Chapter 537 Appearance

When the news of the United States' successive defeats reached Paris, Louis Philippe had a new idea. Can they join forces with Austria and Mexico to continue invading the United States?

Soon he received an exciting news that Britain, Russia and Austria would send a joint fleet to deliver humanitarian supplies to Mexican civilians and urge the warring parties to cease fire as soon as possible.

Louis Philippe was sure that this was a cover-up, because the French side had been closely following Austria's movements.

Before the meeting began, the Austrians began to transport a large amount of weapons and military supplies to the naval port of Trieste, and their main fleet would return to their homeland within a few weeks. At that time, the fleets of Britain, Russia and Austria would rush to the Gulf of Mexico together.

The British side promised to send a fleet, but in fact it only consisted of six warships, including four frigates of less than 1,000 tons, while Russia only planned to send two cruisers.

Although neither Britain nor Russia was dedicated to this, their flags were still scary. This was enough for Franz, after all, he did not think that the Americans had the courage to attack the fleets of Austria or any other great power.

In fact, half of the US Navy was still on the west coast of North America. Although Robert Stockton and the Marines surrendered, John Fremont took over this lonely fleet with his strong influence and appeal.

John Fremont did not choose to retreat, but chose to continue to attack coastal cities and ports in California.

This prevented Archduke Karl Ferdinand from sending troops to support Fort San Gabriel to continue to expand the results of the war, but this also led to the dispersion of the US Navy to a certain extent.

Although the number of ships owned by the United States at this time sounds scary, there are very few ships with a tonnage of more than one thousand tons, and the strength is dispersed and disunited.

For example, the Mexican Navy, which had just surrendered, did not get a rest but was sent to the most dangerous Texas coastline to monitor the actions of the French Navy and play the role of blocking the bullet holes at critical moments.

This made the Mexican navy, which had just surrendered to the United States, start to study how to defect back or connect with the French.

In fact, apart from these objective reasons, the most important thing is that the Austrian navy is strong enough to complete this escort mission.

There are as many as twelve battleships in Archduke Friedrich's fleet that have completed steam power transformation and iron armor reinforcement. Their mobility and defense are completely incomparable to the battleships of the old era.

Not to mention that Austria still has three super-class battleships of more than 6,000 tons at this time. These monsters can crush most of the warships in the world at this time in any aspect.

There is no reason for the Austrian navy to lose to the US Navy, which is still in the Napoleonic era, but Franz does not want to conflict or have any possibility of accidents, so he will try his best to avoid war.

The main reason is that Britain and France will benefit the most if they win, and if they lose, it will be equivalent to ruining the results of Austria's naval reform in the past eight years, and everything will have to start from scratch.

But whether it wins or loses, Austria may lose an important trading partner and source of raw materials. This is very fatal for a country that is in its rising period.

The French side did not want to give up this opportunity, and Louis Philippe ordered Duke Napoleon Lannes de Montebello to contact the Austrian side.

After the meeting, according to European tradition, a grand celebration ball will be held. In theory, the emperor should attend in person, but Ferdinand I's physical condition does not allow it at this time.

Usually, the second heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Karl, the father of Franz Joseph, should attend at this time.

However, due to the former's unstable mental state, such as holding his breath in the fountain of Schönbrunn Palace with seals, and then just surfacing, there was a BeatBox (broken, cloth, puff! Puff! Puff! Puff, puff, puff, too pe too pe Bri emmmm puff!), and the seals on the side would pat their bellies to cheer.

This situation has been going on for some time, and it often attracts guards and servants in the palace to watch. Everyone thought it was very strange, only Franz listened with relish, and even called it "fashion art".

In order to avoid human-to-human transmission, Franz could only attend the parliament on his behalf.

Duke Napoleon Lana de Montebello would naturally not talk to a child about state affairs, and Prince Metternich took leave to recuperate at home due to "illness".

So the ambassador could only find Archduke Albrecht again.

"Dear Archduke, I express my most sincere greetings to you. I wish you good health and all the best."

"Thank you, Mr. Ambassador. I also wish you a good time." Albrecht casually said a few polite words.

"If you don't mind?" The Duke of Montebello continued.

Albrecht glanced at Count Tural, the Minister of War, and several senior Austrian officers. The latter naturally knew that there was something important to discuss and nodded in tacit agreement.

"Excuse me for leaving for a moment."

The two then entered a box. Western balls, especially Austrian balls, are very social.

In this country, many times, some major events related to the fate of the country are decided in such boxes.

However, it is not easy to have a private box of your own at such a top-level dance party.

"Your Excellency, I am here on the orders of our monarch. He is indignant about America's shameless invasion, and France hopes to jointly sanction this barbaric and backward country with Austria." The Duke of Montebello said directly.

The other party's words made Albrecht excited. After all, France has nearly 100,000 land forces in North America.

The two sides talked very speculatively, and Franz's first appearance in an international occasion can only be described as being quite conventional.

Flowers were everywhere, applause was thunderous, and the sound of flattery was endless. There were even ladies screaming and fainting, which was quite like a star walking on the red carpet in later generations.

It was completely different from the feeling of appearing in front of the domestic people at ordinary times. There was no solemnity at all. In fact, this is not difficult to understand. The people in Austria regard the Habsburg family as a sacred ruler.

Although these foreign envoys in front of them are more "cultivated" than those civilians, they only regard Franz as a decoration or a freak with status.

Even when they knelt on the ground to pay tribute, they still had a mocking smile on their faces.

Especially when the archbishop was introducing the achievements of Archduke Franz, the guests were whispering and laughing, which made him feel annoyed.

However, Franz was the focus of the whole audience at this time, and he could only make those movements and expressions that were in line with the status of a royal archduke.

"Ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of the Austrian Empire and the Habsburg family, I welcome you all. I wish you all a good night."

Franz hated this feeling, but Mrs. Sophie on the side was moved to tears. After all, every appearance of the Austrian royal family in public in recent decades was usually very bad.

And Franz's performance was perfect. He showed no impatience, no excitement or loss of composure, and did not even mispronounce a word.