War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

When news of the United States' successive defeats reached Paris, Louis Philippe had a new idea. Is it possible to unite Austria and Mexico to continue the invasion of the United States?

Soon he received exciting news. Britain, Russia, and Austria would send a joint fleet to deliver humanitarian supplies to Mexican civilians, and urged the warring parties to cease the war as soon as possible.

Louis Philippe can be sure that this is a guise of selling dog meat with a sheep's head, because France has been paying close attention to Austria's movements.

Before the meeting began, the Austrians began to transport large amounts of weapons and military supplies to the military port in Trieste, and their main fleet would return to the mainland within a few weeks. By that time, Britain, Russia, and Austria The fleets of the three countries will rush to the Gulf of Mexico together.

The British promised to send a fleet, but in fact it only consisted of six warships, including four frigates of less than 1,000 tons, while Russia only planned to send two cruisers.

Although Britain and Russia are not committed to this, their flags are still scary. This was enough for Franz. After all, he did not think that the Americans had the guts to attack Austria or the fleet of any great power.

In fact, half of the U.S. Navy is still on the west coast of North America. Although Robert Stockton and the Marine Corps surrendered, John Fremont took over this lonely fleet with his strong influence and appeal. .

John Fremont did not choose to retreat, but chose to continue attacking coastal cities and ports in California.

This prevented Archduke Carl Ferdinand from sending troops to support the Fortress of San Gabriel to continue to expand the results, but it also led to the dispersion of U.S. naval power to a certain extent.

Although the number of ships owned by the United States at this time sounds scary, there are very few ships with a tonnage of more than one thousand tons. At the same time, the power is scattered and alienated.

For example, the Mexican Navy, which had just surrendered, did not get a rest but was sent to the most dangerous Texas coastline to monitor every move of the French Navy, and played the role of physically plugging holes at critical moments.

This caused the Mexican navy, which had just surrendered to the United States, to start thinking about how to defect back or connect with the French.

In fact, apart from these objective reasons, the most important thing is that the Austrian navy is strong enough to complete this escort mission at this time.

There were as many as twelve battleships in Archduke Friedrich's fleet that had been transformed into steam power and reinforced with iron armor. Their mobility and defense were completely incomparable to the battleships of the old era.

Not to mention that Austria still has three super first-class battleships exceeding 6,000 tons at this time. These monsters can crush most battleships in the world at this time in every aspect.

There was no reason for the Austrian navy to lose to the U.S. Navy, which was still in the Napoleonic era, but Franz did not think of conflict and did not want any possibility of accidents, so he tried his best to avoid war.

The main reason is that Britain and France will gain the most if they win. If they lose, it will be equivalent to ruining the achievements of Austria's naval reform in the past eight years, and everything will have to start from scratch.

But regardless of winning or losing, Austria may lose an important trading partner and source of raw materials. This is very fatal for a country that is on the rise.

The French did not want to give up this opportunity, and Louis Philippe ordered Napoleon Lannes de Montebello, Duke of Montebello, to contact the Austrian side.

After the meeting, a grand celebratory dance will be held according to European tradition. In theory, the emperor should attend in person, but Ferdinand I's physical condition did not allow it at this time.

Normally, Archduke Franz Karl, the second in line to the throne, the father of Franz Joseph, should be present at this time.

However, due to the unstable mental state of the former, for example, he was holding his breath with seals in the fountain of Schonbrunn Palace, and then just after surfacing, there was a BeatBox (break, cloth, puff! puff! puff! puff, puff! Just, puff, too pe, too pe, emmmmm puff!), and the seals on the side would pat their belly to add to the fun.

This situation has been going on for some time and often attracts the attention of the palace guards and servants. Everyone thought it was very strange, except Franz who listened with interest and even called it "fashion art".

In order to avoid human-to-human transmission, Franz could only attend the meeting on his behalf.

Naturally, Duke Napoleon Lannes de Montebello would not talk to a child about state affairs, while Prince Metternich took leave to recuperate at home due to "illness".

So the ambassador could only find Archduke Albrecht again.

"My dear Grand Duke, I would like to express my sincerest greetings to you. I wish you good health and all the best."

"Thank you, Mr. Ambassador. I also wish you a good time." Albrecht said a few words casually.

"If you don't mind?" continued the Duke of Montebello.

Albrecht glanced at the Minister of War, Count Tural, and several senior Austrian officers. The latter naturally knew that this was a very important matter to discuss and nodded in acquiescence.

"Please excuse me for a moment."

The two immediately entered a box. Western dances, especially Austrian dances, have a strong social connotation.

Many times in this country, major events concerning the fate of the country are decided in this kind of box.

However, it is not easy to have a box of your own in such a top-notch dance party.

"Your Majesty the Grand Duke, I am actually here under the entrustment of our monarch. He is indignant at the shameless invasion of the United States, and France hopes to jointly sanction this barbaric and backward country with Austria." The Duke of Montebello got straight to the point. said.

Albrecht was excited by the other party's words. After all, France had an army of nearly 100,000 troops in North America.

The two sides talked very speculatively. On the other hand, Franz's debut on an international occasion can only be described as satisfactory.

There were flowers everywhere, thunderous applause, and the sound of slapping people. There were even ladies screaming and fainting. It felt like a future star walking on the red carpet.

It feels completely different from the usual feeling of appearing in front of the domestic people, and there is no sense of solemnity at all. In fact, it is not difficult to understand. The people in Austria regard the Habsburg family as a sacred ruler.

Although the foreign envoys in front of them were more "cultivated" than the civilians, they only regarded Franz as an ornament or a weirdo with status.

Even when they were kneeling alone on the ground to offer gifts, they still had mocking smiles on their faces.

Especially when the archbishop introduced the achievements of Archduke Franz, the guests were all whispering and laughing, which made him even more bored.

However, Franz was the focus of everyone's attention at this time, and he could only make those movements and expressions befitting the status of a royal prince.

"Gentlemen and ladies. On behalf of the Austrian Empire and the Habsburg family, I would like to welcome you. I wish you all a good night."

Franz hated this feeling, but Mrs. Sophie on the side was moved to tears. After all, every public appearance of members of the Austrian royal family in recent decades has generally been terrible.

Franz's performance was perfect. He showed no impatience, no excitement or gaffes, and did not even mispronounce a word.