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

Chapter 1265 Waiting
Austria Vienna.

Apart from the church and the scholars who advocated war economy, most people in the Austrian Empire seemed not to care.

In bars and cafes, people talked more about what plays would be performed in theaters on weekends, what new dishes were introduced in restaurants, what rare and unprecedented goods were shipped from overseas colonies, and what new inventions the empire had and what benefits these inventions would bring to people's lives.

The heat of the war with Spain exceeded that of the rebellion in Russian Poland, but only slightly.

Compared with Austrians outside the imperial capital, the Viennese prefer to enjoy life. Although the storm of 1848 has passed, the remaining memories still make people feel scared.

Of course, not many people in Vienna were opposed to the war. Compared with the fear of war, they were more afraid that they would stand against the emperor and the empire.

However, this does not include college students in the school, who spend all day collecting the latest intelligence on the Austrian Imperial Army.

They discussed the sense of justice that prompted the empire to send this righteous army, and how the diplomats of the Austrian Empire argued and persuaded the Spaniards to avoid war.

What students discussed most was the post-war treatment of Spain. After all, from this point on, it was only a matter of time before the Austrian Empire liberated Spain.

The students' discussion was not so cautious, but there were three main voices. The first was to support a family close to the Austrian Empire to come to power, which was in line with the Austrian Empire's long-standing diplomatic strategy.

The second way is to restore the glory of the Habsburg family. Choose one of the Habsburg family or the emperor's brothers to be the king of Spain. Even the Austrian emperor can unite with Spain.

Doing so can maximize the influence of the Austrian Empire and greatly improve Spain's international status. The resources of both sides can also complement each other, which is beneficial to both sides.

The third group was opposed to the unification with Spain. Their reason was very simple: Spain was a rotten land filled with poor mountains and bad water.

If the Austrian Empire is united with Spain, it will only be drained of its blood. There are already many parasites in the empire, and the number of parasites should not continue to increase.

Most of those who hold the third idea are Germans, and generally belong to the elite class. In their view, not only Spain, but even Hungary is a burden.

Those excess territories required the Austrian Empire to invest a lot of money to develop and maintain, and also to guard against occasional rebellions.

Franz also knew about the debate among the three factions, but he was a little disappointed. The best young people of this era were only capable of this level.

"Your Majesty, the Spanish lack the will to resist. When do we start the attack?"

Prince Schwarzenberg's words interrupted Franz's thoughts.

"attack?"

"Yes! The Spanish Legion is now ready. The soldiers are full of fighting spirit and can attack at any time."

Schwarzenberg's tone was full of excitement. After all, he was also worried about the emperor's crazy ideas before.

Arming the Spaniards, if one is not careful in doing so, one will be nailed to the pillar of shame in history, and it will be impossible to get rid of it.

The barbarity and bravery of the Spanish are ingrained in their bones. Only a madman would enjoy fighting between humans and bulls.

However, the Spaniards never tired of it. Not only were their entertainments barbaric, their wars were equally barbaric. The Spaniards never stopped slaughtering during the wars.

Whether the opponents were Berbers, Arabs, Aztecs, or the mighty French, the Spaniards never stopped slaughtering their enemies.

However, the reason why the Spaniards were so brutal was not because they were really bloodthirsty, but because their enemies were equally brutal.

The Spaniards and Arabs fought on the Iberian Peninsula for eight centuries. If they hadn't been a bit bloody, they would have become Arabs long ago.

The French were far from being as civilized as they claimed. When the Spanish captured the French, they castrated them one by one. It is easy to imagine what they did.

"How's the training going?"

Franz asked back. This question made Prince Schwarzenberg a little embarrassed. After all, they were all new recruits who had just joined the army. How could their training level be high?
But he still answered truthfully. "I don't know."

"Know yourself and know your enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without danger. Haven't you read the "Art of War" I gave you yet?"

Franz translated The Art of War and added many annotations and later thoughts to it. Every Austrian minister had a copy of this book, and Prince Schwarzenberg, the Prime Minister, naturally had one too.

"Not yet. But the generals at the front think it's time to take the initiative now!"

"Take the initiative? Why not wait for the other party to surrender?"

Prince Schwarzenberg was speechless for a moment. His first reaction was that the emperor was crazy. How could the Spaniards surrender without a fight?

But think about it, the Spanish navy seems to have surrendered
"Your Majesty, are you planning another secret operation?"

Although Prince Schwarzenberg is called Prime Minister, it is actually more appropriate to call him Chief Minister. He has no right to interfere in many parallel institutions, and he doesn't even know the existence of those institutions.

Prince Schwarzenberg was unaware of the previous plan to instigate the Spanish Navy.

When the monarch skips the prime minister and takes direct political or diplomatic action, it usually causes strong dissatisfaction among the prime minister and ministers, leading to tensions in the internal power structure and even political turmoil.

However, Prince Schwarzenberg did not feel that his authority was challenged at this time. There was only reverence and expectation on his face.

Now it was Franz's turn to feel embarrassed.

"not at all"

"You mean you didn't act in advance?"

In fact, Franz did not take no action, but the speed was not so fast. Some things still need time to brew.

Prince Schwarzenberg was disappointed but more surprised. The views of the Austrian Empire's top leaders and ordinary citizens in Vienna were completely different.

In their eyes, the expedition to Spain was a gamble. If they won, they would gain fame and fortune, but if they lost, everything would be over.

Prince Schwarzenberg found it hard to believe that Franz had not prepared for this gamble in advance, and he couldn't help but start to worry about the fate of the Austrian Empire.

"We can wait."

"Wait for the enemy to surrender?"

"Yes."

Catalonia, Spain.

Varner was a little depressed. There were more and more deserters recently, and the size of the Austrian army was visibly expanding.

The area around Barcelona fell into the arms of the Austrians with little resistance. There was no news of reinforcements from Madrid, and only a eunuch came with the order of Isabella II to show off his power.

This eunuch was not a eunuch in the usual sense, but a singer who was castrated by the church or theater owner in order to always keep his childish voice pure.

This eunuch was one of Isabella II's male favorites. Such people usually have very twisted psychology, especially after gaining power, they often have greater ambitions than ordinary people.

However, Lieutenant General Varner did not take the eunuch too seriously and regarded the dirty words as a joke.

However, what Lieutenant General Varna did not know was that his open-mindedness would soon bring him disaster.