Chapter 812 The British Man’s Trick
Paris France.
Baron Pasquière conveyed Metternich's words to Louis-Philippe, much to the relief of the latter's staff.
After all, it is more credible to say it from the enemy Austria. France and Austria will only carry out limited expansion, and at the same time eliminate the pro-British forces in Switzerland, so that everyone will have an easier time.
As for Henry V (referring to the Earl of Chambord) who only had one castle, let him go to hell. The only blame is that he didn't even have a single soldier, and it was a fool's errand to claim the throne.
"The British? Can they drive warships into the mountains? Limited expansion? I think they want to pretend to appease us and then take over Switzerland! The top leaders of the Orthodox Alliance are the puppets of the Austrians!
And Archduke Karl is in Switzerland, maybe they have already started taking action! "
The veins on Louis Philippe's head popped out, and his face was so ferocious that he was distorted. He didn't want to lose the opportunity to expand, let alone lose the French throne. He wished he had thrown Count Chambord to the ground back then.
“The British will not want Swiss territory, let alone fight in Switzerland, but they can take the opportunity to expand their overseas interests and weaken the strength of France and Austria.
Moreover, having a direct border with Austria not only easily causes border friction, we also have to pay high border defense costs.
Switzerland's land and population cannot bring us much benefit, and we may still need our assistance. "
Baron Pasquière argued that Louis-Philippe seemed to think that all this was a lie, and that he was even deceiving him.
However, the former has no idea what the latter wants. The latter only wants to win, and use victory to dilute all doubts about him and all threats to his throne.
In fact, Louis Philippe's sudden turn to extremes had a lot to do with the assassination of his spy. On the surface, this spy was an opponent, but privately he was a close friend of Louis Philippe. He helped Louis Philippe collect many important information. information,
But recently the spy's body had been recovered and pieced together from several directions in Paris, and Louis-Philippe felt both anger and horror.
Intelligence gathered by spies showed that opponents always liked to criticize Louis Philippe for his incompetence.
The speaker was unintentional, but the listener was intentional. Louis Philippe felt that maybe his achievements were too little, so those people would oppose him. So on the other hand, would it mean that people would support him as long as he opened up new territories?
Louis Philippe has been unable to sleep at night these days, repeating his imaginary theories over and over again, which is why he became paranoid at this time.
"Are you afraid of the Austrians, or did you accept Metternich's favor in Vienna? The two most shameless diplomats in European history are the lame Talleyrand who was a domestic slave of three surnames, and this capricious old fox."
Upon hearing this, everyone understood that His Majesty the King had made up his mind, and any objections would be taken to the sword.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I'm not afraid of the Austrians, nor have I received any benefits from them. I just hope that you will be able to stay in power forever."
Baron Pasquière wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He did not expect Louis Philippe to have such a big reaction. It seemed that the Vienna Conference was in ruins. It would probably become a laughing stock like the British London Conference. At the same time, France Relations with Austria were also over.
In fact, in addition to the death of his close friend, the media in Paris also contributed a lot. French newspapers developed very early, so they are very powerful in public opinion.
Since the outbreak of the Swiss Civil War, the French public and media have not shown much interest in their neighbors living in the ravine, and it did not even appear on the first page.
And starting from one day, the trend of public opinion suddenly turned, and major newspapers in France began to report on it crazily.
These arguments are also very consistent, that is, promoting the Austrian threat and conspiracy theories that Austria is preparing to monopolize Switzerland.
Generally speaking, the supreme ruler of a country will laugh off the things in the newspaper, and it is almost impossible to govern the country according to them.
However, Louis Philippe was not an ordinary ruler. He actually took what was written in the newspaper seriously.
In fact, this is Palmerston's conspiracy, one of the common tactics used by the Anglo-Saxons - to build public opinion.
Of course, the Napoleonic faction also contributed to this. If soldiers want to improve their status, they must make themselves useful.
And nothing needs more protection than a country threatened by a powerful and evil neighbor, so the existence of Austria as an enemy is necessary.
Franz's intelligence officers in Paris also tried to fight back, but failed under the attack of two powerful enemies, and did not restore the decline in public opinion.
Subsequently, Austria received news that France refused to participate in the Vienna Conference.
As soon as the news came out, the happiest people were the British, John Russell said to the cabinet members.
"I didn't expect that we wouldn't have to wait until the Swiss Civil War ended. Before this war was over, another one was about to begin."
But what he didn't know was that another invisible war had already begun. Palmerston did not like John Russell, whom he believed lacked talent.
The latter also dislikes the former because the latter thinks the former is too arrogant. So when Palmerston explained the reason to the cabinet members, he was ridiculed by John Russell.
To put it simply, it is impossible for any head of state to act according to the logic in the newspaper.
After the news reached Vienna, the leaders of the German states were a little confused, and it seemed that the banquet had to end early.
Prussia regarded it as a huge diplomatic victory. If Austria was defeated, its influence would be weakened no matter what the final result was.
Despite the ebb and flow, Prussia still retained the fire to unify Germany.
Hanover and Bavaria had similar reactions. They both felt that the Vienna Conference had become a joke.
However, the Austrian Imperial Government announced as quickly as possible that the Congress of Vienna would be held in advance.
Franz and Metternich both knew that this was the best way at this time. Even if it was a one-man show, they had to sing well. After all, there were so many audiences in the audience.
In fact, Franz and Metternich both had Plan B, but it was much more radical than Plan A.
In Switzerland, Dufour's siege strategy was too resource intensive, and the guerrillas put a lot of pressure on the Free State's logistics.
Joseph Loy couldn't stand it anymore and he had to replace Dufour, but he wouldn't use a warlord like Fray Holoser.
So Joseph Loy found Aoife Lanno, a former general of the Kingdom of Sardinia who was recuperating in Switzerland. This old man claimed that he had fought with Napoleon and Archbishop Charles.
When the latter heard that the Free State's military strength was three times that of the Orthodox Alliance, he immediately chose to join the Free Alliance and said that he could capture the entire territory of Switzerland within three months.