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

Chapter 1279 One Million Reais

A battle that was originally thought to take several days or even weeks ended in a scene of somewhat black humor.

The heads of Gordon and countless Spanish government army officers were thrown together at random, and he no longer had to worry about how to face Isabella II.

But this time it was Gabrenz and Benedek's turn to have a headache. According to the bounty made up by a group of Barcelona military academy students, the Austrian Empire owed those prisoners of war nearly one million reais.

One million reais is just a drop in the bucket for the Austrian Empire, but the problem is that the bounty these people are talking about does not exist at all.

In the past, they would just find an excuse to ask the Ministry of War for money, and given Count Turral's personality, he would often not bother to delve into the matter.

However, there is now a Logistics Department under the War Department, and these people are not easy to fool.

After Franz ascended the throne, he treated the military very well and the armaments budget was very sufficient. However, the control over the military was also very strict. All funds had to be reported and reviewed.

Once it is discovered that the funds have gone to an unknown place, all those who handled them will be subject to a comprehensive investigation. No one wants to be investigated, and no one wants to anger the emperor.

"Look at what you have done!"

Gabrentz slammed the table hard, and several students finally backed down. After all, it was they who caused the trouble, and if the two generals really wanted to take the blame, they would have to take it whether they wanted to or not.

The Spanish bureaucrats know how terrifying it is.

"At most, just put it on our account first and pay it back when we have money."

Olmer said with his neck stiffened.

This time it was Benedek's turn to be angry. He valued these children very much, but it was precisely because of his importance that these children were unrestrained all day long and caused what happened today.

"One million reais, and your annual salary is only three hundred reais, can you afford it?"

There are several cadets from well-off families among these military academy students, but one million reais is still too much for the Spaniards, so they bury their heads even lower.

At this time, Fani Koss couldn't help it.

"Why are you two competing with a bunch of kids? Instead of holding them responsible for something they can't afford, why not think of a solution?

Next time you should keep a close eye on them in advance to prevent any trouble."

Gabrenz was displeased when he heard this. He looked down on the primary school principal. If the Austrian Empire was not so short of officials, a primary school principal would never have the right to talk to him like this in his next life.

"You say that nicely, do you think they are elementary school students?"

Fani Coss was not angry. After all, he had seen a lot of naughty children and unreasonable parents, and the Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bureau encountered even more weirdos every day.

"Then I have to ask you. If you hadn't been so lax in restraining them, would they have been able to do such a thing?

You two generals should also be held responsible for this matter."

"I didn't say I wasn't responsible! I've already reported the loss."

Gabrentz was a little angry and humiliated. He actually wanted to teach this group of young people a lesson, but he ended up getting taught a lesson by others. He was so depressed that he yelled.

"There's no need to be angry. I think these kids are excellent and have great ideas. But next time you take action, you must report to your superiors if conditions permit."

Fani Kaus was good with the kids, and then moved on to Gabrenz and Benedek.

"Do you two generals know how much the empire spent on Spain? If you knew, you wouldn't care about the million reais. I believe His Majesty the Emperor would be happy to pay one million reais for this great victory."

"Humph, if we don't teach them a lesson now, what will happen in the future? One million this time, will they say 10 million next time? One hundred million?

If we let these guys go like this, sooner or later they will cause a disaster that no one can handle. You will be responsible for this matter!"

Although Gabrentz was very angry, now that someone was willing to take the blame, he just let it go.

Benedek suddenly discovered that the nobles were really shameless.

Fani Koss didn't mind, after all, he thought it was a great achievement, but what Gabrenz said made sense.

"Don't worry, children. Our Emperor is a wise ruler and will see everything clearly. But General Gabrenz is right. You have gone too far.

How about this, each of you write a 10,000-word self-reflection letter, remember to write it in German."

When they heard that they had to write a self-criticism in German, the group of military cadets immediately wilted like eggplants hit by frost. It turns out that no matter what era, the thing students fear the most is writing a self-criticism.

In fact, these military academy students in Barcelona can barely communicate in German on a daily basis, after all, many of them have been exposed to German before, but it is a bit difficult to ask them to write it down.

I'm afraid that after writing a self-criticism, the dictionary will be torn apart.

Regardless of the cadets who were struggling to complete their apologies, the news of the million-dollar reward soon reached Vienna.

"Nonsense! This is absolute nonsense! Who gave them the authorization?"

Prince Schwarzenberg, who came from an orthodox military family, was very dissatisfied. First of all, he hated unruly soldiers, and secondly, he hated generals who could not control their soldiers even more.

How could Prince Schwarzenberg be happy when one thing contained both of these factors?

In addition, although the Austrian Empire was spending money like water at this time, its censorship mechanism had never been so strict.

The Empire's Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of the Interior, and the newly established Imperial Procuratorate will inevitably pay attention to such million-level expenditures.

These departments can usually stir up a big stir even without any wind. Now that such a big thing has happened, I wonder what else will be involved.

However, at this time, the top leaders of the Austrian Imperial government were very satisfied with the results of this battle. After all, this was the biggest victory the Austrian Empire had achieved on the front battlefield since the war began.

After annihilating more than 20,000 Spanish regular troops, the Spanish government forces in Catalonia were no longer able to organize a counterattack.

As for the loss of one million reais, it was just a drop in the bucket compared to the huge logistical expenses at that time.

Franz thought this operation was very interesting. If this had been done in other countries and at other times, Franz would probably have thought that the person who came up with this idea was crazy.

But this time was different. In this worst era, Spain had the worst king, the worst government, and the worst army.

These local governors were no different from warlords, they just wanted to share the profits with Madrid. They didn't even need to be put on trial, they could just kill them all and no one would be wronged.

Franz will not deal with those cadets, and as for the so-called one million reward, just regard it as a reward for them.

Of course, this offsetting of merits and demerits is also a warning. Franz does not want these young people to play too hard or feel that the empire lacks dignity.

In order to prevent such incidents from happening again in the future, Franz still needs to develop a detailed price list and certification procedures to avoid the lack of evidence and someone trying to operate behind the scenes.