Chapter 1045 Adding another fire
Things in Ireland are enough to make the British teeth sore and stomachache, but it is still a little bit difficult to get them to accept peace unconditionally.
The Victorias thought about it again and again, and finally decided to wait. After all, the British Empire had a great cause and they could afford it.
Franz naturally knew this, so he decided to add fuel to the fire.
The Frankfurt National Assembly announced in a high-profile manner:
The German Confederation will send a mission to discuss temporary peace issues with France.
The reason why it was a matter of temporary peace was actually the attitude of the German Confederation towards the Second French Republic.
As a traditional monarchy, countries will not recognize the so-called French Second Republic unless they change their political system.
This was both a warning to the Second French Republic and a warning to other European countries not to follow suit easily.
In addition, this is also a way to win over the Orleans Dynasty and French Orthodoxy, and it also tells them that the Austrian Empire is the most trustworthy ally if they want to restore their country.
Franz's temporary peace proposal was like shit to the Second French Republic, but what was even more terrible was that the Second French Republic had to eat this shit at this time.
In less than a month after the war began, France lost hundreds of thousands of troops, although almost all the prisoners were released by Franz for various reasons.
But almost without exception, these people chose to refuse recruitment. The reason was a personal declaration of honor.
The so-called personal declaration of honor is actually an oath guaranteed by personal honor. This kind of thing was mostly seen in some promises made by nobles and senior military officers of the defeated side in order to obtain their release before the mid-19th century.
But in the final analysis, this kind of thing is not very binding, so it gradually disappeared in the long river of history.
When the government of the Second French Republic learned that the German Allied Forces had released tens of thousands of prisoners only by asking the soldiers to sign a pledge of personal honor as a guarantee, they almost laughed.
Paris France.
As a burst of weird laughter came, the originally heated quarrels in the National Assembly suddenly disappeared.
"The Austrians are such a bunch of self-righteous fools! Do they think they can avoid war by releasing prisoners and showing kindness to us?"
The voice of the interim president echoed in the parliament hall, with a hint of mockery and madness in his voice. This interim president should actually be regarded as Dan Gila's successor.
Although Dan Gila himself was beaten to death on the podium by angry MPs, the pro-British faction was not liquidated. Therefore, although the interim president was no longer a member of the Nationalist faction, he still left as a pro-British faction. old way.
"But Mr. Interim President, now we are at a disadvantage. Alsace and Lorraine have fallen, and our Swiss Expeditionary Force has been completely wiped out.
The Great Eastern Fleet defected directly to the rebels in Algeria, and the Austrian Imperial Navy has blocked our ports on the Mediterranean coast.
General Henri Arsène's Northern Army had sent several letters asking for reinforcements. They claimed that they were fighting a German allied force whose strength was several times their own.
General Bellevue made no further moves after the Kingdom of Sardinia. We now need to form at least four more legions and 200,000 people to stop the Austrians."
Under the unkind gaze of the interim president, the congressman's voice became smaller and smaller, until it was no longer audible before he was interrupted by the former.
"Don't just see the difficulties in front of you, think more about our bright future! We are the beacon of mankind! We are the embodiment of freedom and justice!
As long as Bellevue and Arsene attack everything will be fine! Don’t forget who our allies are! The British will never abandon us!
As long as we can buy enough time, the British will definitely launch another attack. By then, they will be able to regain control of the sea, eliminate the rebels, and defeat the evil monarchy coalition!
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I have to say that the interim president is indeed a good demagogue and can speak at length on any topic.
However, as time goes by, the number of idealists and passionate young people in the government gradually decreases, and they are replaced by ruthless politicians, profit-seeking speculators, as well as senior bureaucrats and agents.
These people are not interested in empty talk, they just want to know what will happen next.
"Mr. Interim President, what is the bright future you are talking about? One year? Two years? Or a century?"
"Ha ha.."
Looking at the embarrassed interim president, some congressmen couldn't help but laugh out loud, while the interim president's supporters glared at him.
The congressman didn't pay attention to the unkind looks around him, he just continued.
"Mr. Interim President, now we have the most practical question, where can we recruit another 200,000 troops to solve the imminent crisis?
As far as I know, there are currently less than 50,000 troops that can be mobilized in the country, and the number of people that can be mobilized does not exceed 100,000. We still have a gap of at least 50,000 to maintain the lowest possibility of victory.
Geniuses like Marshal Lamosilière and General Bono de Coulen have been defeated, who can we hope for?
Do you expect General Bellevue to return to Paris? "
The interim president said proudly after hearing this.
"Haha! That's why I said the Austrians are idiots! They sent back all our prisoners. These are veterans who have experienced hundreds of battles. Counting them, we have the strength to resist the German Allied Forces.
The fact that General Louis Wilbard was able to lead his troops to retreat from Metz shows that he is well-organized. If he is given another chance, he will definitely turn defeat into victory."
The interim president said proudly after hearing this.
"Louis Wilbard has announced his withdrawal from the war and plans to retire in England."
The interim president's face suddenly froze, and he said angrily.
"When the country is in danger, how dare that guy Wilbard escape from the battlefield?"
"Wilbard has signed a declaration of honor, declaring that he will no longer participate in this war, so the Austrians did not make things difficult for him."
"What about his officers?"
"His officers and enlisted men all signed declarations of honor."
"I don't believe it! Did everyone sign it?"
"It's absolutely true. They also invited many bishops to verify it."
"How is this possible? Where did they get so much paper!"
In fact, the price of paper during this period was relatively expensive. Although wood pulp paper was invented in 1844, the price of paper plummeted only after the wood pulp method was fully used in 1850.
However, this was not a problem for the Austrian Empire, which had already adopted chemical pulping and fourdrinier paper machines, but paper could not be given away for free.
The price of each piece of paper provided by the Austrian Empire was one franc, but no French prisoner would refuse it. After all, it was too cheap compared with freedom.
Although the price of one franc for a piece of paper sounds a bit outrageous, in fact the cost of Franz's hiring of clergymen for authentication was even more outrageous. Coupled with the cost of severance, Franz still suffered a lot of losses.
"That's just a piece of waste paper!"
The interim president really couldn't understand what that scrap of paper was. After all, no one believed in the so-called declaration of honor. Otherwise, those officers would not be loyal to the Second French Republic.
(The soldiers and civil servants of the Orleans Dynasty all swore allegiance to the royal family, but in 1848 almost everyone accepted official positions in the Second French Republic with peace of mind.)