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

Chapter 1194 It’s better to leave the remaining brave men to chase the poor bandits

Bem and the remaining high-ranking officials of the Hun Empire fled, and the remnants of the Hun Empire also chose to surrender after hearing the news of the fall of Debrecen and the death of Kossuth.

As for those bandits who followed Kossuth's example and proclaimed themselves emperors, they abdicated and cancelled the names of their countries one after another. Those who did not have time to abdicate either scattered like monkeys when the tree fell, or had their heads chopped off by their own subordinates as a token of sincerity and presented to Austrian officials.

After Kossuth's defeat, there was no longer any force in the entire Austrian Empire that could threaten Francis' rule.

And too many people have died in the past year or so.

Among the 55 registered nobles in Hungary, 49.8 had their names crossed out. In addition to those who participated in the rebellion, most of the nobles who did not participate in the rebellion and failed to leave Hungary in time also suffered the murder.

There were also some double-dealers who were unwilling to participate in the rebellion or join the Austrian Empire, and chose to go into exile abroad.

Franz did not object to what these people did, but he was not prepared to return the property and land to these guys.

Civilians can be neutral, serfs can be neutral, but these nobles who have enjoyed imperial rights for hundreds of years are not qualified to choose neutrality.

Franz simply confiscated their property, abolished their aristocratic privileges, and revoked their nationality, which was already a very merciful act.

The losses of the loyal Hungarian nobles were also very heavy. After all, Austria had more than one battlefield in Hungary, but the main casualties still came from Kossuth's purge.

The remaining nobles were no different from the Austrians. Either their own interests were highly tied to the Austrian Empire, or they themselves could not tell whether they were Hungarians or not.

In fact, before Szechenyi revived Hungarian culture, the Hungarian language and Hungarian writing had been generally despised by the Hungarian upper class.

Among these nobles, less than 20% could speak Hungarian, and less than 5% could write Hungarian. Their proficiency in German was just the opposite: some might not be able to speak it, but absolutely no one could not write it.

The casualties among civilians and serfs have not yet been counted, but are estimated to be no less than two and a half million.

The losses of other ethnic groups were also exaggerated. The Saxons decreased by a quarter, the Slovak population decreased by a third, and the most exaggerated was that the Transylvanian population decreased by at least 50%. The Szekes, a branch of Hungary, lost 90% of their adult males.

Although the population of Germany and Italy skyrocketed, the death toll in the successive wars exceeded 400,000.

Even according to the most optimistic estimates, the population of the Austrian Empire would have dropped from 1847 million in 4900 to 4300 million.

According to convention, the Habsburg family should show mercy at this time, accept the enemy's surrender, and then end it, allowing the country to develop and thrive.

Even the most radical nationalists became discouraged after seeing the news of Kossuth's execution and felt it was time to stop.

Countless people came forward to argue from political, economic, diplomatic, moral and ethical perspectives that the war should be stopped and those people should be spared.

By doing this, Franz would not only gain a good reputation for being benevolent, but would also be able to take control of the empire in the shortest possible time and gain the gratitude and support of those people.

At least before Franz died, the people of the entire Crown of St. Stephen would remember and respect him, but so what? Franz wanted to be more than just a benevolent king.

“It is better to pursue the enemy with your remaining courage than to seek fame by imitating the tyrant. If the sky had feelings, it would also grow old. The right path in the world is to change with time.”

Franz would not give in to the separatist forces and bandits entrenched in the territories of the Crown of St. Stephen, nor to the remnants of the Hunnic Empire.

This is a rare opportunity, and Franz must eradicate all evil.

Whether they are thieves in the mountains or thieves in the heart, they must all be defeated in one battle. It would take years, even decades, of perseverance to completely wipe out the bandits in the Transylvanian mountains.

Therefore, at this time, Franz's priority was to deal with the remnants of the Hun Empire. They had to either surrender and wait to be liquidated, that is, publicly tried and then killed or exiled, or resist to the end and be physically eliminated.

Faced with Franz's tough attitude, Kossuth's remnants showed amazing courage and vowed to fight the Austrian Empire to the death.

However, the vast majority of civilians did not think so. They were fed up with the so-called Hun Empire and the so-called freedom.

It is obvious that the only ones who are free are the masters who are high above. The empire also belongs to them. In the past, the masters had to abide by the rules, but now they make the laws and they are the judges.

Taxes were heavier than during the Austrian Empire, and military service was a life-threatening situation. Civilians who originally had a little money had their family assets emptied and became paupers.

Although equality was one of the basic concepts of the Hun Empire, the common people saw only greater inequality and officers and soldiers who acted like bandits.

It has to be said that Kossuth was indeed a gift for incitement, but death is like the extinguishing of a light, and his followers were unable to inherit his legacy.

Coupled with Franz's tough attitude, the Hungarian Empire was in flames, and the Austrian army wiped out the remnants of the Hungarian Empire without bloodshed.

Many times, before the Austrian Empire's army arrived, the military and civilians in the city had already brought the officials and activists of the Hungarian Empire over.

Of course, there were also people who wanted to fish in troubled waters and use a group of scapegoats to whitewash themselves. Fortunately, Franz had no intention of letting them go from the beginning, so when the temporary court was built, these scoundrels were dumbfounded.

Unable to get away with it, they had no choice but to flee with their family. The Ottoman Empire seemed to be a good choice. After all, as long as they converted to Islam, they could live a life of luxury again.

The Ottoman Empire had always been open to Europeans who came to join it. The Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire at that time, Orma Pasha, was a deserter from the Austrian Empire.

No one knew the situation in Austria and Hungary better than he did, and by accepting this group of people he had gained the key to the West.

At that time, whether the Hungarians wanted to restore their country or the Austrians wanted to enjoy eternal peace, they would have to look to the Ottoman Empire for its consent.

Moreover, even if these Hungarians converted to Islam, they were still considered outcasts in the Ottoman Empire, and they could only rely on themselves.

This was undoubtedly a great help in consolidating Orma Pasha's position. At that time, the Sultan was only 9 years old and Queen Mother Shefkefza was just a woman.

Now that I am in power, if I can get a force that is loyal to me, maybe I can make further progress.

In addition, the reason why the Ottomans were so tolerant of Europeans who surrendered to them was that they hoped to obtain advanced technology and ideas from Europe, and even improve their bloodline.

The remnants of the Hun Empire crossed the Danube and came to a completely unfamiliar land, finally getting a chance to catch their breath.

This was Ottoman land, but it was also where their ancestors had lived, so they had every reason to become the new owners of this land.

Of course, if possible, they still want to go back to Hungary.

In short, now that they have come here, they will have a lot of opportunities to rebel against the Ottoman Empire or counterattack Hungary.

However, what neither the Ottomans nor the Hungarians had expected was that the Austrian army was crossing the river.