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

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

In his study, Franz listened to Archbishop Rauscher bragging about his achievements every day. Austria sent troops to Albania under the packaging of the church, and it became a "holy war" to liberate Christians from pagans.

Of course, this is not without benefits. For example, the passage of the bill did not encounter too many obstacles.

Even Count Kolarov didn't like this kind of unprofitable war, and Prince Metternich opposed continuing to weaken Ottoman, but he had to give in under the strong public opinion of the church.

Of course, this does not mean that the church has the ability to kidnap the country. In fact, it was Franz himself who proposed this plan, so everything went so smoothly.

In addition to the church, the military or the Joseph faction also played a certain role. After all, expanding to the Balkans can be said to be a continuation of Joseph's strategy. Although the direction is different, it can be regarded as the same goal.

In the eyes of Admiral Friedrich, there is another interpretation. If the Austrian Empire wants to become a naval power, it must control the Strait of Otranto or take Genoa.

Otherwise, no matter how powerful the navy is, it can only continue its Adriatic overlord. In the eyes of the great powers, it will always be a fleet kept in a bathtub.

At this point, Russia and Austria are very similar to one wanting to break out of the Black Sea and the other to break out of the Adriatic Sea.

(Personally, I think this metaphor can make everyone understand the importance of controlling the Strait of Otranto.)
However, Friedrich wanted to win the whole of Albania directly. After all, his experience in many encounters with colonial countries was that non-power countries were simply vulnerable.

Whether in Africa, West Asia, or Southeast Asia, Friedrich has the confidence to defeat his enemies several times over.

Although Britain overturned on Kalimantan Island, he felt that Britain was not considered a land power, and it would be defeated if it went deep into the interior, and it was still a question of whether the British Indian Army could be regarded as a European army.

The Austrian Empire is a traditional land power country, and is better at land combat.

Taking the Seaman of Otranto and turning the Adriatic Sea into Austria's inland sea is very attractive to Friedrich, the admiral of the navy.

Of course, Austria can also choose to continue to expand westward, conquer Sardinia, or let it cede the Genoa region, so that it can also break through the blockade.

But Genoa's location is too close to France, and it is not a very suitable choice. After all, no country will put the most important fleet in a place where there is no sense of security.

However, the opposition of Count Korolav and Prince Metternich was not unreasonable, because every military operation of Austria in the Balkans required the mobilization of a large amount of manpower and material resources.

He didn't understand at all that in a region with a population of only 10,000+, is it necessary to mobilize an army of [-]?
Moreover, the expansion in the Balkans cost more than in the colonies. What's more terrible is that those bad lands have little feedback to the empire. The tax revenue of the two provinces of West Bosnia and Montenegro is not as much as that of Venice.

At this time, the mountainous area in northern Albania proposed by Grand Duke Franz is undoubtedly a rotten land. The Ottomans conquered it for hundreds of years and could not develop anything of value.

Then there is the issue of pagan and alien populations. The religious and ethnic issues within the Austrian Empire have reached the point where anyone can see it. It is really not wise to continue to increase this kind of population that is prone to conflicts.

Prince Metternich analyzed the international situation. Ottoman was used as a bargaining chip to restrain Russia, not only to prevent Russia from advancing westward, but also to win over Russia.

But the war against Albania at this time is undoubtedly provoking Russia's hegemony in the Balkans. You must know that the Tsar has always regarded himself as the guardian of the Orthodox Christians.

In addition, this kind of behavior is also challenging the bottom line of the British, because the United Kingdom wants to dominate the Near East, and even wants to use Ottoman to contain European countries, so it has been maintaining the integrity of the latter.

In fact, Franz has his own considerations. The British let go of too many harsh words, but let’s see if France should go to North Africa to colonize, or go to North Africa, and not only win Algeria, but also fight Morocco.

As for the British?It seems that we have to find ways to win over it to prevent Russia from expanding further.

As for the issue of Russia and Count Kororav, it has already been explained in the previous article and I won’t go into details here.

Let's talk about Friedrich's strategic issue. In fact, in terms of the development of later generations, although there are many ports in Italy, there are very few ports that can be used as military ports.

With the development of the times, the tonnage of ships will become larger and larger, the power and range of artillery will become stronger and stronger, and the requirements for military ports will become higher and higher.

According to the history of later generations, the most suitable military port in Italy is Taranto, which is the anchorage of the Italian aircraft carrier battle group.

But at this time Taranto was still in the hands of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, and the other was La Spezia, but its defense was still much worse than the former, and it was in the hands of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

The rest are Gaeta, Livorno, La Maddalena in Sardinia, and Augusta in Sicily, but each of these ports has its own problems, either without barrier protection, or the port is too shallow to accommodate There are not too many warships, and there is a common problem that they are not in the hands of Austria.

On the other hand, at this time, the Austrian Port of Venice and the Port of Trieste have strong defenses, and as long as they control the Otranto Strait, they can be almost invincible. Even if the opponent has an aircraft carrier in the early stage, it will be difficult to pose an effective threat to it.

The early carrier-based aircraft were not suitable for long-range bombing, and the most common ones were torpedo attack aircraft. They were a great threat to ships, but bombing land targets and ports felt like a dead end.

(Early carrier-based aircraft were characterized by short voyages and small ammunition loads.)
The Austrian army moved quickly, mainly by sea to Sangeni, while on the road through Montenegro and West Bosnia to encircle the northern mountains of Albania.

It is said to encircle, but in fact more often it is to persuade to surrender.The northern mountains of Albania are overwhelmingly Catholic, so encounter little resistance.

Of course, some people chose to resist, and even took the initiative to attack the Austrian army.So these people are no longer the objects of salvation, but heretics who should be expelled and heretics to be eliminated.

As for who is a heretic and who is a heretic, it is naturally the Austrian side that has the final say.

Those families and organizations that resisted were quickly disintegrated. After all, no matter how powerful the guerrillas were, they were no match for the leading parties all over the mountains and plains.

The initial occupation was extremely smooth. This is not because the Austrian Empire really enjoys itself in the Balkans, but because the Ottoman Empire and the local aristocratic lords are really inappropriate.

People in most areas welcome the Austrian army, but there are also a small number of areas that are stubborn, and some people even want to return to the embrace of the Ottoman Empire.