Chapter 1325: Penetrating Everywhere

The Malades and Azores were Portugal's cash cows at the time, and Ferdinand II could not imagine the consequences of losing the two archipelagos.

Portugal had already been severely damaged after the anti-French war and the civil war. Pedro I, who was completely fooled by the British, pushed the radical liberal Aguiar to the front.

Aguiar claimed to turn Portugal into the United Kingdom on the European continent. He ordered the dissolution of all knights, expelled almost all religious groups at the time, confiscated church property, and stopped missionary activities in Africa. He was called the "friar killer" by some historians.

But few people mentioned other things Aguiar did and the consequences. His radical measures directly led to the cultural transformation of the colony into a desert and completely shook the foundation of Portugal's rule.

Aguiar forcefully accepted the royal property in the name of helping the country repay its debts, and then sold it to private individuals at a price far below the market average price.

However, due to serious corruption within the government, the national debt increased after the royal property was sold out.

Maria II took power. In order to revitalize Portugal, she decided to appoint Marquis S. da Bandeira. As a result, the latter completely destroyed the Portuguese colonial economy, turning overseas colonies into a rotten wound on the Portuguese kingdom. Not only could they not generate fiscal revenue, but they also had to suck blood from the mainland.

After that, Maria II began to play badly and dismissed Cabral at a critical moment of the reform, causing the reform to fail.

After decades of tossing, Portugal's domestic and foreign economies have become a mess. In addition, the economy is highly tied to Britain, which has led to the impact of the economic crisis. There is almost no good place in the whole country.

On the other hand, due to the rapid development of Atlantic trade, the status of the Malades Islands and the Azores Islands has risen rapidly. Once these two islands are lost, the Portuguese royal family may not even be able to pay annuities, so Ferdinand II is so angry.

Did Franz really have any intentions on these two islands?

In fact, naval warfare is most afraid of dividing troops. The Austrian Imperial Navy is not sure that it can defeat the British Navy, so it is impossible to send a fleet to cruise around these islands.

But the Austrian Empire did go to these two islands, but the purpose was to fight British pirates.

None of this was important to the British. The Atlantic Ocean was a place of frequent trade, and the Malades and Azores were important nodes on it. It was impossible for the ships of the Austrian Empire not to pass through here.

As long as Fernando II began to suspect, he would be able to find out what he wanted.

In a rage, Fernando II sent 20,000 troops to Olivenza. It should be noted that there were less than 10,000 residents here. He felt that he had a sure win and was ready to plant his royal flag in the border area to give the other side a little shock.

Since there was no order to go to war with the Portuguese, the commander on the front line ignored the provocation of the other side and just ordered the soldiers to stay in place.

It is always good for the soldiers to rest. No one really likes to fight with others every day.

However, the reporters and priests on the front line recorded all this and sent it back to the country. There was even a painter who temporarily joined the army and painted an oil painting.

The painter himself may not have thought that this painting would be his only work that would be passed down to future generations.

This behavior of the Portuguese did not cause any waves among the Austrian high-level officials. Everyone just thought it was a child's trick.

But when a large amount of graphic materials were simply edited and published in newspapers, it immediately caused an uproar. The Austrians felt unprecedented anger.

In people's minds, being provoked by the weak is simply a shame. The weak must pay a price for insulting the strong, and Portugal must be punished.

At this time, the Austrian Empire's high-level officials realized that this was not a joke, and they were soon infected by the anger of the people.

"War! Your Majesty, in order to solve the problem of the Iberian Peninsula once and for all, we should go to war with Portugal."

Prince Schwarzenberg was somewhat helpless. The war of the Austrian Empire would always expand inexplicably, but the situation was already like this, and it seemed unnecessary to stop.

Portugal and Spain are not at the same level at all. Even if the latter is already on the decline, Prince Schwarzenberg dare not underestimate it.

But a small country like Portugal that can't even gather 100,000 troops is really not worth mentioning. Even if there is no Spanish war at this time, Portugal dares to provoke, and it is necessary to launch a punitive war against it.

"That's right! Your Majesty, according to the latest intelligence, the British landed in Portugal and established an outpost.

We should strike first now!"

The Minister of War, Count Tural, has always been in favor of war, and this time is in line with his previous style.

"I object!"

The voice of Count Pilesdorf sounded, and for a traditional politician, he naturally couldn't understand the situation in front of him.

"The Spanish War is not over yet, and we should consider how to end it, not start a new war.

And the Portuguese are humiliating the Spanish, what does this have to do with our Austrian Empire?"

"But those Spaniards are serving in the army of our Austrian Empire."

The Minister of War, Count Tural, retorted.

"Oh my God! Count, do you know what you are talking about? This is a problem between the Spanish and Portuguese, and it has nothing to do with the Empire!

And the British and Portuguese have not declared war on us, and we should avoid expanding the conflict as much as possible.

You really broke into Portugal and took away the British outpost, so how are we going to end up?

Now all we have to do is end the war and return to Austria with what we deserve. Do you understand? "

Although Count Pillersdorfer was not the prime minister, he felt that he was the foreign minister, so he should be the most qualified person in the entire empire to decide Austria's foreign policy besides Franz.

"But the British have made trouble for us time and time again. Do we have to tolerate him all the time? If there is no British behind it this time, will the Portuguese dare to provide supplies to the Spanish Republicans?"

Prince Schwarzenberg is a typical Great Austrian, so he hates the British very much.

"Do you have evidence?"

"What more evidence do you need? Are the British setting up an outpost in Portugal just for tourism? Part of the British fleet was blocked by us from the Mediterranean Sea, otherwise the combined British fleet would have reached Venice long ago!"

"This is all your guess, Your Highness, we still have an armistice agreement with the British."

"The armistice agreement? A joke! The rules you think are actually the weight for others to defeat you. We also have an armistice agreement with France, have the French abided by it?"

In fact, Portugal's involvement in the war was somewhat beyond Franz's expectations. He did not expect that the British would spend so much money.

However, Franz had plenty of chess pieces, thanks to the legacy left to him by Franz II - Miguel I, the pretender to the Portuguese throne.