Chapter 601 “Assassination” (Part 1)
Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.
In the education hall, seals screamed and bounced away when they saw Franz approaching. Several great auks also made unpleasant alarm calls.
Maria, who was still playing in the water, ran back to the classroom as fast as she could. Then she heard a rustling sound inside, and soon the noise turned into the sound of reading.
Franz could only sigh helplessly. Through the window, he could see the disdainful eyes of his second brother. Maximilian seemed to have a lot of objections to his eldest brother.
Ludwig still had a dumbbell in one hand and a book in the other as usual, but he didn't know whether he could understand what was written in the book.
The other companions also acted very hard. After all, Franz should be checking the post at this time, and the former also knew that the latter would rule the country. No matter what he did, he had to do it as long as he was still in Austria. Deal with him.
In fact, Franz also hopes that these people can be smarter. After all, these guys' starting point is too high. Even Franz cannot guarantee that these people will not be in high positions in the future.
But so far, Franz still hasn't found anything extraordinary about these people, but at the same time, the resources, connections, and vision they have are almost beyond the reach of ordinary people.
Who is the most hated person in Vienna? Is it Mrs. Sophie who has a tough attitude and demanding feudal etiquette? Is it Count Korolaf, who has taken corruption and bribery and controlled the interior department for decades?
Is it Lord Summer, who claims to command a hundred thousand secret police force to monitor the people's every move? Or Prince Metternich, who is known as "the first national thief in Austria's history"? Or was it Ludwig von Rens, the university student who twice brought Austria into war?
neither!
Baron Brooke, President of the Central Bank of the Austrian Empire, was probably the most assassinated and defamed man in the Austrian Empire.
In three years in California, he encountered more than a hundred gunmen attacks. Although it was related to the local poor security and radical policies, it was really exaggerated.
But what is even more exaggerated is that during the three years when Baron Brooke officially served as the governor of the Central Bank, he suffered thirty-five assassinations and attacks in Vienna, and the stack of articles criticizing him was two meters high.
You must know that Vienna is the core of the Austrian Empire, and it can be regarded as the safest city in the entire empire.
But even so, some people still took the risk of almost 100% death to assassinate and attack Baron Brooke. What kind of deep hatred could do this?
In fact, among the members of the royal family, Mrs. Sophie is already at the top of the list with seven assassinations. In second place is Archduke Albrecht, who has only four assassinations. In third place is Franz Joseph and his father Franz Joseph. Lanz Carr had three wins.
In a recent attack, Baron Brooke had twenty-one of his entourage, eight of whom were killed and thirteen injured. The severity of the incident had reached the point where Franz could not bear it.
The baron's residence was less than three hundred meters away from the Imperial Central Bank, and nearly a hundred gunmen were stationed within such a short distance.
What's even more outrageous is that the two sides fought for nearly ten minutes, and the nearby police, gendarmes, and escorts affiliated with the Central Bank showed no response.
June 5, 1845, cloudy.
Klaus is a very outstanding soldier with an amazing talent for shooting moving targets, so he was selected early and specially trained as a bodyguard.
After five years of hard training, he was still not selected into the Royal Guards, but he still got a good job as the bodyguard of Baron Brooke.
Although Klaus didn't know what the central bank and the governor of the central bank did, he knew that this must be a great man.
After all, usually big shots only bring 2-4 bodyguards, and even the Imperial Prime Minister and the Interior Minister only have eight bodyguards.
And the adult in front of him actually has twenty full-time guards, which shows his importance.
However, what he didn't know was that this gentleman had a company of guards when he was in California. Of course, this had something to do with the strong local folk customs. After all, the western part of North America was still a bit wilder.
"Klaus! Don't be dazed! Remember what your responsibilities are!"
The person speaking was Captain Calvin. It is said that his experience is definitely considered a legend among the guards. After all, he has encountered more than 20 attacks in his life and still survived.
"Okay, okay, Mr. Captain. It's just over two hundred meters away. We'll be there during your coffee time. And this is Vienna."
"What about Vienna?"
"Does anyone really dare to carry out an attack here?"
In fact, almost no one of these bodyguards in the school would dare to carry out assassinations in a bustling urban area or an important city like Vienna, because the cost is too high and local officials cannot sit idly by.
"Where do you think I encountered those twenty-some attacks? I was just like you when I first came here, but I advise you to pay attention. After all, you only live once."
Klaus still knocked on the special steel carriage of the carriage in disbelief.
"This thing weighs 1.5 tons and requires four horses to pull it. The bullets hit it without even a dent. It can block the explosion of a 1.5 kilogram grenade at close range. I doubt anyone will use these four centimeters unless they use a cannon. Thick steel plates can’t be helped.”
However, being a talker, Klaus carefully inspected his weapons, two of the latest military revolvers, and a new air rifle.
Although the air rifle can only be used with a bottle on your back and looks like a toy, in this era of close combat, this thing has unparalleled lethality.
There are only four air rifles, and the remaining ones are also two short and one long, but the rifles they are equipped with are all lever-action rifles.
The lever-action rifle first originated in Italy, but it was not taken seriously. Because Franz requested the development of a breech-loading gun, the Austrian army conveniently bought the patent directly.
Then after a group of experts improved it, and the technological level of Austria at this time was much higher than that of Italy in 1820, a lever-action rifle that could be used in actual combat was built.
The advantages of this gun are obvious. It has a large number of ammunition, fast reloading speed, fast shooting speed, and the rifling is also very accurate.
But the shortcomings are also obvious, that is, it is unstable, has poor power, has a high mechanical failure rate, and is difficult to shoot from a prone position, but it is very suitable for queuing and shooting tactics.
It can be said that the guns designed by the Austrians are quite in line with the characteristics of the times. It seems that they are preparing to carry out the queuing and shooting to the end.
Back to the main story, when the time came, Baron Brooke boarded the carriage on time, and the team marched toward the Imperial Central Bank in a mighty manner.
However, as soon as I went out, I encountered an unexpected thing. A carriage loaded with logs suddenly lost control. The huge logs broke free from the ropes and scattered everywhere.