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

Chapter 1539 Collusion
"Yes, the old man asked me to form the First Alaskan Army. There are only 5,000 soldiers in Alaska now, which is not enough to threaten the British and Americans."

It was obvious that Alexander took Nicholas I's words seriously and was prepared to make a big move.

Although this decision is outrageous, Franz supports it. Don't doubt your ears, Franz will not do useless work.

Franz naturally had his own purposes in allowing Russia to keep Alaska.

Of course, Franz had no plan to attack Britain and the United States on land, but he felt that Alaska was the key to extending the duration of the Russo-Austrian alliance and the last insurance.

The same interests and the same enemies can also become the basis of an alliance. Franz's idea is to create more enemies for Russia.

Alaska is a good bait. As a time traveler from later generations, Franz knows very well what is buried underground in Alaska.

Whether it is gold or oil, it is enough to make countries like Britain and the United States dazzled by the money. Russia, a cold and bitter land, will naturally not give up these hard-earned resources.

By that time, Russia would have to carefully consider its alliance with the Austrian Empire, or in other words, as long as Russia could get along well with Britain and the United States in North America, Austria would still have room for easing tensions.

As long as Franz felt that the time was not right, he could throw out this ice bone, let them fight each other, and buy time for the development of the Austrian Empire.

But there is no need to worry too much. Whether the Russians can defend it is one thing, and whether they can develop it is another.

Alaska's ice and snow are indeed conducive to defense, but not to development.

Since 1784 (during the reign of Catherine the Great) when the Russians established a settlement in Trinity Bay, the Russian government has tried countless times to develop Alaska's land, but all attempts ended in failure.

On the one hand, Russia is not as short-sighted as imagined, and on the other hand, it proves that the development of Alaska is indeed very difficult.

However, this is all good news for the Austrian Empire.
Franz decided to take the lead, so he spoke.

"It's not easy to maintain an army in Alaska."

Alexander immediately replied.

"This depends on Austria. We are allies and relatives. We should collaborate with each other."

Olga was speechless.

"What do you mean by collusion? Isn't it better to call it cooperation?"

"Okay, then cooperate."

Alexander had a wicked smile on his face. Olga rolled her eyes at her brother who was not serious. She was about to say that her brother had always been like this and she didn't need to pay attention to him.

However, the next second, Olga found that Franz had started thinking seriously.

"How to cooperate?"

"The great Tsar, my father and your father-in-law, wants to station 20,000 troops in Alaska.

The previous governor had been dismissed by my father, and most of the Hawaiians, Japanese, and Irish could not adapt to the Russian winter.

So after a heavy snowfall, only 5,000 people were left.”

The reason why Alexander emphasized that it was Russia, not Alaska, was that he actually knew some inside information.

No matter how terrible the snow and wind were, it would not kill thousands of lives at once. The governor had indeed tried his best, and the actual number of troops stationed in Alaska once exceeded 8,000.

But in the end, only 5,000 people were left, most of whom were of Russian descent.

What exactly happened in this is unknown to outsiders.
“The barracks in Alaska had been expanded, and the supplies shipped from California and Hawaii were enough to support 20,000 troops, but it was not easy to transport 15,000 Russians to Alaska.

And I think Alaska needs immigrants more than the military.”

Franz nodded. He agreed with Alexander's point of view.

"Now that the war is over, peace and development are the main themes. The Austrian Empire can help transport immigrants, but this is a huge project and the cost will definitely not be small."

It's not that Franz was stingy. Maritime transportation was very inconvenient in that era. If Austria hadn't widened the waterway of the San Juan River, it would have been even more difficult to travel from Europe to Alaska.

Nicholas I could only send a few thousand people to Alaska at a time by using the Russian state machinery. Although the Austrian Empire's naval power was far stronger than that of Russia at this time, this strength was also limited.

"We in Russia can slowly solve the immigration problem. But military matters still depend on you." Olga and Franz suddenly had a bad feeling.

"We are allies, so we can work together and develop together. The Austrian Empire can send people to jointly develop Alaska with us, Russia, and I can give certain preferential tax policies.

I have only one request, that the Austrian Empire send no fewer than 10,000 people."

"You guys chat. I'm going to the nursery. Little Carl needs me."

This was obviously not something Olga could interfere with, so she immediately decided to relieve her spur-of-the-moment maternal love.

"Take care of yourself and don't overwork yourself."

"OK, dear."

Closer to home.

"Ten thousand people is not a small number."

Franz did think of digging for gold, but both Russia and France had sent exploration teams to Alaska, but they all found nothing.

In fact, the Austrian Empire also secretly sent an expedition to Alaska, but in the end it also gained nothing.

“The more you invest, the greater the gain.”

Alexander was not polite about this.

"The more you invest, the higher the cost."

Franz was very impressed by Alexander's trick of using a chicken to lay eggs, but the other party was obviously talking about business. Since it was a business, Franz didn't want to suffer any loss.

Alexander said disapprovingly.

"If you don't sacrifice your children, you won't be able to hunt bears."

"Five thousand. It's too expensive to maintain ten thousand people."

"7500."

"Dear Grand Duke Alexander, do you know the difference between you and your father?"

Alexander thought for a moment and teased.

"He is the emperor, and I am not."

"You are right. The emperor is a man of his word. If he says five thousand, it means five thousand."

Alexander was speechless. He didn't expect that he would be taught a lesson after leaving St. Petersburg.

"make a deal."

Alexander held out his hand, but Franz did not take it.

"Did you bring a clerk? We still need a formal document."

Alexander's face fell instantly. He hated people like Franz the most. But Alexander was not stupid. He knew that he would have to deal with the person in front of him for a long time in the future.

“I’m curious, what would Austria be doing in Alaska?”

Alexander had heard a lot about Franz, and he wanted to see him in person.

“Fishing and herding.”

Franz's answer was straightforward.

"How much money can you make? Why not consider opening an arms factory? If a war breaks out, there will be a huge demand for arms."

Fishing and herding had little appeal to Alexander. What he wanted was the technology of the Austrian Empire, and he hoped that Franz could really turn Alaska into treasure.