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

Chapter 1283 Isabel II's Self-Rescue

Almudena Palace, Madrid.

Isabel II looked at Mario Alvarez Casar, who had been running around for days, and showed a rare look of pity.

"You're back."

"I am back, Your Majesty. Fortunately, I have fulfilled my mission and successfully executed Lieutenant General Varner who colluded with the Austrians."

"Okay! Well done!"

Isabella II was overjoyed, as these local warlords in Spain had always been a headache for her.

Spain's geographical environment is naturally suitable for separatism, and a declining dynasty is a breeding ground for separatist forces.

In fact, in the original history, Spain at this time should have been ruled by a military government.

Although Espartero nominally recognized Isabella II as king, all internal and external power in Spain was in his hands alone.

Then came Narvaez and O'Donnell.
However, at this time these people were still small warlords who controlled one side and had not been able to successfully take control of Madrid.

It is simply impossible to say that Isabella II was not afraid of them.

So when she heard that Varna was executed and Catalonia returned to the rule of Madrid, she was extremely happy.

"Mario Alvarez Casal, listen to me! I will make you a knight today!"

"Her Majesty the Queen."

Mario choked up a little, and there seemed to be tears in his eyes.

"No need to refuse! Your loyalty to me has proved that you are qualified to accept all this! The threat from the Austrian Empire has not been eliminated yet, and we must always be vigilant against enemies from within.

I command you to find the traitor among us!"

"As you command, my Queen."

"I feel at ease with you here. Go downstairs and take a rest first, and come to my room in the evening. I want to hear you sing."

What Isabella II didn't know was that at that time the Spanish Legion of the Austrian Empire already had 180,000 troops, even exceeding the size of the previous Spanish government army in terms of troop strength.

However, although Isabelle II was bad, she was not stupid. After the Austrian Empire landed, she had been recruiting soldiers frantically.

After all, no matter how nice the British and French said, they would not really fight for themselves. If she wanted to defend Spain, she had to rely on Isabella II herself, and she was very self-aware in this regard.

At this time, Spain was full of hungry refugees due to years of war and frequent natural disasters, and it was extremely difficult to recruit soldiers.

The more food you have, the more soldiers you have. This sentence is absolutely applicable to Spain at this time.

Previously, no matter how many soldiers Isabella II recruited, it was of no avail in dealing with the Carlists in the mountains.

But this time it was different, her enemy became the aggressive Austrians. Isabella II knew from the previous war between Britain and France in the Iberian Peninsula that the Spanish army was no longer comparable to the armies of the great powers.

She hoped that at least the advantage in numbers could make up for the disadvantages in quality and equipment.

As a result, the number of troops controlled by the Madrid government soared from 100,000 to 200,000, but at the cost of an exponentially higher logistical burden and a large number of new recruits who lacked basic training.

But Isabelle II was in no mood to train new soldiers. She needed to send them to the battlefield immediately, to the places that the Austrian Empire had to pass through on its offensive route. In fact, the main value of these soldiers was not to defeat the Austrian Empire's army, but to buy time.

Isabella II was well aware that Britain and France would not sit idly by and watch the Austrian Empire support a pro-Austrian king to come to power on the Iberian Peninsula.

Judging from her own experience, Isabella II was well aware of the sinister intentions of Britain and France to use Spain to weaken the Austrian Empire.

But she knew better that at least the French did not dare to gamble. As long as they learned about the situation on the Iberian Peninsula, they would definitely send troops to Spain, or at least put pressure on the Austrians in other directions.

However, Isabella II could never have imagined that the military supervisors she sent to various places to prevent local warlords from rebelling would eventually force those warlords to rebel.

In fact, the royalists under Isabella II had always hated the local warlords, so they all chose to stab them in the back at this critical moment.

The subjective purpose of these people was actually to strengthen the centralization of power in Spain, but objectively it led to the further disintegration of the Spanish government's power at the local level.

Everyone in Spain knew what kind of person Isabella II was, even if they didn't know it before. Now the bloody facts were laid out before them, and the newspapers and charlatans were trying their best to deceive people.

Those who have been protected by local warlords, those who are close to local warlords, and those who oppose the queen, will they gamble on the character of Isabelle II?

Obviously not, so surrendering to the Austrian Empire becomes the best option. After all, it is not so easy to gain independence, and if you are not careful, you may be attacked from both sides.

Franz's charity was certainly not in vain. Just like the Habsburg family's signboard, it could be of great use at times.

London, England.

A loan worth £100 million has just been secured and people in the City are celebrating.

But at this time, the senior officials of the British government were all frowning in their residence at 10 Downing Street. They had not expected that the Austrian Empire would control the entire southeast coast of Spain in a blink of an eye.

The Spanish government fought only a few extremely ugly battles and then surrendered without resistance.

And such a large-scale surrender is unheard of in the entire world history.

"Damn it! The Spanish government is rotten to the core!"

Home Secretary Spencer Walpole could not help cursing.

But what greeted him was a chorus of disdainful snorts. After all, the Spanish government has been inhumane for a long time, and it is a recognized fact.

"What should we do? At this rate, the Austrian Empire will probably occupy all of Spain in less than half a year."

"How can it be that easy? Back then, the Berbers pushed Spain to Asturias, and the French even announced several times that they had completely occupied Spain, but didn't they still end up in disastrous defeat?"

"It's different. When other countries attack Spain, it's called invasion. But for the Spanish, the Habsburgs' attack on the Bourbons should be called the Reconquista."

"That's right. According to our intelligence, the Spanish did not have much resistance to the Austrian invasion. Many Spaniards even joined the Austrian army and worked for the latter."

"What a spineless nation!"

Earl Derby commented that he was in a dilemma. The continued growth of the Austrian Empire would definitely be detrimental to the British Empire, but a fall-out would be very disadvantageous to the bankers in the City of London and to him as well.

If the Spanish can hold back the Austrians, it will be fine. If not, then Britain will have to consider providing support or even sending troops directly to Spain.

"Are we to provide loans to the Spanish?"

"That's impossible! There's no way the Spaniard will pay back the money. That bitch will just take it for granted."