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

Chapter 1447 Final Announcement

In the city of Athens.

Ionis Macorianos paced back and forth in the city defense headquarters. He never expected the current situation.

Loyalists have begun to appear outside the city. Although the local armed forces lack siege weapons, they can block Athens' external channels and cut off Athens' land supplies.

At this time, Athens' connection with other rebellious city-states had been cut off. The British, Russians, and Ottomans all did not respond, and the map was dark.

What frustrates Ioannis Macorianos the most is that the citizens of Athens also oppose them and even label him the number one traitor.

Ioannis Makrianos clearly had no intention of directly participating in the rebellion
Due to the insufficient population of Greece and the fact that Otto I launched many large-scale wars, Greece can almost be regarded as a country where every citizen is a soldier. Many people have weapons at home, so the resistance of the Athenian people was extremely fierce.

Although the Greek local elites have suppressed it many times, they still cannot avoid being shot from behind.

For a time, these men who usually showed off their might did not dare to show up in public, and many soldiers chose to flee. Some did so out of conscience, while others saw no future.

But in any case, Athens' defenses had been greatly weakened at this time.

What was even more worrying was what happened next. A city defense soldier ran in in a panic.

"Report! Mr. Asterios, he..."

"What he he! Tell me now!"

Ionis Macorianos didn't care about his manners at all at this moment. Asterios was the initiator of this rebellion and the backbone of everyone.

Of course, this rebellion would not have been possible without the tacit approval of Ioannis Makrianos, the commander of the city defense forces.

Ioannis Makrianos knew that Otto I had great trust in him. As long as he insisted that he was instructed by Asterios, he might be able to avoid blame and even be reinstated.
So in all of Athens, no one cared about Asterios more than Ioannis Makrianos.

"Mr. Asterios got on a British ship and said he was going to London to get help."

"Rescue?! Running away is better than nothing! What are you doing? Just watching him leave?"

Ionis Markorianos was really angry.

The soldiers also felt aggrieved.

"He is Mr. Speaker, how dare we stop him?"

"Waste! Waste!"

Ionis Makrianos kicked the soldier to the ground, and he was really helpless now. Ionis Makrianos suddenly had an idea, since Asterios could escape by boat, why couldn't he?
"I am Ionis Makrianos, the most powerful man in the world, and the wisest man in history. The world is so big, where can I not go?"

So Ionis Makrianos packed up his belongings overnight and tried to flee Athens with his family. He didn't know how the great powers would react, or whether the British would come to help, but he was sure he couldn't stand up to the rebels in Greece.

But Ioannis Markorianos is not the only one who thinks the same way.

At night, several groups of people met at the port.

"who?"

The person being questioned in the dark said in surprise.

"Ciritos?"

"Dopulos!" The two sides were obviously old acquaintances, but at this time they were both trying to escape and there was no time to accuse each other of deserting. After all, even Marshal Ionis Makrianos and Speaker Asterios had escaped, so what could these small fish and shrimps say?
The two men had just loaded their families and belongings onto the boat when they saw flames rising into the sky in the distance.

"The Austrian navy has blocked the sea. No ship in the port of Athens is allowed to leave. Those who disobey will be executed on the spot."

Ioannis Macorianos's ship had just been stopped by the Austrian Imperial Navy.

"Marshal, what should we do?"

The captain asked anxiously. His small sailboat was no match for these steam warships, and he couldn't even outrun them.

Ionis Makrianos, however, did not want to look back.

"Rush over!"

"My lord, there is no way we can outrun those warships."

"Stop talking nonsense! Go ahead! Otherwise, believe it or not, I will kill you right now!"

Ionis Macorianos's personal soldiers immediately pulled out their pistols and pointed them at the captain's forehead. Seeing this, the surrounding sailors also picked up their weapons immediately.

"If you break me, we won't be able to get through."

Just as the two men in the cabin were arguing, the Austrian Empire's warship opened fire.

If there had not been orders from above, they would have started shelling the city of Athens long ago.

Killing Austrian journalists, persecuting Austrian expatriates, and betraying Austrian allies.

Any of these would be enough for the navy to kill everyone in Athens. Don't doubt the malice of ordinary people towards a weak enemy country.

According to a study by Yale University, when the strength of both sides exceeds 9:1, the violent tendencies of the people on the stronger side will increase by 83%, and the desire for war among the soldiers will increase by 300%.

The Austrian Imperial Navy was still mainly composed of less warlike Italians. If it was really composed of a group of Germans, and Franz had not made the nature of the war clear, it would surely have turned into a massacre, a war of genocide.

At this moment, the Austrian Imperial Navy's warning before firing has already highlighted the strictness of naval discipline.

However, precisely because of the strict discipline, the quality of naval officers and soldiers is very high, which is mainly reflected in the hit rate of artillery during the war.

Six warships fired two rounds of salvos, with hundreds of shells, and more than a dozen hit the target, directly tearing the merchant ship where Ionis Markarianos was into pieces.

The unfortunate captain was hit directly in the torso by a cannonball, and his flesh and blood were scattered all over the cabin.

Ioannis Makrianos' wife refused to let go of a box of gold, silver and jewels and drowned in the sea. His two sons disappeared and only he swam back to the shore.

The next day, warships of the Austrian Imperial Navy approached the port, with their guns pointed at the Athenian defenders on the shore. An uneasy mood permeated the city.
To be honest, Friedrich didn't like this kind of job at all. He wanted to raze the city to the ground. However, international politics is not a simple competition of force, but also involves all aspects of society.

British and French reporters were watching from the sidelines. If Frederick really sent troops to attack, then the reputation that Franz had worked hard for all these years would be ruined.

As a result, the Austrian Empire launched the first civilian demobilization order in modern times. The Austrian Imperial Navy would give the city of Athens one day to evacuate civilians from the designated location.

However, these civilians had to undergo scrutiny by the Austrian Empire and could only leave after it was confirmed that they had nothing to do with the rebels.

In order to prevent the elites in Athens from falsifying news, the Austrian Imperial Navy's airship unit also dropped leaflets into the city of Athens.