War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Vienna, Franz's bedroom.

Franz has actually always been curious about why Austria closed the silver mines in Tyrol. Why did the mines stop being mined in 1827, even though they could still be mined after World War II, but they were not exhausted until 1957.

Thalia found a report about the Tyrol silver mine. The reason given above was that the quality of the Tyrol silver mine was poor and the revenue was not worth the cost, so it had to be stopped.

Franz rubbed his chin, wondering why it had been losing money for years in the hands of the Austrian government, and then if it was transferred to individuals, it could continue to mine for a hundred years.

Franz compared the income statements of several mines together and found that the income from the Tyrol silver mine was not as good as the iron mine under his own name.

Franz thinks it is impossible. Unless silver mines cannot be mined, the income from silver mines cannot be lower than iron mines. Judging from the fact that private enterprises can continue to mine for hundreds of years, the Tyrol silver mines are far from When it is exhausted.

Then there may be only one thing: poor supervision, just like the customs in the Qing Dynasty, there are leaks everywhere.

What made Franz even more angry was that whoever was clever came up with the idea to blow up and bury the mine when abandoning the Tyrol silver mine.

Re-excavating the mine pit is not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also requires a large additional cost.

But generally speaking, the resumption of mining of the Tyrol silver mine is still very beneficial to Austria. After all, this is a direct benefit, and it can also be used to mortgage and defraud loans.

The Austrian Army's problem was easy to solve. Chenla's order came again. In addition to 6,000 rifles, they also wanted 20 cannons.

Only this time they paid the bill not with silver, but with part silver, part gold, ivory, pearls, jade, and some precious wood.

It seems that Chenla has made up its mind or is in big trouble. This may be a catastrophe for Chenla, but it is an opportunity for Austria. It depends on whether Ambrosius can seize it. .

Of course, Franz will also ask the church to help. After all, Archbishop Rauscher has recently made a lot of money selling sacred radiance and holy water.

Bleaching powder and alcohol cost nothing. Although some people discovered it, their influence was far less than that of the church. The same products just couldn't be sold, and the church's supply even exceeded demand.

In order to squeeze out possible competitors, the church frantically lowered prices, which also discouraged some weak people.

With the promotion of church products, what was supposed to be an outbreak of cholera did not appear in the ghettos of Vienna.

The number of deaths from dysentery in Austria has also plummeted. Coupled with the bumper harvest and economic prosperity in recent years, railway construction and public projects have absorbed a large number of refugees, which has increased the happiness of the Austrian people.

The problem of the navy is difficult to solve. If you want to build a fleet, you will need millions of florins to build a few frigates and cruisers at most. If you include the training of artillery and sailors, the cost will be sky-high. .

The Austrian Navy proposed to build a powerful formation of four fourth-level battleships, six cruisers, and ten frigates to maintain absolute suppression of the Sardinian Navy.

In fact, the Kingdom of Sardinia's navy has one second-level battleship as its flagship, one third-level battleship, and ten fourth-level battleships. Although the number of ships is far less than that of the Austrian Navy, the difference between gunboats and battleships is not just quantity. Can make up for it.

In the naval battle of 1827, the British battleships "Asia" and "Easter" broke into the Egyptian navy's queue, shattering Egypt's naval dream in just two hours.

However, they are not the strongest force of the British at sea, and they can only tremble in front of those first-class sailing battleships.

Austria's opponent was not the British or the Kingdom of Sardinia, but the Egyptian fleet.

At this time, competing with Britain for maritime power was seeking death. The number of battleships available to Austria was not as good as the number of first-class battleships of the opponent.

The Kingdom of Sardinia borders Austria and can be pushed forward by the army. There is no doubt that the Austrian army definitely has this strength.

Austria's incompetence exposed in the two Turkish-Egyptian wars was the real reason for Austria's decline in international status.

Later generations always said that Metternich was weak, which led the British to skip Austria and punish Egypt alone.

In fact, the fundamental reason is that Austria does not always have a strong navy. It can only look at the faces of the British, the French, and the Russians. As a result, Metternich was hesitant. In the end, he could only acquiesce in the British behavior and act as a subordinate behind the British.

But the British had no intention of accepting the little brother of the Austrian Empire. They turned around and left Austria aside, and then took the blame during the Crimean War.

In order to change Austria's destiny, a navy capable of defeating the Egyptian fleet was necessary.

After the Battle of Navarino, the Egyptian navy suffered a devastating blow. At this time, the strength of the Austrian navy could really cope with it.

But if everything goes according to historical development, the Ottoman fleet will defect to Egypt. At this time, the Ottoman fleet has more than 30 large and small ships, including the largest sailing battleship "Mahamudiya" in this era.

This is not what the Austrian Navy can handle. Without strength, it will naturally lack confidence. Of course, it is also unrealistic to expect Austria to build a fleet that can defeat the Ottoman Navy in two or three years.

But there is still hope for building a mixed fleet that can quickly defeat the Egyptian fleet and deliver the Austrian army to Egypt.

Of course, Austria's sending troops to resolve this dispute is only the last resort. Franz still hopes that Prince Metternich can complete the achievement of diplomatic victory.

There is good news for the Austrian Navy, that is, Archduke Friedrich, the third son of Archduke Karl, is going to join the navy.

This archduke who likes ship models will carry out comprehensive reforms of the Austrian Navy, and the Austrian Navy will also usher in its first glorious period.

Archduke Friedrich graduated from the military academy at the age of 13, spent another two years studying shipbuilding, and joined the navy at the age of 16 to start reforms. He was a naturally chosen man with talent, enthusiasm, and financial resources.

However, such a genius would never have imagined that he would face a game that would change the fate of the Austrian Empire four years later. His reforms were still too conservative.

Egypt was not the only loser in the Turkish-Egyptian War. Austria exposed its diplomatic weakness and weak naval strength.

In 1840, the Austrian Navy and the British Royal Navy jointly blockaded Alexandria, bombarded Sidon and Beirut, organized a landing at Acre, and brutally brutalized the Egyptian army.

It looks very beautiful and shows off its national prestige. However, in the eyes of the old empire, the Austrian navy is like a clown, and the improvised marines are even more ridiculous.

As the saying goes, laymen watch the excitement, while insiders watch the door.

What the nobles accompanying the Austrian army saw was the huge number of Austrian fleets, and the sky was filled with gunpowder smoke after rounds of artillery fire.

However, what the British and French fleet commanders saw was a group of miscellaneous fish who did not understand naval tactics. Their shipbuilding technology was terrible and clumsy, and they did not have large ships that could support maritime battles.

The main artillery was actually an 8-pounder, which once made the British fleet commander think that the opponent was a group of land forces.

In fact, in the Austrian Navy, most of the officers were temporarily removed from the army, and the technical staff were also temporarily recruited. As for the sailors, many of them were temporary workers recruited from the port bars.

It is difficult for such a makeshift force to be valued by a power with a strong naval tradition like Britain.