Chapter 1313 Old Six
At this time, other European countries could not understand what Franz was doing. The Austrian Empire seemed to always fight and stop, which was not in line with the law of war, but they had long been accustomed to it.
What shocked them was the offensive efficiency of the Austrian Empire. The Austrian army completed the encirclement and annihilation of the main force of the Spanish Republican Army in a very short time.
The speed was so fast that Britain and France had no time to adjust their strategy. The vanguard of the French army was said to have 50,000 people, but in fact there were only more than 30,000 people. The second batch of participating troops added together only had more than 50,000 people.
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More than 50,000 troops can also be regarded as a strong army in Europe, but it is really not enough in front of the Austrian Empire.
Why do the French look down on Austria so much? This is not the arrogance of the French, but due to selfishness. After all, France’s economic situation was not good at this time, and they were not the only enemy of the Austrian Empire.
It is human nature to exchange the smallest cost for the greatest benefit.
In the eyes of the French, no matter how useless Spain and Britain are, they should be able to deal with Austria for a while. France just needs to make some gestures and put pressure on them to attract some of the Austrian troops.
At this time, the French Republicans still lacked confidence to fight the Austrian Empire. The reason for the lack of confidence was that the organization was large and not dense, so opinions could not be unified, and they were naturally hesitant when fighting.
The British had similar ideas to the French. They were even more stupid. They wanted to sneak into the Mediterranean while playing two games, and then directly cut off the firewood.
As a result, they naturally lost more than they gained.
The Spanish Republic paid enough attention, but due to its limited strength and the unstable position of Ferrante Duval, there were many internal contradictions and even tripped each other up.
The three parties were dumbfounded by the war. Fortunately, the Austrians started to get sick again, giving them a chance to regroup.
The most direct reaction was Ferrante Duval. Under the advice of his staff, he decided to adopt a scorched earth policy to delay the Austrian Empire's offensive speed.
Both Britain and France felt that Ferrante Duval was a long-term partner.
This was actually a last resort. No one liked to use a scorched earth policy, no one wanted to see their country desolate, and no one wanted to destroy their own property.
However, as the most densely populated area in Spain and the best place in the Kingdom of Spain, the people around Madrid were not so easy to compromise.
Before, the people of Madrid had a good impression of Ferrante Duval and were not so repulsive to the Spanish Republic, mainly because they killed Carlos VI who announced the massacre.
But this time is different. Now the Spanish Republic is going to attack their homes, and these people naturally have to rise up to resist.
However, one side is the fully armed regular army of the Spanish Republic, and the other side is an unorganized and unarmed mob. The winner is naturally clear at a glance.
So the Spaniards can only use their traditional skills-drilling in the ravine.
Not only outsiders can't do anything about drilling in the ravine, the Spaniards are also troubled.
I thought things would remain deadlocked, but soon someone started to organize troops under the banner of Narvaez, O'Donnell, and Espartero to resist the Spanish government forces.
These people were already very famous in Spain, and they were very familiar with the terrain and the relations between the parties. They soon defeated the Spanish government forces.
Narvaez, O'Donnell, and Espartero should have been the great warlords of Spain in the original history. They controlled the government and tried to reshape Spain with their own ideas. They were also considered heroes.
However, the historical line changed at this time. They did not want to be buried with Isabel II, nor did they want to be dogs for Ferrante Duval.
So they chose to surrender to Austria, but they were reluctant to leave Spain, so Franz made a deal with them.
They would be sent to the front line to perform secret missions, and their achievements would be exchanged for the qualification to stay in Spain.
Otherwise, they would take money and leave Spain with their families.
Without exception, these people all chose the former. Those who can dominate in troubled times are all ruthless. After they entered the Madrid area with their confidants, they quickly formed their own team.
With these people stirring up trouble, coupled with the nonsense of the charlatans, the scorched earth policy of the Spanish Republic soon came to a stalemate.
The rescue plan for its own spies was also secretly implemented, but Franz naturally could not sit and wait for death. He still liked to take control of the situation.
Franz would not bet on the character of such spies. He had summoned a group of detectives and experts who were good at finding things from the Austrian Empire to form a special operations team.
If the spy's intelligence was wrong, or he didn't want to say it, then Franz would find it himself.
At the same time, the Austrian Empire was also organizing people to repair the canal. After all, these grains could only solve the urgent problem for a while and could not solve the real problem.
On the other hand, Franz was also preparing a plan to move south. He had to prepare for the worst.
The British were very embarrassed at this time. On the one hand, they were very embarrassed to be blocked outside the Mediterranean by the Austrian Empire. On the other hand, Russia's sudden declaration of war on the Ottoman Empire made the situation in the Near East and even Europe more complicated.
Give up Spain, or give up the Ottoman Empire?
Neither option was acceptable to the British.
But dealing with Austria and Russia at the same time?
Wouldn't the smart British do this and deal with Austria first and then Russia?
This may be the only way, after all, the Austrians are blocking the door to the Mediterranean. There seems to be no other way, but is it really too late?
This war for the Spanish throne will not end easily. The total strength of Austria and the so-called Holy Alliance army exceeds 130,000.
It was not easy to get these people to surrender, not to mention the fact that the Austrian Empire occupied Ceuta and established a naval base.
To end the war, the Austrian Empire's navy must be defeated, otherwise the Austrians will be able to continuously transport soldiers and supplies to Spain by sea.
However, even if they win the Mediterranean naval battle, can the Austrian Empire's expeditionary force surrender?
Not necessarily, on the contrary, the British supply line must always be on guard against the Austrian navy emerging from the Adriatic Sea.
Everything seems to have entered an endless loop, and it seems inevitable that Russia will become the hegemon in the Near East.
But the above actions were not in line with the British style. In the 19th century, a man who claimed to know Europe best came up with a way.
"It is in the best interest of our British Empire to make Russia and Austria suspicious of each other and killing each other."
Although the Earl of Derby despised Palmerston in his heart, he seemed to have no other choice at this time.