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

Chapter 1313 Lao Liu
At this time, other European countries did not understand what Franz was doing. The Austrian Empire seemed to always be fighting and stopping, which was not in line with the laws of war, but they had long been accustomed to it.

What shocked them was the offensive efficiency of the Austrian Empire. The Austrian army encircled and annihilated the main force of the Spanish Republican Army in a very short time.

The speed was so fast that Britain and France had no time to adjust their strategies. The French vanguard was said to have 50,000 troops, but in fact there were only more than 30,000. Even if the second batch of troops were added together, there were only more than 50,000.

An army of more than 50,000 people can be considered a strong army in Europe, but it is not enough in front of the Austrian Empire.

Why did the French look down on Austria? It was not because of the French arrogance, but because of their selfishness. After all, France's economic situation was not good at that time, and they were not the only enemy of the Austrian Empire.

It is human nature to exchange the greatest benefit for the smallest cost.

In the eyes of the French, no matter how useless Spain and Britain are, they should be able to deal with Austria for a period of time. France only needs to make some gestures and exert pressure to attract some of the Austrian troops.

The French Republicans were still somewhat lacking in confidence when it came to a fight with the Austrian Empire. The reason for this was that their organization was large and not dense, so they could not reach a consensus and were naturally hesitant when fighting.

The British people's idea is similar to that of the French. They are even more cunning. They want to play two games at the same time and sneak into the Mediterranean, and then cut off the source of the trouble directly.

The result, of course, is that he loses more than he gains.

The Spanish Republic did take it seriously, but its limited strength and the unstable position of Ferrante Duval led to numerous internal conflicts and even obstacles.

All three parties were dumbfounded by the state of the war. Fortunately, the Austrians became ill again, giving them a chance to regroup.

The most direct reaction was from Ferrante Doyle, who, on the advice of his staff, decided to adopt a scorched earth policy to delay the Austrian Empire's offensive.

Both Britain and France felt that Ferrante Doyle was a partner with whom they could cooperate for a long time.

This is actually a last resort. No one likes to use a scorched earth policy, no one wants to see their country become desolate, and no one wants to destroy their own property with their own hands.

However, as the most densely populated region in Spain and the best place in the Kingdom of Spain, the people around Madrid are not so easy to compromise.

Previously, the people of Madrid had a good impression of Ferrante Doyle and were not so averse to the Spanish Republic, mainly because they killed Carlos VI who announced the massacre.

But this is a different time. Now that the Spanish Republic is actually going to take action against their homes, these people will naturally rise up in resistance.

However, on one side was the fully armed regular army of the Spanish Republic, and on the other side was an unorganized and unarmed mob, so the outcome was naturally obvious.

So the Spaniards could only use their traditional skills - digging through ravines.

Not only outsiders have no way to deal with the ditch-hiding trick, the Spaniards are also troubled by it.

It was thought that things would remain deadlocked, but soon someone began to organize troops under the banner of Narvaez, O'Donnell, and Espartero to resist the Spanish government forces.

These people were already very famous in Spain, and were extremely familiar with the terrain and the relationships between the various parties. They quickly defeated the Spanish government forces.

In the original history, people like Narvaez, O'Donnell, and Espartero should have been great warlords in Spain. They controlled the government and tried to reshape Spain with their own ideas. They could be considered heroes of their time.

However, the historical line changed at this time. They did not want to be buried with Isabelle II, nor did they want to be dogs for Ferrante Duval. So they chose to surrender to Austria, but they were reluctant to leave Spain, so Franz made a deal with them.

They will be sent to the front line to carry out secret missions, and their merits will be exchanged for the qualification to stay in Spain.

Otherwise, take the money and leave Spain with your family.

Without exception, these people chose the former. Those who can dominate in troubled times are all ruthless people. After they entered the Madrid area with their confidants, they quickly formed their own team.

With these people stirring up trouble and the nonsense of the charlatans, the scorched earth policy of the Spanish Republic soon came to a stalemate.

The rescue plan for their own spies was also being carried out in secret, but Franz naturally could not sit idly by and wait for death. He still preferred to take the situation into his own hands.

Franz would not gamble on the character of such a spy, and he had assembled a group of detectives and experts who were good at finding things from within the Austrian Empire to form a special operations team.

If the spy's information was wrong, or he didn't want to say it, then Franz would find it himself.

At the same time, the Austrian Empire was also organizing people to repair the canal. After all, these grains could only solve the immediate problem but could not solve the real problem.

On the other hand, Franz was also preparing a plan to move south, and he had to prepare for the worst case scenario.

The British were in a very awkward situation at this time. On the one hand, they were humiliated by being blocked outside the Mediterranean by the Austrian Empire. On the other hand, Russia's sudden declaration of war on the Ottoman Empire made the situation in the Near East and even Europe more complicated.

Give up Spain or give up the Ottoman Empire?
Neither option is acceptable to the British.

But to deal with Austria and Russia at the same time?

Wouldn’t the shrewd British do this? Deal with Austria first and then Russia?
This may be the only way, after all, the Austrians are blocking the door to the Mediterranean. It seems that there is no other way, but will it really be too late?

This War for the Spanish Succession would not end easily, as the combined strength of Austria and the so-called Holy Alliance exceeded 130,000 troops.

It was not easy to get these people to surrender, especially since the Austrian Empire had occupied Ceuta and established a naval base.

To end the war, the Austrian Empire's navy had to be defeated, otherwise the Austrians would continue to transport troops and supplies to Spain by sea.

However, even if we win the Mediterranean naval battle, can we make the Austrian Empire's expeditionary force surrender?
Not necessarily. On the contrary, Britain's supply lines had to be on guard against the Austrian Navy emerging from the Adriatic Sea at all times.

Everything seemed to have entered a vicious circle, and it seemed inevitable that Russia would become the overlord of the Near East.

But the above actions were not in line with the British style. In the 19th century, a man who claimed to know Europe best came up with a solution.

"It is in the best interests of our British Empire to make Russia and Austria suspicious of each other and to kill each other."

Although Earl Derby looked down on Palmerston in his heart, he seemed to have no other choice at this time.