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

Chapter 1625 Imaginary Enemy (Part 1)
"Uncle Friedrich, your strategy will force us to face the wrath of the British. Even if we win, it will be an unprecedentedly devastating victory, and then how will we deal with the British retaliation?"

Friedrich, however, disagreed with Franz's words.

"Frantz, all I can tell you is that a decisive battle in the Strait of Gibraltar would be more advantageous for us and easier to achieve."

On the contrary, it's unrealistic to think you can let the British in and then wipe them out one by one.

"Didn't we do that before? And you agreed to the operation plan."

Franz asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Previously, it was because our strength was too weak that we were not qualified to have a strategic decisive battle with the British. We could only wait for an opportunity to act."

The most difficult part of the plan to annihilate the enemy one by one was not the naval battle itself, but how to determine the enemy's location and find them.

"Our plan only succeeded because the French and Greeks helped us, and the British were too careless."

The Minister of War, Count Thural, also had questions.

"Grand Duke Frederick, are we now investing less in intelligence than the French and Greeks are helping us?"

We now know exactly how many soldiers are in the British fleet. Isn't that enough?

Friedrich shook his head.

"On the high seas, wind direction, wind speed, ocean currents, and extreme weather can all affect the speed of a fleet. To put it bluntly, the sea is much larger than the land, and it is much more difficult to locate the enemy."

Luck played a large part in our previous naval victories; we can't expect miracles to happen every time.

Moreover, the British have now largely replaced their warships with steam paddlewheel warships. Although they are still slower than our main warships, they are no longer the docile sheep we can easily catch up with.

Franz fell into deep thought. In an era when maritime search and reconnaissance methods were scarce, Friedrich's words were indeed very true. The development of the Austrian Imperial Navy in recent years had also given him the confidence to engage in a decisive naval battle.

The problem was that Friedrich's tactics did not align with the Austrian Empire's strategy. If his tactics were implemented, Britain and Austria would immediately engage in a strategic decisive battle, in which the British would devote the vast majority of their firepower.

On the one hand, it was to win the war in the Near East, but more importantly, it was to regain control of the Mediterranean. After all, the Strait of Gibraltar was too important to the British, and they would do everything they could to take it back.

This would mean that the Austrian Empire would be bearing the brunt of the pressure on the front lines while the Russians reaped the benefits from behind. Franz found this unacceptable both psychologically and physiologically.

If the Russians can quickly resolve the Ottoman conflict and force them to negotiate peace, that would be fine. However, if the war deteriorates into a protracted conflict or if the Russians become too ambitious and unwilling to end the war, the situation will be extremely unfavorable for the Austrian Empire.

Franz had no desire to entrust his fate to others, especially when it would be more advantageous for them to give up. Human nature is not something that can withstand scrutiny or testing.

Nicholas I undoubtedly longed for Constantinople, but the officers and soldiers of Russia, and indeed the entire state apparatus, should not be overestimated.

Russia possesses the world's largest territory, the largest population in Europe, the largest army, and the highest military spending, but in recent years the performance of the Russian military has been far from impressive, and in some areas it can even be described as appalling.

The so-called invincible record is often a Pyrrhic victory, and it is precisely because of these Pyrrhic victories that the Russian military has never conducted any proper reflection or reform to this day.

Overall, the Russian army has maintained the level it was at during the anti-French war, while even the Ottoman Empire underwent two large-scale military reforms at the same time.

With the help of the British, the Ottoman army at this point might not have actually lost to the Russian army. Of course, the Russians' problems went far beyond these military aspects.

"Uncle Friedrich, I know your concerns, but your tactics are too aggressive and inconsistent with our country's strategy."

This gives you the freedom to formulate naval warfare strategies, but you must abandon the plan to keep the British out of the Mediterranean.

Friedrich scoffed at Franz's statement.

"Frantz, how can we protect our shipping lanes if we don't capture Gibraltar, the most crucial strategic point?"
Or are you going to give up all your colonies and strategic maritime nodes?
I can assure you that our colonies and maritime strategic nodes will be the primary targets of the British, who have a long history of attacking and plundering colonies.

Whether it was the Anglo-Dutch Wars, the War for the Spanish Succession, the Seven Years' War, or the Anti-French War, the British would always deliberately attack the other side's colonies, taking the opportunity to plunder their overseas interests and strengthen themselves.

We're now exactly what the British see as easy prey. You don't want all our years of hard work to be wasted, do you?

Other high-ranking officers in the Austrian Imperial military were not too concerned about this. After all, the British had tried to take over Austrian colonies before, but each time they had failed and could only burn the fields in frustration.

“Grand Duke Frederick, your concerns seem somewhat unnecessary. The British army has very limited manpower. Each of our colonies can muster several thousand active or retired soldiers, and we have basic defensive facilities. The British army would have no chance of occupying our colonies unless they mobilized their entire force.”

Count Latour was very confident about this and could produce a large number of battle reports to support his claim.

Friedrich said.

Are you sure we'll always be that lucky?

"It wasn't luck, but the British really couldn't beat us."

"Are you sure the British won't learn from their past mistakes?"

"So what? Our defenses in the colonies have been strengthened, and the War Department has made advance preparations there. If the British dare to come, we guarantee they won't return."

The high-ranking officials of the War Ministry and Friedrich were locked in a dispute.
However, Franz knew that Friedrich's concerns were not unfounded. The reason why Austrian Empire's colonies had been able to escape disaster in the past was largely because they were underdeveloped, of little value, and had a small population.

Therefore, they could adopt a defensive posture, and the British also lacked the desire to attack.

As mentioned earlier, the development of Austrian Empire's colonies had greatly increased by this time, and the cost of continuing to adopt the scorched-earth and defensive approach would be too high. At the same time, the British would be much more eager to attack.

This is also a major reason why Franz was trying his best to avoid war; the benefits of war for the Austrian Empire were too low and the costs too high.

Franz sighed.

"Let's put the blockade strategy as Plan B for now. Let me think if there are any other ways to solve this problem. Uncle Friedrich, please prioritize the national strategy for now."

Furthermore, the War Department must continue to enhance the colonies' defense capabilities and prepare for the worst-case scenario.

Franz then turned to Archduke Albrecht and Marshal Radecki.

Now let's talk about land warfare.

(End of this chapter)