War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Austrian Empire, Vienna.

After staying for a month, Palmerston finally understood Count Korolaf's so-called sincerity.

Palmerston reluctantly purchased a work of art from a Jewish businessman for £50,000.

Count Korolaf said that since everyone knew so much about art, he wouldn't mind doing this small favor for Palmerston.

He assured Palmerston that the Austrian Empire would withdraw its troops within six months. This made Palmerston so angry that he wanted to return the "artwork" on the spot, but he could not find the Jewish businessman.

In desperation, Palmerston had to ask Count Korolaf to hurry up, and the latter laughed at the former's stinginess and recklessness.

There was no way to return the goods, and Palmerston had no evidence. In order not to continue to intensify the conflict, he could only leave Vienna first, hoping that Count Korolaf would keep his promise.

In fact, Count Korolaf did keep his promise. However, what Palmerston did not expect was that the Austrian army just moved from Bukovina to Nordsavi.

Bukovina is an important border defense town in Transylvania, and Nordsavi is also an important border defense town in Vojvodina.

Graben Street, above the attic of the old Jack's Clock Shop.

Baron Brunolu held the letter in his hand with some confusion, looked at Thalia and said.

"Namibia? It was a dead land. Many countries tried to colonize there, first the Dutch, then the Spanish and the Portuguese, but the land there was barren and the indigenous people were savage and warlike and difficult to tame. In 1824, the British gave up the last one The stronghold of South-West Africa, it is true that no country is colonizing there now. But who should we buy land from? Who should we sign a treaty with?"

Explorers from the Age of Discovery called Namibia the "Gates of Hell". Perhaps because of this name, many people are reluctant to go to Namibia.

In fact, the environment of Namibia's eastern plateau is not that harsh, but it is far away from the coastline. Most explorers give up before reaching it.

There are only a few missionary stations where Westerners are known to gather, but they are often attacked by indigenous people. The total number of white people in Namibia does not exceed 200, and most of them are missionaries and adventurers.

The most important thing is that Namibia's long and narrow coast is covered by desert. The hot and arid climate and the smell of death are intimidating.

At the same time, there are many problems in establishing settlements on the coast of Namibia, such as lack of food, water, fuel, and even building materials, and the lack of deep-water harbors, only Walvis Port, also known as Whale Bay.

Baron Brooke's concerns are very reasonable, but what the world doesn't know is that the coast of Namibia is also known as the Diamond Coast. It has rich diamond reserves and extremely high quality. The largest vein is in Lüderitz.

However, Luderitz was still a barren desert at this time. If you want to colonize Namibia, you must first occupy the eastern plateau and obtain stable supplies.

"Does it matter who we sign a treaty with? The total number of the Ovambo, Herero and Mana people does not exceed 50,000, but they have established more than a dozen countries and hundreds of tribes. Maybe they themselves don't know Namibia Whose coast should belong to it?" Thalia said.

"You mean to make a false statement?"

"No, it was the Austrian Empire that needed a declaration to gain permission to colonize Namibia."

"But, what's the point? The Austrian Empire does not have a supply point in Namibia. If a supply point is temporarily established, the cost will be very huge, and it may require hundreds of thousands of florins."

"Here you go." Thalia took out a contract and handed it to Baron Brooke. "Archduke Franz has purchased the ownership of Port Walvis from the British government for 12,000 pounds."

In fact, after 1824, Britain was forced to abandon Walvisport due to insolvency. The reason was that the nearby Angola and Cape Colonies had better deep-water harbors and could provide cheap supplies and goods.

However, this still did not satisfy Baron Brooke, and he continued to ask.

"But how do we develop this colony in Namibia?"

"We can explore eastward, find areas suitable for colonization on the plateau there, establish settlements, and then send explorers and geologists to explore for resources. This can solve the resource shortage problem in Port Walvis."

"But who can guarantee that there will be areas suitable for colonization in the eastern plateau? It is full of barbaric and warlike indigenous people, and many missionaries and explorers have lost their lives there."

"Master Brooke, what do you think feeds so many warlike natives?"

"." Brooke was speechless for a moment. He realized the problem. He only heard the legends about the savage and warlike Namibian indigenous people, but forgot that the indigenous people also needed to eat.

"Don't worry, Lord Brooke. With so many warlike natives, they must have fertile land. Otherwise, where would they have the energy to cross the desert to attack ports and missionary stations?" Thalia asked in return.

Baron Brooke continued to ask like a curious baby.

"But Namibia is tens of thousands of kilometers away from the Austrian Empire. You can't just let people farm the land, right? And now that the life in the empire is getting better and better, no matter how poor the people are, they are not willing to leave, let alone go to a death zone like Namibia. .”

Thalia took out another treasure map and a parchment scroll. The treasure map was drawn by Franz, and the parchment scroll was written by Franz in Latin.

"There is a treasure map here recording the treasure of Cleopatra VII (Cleopatra), and this parchment record records this history."

Baron Brooke looked at the treasure map. He could barely tell that it was a pattern of southern Africa, with many X's drawn near Namibia. The sheepskin scroll did look like it had gone through many years, but the ink seemed to be new.

Of course, Baron Brooke knew that these were all forgeries, but as long as he had these, someone would be willing to go to Namibia, and that was enough.

Baron Brooke still admired the vision of "Archduke Franz", and he wanted to see what treasures were buried in Namibia.

Falsifying claims and false propaganda are not difficult, but Baron Brooke is worried about the local indigenous people.

There are less than 50,000 indigenous people living in Namibia, and most of them make a living by herding. Although there are many people, there are ten countries, hundreds of tribes, and dozens of languages.

The reason why the indigenous people attack ports and missionary stations regardless of the cost is because the white people often rob the cattle and sheep of the indigenous tribes in order to survive. Naturally, they fight desperately for survival.

Vienna, Hall of Mirrors.

"My stupid brother, what are you going to do? Go to a desert to establish a colony?"

"My poor brother, there is still no desert in the Austrian Empire. Shouldn't we make up for the regrets of our ancestors?"

"My stupid brother, if I sent people to colonize a desert I would be laughed at."

"My poor brother, are you going to give up on becoming the first emperor to colonize the desert because of others' ridicule?"

"Okay, I'll do whatever you want."