Chapter 1321: The Way Out
Ferrante Duval was a smart man. He readily agreed to the British government's intentions as soon as the British envoy conveyed them.
If he was not afraid of being detained as a hostage, Ferrante Duval would have wanted to flee to Portugal with the Spanish government.
Charles Duchart looked at the officials of the Spanish Republic who were planning to continue their northward migration, and he felt as if he were in another world.
A few months ago, Charles Duchart personally planned the Toledo Uprising, supported Ferrante Duval to take power, and overthrew the rule of the Bourbon family.
The establishment of the second republic in Europe, the Spanish people celebrated, and the French Second Republic was no longer alone.
However, just a few months later, how did these people become street rats? Not only were they beaten back by the evil Austrian Empire, but they were also spurned by their own people.
It seems that the Spaniards are still too barbaric. They cannot understand their lofty mission at the moment, and the evil forces are too powerful.
Charles Duchat had long suggested that Ferrante Duval follow the example of the French Revolution and eliminate all the old nobles and clergy who were not loyal to the new government.
This approach might be reluctantly accepted by some radical French and Napoleon admirers, but it seemed too outrageous in Spain.
There were a large number of old nobles and clergy in Ferrante Duval's government. Although these people were playing both sides, without them, the so-called Spanish government would collapse immediately.
What made Charles Duchat even more incomprehensible was that the French army had been blocked by the Austrians east of the Pyrenees. He did not want to be buried with Ferrante Duval, and he did not want to become a victim of some idiots fighting for power.
The departure of Palmerston and Charles Duchat made Ferrante Duval feel abandoned, and the slow rescue operations of Britain and France exacerbated this feeling.
Although the four countries of Britain, France, Spain and Portugal had reached an agreement, and the British army even established an outpost in Portugal, Ferrante Duval was still worried.
The strong uneasiness made him feel that he had to do something, so Ferrante Duval began to use his power to accumulate wealth and pave the way for himself.
As the saying goes, what goes up must go down. With such a president, it is difficult for government officials to remain honest. In fact, corruption is rampant in the entire Spanish officialdom, and everyone is using the power in their hands to squeeze out benefits as much as possible.
Coupled with the huge pressure of war, the whole country is like the end of the world, and everyone is struggling to survive.
More and more people who can't survive began to choose to flee. After the population flees, tax revenue will definitely decrease, so the remaining people must bear the pressure that the fugitives should bear.
This led to a vicious cycle. People were squeezed too hard, so they chose to flee. Because the population decreased, they had to increase the intensity of squeezing.
After these people fled to the occupied areas of the Austrian Empire, most of the healthy adult men would choose to join the army or apply for civilian labor.
The number of Spanish troops in the Austrian Empire has exceeded 300,000, which is far greater than the total number of troops in the hands of Ferrante Duval and the regent Queen Christina.
What is even more terrifying is the number of civilians in the Austrian Empire. Wherever the Austrian Empire's army goes, they build roads.
So far, the Spanish Republic and the Kingdom of Spain have not launched a successful counterattack against the Austrian Empire. The long-term and numerous failures have made the Spaniards feel that the Austrians are simply invincible, and they have even begun to study some metaphysical things.
On the other hand, the Spanish Legion of the Austrian Empire has won every battle, and the graduates of the Barcelona Military Academy have grown into generals who can stand on their own.
Narvaez, O'Donnell, Espartero and other former warlords began to use their relationships to stabilize the situation and help the Austrian Empire rebuild order in Spain.
There are few rebellions in the occupied areas of the Austrian Empire. Although it is not to the extent that no one picks up lost items on the road and no one locks the door at night, it has risen to a level compared to before.
The only unhappy person looking at this picture is Frederick. The French hide in the port all day, the British Mediterranean Fleet is also a turtle, and the only one who still has some courage, William Simmons, ran to Portugal again.
If it were someone else, he would definitely feel overwhelmed by the feeling of being surrounded by powerful enemies, but for Frederick, it was not enough.
In fact, the Austrian Imperial Navy could raid Toulon and Malta at any time, but the British did not declare war clearly at this time, and the French had so far only attacked from the Pyrenees Mountains as agreed, so Frederick's sneak attack plan had to be abandoned.
Although the Austrian Empire and France were in a state of hostility at this time, due to the requests of many small countries, the battlefield was set in Spain, on the condition that the Austrian Imperial Navy would not actively attack the southern coastal areas of France.
The reason why Franz agreed to this condition was mainly because the French Eastern Fleet was almost threatening.
Due to Franz's reforms, large armed merchant ships could no longer pose a threat to large warships. The armor of the steam ironclad ship was enough to resist the direct fire of the armed merchant ship, but the latter would be easily torn apart by the firepower of the former.
In addition to the fleet, the French Eastern Fleet did not have enough experienced sailors, and most of them were just deck cleaners (referring to low-level sailors) who came to make a living.
However, even without this agreement, Franz was not crazy enough to attack the French mainland. The Austrian Imperial Navy would at most destroy several key ports and fleets in southern France.
The real threat to the Austrian Empire in the Mediterranean is still the British Mediterranean Fleet. No matter how cowardly the British Mediterranean Fleet behaves at this time, it will be the primary target of the Austrian Imperial Navy once the war breaks out.
Arthur Wellstone, the acting commander of the British Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet, is very clear about his situation. Once the two countries go to war, his fleet will have no way out.
Whether it is a naval battle or a land battle, the British Royal Navy has no chance of winning in the Mediterranean. Even if it escapes to Cyprus, the outcome will not change at all.
The Austrian Imperial Navy has at least three times more troops than itself, and has a large number of military bases and sufficient intelligence.
At this time, the British Mediterranean Fleet is almost like a blind man, with Austrian patrol ships everywhere. Even British merchant ships cannot pass freely, let alone warships.
If the war starts now, Arthur Wellstone doesn't even know when the Austrians will launch an attack.
Compared with when the Austrians will launch an attack, Arthur Wellstone has a bigger problem at this time. Due to the blockade of the Austrian Navy, he doesn't even know when the war will start.
So Arthur Wellstone came up with a solution that would have the best of both worlds. He led his fleet to Istanbul.