Eagle’s Glory

"No matter how sincerely you say this, sir, I am very happy."

This sentence clearly reveals that Grand Duke Karl does not quite believe in Aigron's sincerity.

It doesn't matter, Aigron didn't expect himself to be able to fascinate others with a few words, not to mention that the Grand Duke has never seen any storms in his life, how could he be easily fooled by himself?

Anyway, good words are worthless, so it's not bad to just liven up the atmosphere.

Eggron just smiled and said nothing, not arguing with the Grand Duke how sincere his love for Austria was.

Then, Grand Duke Karl took the lead and took Aigron and others for a walk in the garden, while Aigron and others followed suit and chatted with the Grand Duke.

Although he has been a soldier for decades, the Grand Duke is 55 years old after all, and his energy is exhausted after all, so he stopped in the corridor of the botanical garden and looked at the flowers and plants in the garden with great interest.

"It was much more lively here when I was a child!" He suddenly sighed, "Sometimes it is really hard to imagine that you are the last child to grow up here."

Although the Grand Duke's words seemed a little out of his mind, the people in it could understand them.

Although the Habsburg family was facing a crisis of extinction before Empress Marie-Theresa came to power, after a wave of continuation by relying on the married son-in-law, it suddenly became famous for its "high yield".

Teresa and her husband were very loving, and gave birth to 16 children, 9 of whom lived to adulthood; and her two sons, Joseph and Leopold, ascended to the throne successively, and Leopold also had 16 children-the current emperor Franz and Archduke Karl himself were among these children.

It is conceivable how prosperous the main branch of the Habsburg family was during the Grand Duke's childhood. This huge palace was once full of children's laughter.

However, perhaps because the effectiveness of the fresh blood of the Duke of Lorraine has expired, the situation seems to be different when it comes to the current emperor.

His Majesty Emperor Franz married four times, but only the first two marriages continued the bloodline, giving birth to a total of 12 children, seemingly many, but only two sons survived to adulthood - one was suffering from epilepsy and seemed incapable Crown Prince Ferdinand, who will never leave heirs in governing the country, and Princess Sophie's husband, the mediocre Grand Duke Franz Karl.

The last child born here so far was Princess Amary in 1807, and she died not long after, leaving no traces in the world.

Therefore, Eggron, who came here in 1814, is the only descendant of the imperial family who grew up in Schönbrunn Palace in the past two decades. It is really ridiculous to think about it.

However, although what Archduke Karl is seeing now can be called desolate, if he knows what happened later in history, he will probably be even more discouraged and desperate——

After Emperor Franz, the imperial blood of the Habsburg family became thinner, and everyone seemed to be unlucky. Crown Prince Ferdinand was forced to abdicate due to mental illness and passed the throne to his nephew Franz (that is, Sophie The son of the princess), and Franz was even more unlucky. His only son Rudolph committed suicide, and his nephew Ferdinand died in the Sarajevo incident. After his death in 1916, he could only pass the throne to his grandnephew Karl.

The Emperor Karl I became the last emperor of the empire. He was deposed in 1918 due to the defeat of the World War and lost the empire. He died of pneumonia in 1922 at the age of 34.

That is to say, in the following century, the Habsburg family had no direct succession to the throne...

If Grand Duke Karl knew, what expression should he have? Aigron thought maliciously.

"It's my pleasure." He replied calmly. "I love it here."

"Yeah, who wouldn't love it." The Grand Duke shrugged, "Just because I love it,

So as a family member, I have to defend it, no matter what the cost. "

"I must say that you have done very well in this work," said Aigron, half sincerely, half flatteringly.

"Achievements? If I leave the stage, no one will care how much I have done. The world will only remember me as a failed commander, or even remember me at all, and your father will enjoy more than he deserves." More honors." Archduke Karl curled his lips and smiled self-deprecatingly, "Sometimes I really envy the Duke of Wellington, fate allowed him to enjoy the glory of defeating Napoleon dignifiedly, but I was at the last moment Tossed aside, if I had been in Leipzig instead of Schwarzenberg in 1813, my name would have been much brighter than it is now!"

After the defeat at the Battle of Wagram in 1809, although Archduke Karl was at a disadvantage, he still believed that he had the strength to continue fighting Napoleon. After all, the French army suffered huge casualties, and even Napoleon himself had lingering fears.

However, his elder brother, Emperor Franz, was tired of the war and finally chose to ask Napoleon for peace. Archduke Karl resigned angrily to His Majesty the Emperor, and was then frozen, unable to command the Austrian army anymore.

