The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 583 Breaking Down the Wall
The old city walls of Milan, which are full of traces of time, can be said to be full of thickness, and they once also played the role of guardians of the safety of urban residents.

However, with the rapid development of weapons and equipment, the role it can play is becoming more and more limited, and it hinders the further development of the city.

After all, the purpose of building the city wall was to deal with barbarian invasions in the early Middle Ages, but it couldn't even defend against catapults, let alone modern artillery.

Moreover, its defensive capabilities will only weaken over time in the future, and even large bastions like Vienna and Paris have withdrawn from the stage of history.

Of course, saying this does not mean that the city walls are useless, at least the ordinary people living there don't think so.

And once this habitual reliance on luck is not eliminated, it can provide an effective reassurance that the defensive side will rely on the city to defend and refuse to surrender.

And once the attacker starts to attack the city, it usually means a massacre, at least for the residents of the city, a catastrophe is inevitable.

In view of the possibility of falling into such a possible predicament in the future, Franz feels that the development of so many years cannot be destroyed in one go, so demolishing the city walls and widening the roads is the right way. I have a headache.

Not only Milan, but the traditional big cities of the entire empire have this common problem, so he plans to carry out a comprehensive transformation.

However, there are still three years before the legendary Spring of All Nations, and there is still plenty of time, so there is no need to worry too much for the time being.

In addition, while the demolition work is progressing, some important fortresses still need to be repaired, such as the four-cornered fortresses in Northern Italy (Verona, Mantua, Peschiera and Legnago), and other important fortresses. Strategic locations also require building new forts and strongholds, as well as storerooms.

After the announcement of the plan to demolish the wall and build the fortress, gentry from all walks of life in Northern Italy came over enthusiastically to "offer ideas and suggestions" and plan to get a share of it.

For this reason, the enlightened Archduke Franz announced to these people on the spot the deadline for a five-year plan; the demolition and construction plan will be completed within five years.As for the salary, the imperial government in Vienna will settle it in one go after the expiration.

As for whether this group of people will still be there five years later, there is no way of knowing.In addition, he did not forget the matter of comforting the army, but the money sent from all walks of life in Milan was only more than 20 florins.

It seems that he really regarded himself as a fool, fortunately he planned to give these people a hand.

But this is not important anymore, Franz still gave rewards to all the soldiers who participated in the suppression operation according to the plan, and the soldiers will receive a reward equivalent to their [-]-month salary.

The officers paid roughly ten months' wages, doubled for the wounded, and doubled for the dead. In the end, Franz gave out a total of 230 million florins.

Franz had two main purposes for doing this. One was to tell the old marshal and his troops that they had done nothing wrong, and that if they continued their efforts next time, they would have to deal with the enemy as cold as winter and as ruthless as a gust of wind.

The other is to publicize the comfort of the army in the newspapers, and at the same time spread the news that the money used by the young archduke to comfort the army was provided by the local gentry in Milan.

In fact, fake news like this may not be so easy to believe, and those who gave gifts will not admit it.

But the addition of information about a series of projects contracted to individuals and commercial organizations made onlookers wonder if there was a black box operation.

Of course, in this era, black-box operations are not uncommon, or it would be strange if there were no black-box operations.

It's just that this makes a lot of sense in the eyes of some people. After all, they were still conspiring together to overthrow the decadent rule of Vienna before, and then donated money and materials to those "executors" when they turned around?
And why the Austrian army, which has been crippled all the time, can destroy this seamless plan, the blood of the Italian warriors cannot be shed in vain!

In fact, in the final analysis, the previous riots had the background of a multi-faceted joint organization, and the organization called Young Lombardy was responsible for recruiting personnel.

Overseas "friends" are responsible for providing weapons and financial support, and it is the local gentry who are responsible for making plans and supporting them.

They can use the power in their hands to help give the green light, deliver information, and obstruct the Austrian soldiers by the way, even if they fail, they can "fish out" people.

However, this group of eloquent "Eloquents" finally stood by and watched.Not only the participants of this riot were arrested, but even the organizers who were preparing for the second riot and the participants who escaped when the situation was not good were also arrested.

It was agreed that there would be only one company of garrison troops, but in the end they were faced with thousands of soldiers waiting in full battle.Those arrested were insurgents from poor backgrounds and foreign friends who provided friendly patronage, but the local bigwigs remained unharmed.

All of this has to make people suspicious. After all, while the two parties are suffering devastating blows, the third party is not only fine, but also benefits. How can we not make people jealous.

The truth is that the Austrian government has indeed received a lot of reporting letters, and obtained a lot of information through investigations, but it is precisely because of the amount of information that it is difficult to identify the authenticity.

Under such circumstances, it is impossible for the authorities to act rashly, and it is even more impossible to arrest all the suspects. Although it may not paralyze the Lombardy region, the impact is definitely worse than random arrests.

Instead of guessing like a headless chicken, it's better to watch them dog-eat-dog in a quiet manner, and then make a move when they are almost exhausted. At that time, whether it is accepting as a dog or cutting a crop of leeks, it will be a matter of course.

In fact, Franz didn't need to get in the way, because there was never any trust between the three parties; there were different factions within almost each party.

Many young Lombards did not support Mazzini's theory, and even they did not want to unify Italy, but let northern Italy be independent. After all, in their eyes, their relatives in the south were too poor and a burden.

Among the "foreign friends" can be described as bright stars, Britain, France, the United States, Prussia, Sardinia, and even the shadows of the Russians and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Britain is the world's number one shit messer, so it's normal to come to Apennines to get involved. As for France and the United States, one is an old enemy for hundreds of years, and the other is a new power that has offended miserably.

In fact, the grievances between Austria and the United States are not limited to the two events of the Mexican-American War and the violation of the Monroe Declaration by the former.

Italy and Germany have always been important sources of immigration to the United States, but now thanks to the two customs unions formed by the Austrians, the economic development of the two places is much better than in history.

This greatly reduced the willingness of the locals to immigrate, and not only that, the latter also united with the German and Italian states to directly intervene in immigration activities.

Another point is the trade issue. Austria has been reducing the proportion of cotton imported from the United States. Although Franz has done a very meticulous job, the total amount has not decreased or even increased, but the loopholes have been discovered by interested people.

(End of this chapter)