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

Chapter 1445 The Greeks’ Choice
"Damn the Russians! What do they want!"

The Minister of War, Count Tural, was the first to speak out angrily.

"Need I say that? The Russians are definitely trying to take advantage of the situation."

The Minister of the Interior, Count Giovanni Battis, said this with a hint of sarcasm. It's not that he didn't know the seriousness of the matter, but the Italian cynical style had been integrated into his blood.

"The Russians reacted so quickly this time. Did they plan this in advance?"

Prince Schwarzenberg immediately gave his own judgment, and the atmosphere became tense once someone reminded him.

The enemy is Greece and the enemy is Russia are two completely different concepts. Facing Greece, the Austrian side could not think of a reason why it could not deal with the opponent within a month, but facing Russia, the Austrian Empire could not think of a way to deal with the opponent within a month.

The newly appointed Foreign Minister, Duke Schmalt, gave his own analysis.

"The Russian army has only 10,000 soldiers, while Greece has more than 100,000 soldiers. If they really want to intervene, they can't just send 10,000 soldiers, right?"

It was obvious that Foreign Minister Duke Schmalt's analysis made sense, so everyone began to wonder what the Russians were going to do.

Everyone's eyes were focused on Franz. It was time for him, the emperor, to make a decision.

"Carry out the original plan."

"As ordered!"

Franz had enough prestige to convince the top leaders of the Austrian Empire, but everyone was still very worried about the possibility of Russia's intervention in the matter.

“No troops from Belgrade will be used in this operation.”

Franz added.

"As ordered!"

In fact, such an approach is equivalent to increasing troops in the Balkans. If mobilizing 100,000 troops, it means increasing troops by 100,000; if mobilizing 200,000 troops, it means increasing troops by 200,000.

Franz always believed in the iron rule of being on guard against others. Although Russia's choice to become hostile to the Austrian Empire over the Greek issue was an irrational choice at this time, countless historical facts have proved that many times, many countries, and many people will make irrational choices.

Russia was the hardest hit area.
Otto I was still receiving emergency treatment in a hospital in Venice, and Franz planned to find time to visit his cousin.

The reason why Otto I was not sent to Vienna was because his condition was very bad and if he continued to travel, he would probably die on the road.

No one in the entire Austrian Empire except Franz could take on this responsibility. Instead of sending Otto I to Vienna, it would be better to send Vienna's doctors and medical equipment to Venice.

Just as various forces were fighting openly and secretly over the Greek issue, the latest news from the Kingdom of Greece surprised all parties.

The new Greek government established in Athens did not receive the support of local governments and the military in Greece. Except for a few very few regions, other regions still swore allegiance to Otto I.

Although the original Greek population decreased by nearly 15% under the leadership of Otto I, and almost every household had people die in war and famine, the territory of Greece more than doubled.

The Greeks still remembered the great feat of regaining the country. The continuous victories shaped a large number of firm Great Greeks, who did not agree with the views of the Athenian elites, and the so-called democracy and freedom could not infect them.

Especially in the distribution of power, there is a natural opposition between the local areas and Athens. This opposition does not only exist at this time. In fact, the opposition between Athens and local city-states has always existed in ancient Greece.

Although Otto I was ambitious and warmongering, he was considered a good and capable king by the Greeks.

As for the military, they thought that the Athenian officials were crazy. They had seen the strength of the Austrians on the battlefield.

It is no exaggeration to say that if the Austrians attacked, they doubted whether they could hold out for more than a day. The Greek military leaders did not think they were more resilient than the Ottomans.
Moreover, Otto I obviously respected these soldiers more than the officials who only ordered them around.

No matter how poor the Kingdom of Greece was, Otto I never lacked military rations and pay, and he also obtained a large number of weapons and equipment from the Austrian Empire.

If the officers and soldiers of the Greek Kingdom had not been so poorly trained, the battle would not have been so ugly. Now I think Otto I really did a lot.
The most important thing is that the local Greek elites slaughtered not only the Bavarians brought by Otto I during the parade in Athens, but also innocent citizens of Athens and the elites in the Greek army.

The newly formed Athenian government initially tried to dismiss the matter by saying it was an accidental injury, which directly aroused the anger of all parties. Later, they tried to pin the blame on Otto I, but no one believed it.

On the one hand, the newly established Athenian government was lax in its work, and the extremely crude assassination left too many witnesses and evidence.

On the other hand, the Austrian Empire's intelligence agencies and journalism were very developed, and the news spread to the entire Kingdom of Greece almost on the same day that Otto I was assassinated.

Moreover, compared with the Athens government's flawed claims, the intelligence disseminated by the Austrian Empire's intelligence personnel was obviously more true.

The newly established Athens government arrested two Austrian journalists who failed to evacuate in time and asked them to "clarify the facts." The two Austrian journalists were not real spies, but they decided to defend the dignity of journalists and the Austrian press and did not change their words.

As a result, the newly established Athenian government tortured the two men for several days in a row, and finally both of them chose to die for the truth.

The newly established Athens government hung the bodies of the two men in the square and hung a sign saying "liar" on the chests of the bodies.

In fact, these two journalists came to report the victory parade in Athens, but they witnessed a massacre. When their colleagues fled the city, they chose to stay and record the most real reactions of the people after the massacre.

The two tied the summarized news materials to the legs of six carrier pigeons and sent them back to their country. They also hid the backup and complete materials in the home of a Greek tour guide.

They would never have imagined that the two documents they left behind would be entered into the national museums of two countries, and their names would become one of the highest awards in the journalism industry in later generations.

Governments across Greece announced that they would send troops to help the king and put down the rebellion, which was something no one had expected. Especially the social elites in Athens, they never thought that after they drove away the king, someone would dare to oppose them.

So they began to try every possible means, but Viscount Stratford had already received orders from London and decided to stand idly by. The Russians had nothing but contempt for the local Greek elites, and even the Ottomans did not want to get involved in this mess.

Russian troops were intercepted by Greek troops in Macedonia. The Greek military claimed that it was capable of handling the domestic rebellion and did not need Russia's help.

At the same time, the Tsar's envoy also arrived in Vienna.

"Dear son-in-law, and His Majesty the Western Roman Emperor:

Russia will abide by the alliance and will never lay hands on the land of the Western Roman Empire."