War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Spain, Catalan Legion Headquarters.

Lieutenant General Varner looked at the map helplessly. Barcelona was not a strong city, but he did not have many soldiers available, let alone enough siege weapons.

The Austrians had landed for almost half a month and had no intention of attacking.

The Carlos rebels in Catalonia were restless, but these jumping clowns were not worth paying much attention to.

The armed forces of the Carlos faction were mostly bankrupt farmers and small landlords, as well as some bandits and speculators. Their strength was limited, and they did not have much ambition, just wanting to rob the village.

The most important thing was that although this group of people were under the banner of the Carlos faction, they did not obey Carlos' orders, and they did not even know where Carlos VI himself was.

In addition, the reputation of this group of people was worse than that of the government army. The government army still needed excuses such as conscription and taxation, and had to bear the responsibilities of public security and regional defense, while these Carlos factions were openly robbing.

However, the behavior of the Austrians was very confusing, because the Austrians had done almost nothing serious except repairing the city walls.

Giving alms in the city, teaching farmers outside the city to farm, and reopening factories

"Are they here to help the poor?"

Lieutenant General Varner couldn't help but have such doubts in his heart.

Varner then looked at his officers again.

"How many troops do the Austrians have?"

"Not sure, probably tens of thousands of people."

"Tens of thousands? How many?"

Varner was very depressed. For half a month, these idiots still hadn't figured out how many enemies there were.

"Not sure, the Austrians came in batches, sending some in each time and sending some away. And the Austrians didn't allow us to enter many places."

"Bullshit! What you said was the same as not saying anything!"

Varner finally got angry. He thought the Austrians were very lax in their defense, and Barcelona was in chaos at this time, so his men would definitely be able to make some achievements.

As a result, this group of people not only failed to make "achievements", but also didn't even know how many troops and supplies the Austrians had.

"But, General, our people found that the Austrians are recruiting soldiers. Could it be that they are short of troops?"

The men wanted to recover the losses, but General Varner was even more angry after hearing this.

"A bunch of idiots! How could they be short of troops before the war started? Joaquin Iglesias, that coward, surrendered without firing a shot, and the Austrians successively occupied Valencia and Cadiz. How could they be short of troops?"

The people in the room looked at each other in bewilderment. They had indeed never seen a war like this.

They had never heard of directly recruiting soldiers on the enemy's territory. Even Napoleon and the Arabs did this only after occupying the whole of Spain, and those Spanish vassal troops were never trusted.

Now the Austrians have not started fighting yet, but they are recruiting soldiers in Spain first. What's going on?

The news that the Austrians were recruiting soldiers in Spain spread to Paris, and the French thought Franz was crazy.

But more people just thought it was a joke, and Louis Napoleon didn't even believe it was true. After all, in his mind, Franz was a very cunning and shrewd enemy who would never make such a low-level mistake.

London.

Earl Derby and Palmerston frowned after seeing the intelligence, after all, this matter was really bizarre.

"Do they think this is India? Even the Indians took hundreds of years to be tamed by us."

This time, even the king who claimed to know Europe best couldn't understand it, and Earl Derby on the side didn't believe it at all.

Because the Austrian Empire often released smoke bombs, British intelligence agencies have been confused more than once.

Moreover, conscription on enemy territory will not only be considered a provocative act, but conscription itself will also arouse popular resistance.

"Are the Austrians seeking their own death? They are angering the Spanish."

In fact, the views of the entire British high-level officials are similar. Limited by their world views and life experiences, they all think Franz is crazy.

"That's right. Let's not talk about whether they can recruit soldiers. Even if they can, how can they guarantee the loyalty of the Spaniards?

This time the Austrians will definitely shoot themselves in the foot."

The Duke of Northumberland, Minister of the Navy and Colonies, said with great confidence. He has rich experience in this kind of operation. There have been many similar cases in British colonies, and he has even dealt with the aftermath personally.

"Not only that, in addition to loyalty, the biggest problem of the temporary army is organization and management, which requires a lot of manpower.

As for logistics, it is also a huge problem. All of the above requires a lot of financial support.

At this time, the Austrian Empire is maintaining two large-scale wars. I have reason to doubt that the economic strength of the Austrian Empire cannot support the ambitions of the Austrians."

British Chancellor of the Exchequer Disraeli said, and his analysis immediately drew applause. I don't know since when, in Britain, as long as the world situation is analyzed from an economic perspective, it will draw applause from the whole room.

No one knows why, but people get used to it after repeated trials.

Finally, Earl Derby stood up and concluded.

"The foolish and arrogant Austrian emperor will surely pay for his ignorance! In five years we will complete our sweet revenge!

The gold of California is ours!"

"Yes! Long live the British Empire!"

The whole meeting ended quickly with warm celebrations. The result of the collapse of the Austrian Empire's economy and government was very good for Britain.

But Palmerston always felt an indescribable weirdness, which made him feel a little uneasy. He was not a person who lacked security. Even if he launched a war against a powerful country or humiliated a leader of a powerful country, he would be unscrupulous even in the Queen's castle.

Borrowing a sentence from the famous villain Zhang Baozai.

"I am selfish and lawless. I eat happily and sleep peacefully. Of course, I will live a hundred years."

It is not a trivial matter to make such a person feel uneasy.

However, Palmerston at this time can be said to be the lowest point in his life. His last mission to St. Petersburg made him lose his reputation.

The Tsar directly ignored him as an ambassador and negotiated with the British government, which made Palmerston labeled as a "disgusting diplomat".

In addition, he had made many enemies in his daily life. As the saying goes:

"If you don't do good deeds in your daily life, you will torture everyone with your words.

Bullying shows yourself and makes Russia pay for the consequences.

Being like air in front of the Tsar, today I know who I am."

At this time, Palmerston's situation was extremely bad. Even if he really wanted to contribute to Britain, others would not give him this opportunity.

As the saying goes, it is difficult to change one's nature. It is impossible to expect people like Palmerston to sacrifice themselves for the overall situation.

On the contrary, Palmerston understood that if he wanted to turn things around, he had to rely on this time.