The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1118 Hidden dangers
Kossuth and the entire Hungarian government were working hard to turn Budapest into an impregnable fortress.
Austrian troops are helping farmers harvest wheat, collecting refugees, repairing houses, and rebuilding damaged roads.
In fact, Franz was not in a hurry to solve the Hungarian issue. Even the issue of regaining Hungary itself was a low priority in Franz's mind.

If it weren't for the huge military expenditure and high militarism, Franz could have fought them for several years and exhausted the last bit of vitality of the Hungarian nation.

In fact, the military expenditure of 600,000 or 700,000 people was nothing to the Austrian Empire. What really gave Franz a headache was militarism.

The Austrians, who have always been peace-loving in history, are frantically moving to the other extreme as they continue to win.

According to incomplete statistics, in 1848 the Austrian Empire's investment in the military industry increased by 700%, and the number of troops increased by 75%. These figures were obtained after Franz forcibly retired a large number of elderly, weak and sick soldiers.

Although there is still a certain gap between these social investments and national investments, there is no doubt that a large number of private military-industrial enterprises will emerge like mushrooms after a rain.

If the Austrian Empire cannot consume this production capacity, its weapons will flow to other countries, and technological diffusion will almost be inevitable.

What's worse is that investors and businessmen will definitely try every means to avoid losses, and the best way to sell arms is to start a war.

Merchants cannot start a war themselves; they must go through politicians or Emperor Franz to achieve their goals.

Franz might be able to stick to his original intention or take advantage of the situation, but politicians may not be able to do so. They will do anything for short-term political interests.

The increase in the number of troops does not only mean more military spending, but also means that the military group is growing. They will have more say and politicians will consider their interests more.

War is terrible, and soldiers know this best, but they know even better the benefits that war will bring.

A private may never have the opportunity for promotion in his entire life, but in a war he may become a sergeant or even a sergeant major.

(Private is the lowest-ranking soldier in the army. Sergeants include corporals, lieutenants, and sergeants-major is the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer.)
Waging war may be just a radical propaganda slogan, a bargaining chip for some people to gain political benefits.

However, the public may not see it this way. They are easily deceived by the illusions woven by politicians, the media, and beautified history.

Ordinary people will become the backbone of support for the war. Together they will form a voice that cannot be ignored, and even Emperor Franz will have to consider their opinions and feelings.

This is a vicious cycle. Once the war begins, businessmen profit, politicians gain benefits, and the people pay huge sunk costs, then all three parties have reasons to continue.

The war will not stop until the country perishes or the beautiful bubble collapses after being punctured by reality.

There are many powerful empires in history that have perished due to militarism. Among them, the Qin Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty, Sparta, and the rarely mentioned Assyrian Empire are well-known.

These empires were all invincible in their own times, and the best proof of this is that they were still remembered by history even as losers.

Franz does not want to follow the footsteps of these countries, and he is fully capable of absorbing this production capacity. However, in order to prevent it from overheating, he must pour a basin of cold water.
In addition to the problem of overcapacity that may arise in the future, the most obvious change at the moment is the change in public aesthetics.

Who would believe that the most popular clothing in Vienna in autumn is military uniforms? The streets are full of people walking around in uniform military uniforms. If other time travelers saw such a scene in their own area, they would definitely laugh.

"All heroes in the world are within my grasp!" "I have achieved true equality for all!"

"My organization and discipline are maxed out!"

But Franz was not happy at all. He designed the military uniform to be as beautiful as possible in order to prevent no one from wanting to join the army, but not to require everyone to wear the uniform.

Franz had done things like uniform clothing before, but that was in schools and refugee camps. On the one hand, it was to shape a collective concept, and on the other hand, it was to create a sense of belonging.

The uniform dress code in Vienna, the fashion capital, is not a good sign
Royal territory.

The aftermath of the two fires lasted for more than ten days. The Austrian army simply rested on the spot. Even without Franz's order, Heinau would not choose to pursue.

You can say that Heinau is an inhuman madman, but you can't say that he is a fool.

It is not possible for ordinary people to force infantry into a fire scene to chase the enemy. It is simply unrealistic to ask the army to help put out a fire when the enemy situation is unknown.

After all, you can't be sure whether the enemy is organizing a counterattack while you are preventing the fire from being extinguished. It is feasible to dig an isolation ditch to prevent the fire from spreading to your side.

In addition, it was very difficult to put out the fire, especially the fire set by János Damojanic when he was escaping. His purpose in setting the fire was to stop his pursuers.

The remnants of Janos Damojanic's army set fire to everything they could see and burned down all the villages along the way.

It was because of János Damojanic's "burning" operations along the way that the fire became out of control.

Of course, whether from a tactical or strategic perspective, Janos Damojanic's behavior is impeccable.

Because he did escape the Austrian army's pursuit, slowed down the Austrian army's advance, and created a large area of ​​scorched earth in the physical sense.

Militarily, this was a successful operation in every respect.

From the perspective of later generations, you can say that the Huayuankou dike breach was a bad move, but you cannot say that people at that time did not think before doing anything.

However, this inadvertently helped Franz, making his order seem more reasonable. After all, it was rare for the army to help with disaster relief and wheat harvesting in previous history.

Although the royal territory was badly damaged, with nearly 100,000 people killed in the war, more than 350,000 acres of farmland burned, and more than 30,000 houses destroyed, the survivors still had to live.

In fact, the burned farmland only accounted for a small part of the royal territory, and most of it was concentrated in the periphery. Some of it had been harvested before the war began, so the loss was not as great as it seemed.

But no one can guarantee that the Hungarians will not come back and repeat the same tricks, so it is still necessary to help the people in the royal territories complete the harvest.

The normal operation of the royal territory is equivalent to turning the front line into its own rear. A stable rear is particularly important for a large army.