Later, Napoleon began to go downhill, suffered repeated setbacks in Spain and Russia, and was eventually wiped out by European countries. The commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces in the Battle of Leipzig was his former chief of staff, Prince Schwarzenberg. It is conceivable that without this The scene is turbulent, the commander-in-chief should be the emperor's younger brother.

Archduke Karl, who was idle, could only watch the most dazzling star of this era fall, but he did nothing in it. As a soldier and a commander, this is almost an unbearable torment.

Even now, more than a decade later, he still seems aggrieved.

Aigron could understand the Archduke's depressed mood, but with his complicated position, it seemed that something was wrong with him at the moment, so he simply chose to remain silent.

After all, to ask him to go on complimenting the Grand Duke that he was stronger than Napoleon or the Duke of Wellington would be a little too condescending, and might be met with contempt.

It's a pity that although he didn't want to take over, Grand Duke Karl continued to look at him.

"I know, from your standpoint, you may naturally be more inclined to Napoleon. I must admit that I hated him, but as a colleague, I also respect him very much, which is almost the same as the Duke of Wellington. We I used to be an opponent, but I can see the flashes of genius from him, and it is such an honor for this generation to fight against him. My only regret is that I have never been able to fight like him. He is the one and only master of a nation, The people follow him with eyes closed, he can squander the lives of the French - just as he did in 1809 - and I can only watch my honor being stripped from my hands, if It would definitely be different if I could be as free as he is!"

Seeing Archduke Karl's serious look, Aigron couldn't help laughing in his heart.

Although he is so old, he seems stubborn like a child when it comes to this issue - yes, men can be lenient on any issue, but they will never give up an inch on the topic they cherish most.

"I think it is a very naive behavior to put aside all the factors of war and simply discuss the level of the general's personal ability. War is not chess, and there is a king and queen. The vulgar opinions of the world cannot be used to judge you. Your peers will definitely recognize your abilities and talents."

Aigron looked at each other and replied seriously, "Objectively speaking, your record is not as good as that of Napoleon and Wellington, and their honor is beyond your reach; but as you said, the complicated factors There are too many, some of which are not your responsibility, and your formation and command on the battlefield have greatly admired them both, and your writings are equally valuable."

"Have you read my article?" Archduke Karl asked back.

"Yes, your "On the Tactics of Generals", my teacher once asked me to read it, which is part of my studies." Aigron smiled, "Also, I may need to thank you for your defeat in 1809, Because of that defeat, my grandfather decided to seek peace with the French, and finally agreed to Napoleon’s marriage proposal, so I exist—otherwise I would not have the honor to listen to your teachings today!”

Hahahaha... The Grand Duke was stunned at first, and then couldn't help laughing. "It's not bad at all."

"Are you his military teacher?" He turned to look at Captain Foresty. "You seem to be teaching him well."

"Your Highness is talented, and he is an outstanding student I have never met before." Captain Foresty lowered his head and replied respectfully.

"Yes, it's pretty good." He looked at Aigron again, and then nodded, "After all, that person is extraordinary, even the species left behind are a little different. It's a pity that he finished his empire, Otherwise, it makes people look forward to what you can do."

"It may be a good thing for me not to be an emperor. I am not interested in carrying the desire of a nation like him, and I don't want to squander the lives of a nation. Maybe I will live quietly in a corner as an old pedant It's more suitable for me." Aigron still smiled, and sank all his true emotions to the bottom of the heart lake, "The way to make achievements in the world is not just to be an emperor, do you think so?"

"Having said that, in my opinion, it's more enjoyable to be an emperor, let alone an empire, and my younger brother can also manipulate it at will." Grand Duke Karl muttered, and everyone pretended not to hear the phrase "slandering the emperor" .

At this moment, Grand Duke Karl raised his hand, beckoned from a distance, and then greeted. "it's here!"

Aigron subconsciously followed his gestures, and then found a light figure pacing out of the botanical garden, slowly walking towards them.

Soon, he discovered that it was a girl in a light blue dress, with long brown hair pinned behind her head with a butterfly-shaped jeweled barrette.

She looks to be about the same age as Aigron, with a pale complexion and a slender figure. The willow-leaf eyebrows and slender eyelashes make her eyes big and shiny. Her taupe eyes are looking at the group of people on the Grand Duke's side, examining them .

In her right hand she holds a sketchbook. It seems that there has been a lot of harvest in the botanical garden just now.

"Frantz, this is my daughter, Teresa." After she came over, Grand Duke Karl glanced at Aigron, "You should have met a long time ago, when I brought her here—but I I guess you don't remember."

He really didn't remember either.

And judging from the other party's eyes, Aigron was also sure that he had never left any impression on her.

Aegron bowed to the girl.

"Nice to meet you, Her Royal Highness Princess Teresa."