War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

"It would be nice if the interest rate could be raised a bit."

Taiwan Novel Network →𝘵𝘸𝘬𝘢𝘯.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Someone sighed.

Lionel shook his head.

"As far as I know, the Austrian Empire's treasury is quite sufficient, so they dare to start two wars at the same time.

However, the emperor of the Austrian Empire is ambitious, and he has carried out large-scale construction in the country and spent money in Spain. Even if the Austrian Empire has a gold mountain that will be emptied, it is only a matter of time."

"What if the Austrian Empire can't pay back the money? Can Namibia's gold mines make up for our losses?"

"Whether Namibia's gold mines can make up for our losses depends on how much we have lent out, but I can tell you responsibly that Namibia's gold production is definitely not low.

And Namibia is a relatively developed colony, and we don't need too much money to maintain it.

In addition, we still reserve the right to further demand compensation from the Austrian Empire.

Stepping back, if the Austrian Empire can't even pay the interest, then do they still have the ability to fight us, Britain?"

This has dispelled many people's doubts. After all, Spain's strength is still trustworthy.

And the Austrian Empire, which has been severely damaged, is impossible to keep its colonies. At that time, it is not just Namibia, and maybe it can also take California.

The happy things were over. After the show, disturbing news came again. The Austrian Empire captured Ceuta and Melilla.

Both cities are important ports in North Africa, especially Ceuta, which is across the sea from Gibraltar.

Both places are Spanish territories, and it is not incomprehensible that the Austrian Empire occupied the two places, but this region is too sensitive, and Britain has to suspect that the Austrian Empire has other intentions.

In fact, the main purpose of Franz's occupation of Ceuta, Melilla and the Canary Islands was to improve the supply line of the Austrian Empire, otherwise it would be so uncomfortable to be strangled by the British every day.

The British strangled others all day long, and they naturally could not understand the pain of the victims. If there is no supply point of their own on the road, they must look at the faces of others.

Not to mention that they spend a high price to buy garbage every time, they are out of stock at any time. It is simply intolerable.

Among the people of the Austrian Empire, especially the merchants and sailors engaged in maritime trade, they welcomed it with both hands. As soon as the Austrian Empire took over Ceuta and the Canary Islands, a large number of Austrians flocked to open their own warehouses.

In fact, the Spaniards in these three colonies also welcomed the arrival of the Austrians because they were too poor.

The Spanish government's taxation can only be described as sucking the marrow out of bones, and various temporary taxes and additional taxes make people at a loss. No matter how hard the residents of the island try, they can only struggle on the line of food and clothing.

Some people have proposed tax cuts, or even violent tax resistance, but the voice of tax cuts is deaf to the Spanish government, and those who resist taxation will be killed without mercy.

Even though the environment is so bad, they know that their situation is a hundred times better than their compatriots at home.

But no one is willing to fulfill the responsibility of defending the territory for the Spanish government, and the Austrian Imperial Navy did not encounter any resistance.

Friedrich likes Ceuta very much, and this place brings him one step closer to his ideal.

If you want to drive Britain out of the Mediterranean, you must solve the problem of Gibraltar, and you must also have a strategic fulcrum to prevent British naval reinforcements.

It would be best if you can take Gibraltar, but according to Franz's strategy, you will not fight for Gibraltar in the short term.

Therefore, Ceuta Port became the best alternative, but Ceuta was not as strategically located as Gibraltar, but it was second only to Gibraltar, otherwise the Spaniards would not have occupied it for hundreds of years.

Friedrich had begun to inspect the island accompanied by a large number of officers. He wanted to build a naval base here.

But he was soon disappointed, because Ceuta was leaky on all sides, and there were too many paths and tactics to choose from to capture the island.

At the same time, there was a lack of hard rocks like Gibraltar as a natural defense, and defending here was completely unprofitable.

Fortunately, Friedrich had come into contact with the incomplete theory of sea power narrated by Franz, and he deeply agreed that "attack is the best defense."

According to Friedrich's idea, as long as there were enough warships here, defense would not be a problem at all, and the enemy would be attacked.

What's more, the Austrian Empire still had torpedoes and airships, but the airships at this time were still underpowered. This shortcoming was not obvious on land, but it was a huge disadvantage on the sea with unpredictable weather.

The death rate of the Austrian Imperial Navy's airship unit was the highest, but in fact, most of them were not killed by the enemy, but died in various accidents and training.

However, the navy has increased the research funding for new airships fivefold, and I believe that this situation will be improved soon.

When planning the island's defense, Friedrich deliberately left an airship square.

As for the battle on land, Friedrich did not care. His mission was always to protect the supply lines and prevent enemy naval attacks.

In the Austrian Empire, there was no ripples about the rebellion of the Spanish nobles, and it could even be described as indifferent.

Almost all Austrian civilians and officials believed that the Spaniards would definitely rebel, and even thought that it was a bit late for them to rebel.

Rebellion is not a big deal for Austrians. After all, small-scale rebellions have never stopped in the Austrian Empire until today.

When Prince Schwarzenberg showed the news of the rebellion in Spain to other ministers, everyone's reaction was surprisingly consistent.

"Got it. Then prepare to suppress it."

Prince Schwarzenberg was a little confused. As a military man, it was difficult for him to understand why the Spaniards rebelled.

All the actions of the emperor were for the good of the Spaniards. He was even willing to help those Spanish country nobles transform into urban nobles. What a broad mind and generosity.

But those guys actually chose to rebel. Do they really think that the emperor dare not kill people?

"I think your majesty will feel sad and angry when he finds out that his good intentions have been betrayed."

Prince Schwarzenberg thought so and handed the information to Franz, who took the information, took a look at it and casually put it aside.

Prince Schwarzenberg couldn't help it now. Why is this the attitude from top to bottom?

"Your Majesty, the Spaniards betrayed your kindness and humiliated you with their actions. Aren't you angry?"

Franz rubbed his forehead. He didn't feel what Prince Schwarzenberg said, and Franz knew very well that it was not the civilians who were really causing trouble, but the nobles.

"Then send more troops."

"How many?"

"Thirty thousand."

"Thirty thousand is too few. We have occupied dozens of towns in Spain."