Chapter 692

Franz shook his head. "The immediate interests are not important. What we need now is a new strategy, a great strategy that can convince the European countries.

The original strategy of Germany's unification could no longer fool anyone. With the growth of the Kingdom of Prussia, we are no longer able to swallow them. No matter how loud the slogan is, the European countries will not believe it.

In the case that the German Region cannot be unified, we will definitely have a new strategy. We will put up a smoke bomb to attract the attention of other countries so that they do not discover our true purpose. "

The Government of Vienna had come up with many strategies over the years, but only the "German Unification Strategy" could be believed.

These strategies were all real and completely in line with Austria's interests. However, due to various practical reasons and the low success rate, the Government of Vienna did not invest many resources.

For example, the European Hegemony Plan was made by the Government of Vienna to seize the hegemony of Europe. Because the success rate was too low, it was short-lived and laid in the archives.

Another example was the Naval Hegemony Strategy, which was the product of the Fao's arms race. According to the plan, Austria would build 100 ironclads within ten years and seize the British's position as the hegemon of the sea.

The plan was a good plan, but it encountered difficulties when it came to implementation. Other than some bragging in the newspapers, which provided the Royal Navy with an excuse to expand its army, there were actually changes during the operation.

Ironclads were also divided into different grades. The smallest was only a few hundred tons, and the largest was more than 10,000 tons. Different grades of battleships had different power in naval battles.

Other than making their presence known, the British soon found out that they were fooled. In less than ten years, the Austrian Navy had built more than a hundred warships.

However, they were all small boats, and most of them were coastal patrol boats. Only three to five battleships were added. Although the ten-year period was not up yet, no one thought that the Government of Vienna would continue to build warships in the future.

This was all on the surface. If the British hadn't been deliberately fooled, the plan would have been exposed at the beginning. It was not easy for the Royal Navy to expand its army. How could they convince the parliament to allocate funds without an excuse?

In this regard, the Fao and the British were allies of the Royal Navy. As long as the Fao and the British said they wanted to build ships, the British would immediately follow.

With the Royal Navy's active cooperation, it was not difficult to fool the amateurs in the parliament. As long as they agreed to allocate funds, the money would be turned into warships in the future.

In the original arms race between Britain and Germany, some people criticized the two navies for colluding military funds in collusion.

The word "collusion" was used too much, but colluding to defraud the military funds was indeed suspicious in this regard.

Now was no exception. Every time the navy expanded, Britain, France, and Austria would use each other as a raft. As long as there was a good reason, the government would pay.

Before the three countries formed an alliance, even if some people saw the problem, they could only bite the bullet and follow it. No one dared to take the risk of stopping the navy.

International politics was very complicated, and it was very difficult to figure out the intentions of competitors. But it didn't matter. No matter what his competitor's goal was, as long as they couldn't do what they wanted to do, it would be fine.

Ever since the German Unification Strategy was announced, the European countries were trying to stop Austria from unifying the German Region. Britain and France kept a close eye on the German Confederation, fearing that Austria would suddenly attack them.

The rise of the Kingdom of Prussia was not only because Britain and France wanted to use them to attack Russia, but also to stop Austria from unifying the German Region by arming Prussia.

Everyone was besieging Austria in Europe, so Franz naturally wouldn't look for excitement. By attracting Britain and France's attention to Europe, Austria's expansion in Africa could proceed smoothly.

Austria's Africa had grown strong, but its foundation was not solid. Once the European countries found out the Government of Vienna's intentions, who could guarantee that John Bull wouldn't encourage Austria's Africa to become independent?

At that time, the French would come up with ideas, the British would be responsible for deception, and with a large sum of money, who knew how big of a mess it would cause.

On the surface, Franz had been saying that Austria's strategic focus was to unify the German Region. Everyone believed this statement, even the Austrians themselves believed it.

Other than the top government officials, no one knew that the actions on the European continent were all a pretense. Even if Britain and France knew that there was a problem, they had to protect Europe first, otherwise the idiom "fake becomes real" would appear.

Prime Minister Felix said, "Your Majesty, if we say that we have ambitions for Poland, I don't think anyone will believe it.

Both Prussia and Russia see Poland as something in the bag. No matter how unwise we are, we can't run to take Poland for ourselves. If we were to divide Poland, it would probably be done in one wave of operations, and we wouldn't be able to achieve the goal of attracting the attention of other countries.

Or we can use the recovery of the Holy Land as a pretense. If Britain and France don't believe it, then let them think that we want to annex the Asia Minor peninsula. One Osman Empire is more than enough. "

The reality was so comedic. They didn't make a move on Poland not because Poland was too strong, but because Poland was too weak, so weak that they would fall with one push.

If Poland fell, the final result would be nothing more than being divided. The strategic goal was directly achieved, so the strategy naturally ended.

Unless they fought to the death with Prussia, this would be the end. Other than getting an additional piece of territory, the other gains were almost zero.

Not to mention, they would have a headache with the increase of the Polish people. The Government of Vienna had not done this kind of thing for many years to increase the instability of the Empire.

The Osman Empire was different. It was big enough that Austria couldn't swallow it in one bite, and there were very few competitors.

