Chapter 576

In the Vienna Palace, Franz didn't know what to say as he looked at the telegram in his hand. It seemed a bit out of character to describe it as "the pot fell from the sky while the man was sleeping at home."

This time, it was Austria's own doing. If the negotiation venue wasn't in the Austrian embassy, no matter how President Juárez died, it had nothing to do with Austria.

Throw the responsibility to Minister Compton? That wasn't right. He was doing his duty. Setting the negotiation venue in the Austrian embassy was also to gain an advantage in the negotiation and to fight for greater benefits for Austria.

President Juárez's death was just an accident. Minister Compton had no responsibility for it and didn't need to be held responsible for it.

Now that the black pot fell from the sky, no matter how it was explained, there would be accusations that Austria poisoned President Juárez or that Maximilian I Of Castile did it for revenge.

In fact, from the beginning to the end, Franz didn't plan to kill President Juárez. His existence wasn't a threat to Austria. The value of keeping him alive was greater than killing him.

Not to mention Maximilian I Of Castile. If he had the ability to assassinate President Juárez during the negotiation, he wouldn't have ended up in this situation.

Prime Minister Felix suggested, "Your Majesty, with this happening, we should also withdraw our troops from Mexico. At this time, it's morally unjustifiable to hold them accountable. "

Franz nodded. No matter how good the previous reason was, now that a Mexican president died in the Austrian embassy, it could be explained.

If they continued to be aggressive, Austria's international image would be finished. This was inconsistent with the long-term business philosophy of the Government of Vienna. Even the shameless British wouldn't do such a thing.

"Order Governor Hummel to withdraw the troops, and also the embassy and expatriates. Mexico is going to be chaotic soon. We don't want to get involved in this mess."

The process wasn't important. The ultimate goal had been achieved. With Juárez's sudden death, the Gonghe party was bound to fight for the position of successor.

Juárez had been the president for more than a decade, and his term had long ended. In the intervening ten years, everyone was guerrilla warfare, so it was naturally impossible to hold elections.

Since the overthrow of Maximilian I Of Castile, the Mexican election had been in preparation. If President Juárez didn't die, the possibility of him being re-elected was very high.

Unfortunately, there were no ifs in reality. Without Juárez, there was no second politician in Mexico who could control the situation.

The central government lacked prestige, and the internal conflicts could not be suppressed. If the international forces were to stir up trouble, it would be hard for a civil war to not break out.

Perhaps in the near future, the United States' North-South Concert would appear in Mexico. Whether it was the United States or the United States, the United States, they wanted to strengthen their influence in Mexico.

Britain, France, and Austria were not willing to be left out. It was true that the French were retreating strategically, but as Mexico's creditor, they wanted to keep a low profile, but reality did not allow them to!

England and Austria were so bored that it would be a problem if they didn't do anything. For some reason, Austria was heavily influenced by John Bull during their overseas colonial expansion, and they became more and more adept at stirring up trouble.

Foreign Minister Weissenberg analyzed, "Your Majesty, it's enough to give up Mexico City. The southern states of Mexico that we have already occupied can wait for a while.

The Austrian Central American colonies have always had territorial disputes with Mexico. These issues need to be discussed and resolved. We can wait for Mexico to elect a new government before discussing. "

With the death of President Juárez, Austria had to make a gesture to the outside world. It was necessary to withdraw troops from Mexico, but how to withdraw would be a test of technology.

They couldn't work in vain. At the very least, they had to recoup the cost of sending troops. They had to stall for time and wait for the Mexican civil war to break out and occupy the southern territories.

As long as Mexico didn't elect a government recognized by Austria, they could continue to occupy it. It wouldn't take long, just three to five years, and it would be swallowed up.

This was a practical necessity. The plantation owners of Austria Central America had long wanted to expand, and now they needed to appease their emotions.

The Government of Vienna needed them to maintain a certain strength to prevent the Americans from reaching Central America. As long as Austria occupied Central America, the Panama Canal could not be built.

After some thought, Franz made a decision. "Don't occupy under the name of the government. Austria has never invaded Mexico.

It's just a group of civilians who don't want to accept the rule of the Mexican government. The Mexican government is incompetent and can't even control their own people. We can only express our regret. "

Once he put down his bottom line, Franz wasn't afraid to play dumb. As long as Austria didn't occupy Mexican territory, the international community couldn't say anything.

If the Mexican government had the ability, they could also send troops to take back those areas. Of course, they had to succeed on the first try. If they failed, the mob would still expand. If they failed and lost a few more states, they could only blame themselves for being incompetent.

After three to five years, when the storm of this incident had passed, these areas would join the Austrian Central American colonies.

