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

Chapter 1321 The way out
Ferrante Duval was a smart man. As soon as the British envoy conveyed the British government's intention, he readily agreed.

If Ferrante Duval had not been afraid of being detained as a hostage, he would have wanted to flee directly to Portugal with the Spanish government.

Charles Duchat felt as if he were in another world as he watched the Spanish Republican officials who were planning to continue their migration north.

A few months ago, Charles Duchat personally planned the Toledo Uprising, supported Ferrante Dauet to come to power, and overthrew the rule of the Bourbon family.

The second European republic was established, the Spanish people celebrated, and the Second French Republic was no longer alone
However, just a few months later, how did these people become the rats crossing the street? Not only were they beaten back by the evil Austrian Empire, but they were also spurned by their own people.

It seems that the Spaniards are still too barbaric. They cannot understand their noble mission at the moment, and the evil forces are too powerful.

Charles Duchat had long ago suggested to Ferrante Doyle that he should follow the example of the French Revolution and eliminate all the old nobles and clergy who were not loyal to the new government.

This approach might be barely acceptable to some radical French and Napoleon admirers, but it seemed too outrageous in Spain.

There are a large number of old nobles and clergy in Ferrante Duval's government. Although these people are two-timing, without them, this so-called Spanish government will collapse immediately.

What was even more difficult for Charles Duchat to understand was that the French army had been blocked by the Austrians east of the Pyrenees. He did not want to be buried with Ferrante Doyle, nor did he want to become a victim of some idiots' struggle for power.

The departures of Palmerston and Charles Duchartte left Ferrante Doyle feeling abandoned, a feeling exacerbated by the slow rescue efforts of Britain and France.

Although the four countries of Britain, France, Spain and Portugal had reached an agreement and the British army had even established an outpost in Portugal, Ferrante Doyet was still worried.

The strong sense of uneasiness made him feel that he had to do something, so Ferrante Doyle began to use the power in his hands to accumulate wealth and pave the way for himself.

As the saying goes, what goes up must go down. With a president like this, it is difficult for government officials to remain honest. In fact, corruption is rampant in the entire Spanish officialdom, and everyone is using the power in their hands to squeeze out as much benefits as possible.

Coupled with the enormous pressure of war, the whole country was like the end of the world, and everyone was struggling to survive.

More and more people who can no longer survive are choosing to flee. After the population flees, tax revenue will inevitably decrease, so the remaining people must bear the pressure that the fugitives should have borne.

This leads to a vicious cycle, people are exploited so much that they flee, and because the population decreases, they have to exploit more.
After these people fled to the occupied areas of the Austrian Empire, most of the healthy adult men chose to join the army or be conscripted as civilian laborers.

The number of Spanish troops in the Austrian Empire has exceeded 300,000, which is far greater than the total number of troops under Ferrante Doyle and Regent Queen Christina.

What is even more terrifying is the number of civilian laborers in the Austrian Empire. Wherever the Austrian Empire's army went, they would build roads.

So far, the Spanish Republic and the Kingdom of Spain have failed to launch a successful counterattack against the Austrian Empire. The long-term and numerous failures have made the Spaniards feel that the Austrians are simply invincible, and they even began to study some metaphysical things.

On the other hand, the Austrian Empire's Spanish Legion was victorious in every battle, and the graduates of the Barcelona Military Academy had grown into independent generals. Narvaez, O'Donnell, Espartero and other former warlords began to use their connections to stabilize the situation and help the Austrian Empire rebuild order in Spain.

There were few rebellions in the occupied areas of the Austrian Empire. Although it was not to the extent that people would not pick up things on the streets or lock their doors at night, the situation had risen to a much higher level than before.

The only person who was unhappy looking at this picture was Frederick. The French hid in the port all day, the British Mediterranean Fleet was also a coward, and the only one who still had some courage, William Simmons, ran to Portugal again.

If it were someone else, they would definitely feel overwhelmed by the feeling of being surrounded by powerful enemies, but for Friedrich, it was not enough.

In fact, the Austrian Imperial Navy could raid Toulon and Malta at any time, but the British did not explicitly declare war at this time, and the French had so far only attacked from the Pyrenees Mountains as agreed, so Frederick's sneak attack plan had to be abandoned.

Although the Austrian Empire and France were in a state of hostility at this time, the battlefield was set in Spain due to the requests of many small countries, on the condition that the Austrian Imperial Navy would not take the initiative to attack the southern coastal areas of France.

The main reason why Franz agreed to this condition was that the French Eastern Fleet posed almost no threat.

Thanks to Franz's reforms, large armed merchant ships could no longer pose a threat to large warships. The armor of steam ironclad ships was enough to withstand the direct fire of armed merchant ships, but the latter would be easily torn apart by the firepower of the former.

In addition to the fleet, the French Eastern Fleet did not have enough experienced sailors, most of whom were just deck cleaners (referring to low-level sailors) who came to get by.

However, even without this agreement, Franz was not crazy enough to attack the French mainland. The Austrian Imperial Navy would at most destroy several key ports and fleets in southern France.

Read more latest popular novels at 6.9*shuba!

The real threat to the Austrian Empire in the Mediterranean is still the British Mediterranean Fleet. No matter how cowardly the British Mediterranean Fleet behaves at this time, it will be the primary target of the Austrian Imperial Navy once war breaks out.

Arthur Wellstone, acting commander of the British Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet, was well aware of his situation. Once the two countries went to war, his fleet would be doomed.

Whether it was a naval battle or a land battle, the British Royal Navy had no chance of winning in the Mediterranean. Even if they fled to Cyprus, the outcome would not have changed in the slightest.

The Austrian Imperial Navy had at least three times the strength of its own, and had a large number of military bases and sufficient intelligence.

At this time, the British Mediterranean Fleet was like a blind man, with Austrian patrol ships everywhere. Even British merchant ships could not pass through at will, let alone warships.

If the war started now, Arthur Wellstone would not even know when the Austrians would attack.

Arthur Wellstone had a bigger problem at this time than when the Austrians would launch an attack. Due to the Austrian naval blockade, he didn't even know when the war would start.

So Arthur Wellstone came up with a solution that would satisfy both parties. He led his fleet to Istanbul.