War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Schonbrunn Palace, Franz's Study.

"Okay, let's put this aside for a moment. Are there any new moves from the British side?"

"As you might expect, the Red Shirt Army's spending in Kabul is almost astronomical. And the Afghans are not trustworthy at all. No matter how many times the British pay protection fees, they will be robbed by local tribes."

Adjani still admires Franz's judgment. After all, Britain is known as the harvester of backward civilization, and almost no country can benefit from their hands.

This set of methods of "drawing one faction in, attacking another" and "opening the door, free trade, and bringing civilization!" has destroyed many countries and nations, or knocked on the door of many markets. It can be said that it has been tried and tested repeatedly.

This time, the emir supported by the British not only cannot control the situation in Afghanistan, but also relies on the guarantee of outsiders for his own safety.

As the Anglo-Afghan War progressed, the Redwood Army, which once struggled with the mighty Napoleon in Europe, had completely lost the momentum it had in the early stages of the war.

At first, the British succeeded in capturing Kabul with overwhelming force and even arrested Dost Mohammed (King of Afghanistan) and placed him under house arrest in India, with almost no casualties on their side.

Because the victory came so easily, most British officers and soldiers quickly became intoxicated with enjoyment and fun. They even arranged cricket, horse racing, hunting and other entertainment activities in the city.

One night, the officers of the East India Company and their wives attended a lively party as usual. While enjoying the delicious taste of Madeira white wine, they concentrated on watching drama performances including A Midsummer Night's Dream.

But at this time, it was on the other side of the world.

Central Asia, the capital of an ancient kingdom.

An officer wearing a white shirt and black shorts got up from the bed late at night and walked to the study room, then stared blankly at the giant map on the wall.

Yes, they had captured all the major cities, and they only lost 200 people to take this capital. Recalling the past made me feel like I was falling into an ice cave now that I was trapped in this former palace.

Who would have thought that the situation would take a turn for the worse after the conquest. In the three months after the occupation alone, at least 2,000 casualties were incurred, so that not long ago they were forced to pay "road money" to the robbers before the supply line could be restored.

This sounds really ironic. How can a winner be coerced by a loser into making huge concessions?

A transport convoy of 300 people was easily ambushed while traveling along the Burr Pass. All 150 peaks of baggage were lost, and all the escorting soldiers were executed without a trace.

And now the British Empire actually wants to do business with their enemies. But even so, the indigenous tribes who received protection fees did not do anything with the money, and the integrity of the transportation team was still not guaranteed. Every day someone reports to God, maybe it will be their turn soon.

The officer had a headache after thinking about it, so he simply threw the map and battle report into the brazier, opened the bottle of wine, woke up the dancing girl who was already asleep on the bed, and continued to drink and dream.

"Continue to have fun with me!"

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace, Franz Study Room

"Very well done. What we need to do next is to fight a war without gunpowder. Yes, it is a propaganda war. Remember, this time we must highlight the fact that the Afghans actively attacked the British transport convoy and brutally killed the hostages."

Adjani did not fully understand Franz's instructions, because the former emphasized the importance of Afghanistan's geographical location more than once; it is located at the crossroads of Central Asia, and is a strategic location that can be attacked and defended. .

"Aren't you doing this to promote the British? The gentlemen in the upper and lower houses of Parliament will definitely put pressure on Whitehall. Wouldn't there be no reason to withdraw troops from Afghanistan? By then they will calm down and start to use Afghanistan. As a springboard, we can invade the Qing Dynasty to the east, pass through Persia to the west, and directly threaten the Russian hinterland to the north."

Franz did understand Adjani's worries, but in history, the conquerors who tried to annex this mountainous country did not end well, and even the Mongol Empire did not gain any benefit from it.

Afghanistan is a veritable graveyard of empires. Starting from the Alexander Empire, every world hegemon including the Persian Empire, Tang Dynasty, Mongolia, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States was unable to do anything about it in the end.

The main reason is certainly not the perseverance of this nation or the rugged terrain. In fact, there is only one word at the core - poverty. The land within its territory is barren and the carrying capacity is too low, so invaders often need to bring their own supplies to supply the army.

In addition, the most important point is that this area is extremely lacking in valuable commodities, which means that there is nothing worth looting at all. To sum up, the cost of maintaining the occupation after conquering this place is too high.

Although it has always been regarded as a strategic location, the terrain and climate conditions in Afghanistan are extremely complex; there are many mountains and deserts, and transportation is very inconvenient. Various shortcomings have led to the weakening of the core ruling power, so it is difficult to form a tradition of centralized power. The infrastructure construction is almost blank, making it difficult for the invaders to organize effective raids.

"If conditions permit, I sincerely hope that the British will be trapped in the swamp of Afghanistan forever, so that we can free up enough time and energy to deal with their lackeys."

Not long ago, "Balkan Lubu" Miloš Obrenovich, with the help of the British both overt and covert, basically put an end to the chaos in Serbia. Now it has become the biggest trouble in Austria's eastern frontier.

"Grand Duke Franz, I can't understand why you are so afraid of the Serbs? They have been severely weakened by the civil war, and the empire has deployed a total of 80,000 troops in the Belgrade area.

The guys on the opposite side had less than 20,000 soldiers. They had almost no cannons, and they were even so shabby that several soldiers shared one gun. "

"Miss Adjani, maybe you have heard this fable. When a mosquito bites a person, it will only make a bump on his arm; killing the mosquito is just a slap in the face, but some people will not take the initiative because of this. Fight it?

What's more, this pest may also be a carrier of deadly diseases. No one wants to be bitten by it while walking in their back garden, right? "

Adjani had never been too fond of Franz's overly vivid metaphors. Wallachia, Moldavia, Sardinia, the Papal States and the Ottomans were all mosquitoes surrounding him, so why didn't he take the initiative to attack them?

Thinking about it, as a qualified subordinate, she still kept this question in her heart. "Well, I hope you don't get your hands dirty when you swat mosquitoes. The editors-in-chief of The Times will probably like this news very much. After all, it does not violate their conscience."

"Then how many pounds is their conscience worth?" Franz, who has rarely relaxed recently, joked.

"Maybe between 50 and 100. If it is Mr. Thomas Barnes, it will be more, worth about 200 pounds." Adjani couldn't help laughing.

Thomas Barnes was a very important editor-in-chief in the history of The Times, and he and John Delane were known as the two major editors-in-chief of the newspaper.

During his tenure, The Times successfully established itself as one of the most important mainstream media outlets in the UK. He paid special attention to editorials, believing that they had the dual functions of leading and reflecting public opinion.

Not only that, he is also very good at guiding editorials, so the Times has gained huge authority, even reaching the level of influencing official promotions and political party elections.

Because of this, many individuals and groups often bribe the editors of the newspaper in order to gain an opportunity to build a better image and a more open career.

At that time, the status of journalists was low and their salaries were low. Faced with the endless temptations, it was naturally impossible to hold on to their true intentions, so accepting bribes to write articles became one of the traditions of The Times.

They can even ignore the facts and the interests of their own country for the sake of money, such as the famous "Gaosheng incident" in the Sino-Japanese War of 1884-1894.