 40,000 main forces could not even deal with the guerrillas in the coastal mountains. ɱ

Compared to the guerrillas in the mountains, those guerrillas who were wandering around and mixed in with the civilians were the most difficult to deal with.

As Frenchmen, they could not distinguish the differences between Italians at all, and they could not even tell the difference between other ethnic groups in Austria who spoke two stiff Italian sentences.

The difficulty of eliminating the guerrillas was completely beyond Bellevue's imagination, so all his countermeasures revealed arrogance and stupidity.

An incompetent general exhausted the three armies, not to mention that he was not the only one who had this idea. Under the guidance of this idea, the problem of suppressing rebellion can easily become an ideological problem, or even a tool to crack down on dissidents.

Bellevue executed three presidents in succession. He seemed to understand something, but he had no time.

Neither Franz nor Cavaignac wanted to drag it on any longer.

After Cavaignac obtained the authorization from the parliament, the first thing he did was to quell the rebellion in Paris, and the second thing was to start peace talks with the German Confederation.

Although the pro-British faction of the Second French Republic still exists, Cavaignac is different from Lamartine and Roland. He is a soldier with an army.

Although Cavaignac knew that France had reached the point where it had to cease fire, he still had some fantasies. He hoped to reach a secret agreement with the German coalition.

Let the two sides actually cease fire without formal negotiations.

This secret agreement is extremely unreliable. After all, it does not cost much to tear it up.

Especially for France at this time, signing such a secret agreement is undoubtedly an extremely risky choice.

Cavaignac also knew it very well, but the domestic public opinion environment did not allow it, so he came up with this compromise.

However, Franz would never agree. France had long lost its bargaining chips. At this time, Franz's concessions were just to get Britain and France to withdraw from the war.

And even if Franz could agree, officials of the German Confederation and the Austrian Empire would not accept it.

They were ready to make the French cede territory and pay compensation, or even dissolve the Second French Republic and restore the monarchy.

Let the French cede territory and pay compensation, dissolve the Second French Republic, restore the monarchy, and even support a pro-Austrian government.

This would not only weaken France, but also tie the German Confederation to its own chariot, and even influence France's decision-making to a certain extent.

In theory, this is indeed a way to maximize the interests of the Austrian Empire, but in fact, doing so is a dead end.

The Second French Republic was unpopular at this time, but once the overly harsh negotiation conditions were backfired, the French refused to surrender, and it was difficult to guarantee that the Gallic rooster would not rise again.

Secondly, both Britain and Russia had ambitions to become world hegemons. Although they hated each other, it did not mean that they would not join hands to deal with greater threats.

Austria, which united with Germany and became a vassal of France, was undoubtedly the greater threat.

Again, the German Confederation may not be a monolithic entity. At this time, it is supported by nationalism. However, once they calm down, it is hard to guarantee that they will not stab Franz.

Few of the ruling classes of the various states truly support the unification of Germany. This is determined by their fundamental interests. It is not easy to compromise, let alone change easily.

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Let's talk about a more realistic problem. Even if France agrees to cede land and pay compensation, the Austrian Empire does not border France, and Franz is not short of money.

Even if land can be obtained, it is an enclave, which is far less meaningful to the Austrian Empire at this time than imagined, but the price is exaggerated.

So Franz had to find a new plan, but before that he had to give both sides a 50-point board.

It must be said that Cavaignac is still very courageous. Franz did not expect that he could come to Strasbourg in person to participate in the negotiations.

But it is not shocking. After all, the Second French Republic has reached the end of its rope at this time.

As long as the war continues, civil war will inevitably break out in France.

In addition to the Bourbon and Orleans families, many other prestigious families in France have established connections with Franz.

In addition to these prominent families, speculators, capitalists, bureaucrats, churches, and even officers and leaders of the insurgents are also flirting with Franz.

Because they all know that the future of France is likely to be in the hands of Franz, a powerful foreign enemy.

But what they don't know is that for Austria, their value does not lie in whether they are close to Austria, but whether they can bring greater chaos to France or whether they are useful.

Cavaignac seemed very shocked. He didn't expect Franz to be just a young man, and the advisers around him looked more like his servants.

In Cavaignac's imagination, Franz should be an ugly, fat, arrogant, self-care, and ignorant fool.

That fool would probably talk to him about business while eating, and then he would hit his sore spot in a few words, and angrily pushed away the maid who wiped his mouth, and was completely convinced by his wisdom after a rage of incompetence.

Of course, such a stupid and bad guy is usually followed by a group of consultants who give bad advice.

The blue eyes looked deep and solemn, the tall figure, cold white skin, and the temperament of being educated in the court for more than ten years, just sitting at the negotiation table would give people an invisible sense of oppression.

However, Cavaignac was not an ordinary person. After a brief shock, he came to his senses and repeated his foolish plan again.

Franz just listened silently throughout the whole process, without any expression on his face.

"Mr. Cavaignac, the secret agreement can neither guarantee the safety of your country nor the safety of the German Confederation.

Your secret agreement is nothing more than an armistice agreement without any binding force."

Cavaignac felt a little disappointed after hearing this, but it was only for a moment, because he had long known that his plan would not work.

However, the words failure and peace talks were too sensitive in France at this time, so he had to take a gamble.

However, Cavaignac did not dwell on this, because although the riots in Paris had subsided, the riots in Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Toulouse, and Toulon had not yet subsided.

In addition to the above areas, the riots have a tendency to expand further, especially in the southern part of France where the royalists are also beginning to stir.

The royalists are different from those workers and farmers who act rashly. They have guns and armies in their hands, so he must put an end to it before things get out of control.