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

Chapter 1272 The Intention of a Drunkard
“It would be nice if the interest rates could be raised a little bit.”

Someone sighed.

Lionel shook his head.

“As far as I know, the Austrian Empire’s treasury is quite sufficient, so they dare to start two wars at the same time.

However, the emperor of the Austrian Empire was ambitious and built up a lot of money in his country and spent money in Spain. Even if the Austrian Empire had a gold mine, it would be emptied sooner or later. "

"What if the Austrian Empire can't pay back the money? Can Namibia's gold mines make up for our losses?"

“Whether Namibia’s gold mines can make up for our losses depends on how much we have lent out, but I can tell you responsibly that Namibia’s gold production is definitely not low.

Moreover, Namibia is a relatively developed colony, and we don't need too much money to maintain it.

In addition, we still reserve the right to make further claims against the Austrian Empire.

To put it another way, if the Austrian Empire cannot even pay the interest, will they still be able to fight against us, Britain?"

This has dispelled many people's doubts. After all, Spain's strength is still trustworthy.

The severely damaged Austrian Empire would not be able to hold on to its colonies. At that time, it would not only be Namibia, but it might even be able to take over California.

The happy things were over, and after the show, disturbing news came again: the Austrian Empire captured Ceuta and Melilla.

Both cities are important ports in North Africa, especially Ceuta, which is across the sea from Gibraltar.

Both places were Spanish territories, so it was understandable that the Austrian Empire occupied both places. However, this region was too sensitive, and Britain had to suspect that the Austrian Empire had ulterior motives.

In fact, Franz's main purpose in occupying Ceuta, Melilla and the Canary Islands was to improve the supply line of the Austrian Empire. Otherwise, it would be very uncomfortable to be strangled by the British every day.

The British are always choking others, so they naturally cannot understand the pain of the victims. If you don't have your own supply point on the road, you have to rely on others.

Not to mention that I have to pay a lot of money for junk every time, but it is often out of stock. This is simply intolerable.

The people of the Austrian Empire, especially the merchants and sailors engaged in maritime trade, welcomed the move. As soon as the Austrian Empire took over Ceuta and the Canary Islands, a large number of Austrians flocked to open their own warehouses.

In fact, the Spaniards in these three colonies also welcomed the arrival of the Austrians because they were so poor.

The Spanish government's taxation can only be described as bone-sucking, and the various temporary taxes and surcharges make people feel at a loss. No matter how hard the residents of the island try, they can only struggle to make ends meet.

Some people have proposed tax cuts and even resorted to violent tax resistance, but the Spanish government has turned a deaf ear to the voices for tax cuts and has instead killed those who resisted taxes.

Even though the environment is so bad, they know that their situation is a hundred times better than that of their compatriots at home.

But no one was willing to defend the Spanish government's territory, and the Austrian Imperial Navy did not encounter any resistance.

Friedrich liked Ceuta very much, as it brought him one step closer to his ideal.

If we want to drive Britain out of the Mediterranean, we must resolve the issue of Gibraltar, and we must also have a strategic fulcrum to prevent British naval reinforcements.

It would be best if we could take Gibraltar, but according to Franz's strategy, we will not fight for Gibraltar in the short term.

Therefore, the port of Ceuta became the best alternative. Although Ceuta was not as strategically located as Gibraltar, it was second only to Gibraltar. Otherwise, the Spaniards would not have occupied it for hundreds of years.

Friedrich had begun to tour the island accompanied by a large number of officers, and he wanted to build a naval base here. However, he was soon disappointed, because Ceuta was a place with many leaks on all sides, and there were too many routes and tactics to choose from to capture the island.

At the same time, there is a lack of hard rocks like Gibraltar as a natural defense, so defending here is completely not worth the cost.

Fortunately, Friedrich had come across the incomplete theory of sea power dictated by Franz, and he deeply agreed with the point that "the best defense is offense."

According to Friedrich's idea, as long as there is enough space here for warships, defense will not be a problem at all, and they can just attack the enemy when they come.

What's more, the Austrian Empire also had torpedoes and airships, but the airships at that time were still underpowered. This shortcoming was not obvious on land, but it was a huge disadvantage on the sea where the weather was unpredictable.

The Austrian Imperial Navy's airship unit had the highest death rate, but in fact most of them were not killed by the enemy, but died from various accidents and training.

However, the Navy has increased the research funding for new airships fivefold, and I believe this situation will improve soon.

When planning the island's defense, Friedrich deliberately left an airship square.

As for the battles on land, Friedrich did not care. His task was always to protect the supply lines and prevent enemy naval attacks.

In the Austrian Empire, there was no reaction to the rebellion of the Spanish nobles, and the attitude could even be described as indifferent.

Almost all Austrian civilians and officials believed that the Spaniards would definitely rebel, and even felt that it was a little late for them to rebel.

Rebellion was not a big deal for the Austrians. After all, small-scale rebellions have continued within the Austrian Empire to this day.

When Prince Schwarzenberg showed the news of the rebellion in Spain to other ministers, everyone's reactions were surprisingly consistent.

"Got it. Then prepare to suppress it."

Prince Schwarzenberg was a little confused. As a military man, it was difficult for him to understand why the Spaniards rebelled.

All the emperor's actions were for the good of the Spaniards. He was even willing to help those Spanish rural nobles become urban nobles. What a broad mind and magnanimity he had.

But those guys actually chose to rebel. Do they really think that the emperor dare not kill people?

"Your Majesty must be sad and angry to know that his kindness has been betrayed."

Prince Schwarzenberg thought so and handed the information to Franz, who took it, glanced at it and casually put it aside.

Now Prince Schwarzenberg couldn't help it. Why was this the attitude from top to bottom?

"Sire, the Spaniards have betrayed your kindness and humiliated you with their actions. Aren't you angry?"

Franz rubbed his forehead. He did not feel what Prince Schwarzenberg said. Franz also knew very well that the real troublemakers were not the common people, but the nobles.

"Then send more troops."

"How many?"

"Thirty thousand."

"Thirty thousand is too few. We have occupied dozens of towns in Spain."