The heavily injured Russian Empire was not qualified to compete with Austria for the Osman Empire. At most, they could share a piece of the pie.

They could only grasp the rhythm and not kill the Osman Empire all at once. It would be best if there were victories and losses on both sides, with a slight advantage. The European countries were still willing to see Austria and the Osman Empire fight to the death.

If Britain and France wanted to drag them down, they would most likely support the Osman Empire. Franz wasn't worried about this at all. It was not a joke that mud couldn't help a wall.

The Chosen One hadn't been born yet, and the Osman Empire had too many internal conflicts. It was almost impossible for it to rise from the ashes.

It would be good for everyone if this continued. Austria could deceive everyone, Britain and France could achieve their goal of containing Austria, the Osman Empire could also get help, and Prussia and Russia could PK without worry.

In the process of fighting, they could also quietly eat away at the Middle East. Not only would they not have to worry about energy for the next century, but they would even have half of the world's hegemony in their hands.

A small fight every three years, a big fight every ten years. This show could be played for a long time. The House of Habsburg and the Osman Empire were enemies. They didn't even have to worry about an excuse to attack them. Revenge was the best excuse.

After looking at the map, Franz pointed to Poland. "This isn't enough. In order to make this show more realistic, we need to add a few more supporting characters.

Isn't the Kingdom of Prussia obsessed with Poland? Then let's fulfill their wish and find a chance to sell it for a good price.

If the people of Prussia can defeat the Russian Empire, then this place will be ours. We'll give them a little more strength and strengthen the fighting spirit of the Juncker nobles. "

Franz drew a circle on the map. A large area of the Russian territory was circled inside, and the Black Sea became the Austrian inland sea. The two hundred years of Russia's efforts were all wasted.

After this wave, it would be very difficult for the shrunken version of Russia to rise again. Even if they became stronger again, they would first have to face the Kingdom of Prussia.

As for Austria, how could Franz violently annex the territory of Russia? Didn't the Tsarist government need someone to help them after they lost the war?

Such a difficult operation would definitely require payment. When the time comes, the Government of Vienna would just need to fork out a sum of money to buy these territories.

The Americans did a very good job in this regard. The French were forced to buy the territories, but on the surface, they didn't say anything since they bought them legally.

Looking at the circle drawn by Franz, everyone looked at each other as if they didn't see anything. This kind of scheming against allies was almost like John the Bull.

However, by that time, the Russo-Austrian Alliance would also expire. The two sides would no longer be allies, so it would be logical to do this again.

Although the picture was good, everyone still wasn't optimistic about Prussia. There might be a chance to defeat the Russians, but it would be difficult to cripple the Russians.

If the Tsarist government wasn't beaten to death, they probably wouldn't accept Austria's blackmail. It wouldn't be easy to achieve this third strategy.

Foreign Minister Wesenberg: "Your Majesty, the Kingdom of Prussia's territory is too scattered, and the pressure on their national defense is too great. If they can't concentrate their strength, I'm afraid it will be difficult to even defeat the Russians.

After annexing Poland, Prussia's strength is already very strong. We can't continue to let them grow.

I suggest that Prussia give up the Rhineland region. The Government of Berlin is now very poor, but the German Federal Empire is very rich. It would be better to let them invest in the Rhineland region. "

This proposal was very constructive. The Rhineland region was rich in coal and iron resources, and the local industry development was also very good. If this enclave was cut off, the heavy industry of the Kingdom of Prussia would be directly cut in half, which would greatly reduce their development potential.

As long as it was done properly, Franz wasn't worried that the Government of Berlin would refuse. Potential was just potential, and there would only be a future after the current crisis was overcome.

Solving the financial crisis and concentrating all their military strength were essential factors for them to win the next war.

Although the Rhineland region was good, their next-door neighbor was the French, so it suddenly became bad. If a war really broke out, this enclave wouldn't be able to defend at all.

England and France were very wary of Austria's expansion in Europe, but they definitely wouldn't be worried about the German Confederation expanding. Even if the Rhineland region was added, the German Federal Empire was only a medium-sized country, and the threshold to become a great power was very low.

With Austria's influence in the German Confederation, it wouldn't be difficult to push through this transaction. Even if the Imperial Parliament couldn't pass, it would be the same to manipulate one of the countries to buy it. In the German Confederation, Austria still didn't lack underlings.

After sorting out his thoughts in the shortest time possible, Franz nodded and said, "This plan is very good. Without the Rhineland region, the Kingdom of Prussia's strategy will completely shift to the east.

The specific plan will be perfected by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It's not convenient for us to personally intervene, so it's best to let the British carry it out.

In order to divide the German Region, the British have put in a lot of effort. As long as we make them believe that increasing the strength of the German Confederation will increase the difficulty of us unifying the German Region, I believe that the Government of London will do everything for us.

The French should be relatively quiet for the time being, but we can't let our guard down. We can't let them take advantage of us, or else we'll just be making a wedding dress for others. "

Back then, they borrowed the hands of the British to split Germany into three, and stopped the rise of the Kingdom of Prussia. Now, Franz naturally didn't mind doing it again.