Which was more important, politics or the military?
There was no right answer to this question.
Militarily, Marshal Radsky's decision was completely correct; politically, it was a big mistake.
In the eyes of the outside world, his retreat ant that Austria had lost on the battlefield, or that the Austrian Empire had decayed.
This would give confidence to the dostic rebels and make the dostic situation more complicated; at the sa ti, Austria's international status in the world would be shaken.
"What's done is done, so there's no more to be said!"
"First, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should go communicate with Britain and France, in case they are furnishing substantial support to the Kingdom of Sardinia, and between them, your focus should be on the French. If necessary, we can let the French enter northern Italy," Franz said decisively.
Deep in his heart, Franz actually supported Marshal Radsky's approach: as long as he could win the war, it was totally acceptable to pay a small price.
As for the political fallout of that approach, it was not a big deal, for the Cabinet would be the one to take the bla for it. He was a new regent and a good young man, so the public would not scold him.
Pri Minister Felix's face was gloomy and terrible. It was a pity that Marshal Radsky was far away in Venice. Even if he was angry, there was no way for him to vent it.
He surely could not order Marshal Radsky to retake Lombardy imdiately. War was not child's play, and orders could not just be given according to his whims.
Was it necessary to replace him? This idea flashed in his brain repeatedly: it was taboo for officers to change military leaders. Saying nothing of Franz, who would surely not agree, even he himself did not dare to take this risk.
Franz had already expressed his attitude: the priority was to solve the problems of the aftermath first. If the war ended up a victory, Marshal Radsky would be a hero of Austria; otherwise, the consequences would be very serious.
"Your Highness, there is no need to worry about the French. Since the end of the war against France, the strength of the French army has been restricted, and they only got rid of the restriction after the February Revolution in Paris.
At present, the internal struggle in France is serious, and the Conservatives, unwilling to accept their failure, are fighting back. The French are too busy to take care of themselves, let alone Sardinia, so at most, they could only furnish so goods and materials.
The British, anwhile, are very troubleso. They are less affected by the revolutions than the French, so they have the strength to intervene on the Italian front. Since we have a good relationship with the British, I think we should ask for their support now!"
On the surface, that was indeed the case. Since the era of tternich, diplomatic relations between Austria and Britain had always been good, and everyone wanted to maintain the balance of the European continent.
Since their political purposes were the sa, the relationship between the two sides was surely in a good situation. When it ca to maintaining the balance of the European continent, Austria had always been an ally of the British.
tternich shook his head and said, "Pri Minister, from the position of the British, establishing a united Italian Kingdom and balancing Austria and France at the sa ti is more in line with their interests.
On this issue, it is almost impossible for us to get their support. The best we can hope is that the British will stay neutral."
tternich's understanding of Britain was quite thorough: there was no perpetual friend, nor perpetual enemy, only perpetual interest.
They were allied in maintaining the balance of Europe, but the British did not need a strong Austria; they only needed an Austria that could block the expansion of the Russians.
They did not take France seriously, but all countries remained vigilant towards France since the Vienna system had collapsed already. The news of the February revolution in Paris had spread to St. Petersburg, and Tsar Nicholas I had wanted to carry out an ard intervention. In the end, though, he had to give up this plan due to financial constraints.
However, the Tsarist governnt did still announce that it had cut off diplomatic relations with France. Before the Russian ambassador to France, Kiselev, withdrew from Paris, he had warned the Paris governnt and asked the French to abide by the agreent on territorial boundaries determined by the Vienna conference and the Paris peace treaty.
The British had also expressed concern about this issue. They were still watching the foreign policy of the Paris governnt and had not yet recognized their legitimacy.
Against this background, if the French governnt dared to send troops to Italy, it was likely to set off a new round of war against France, which, obviously, the Paris governnt did not have the courage to handle.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Carl, suddenly said, "Your Highness, our war with the Kingdom of Sardinia has just begun. Even if the British want to support the Kingdom of Sardinia, their reaction won't be quick.
For now, our biggest problem is actually at ho: the defeat on the Italian battlefield will stimulate the rebels' ambitions."
It was not possible for the Kingdom of Sardinia to finish Austria with verbal support alone.
Either the British had to send troops directly, or they had to send large amounts of money, food, and materials. It was highly doubtful that the British would send troops directly unless they wanted Austria to turn to Russia; still, the money and food needed for support would not be a small amount, costing millions of pounds at the least.
This decision was not easy to make. If the money and food were given, and Sardinia still lost, their investnt would be wasted.
Austria was also a big power and not easy to ss with. Maybe if France and Austria compromised and divided Italy evenly, the British would only stand by anxiously.
Carl's last words brought everyone's attention back to the dostic front again. Compared to Italy, in fact, the dostic rebellion was the real problem.
Leaving the other places aside, the Hungarian Kingdom would definitely have a rebellion, and it was only a matter of ti.
"Well, the defeat in Italy will surely cause a chain reaction, but we are not unprepared.
Order the troops to raise their alert and imdiately suppress it if there is a rebellion," Franz said aggressively.
After suppressing the rebellion in Vienna, Franz imdiately began to prepare for the war. Many reserve forces were drafted into the army, and the total military forces of Austria had increased to 578,000 troops.
If it weren't for the recruits who still needed ti for training, Franz would not argue with the Hungarians: he would simply solve the Hungarian problem by force.
But Franz was not prepared to fight a protracted war, and the rebellion had to be suppressed swiftly and ruthlessly. A war that dragged on for a year or two like in history would kill him.
Fighting a war took money. In history, the dostic rebellion was delayed and could not be suppressed, which not only caused huge economic losses but also led the Austrian governnt to suffer imnse foreign debts.
As a result, in its later developnt, Austria slowed down a step, which caused it to fall into the abyss.
"Your Highness, do you want to send more reinforcents to Marshal Radsky?" the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Carl, asked with so worry.
"No need! After giving up the Lombardy area, Marshal Radsky has enough troops that he will have no problem for him defending Venice!" Franz thought for a mont and said.
The goal was to lure the enemy inside, and if there were too many troops there, the Italians might not dare to co.
The strength of the Kingdom of Sardinia was limited: they would, at most, send eighty or a hundred thousand troops to the front. So the forces of both sides were equal. Franz did not believe that the Austrian army could possibly be beaten by the Italians!
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