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

Chapter 1263 Completely Crazy
Spain, Headquarters of the Catalan Legion.

Lieutenant General Varner looked at the map at a loss. Barcelona was not a fortified city, but he did not have many available soldiers, let alone enough siege weapons.

The Austrians had landed for nearly half a month and had no intention of attacking.

The Carlist rebels in Catalonia are very restless, but these jumping clowns are not worth much attention.

The armed forces of the Carlos faction were mostly bankrupt farmers and small landowners, as well as some bandits and speculators. They had limited strength and no great ambition, and just wanted to plunder the village.

The most important thing is that although this group of people are under the banner of the Carlist faction, they do not obey Carlos' orders and do not even know where Carlos VI himself is.

In addition, this group of people has a worse reputation than the government army. After all, the government army still needs excuses such as conscription and taxation, and they also have to bear responsibilities such as public security and regional defense, while these Carlists are openly robbing.

However, the behavior of the Austrians is very confusing, because the Austrians have done almost nothing serious except building city walls.

Give alms in the city, teach farmers outside the city to grow crops, reopen factories
“Are they here to alleviate poverty?”

Lieutenant General Varna couldn't help but have such doubts in his mind.

Then Varner looked at his officers.

"How many troops do the Austrians have?"

"Not sure, probably tens of thousands of people."

"Tens of thousands of people? Exactly how many tens of thousands?"

Varner was very depressed. After half a month, these idiots still hadn't figured out how many enemies there were.

"I don't know. The Austrians came in batches. They sent some in and some away each time. And the Austrians didn't allow us to enter many places."

"Bullshit! What you said is the same as saying nothing!"

Varner finally got angry. He thought that the Austrians were very lax in their defenses and Barcelona was in chaos at the moment. He thought his men would definitely be able to achieve some results.

As a result, this group of people not only failed to achieve any "results", but they also didn't even know how many troops and supplies the Austrians had.

"However, General, our people discovered that the Austrians are recruiting soldiers. Could it be that they are short of troops?"

His men wanted to recover their losses, but these words made General Varner even angrier.

"What idiots! How can they be short of troops before the battle even starts? That coward Joaquín Iglesias surrendered without firing a shot, and the Austrians have also occupied Valencia and Cadiz. How can they be short of troops?"

Everyone in the room looked at each other in bewilderment; they had indeed never seen a war fought like this.

They had never heard of directly conscripting soldiers on enemy territory. Even Napoleon and the Arabs only carried out such operations after occupying the whole of Spain, and those Spanish vassal troops were never trusted.

The Austrians haven't started fighting yet, but they are already recruiting soldiers in Spain. What's going on?
When the news of the Austrians' conscription in Spain reached Paris, the French thought Franz was crazy.

But more people just thought it was a joke, and Louis Napoleon didn't even believe it was true. After all, in his mind, Franz was a very cunning and shrewd enemy who would never make such a low-level mistake.

London.

Earl Derby and Palmerston both frowned after seeing the information. After all, this matter was really bizarre.

"Do they think this is India? Even the Indians took us hundreds of years to tame them."

This time, even the king who claimed to know Europe best could not understand it, and the Earl of Derby beside him did not believe it at all. Because the Austrian Empire often released smoke bombs, the British intelligence agencies had been confused more than once.

Moreover, conscription on enemy territory would not only be seen as a provocative act, the act of conscription itself would provoke popular resistance.

"Are the Austrians courting their own destruction? They are provoking the Spanish."

In fact, the entire British top leadership has a similar view. Limited by their values ​​and life experiences, they all think Franz is crazy.

"That's right. Let's not talk about whether they can recruit soldiers. Even if they can, how can they guarantee the loyalty of the Spaniards?
This time the Austrians will certainly shoot themselves in the foot.”

The Duke of Northumberland, Secretary of State for the Navy and the Colonies, said with certainty that he had extensive experience in such operations, having seen many similar cases in British colonies and having even dealt with the aftermath himself.

“Not only that, the biggest problem for a makeshift army, besides loyalty, is organizational management, which requires a lot of manpower.

As for logistics, it is also a huge problem. All of the above requires a lot of financial support.

At this time, the Austrian Empire was maintaining two large-scale wars. I have reason to doubt that the economic strength of the Austrian Empire could not support the Austrians' ambitions. "

Disraeli, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, said this, and his analysis immediately drew applause. I don't know when, in the UK, any analysis of the world situation from an economic perspective would draw applause.

No one knows why, but people get used to it after it works over and over again.

Finally, the Earl of Derby stood up and concluded.

"The foolish, arrogant Austrian emperor will certainly pay for his ignorance! In five years we will complete our sweet revenge!

California's gold is ours!"

"Yes! Long live the British Empire!"

The whole meeting ended quickly in warm celebration. The collapse of the Austrian Empire's economy and government was a good result for Britain.

But Palmerston always felt an indescribable weirdness, which made him feel a little uneasy. He was not a person who lacked security. He would do whatever he wanted even if he started a war against a powerful country or humiliated the leader of a powerful country, even in the Queen's castle.

To borrow a phrase from the famous villain Zhang Baozai.

"I am selfish and lawless. I eat happily and sleep peacefully. Of course, I will live a long life."

It is no small matter to make such a person feel uneasy.

However, Palmerston was at the lowest point in his life at this time. His last mission to St. Petersburg had ruined his reputation.

The Tsar simply ignored his ambassador and negotiated with the British government, earning Palmerston the reputation of a "disgusting diplomat."

In addition, there are many enemies in daily life, as the saying goes:
"He doesn't do good deeds on weekdays, and tortures everyone with his words.

Bullying will reveal itself and make Russia pay the price.

I was nothing in front of the Tsar, but today I know who I am."

Palmerston's situation was extremely bad at this time. Even if he really wanted to contribute to Britain, no one would give him this opportunity.

As the saying goes, it is difficult to change a person's nature. It is impossible to expect someone like Palmerston to sacrifice himself for the overall situation.

On the contrary, Palmerston understood that this was the only way for him to turn things around.