The rules of the game were like this. When it was time to be hypocritical, one had to be hypocritical. As long as the actual benefits were in their hands, it didn't matter if it was a little more.

Most of the benefits from this expansion belonged to the plantation owners of Austria Central America. Since they had taken the benefits, they had to pay the price. The responsibility of ruling the area also fell on their shoulders.

Mexico wasn't easy to rule. Even the French didn't swallow them. Franz didn't think Austria could swallow them in one go.

Now that Franz decided to delegate power, the colonists of Austria Central America could eat as much land as they had the strength. How far they could expand depended on their own strength. If the expansion failed, they would have to bear the consequences themselves.

…

In Mexico City, the death of President Juárez had already caused an uproar in the city. Under the organization of some people, the crowd of demonstrators had already surrounded the Austrian embassy.

The tolerance for the dead was higher than the living. Before President Juárez died, he was criticized. Now that he died, his image suddenly rose, as if he had become a saint overnight.

In the embassy, Minister Compton had been restless for a long time. The crowd of demonstrators outside bombarded them 24 hours a day. The slogans were earth-shattering, and even the dogs in the embassy area were trembling.

In order to prevent the demonstrators from attacking the embassy area, Minister Compton had already transferred a battalion of troops from outside the city. He had already pulled up a cordon outside and set up a Gatling gun at the gate.

This wasn't making a mountain out of a molehill. In just a few days, there had been many attacks. The dozens of corpses parked outside were the evidence.

From this point of view, Franz's order to evacuate the embassy was wise. Otherwise, the personal safety of the embassy staff would be difficult to guarantee.

Just as Minister Compton was at his wits' end, a young officer holding a telegram said in his ear, "Minister, this is the latest order from the Government of Vienna."

He snatched the telegram. The date on it was already five days ago. Compton didn't care about the time. Seeing the order to evacuate Mexico, he was instantly speechless.

Even the embassy was not retained. It was obvious that they were giving up on Mexico. The embassy area that he had painstakingly managed for several years was going to be abandoned just like that. Minister Compton had mixed feelings.

After a pause, Minister Compton said sternly, "Inform the Mexican government that we are going to evacuate. Order them to disperse the crowd within three hours. Otherwise, they will bear all the consequences."

Since they were going to leave, they naturally didn't have to worry about anything. The Great Powers never lacked tough tactics. If the Mexican government continued to act recklessly, then it wouldn't be impossible to massacre Mexico City before leaving.

Not annexing Mexico didn't mean that Austria was afraid of their strength. The main reason was that it was easy to defeat the government army, but difficult to rule Mexico.

Mexico's territory had shrunk again and again, and now it was nearly two million square kilometers. With such a large territory and the majority of it being mountainous, it would be impossible to clear it without hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

The cost had far exceeded the benefits. The French had given up on Mexico because they knew this and were unwilling to continue to fill the hole.

Now it was different. Austria was leaving anyway. Even if it caused anger and resentment, Minister Compton didn't feel pressured.

He knew very well how the protesting crowd outside came about. The Mexican government didn't dare to directly cause trouble for Austria, so they pushed the people forward while they hid behind to watch the show.

They didn't act, not because Minister Compton was afraid, but mainly because there was no need. On the surface, it seemed that they were creating trouble for Austria, but in fact, the biggest trouble would be left to the Mexican government.

If the Mexican government had governing experience, they would never do this. Public opinion was a double-edged sword. When Austria evacuated, the bursting public opinion was a sharp blade to kill the republican government.

To put it bluntly, the moment President Juárez's autopsy report was released, it determined that Austria's political blackmail had failed.

From the beginning to the end, the Mexican government had been working in vain. Even if there were no protesters, the Government of Vienna would still give up Mexico.

After receiving the news of Austria's withdrawal, the Mexican government was rarely efficient. This time, the major factions within the government had a unified opinion to quickly send this god of plague away.

The aftermath broke out. The protesters and the police who came to disperse the crowd clashed fiercely. Including the protest organizations, they couldn't control the high emotions of the people.

Three hours passed quickly, and the outside of the embassy was a mess. Compton just sneered as he watched the Mexican government suppress the protesters.

Even if they wanted to move, it wouldn't be done in a few hours. He still had time to watch the show. As for trouble, Compton wasn't worried at all. The Mexican government was worried that they wouldn't leave.

Anyone who dared to block the Austrian evacuation was the Mexican government's biggest enemy. The Mexican government, which lacked governing experience, didn't know that Austria's withdrawal was only the beginning of trouble.

While the withdrawal was being carried out, the other side was stepping up military operations. The colonists, who were stifled, wouldn't give up this rare opportunity for expansion.