Chapter 597: Sending Troops to Albania

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

Franz listened to Archbishop Rauscher boasting about his achievements in his study every day. Under the packaging of the church, Austria's military expedition to Albania became a "holy war" to liberate Christians from pagans.

Of course, this is not without benefits. For example, the bill did not encounter too many obstacles when it was passed.

Even though Count Kolarov did not like this unprofitable war and Prince Metternich opposed further weakening the Ottoman Empire, they had to give in under the strong public opinion of the church.

Of course, this does not mean that the church has the ability to kidnap the country. In fact, it was Franz himself who proposed this plan, so everything went so smoothly.

In addition to the church, the military or the Joseph faction also played a certain role. After all, expansion to the Balkans can be said to be a continuation of Joseph's strategy. Although the direction is different, it is also the same goal.

In the eyes of Admiral Friedrich, there is another interpretation. If the Austrian Empire wants to become a naval power, it must control the Strait of Otranto or take Genoa.

Otherwise, no matter how powerful the navy is, it can only continue to be the little overlord of the Adriatic Sea. In the eyes of the great powers, it is always a fleet kept in a bathtub.

At this point, Russia and Austria are very similar, one wants to rush out of the Black Sea and the other wants to rush out of the Adriatic Sea.

(Personally, I think this analogy can make everyone understand the importance of controlling the Strait of Otranto.)

However, Friedrich would rather take over the entire Albania directly. After all, the experience he gained from many encounters with colonial countries is that non-power countries are simply vulnerable.

Whether in Africa, West Asia, or Southeast Asia, Friedrich has the confidence to defeat enemies that are several times his own.

Although Britain turned over on Kalimantan Island, he felt that Britain was not a land power. It was bound to be defeated if it went deep into the inland to fight, and whether the British Indian Army could be considered a European army was still a question.

The Austrian Empire was a traditional land power and was better at land warfare.

Taking over the Otranto Sea Knight and turning the Adriatic Sea into Austria's inland sea was very attractive to Friedrich, the naval marshal.

Of course, Austria could also choose to continue to expand westward, conquer Sardinia, or let it cede the Genoa region, which would also break through the blockade.

But Genoa is too close to France, and it is not a very suitable choice. After all, no country would place its most important fleet in a place without a sense of security.

However, the opposition of Count Korolav and Prince Metternich is not unreasonable, because every military action of Austria in the Balkans requires the mobilization of a large number of manpower and material resources.

He completely does not understand why it is necessary to mobilize 100,000 troops in a region with a population of only a few hundred thousand?

Moreover, the expansion in the Balkans costs more than in colonies, and what is more terrible is that the feedback from those bad places to the empire is minimal. The tax revenue of the two provinces of West Bosnia and Montenegro is not as much as that of Venice.

At this time, the mountainous area in northern Albania proposed by Archduke Franz is undoubtedly the worst of the bad places. The Ottomans have conquered there for hundreds of years and have not developed anything valuable.

Then there is the issue of pagan and ethnic population. The religious and ethnic issues within the Austrian Empire have reached a point where everyone can see it. It is not wise to continue to increase this population that is prone to conflict.

Prince Metternich analyzed it from the perspective of the international situation. The Ottoman Empire was used as a bargaining chip to restrain Russia, both to prevent Russia from moving westward and to win over Russia.

However, the war against the Albanian region at this time was undoubtedly a provocation to Russia's hegemony in the Balkans. You must know that the Tsar has always regarded himself as the guardian of Orthodox Christians.

In addition, this behavior is also challenging the bottom line of the British, because Britain wants to dominate the Near East and wants to use the Ottoman Empire to contain European countries, so it has been maintaining the integrity of the latter.

In fact, Franz has his own considerations. The British have said too many harsh words, but look at whether France should go to North Africa to colonize, or go to North Africa, and not only take Algeria, but also fight Morocco again.

As for the British? It seems that they have to find ways to win them over to prevent Russia from further expansion.

As for the issue of Russia and Count Korolov, I will not elaborate on it here.

Let's talk about Frederick's strategic issue. In fact, in terms of later development, although there are many ports in Italy, there are very few that can be used as military ports.

With the development of the times, the tonnage of ships will become larger and larger, the power and range of artillery will become stronger and stronger, and the requirements for military ports will become higher and higher.

According to the history of later generations, the most suitable military port in Italy is Taranto, which is the anchorage of Italy's aircraft carrier battle group.

However, Taranto was still in the hands of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies at this time, and the other was La Spezia, but its defense was still a lot worse than the former, and it was controlled by the Kingdom of Sardinia.

The rest were Gaeta, Livorno, La Maddalena in Sardinia and Augusta in Sicily, but these ports all had their own problems. Either there was no barrier protection, or the port was too shallow to accommodate too many warships, and there was a common problem that none of them were in the hands of Austria.

On the other hand, the Austrian ports of Venice and Trieste both had strong defenses at that time, and as long as they controlled the Strait of Otranto, they would be almost invincible. Even if the other side had an aircraft carrier in the early stage, it would be difficult to pose an effective threat to them.

Early carrier-based aircraft were not suitable for long-range bombing. The most common ones were torpedo attack aircraft. They posed a great threat to ships, but bombing land targets and ports was a bit of a death wish.

(The characteristics of early carrier-based aircraft were short range and small ammunition load.)

The Austrian army moved quickly, mainly reaching Saint-Germain by sea, and encircling the northern mountainous areas of Albania through Montenegro and Western Bosnia on the way.

It was said to be an encirclement, but in fact, it was more often a persuasion to surrender. The vast majority of people in the northern mountainous areas of Albania were Catholics, so there was little resistance.

Of course, some people chose to resist and even took the initiative to attack the Austrian army. So these people were no longer the objects of salvation, but pagans who should be expelled and heretics who should be eliminated.

As for who is a pagan and who is a heretic, it is naturally up to the Austrian side to decide.

Those families and organizations that resisted stubbornly were soon disintegrated. After all, no matter how powerful the guerrillas were, they could not defeat the guides everywhere.

The initial occupation was extremely smooth. This was not because the Austrian Empire was really so popular in the Balkans, but because the Ottoman Empire and the local noble lords were really inhumane.

Most people in the region welcomed the Austrian army, but there were also a few regions that resisted stubbornly, and some people even wanted to return to the embrace of the Ottoman Empire.