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

Chapter 1154. He who seeks the best will obtain it.

After hearing that Russia had directly ceded Greece to the Austrian Empire, Otto I, who should have been extremely angry, broke out in a cold sweat.

For the great powers, Greece was just one of the dishes on the table, not even the main course.
Otto I was unable to refute such a contemptuous attitude.

Austria already borders Greece. As long as it has Russia's support, France and Britain can only acquiesce. Greece's own attitude is completely meaningless.

(Historically, Greece's independence was jointly guaranteed by Russia, Britain, and France.)
Otto I finally realized one thing, that is, the brother country he relied on could become a giant beast that could devour him at any time.

"Divide the Balkans? Your Excellency, I've said that what you can't get on the battlefield, you can't get at the negotiation table either.

Let’s think about how to hold on to the fruits of victory.

The Ottoman Empire launched a shameless sneak attack on our country and incited ethnic minorities in our country to rebellion. It must be punished.

To prevent this tragedy from happening again, the Albanian region must be brought under our control and a demilitarized zone should be established in Wallachia.”

At this time, both Albania and Wallachia were in the hands of the Austrian Empire.

The demilitarized zone in Wallachia was only designed to save the face of Russia, their ally. As for the Albania region, unless Russia stood up and clearly opposed it, the Ottomans would not even think of taking it back.

The Albanian region has always been a province with negative returns in the Ottoman Empire, and has been infiltrated by Britain and Austria before. Cutting it off at this time would actually be a way to stop losses.

As for the British, they will certainly use Albania as a bargaining chip, but it is highly unlikely that they will really prevent the Austrians from annexing Albania.

"Our country will fully support the legitimate demands of the Austrian Empire, and we also hope that His Majesty the Emperor will stand with our country at this critical moment."

"Will do."

"Many thanks."

"Your Excellency the Duke, what do you think of the Greek issue?"

"From our perspective, there is only one country west of the Rhodope Mountains, and that is the Austrian Empire."

Uvarov once again passed the ball to Austria, and Franz even suspected that the former had planted spies around him.

Otto I was struck by lightning again. On the one hand, he hated Russia, and on the other hand, he was afraid of Austria.

Duke Uvarov clenched his fists as he left the Hall of Mirrors. The Austrian Empire did not show much interest in dividing the Ottoman Empire, and the new emperor most likely wanted to maintain the status quo.

What made him even more angry was that the Russian army's performance was too poor. The army's offensive capability was seriously insufficient, and the navy's
Even Uvarov had no idea what the navy was doing.

The current game is very unfavorable for Russia. It has mobilized so many troops and wasted so much money and manpower, but the outcome is not satisfactory.

Britain, France, and Austria were all badly hurt, and only Russia was the first to get rid of the civil war. Such a golden opportunity is rare, and it is unknown when the next one will come.

Franz really wanted to maintain the status quo, and he didn't want to go to war at all. If possible, it would be best to wait until the Suez Canal was opened before going to war.

The biggest problem at the moment is to comfort my cousin's wounded heart. If such a person is in constant fear all day long, he will scare himself to death.

"Cousin. Cousin? Did you hear everything?"

Franz pretended to be very pleased.

"Yes."

Otto I was obviously not in a good mood, and felt a little desperate after facing the reality.

"My cousin, since Russia will not interfere in matters west of the Rhodope Mountains, you can carry out your ideas.

The British and Ottomans were much easier to deal with than the Russians.

If a king can expand his territory, it is a great achievement. You don't have to be so passive when fighting against those Greek elites. You can bring a group of journalism students from Vienna and recruit a group of senior editors from Vienna's newspapers.

You don’t have to worry about the war of public opinion anymore.”

Otto I asked doubtfully.

"Franz, are you serious? The Russians intend to let you dominate the Western Balkans."

"Cousin, do you really think I have much interest in the Balkans? Do you think those mountain people in Serbia and Macedonia can stop my army?"

"No."

Otto I had seen the Austrian army in battle, and the coordinated efforts of the navy and the army had crushed the Ottomans like a whirlwind.

He was not sure whether Austria was interested in the Balkans, but Otto I knew that Austria's main focus had been on Italy over the years.

The best proof of this is that Venice is the richest province in the entire Austrian Empire. Austria's investment in northern Italy accounts for almost one-third of its total investment.

Moreover, Italians have closer ties with Austria in terms of language and religion. Even the current Habsburg family itself came from Italy.

Thinking of this, Otto I rekindled his hope. Since Austria had no interest in the Balkans, could Greece fill this gap?
Franz's answer was still impossible. Uvarov's words did not necessarily represent Russia. Even if they could now, he might go back on his word in the future.

"Then why am I still doing this? To humiliate myself?"

Otto I asked, half angry and half puzzled.

"The Art of War by Sun Tzu says: If you seek the best, you will get the middle; if you seek the middle, you will get the worst; if you seek the worst, you will surely fail."

"What do you mean?"

"It's always right for a lion to open his mouth wide."

"Oh"

With the arrival of the Egyptian delegation, all the delegations from countries originally scheduled to attend the conference have arrived.

However, the Austrian side did not notify the start time of the conference, which made the envoys of various countries begin to worry.

In fact, in this era, meetings are usually useless. What is important is to connect privately.

On the one hand, Austria strictly protected the delegation, and on the other hand, the Austrian emperor summoned the ambassador individually, which made people suspect that the Austrian Empire wanted to unilaterally get a head start.

This concern mainly came from the British and Russians. After all, under Franz's persuasion, most of the countries attending the meeting had chosen to lie low.

At the same time, the envoys of various countries received a lot of new news, that is, the envoys of the German Confederation and Italian states were rushing to Vienna.

"What are the Austrians going to do!"

After a week of protection, Viscount Stratford had begun to become manic, but Reshid Pasha had fallen in love with the leisurely days in Vienna.

"Maybe the Austrians just want to give themselves a boost, since they have more people than others."

"Nonsense! The Emperor of Austria is very courageous! He dared to go to war with Britain and France at the same time. The last one was the Spanish Empire which was in its heyday."

"What's the difference? Aren't they all Habsburgs?"

Viscount Stratford was speechless.

(End of this chapter)