Chapter 581

The Austrian Church was not a pushover. Although it had declined, the Church had colluded with the local nobles. The higher-ups of the Church were basically the children of the nobles.

This was also the reason why Franz was not in a hurry to deal with the Church. Pulling one hair could affect the whole body. Food had to be eaten one bite at a time, and the enemies had to be killed one by one. It would be even better if he could turn enemies into friends.

There was no doubt that the members of the Austrian Church were not worth his effort. These people were rich and hindered the development of Austrian society. They were the real reactionaries.

Prime Minister Felix said, "Your Highness, it's best to postpone the matter of the Church. Not long ago, there was a change in the Papal State. Pope Pius IX went into exile in Naples and has come to our aid.

The cabinet has decided to speed up the suppression of the rebellion, defeat the Kingdom of Sardinia, and then send troops to the Papal State to help Pius IX take power! "

Obviously, the cabinet was not a fool and knew that the Church could not act rashly. Since the Middle Ages, theocracy had begun to compete with royal power. Now the secular royal power had the upper hand, but the theocracy was still not to be underestimated.

It was certainly not a good choice to directly attack them. However, these clergy were not without their nemesis. The Austrian Catholic Church was still under the leadership of the Roman Curia.

Now that the Papal State had changed, they needed Austria to lend a helping hand. After the matter was done, how could Pius IX not return the favor?

Franz nodded with satisfaction and thought to himself, Sure enough, these old foxes in politics are not easy to deal with. They are very accurate in seizing the opportunity.

The Pope can't even take care of himself. For his own benefit, he betrayed the Austrian Church without hesitation. With the Pope taking the blame, the pressure they had to bear was much less.

…

With the order of the Government of Vienna, the attack and defense of Budapest began.

Lieutenant General Julius did not have to worry anymore. According to the plan of the Government of Vienna, Budapest was dispensable in the future division of administrative districts. There was no need to worry about war destroying the city.

Budapest was actually formed by the merger of Buda and Pest. As early as the Middle Ages, Pest became the capital of Hungary. Buda was just a city separated from Pest by a river.

When referring to the two cities, people usually referred to them together, such as Budapest or Buda.

After the establishment of the Republic of Hungary, the two cities were merged. After the war, they would naturally be split up and still be under the jurisdiction of the two provinces.

"Governor, the Ministry of War has issued a siege order, asking us to take Budapest as soon as possible. What do you think?" Lieutenant General Julius asked with concern.

The Bohemian Legion and the Croatian Legion complemented each other. This attack on Budapest was only a temporary joint command center. Julius had to consider the opinion of Governor Josip Jelačić.

"Your Excellency Commander, the Hungarian rebels are already trapped. Conquering Budapest is not a problem. The key is whether we can catch all the rebels in one fell swoop!

By this time the Transylvanian army had reached the banks of the Tisza, and the Austrian army was advancing along the Danube. Outside our encirclement, a larger encirclement was forming.

The only way was for these Legion legion. was to flee to the Empire. The Government of Sudan had begun a major reform in 1839. They had been hostile to the Empire for a long time, so it was very likely that they would take in these rebels.

If they were to join forces, it would be very detrimental to the Empire's future rule in Hungary. Therefore, the key to this war is to wipe out all the enemies! "

Governor Josip Jelačić was a military politician. He looked at the problem from a political perspective. In the long run, completely wiping out the Hungarian Revolutionaries was more meaningful than taking Budapest.

Lieutenant General Julius said with a bitter smile, "It's very difficult. The Revolutionaries are not as brave as they boast. Once the momentum is not in their favor, they run faster than rabbits.

I guess they have already prepared a way out. If we launch a siege on Budapest, they will escape. Unless we can block them in the city, we can't wipe them out. "

As a loyal minister of the House of Habsburg, Julius was very hostile to the Revolutionaries. If possible, he didn't mind hanging them all.

The main purpose of Franz making him the commander-in-chief was for him to kill all the criminals who were involved or suspected of being involved in the rebellion.

Regardless of whether they could wipe out the rebels or not, on May 24, 1848, the Austrian army launched a siege on Budapest. In order to wipe out the leaders of the Revolutionaries, Julius even chose to besiege the city on all sides.

The Hungarian Republic's connection with the outside world was completely cut off. Budapest had become an isolated city. Perhaps they had let go of their concerns, the Austrian army unscrupulously unleashed their artillery fire into the city.

Budapest.

Ever since the sound of the siege cannon sounded, the ancient city became noisy. The pro-war faction and the pro-peace faction quarreled non-stop. Some powerful people tried to find a way out. The pressure on the Kossuth government increased greatly.

"Count Semir, the Revolutionaries still refuse to compromise. What should we do now?" Gorgay asked with a headache.

"General Gorgay, how many people are under our command in the National Defense Army?" Semir asked with concern.

"Kossuth has already begun to suspect us. Half a month ago, he let Bem take over my military power. Now he has invited the famous Polish general Henrik Dembinski to take charge of the city defense.

If we take action now, I can command 13,000 troops. However, these people are still scattered among the troops and can't be gathered together! "Gorgay answered awkwardly.

"Useless!"

This was Semir's first reaction. As the Minister of War of the provisional government, he didn't even have a reliable army.

13,000 people? This was obviously a lie. If they had so many troops in their hands, they would have fallen out with the Revolutionaries long ago.

One had to know that Gorgay had participated in the establishment of the Hungarian National Defense Army. As a member of the aristocracy, they had stuffed many people into it.

But now, it had been taken over by the Revolutionaries. Other than using "useless" to describe it, Semir couldn't think of a better word.

"General Gorgay, I'm not asking how many people are on our side. I'm asking how many people you can mobilize without attracting the attention of the outside world. I'm talking about immediately, not how many troops you can concentrate!" Semir explained helplessly.

"Without attracting the attention of the outside world, I can only mobilize 500 people at most," Gorgay replied with a frown.