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

Chapter 1673 The Shadow of War

Viscount Stratford's tone became even more stern, as if it were an unquestionable command.

"His Majesty Murad V must immediately cease all actions that could provoke war and take responsibility for his actions. Otherwise, we will not provide any substantial assistance to the Ottoman Empire."

Faced with Viscount Stratford's almost commanding request, Queen Mother Sheffield, who had been somewhat flustered, gradually calmed down.

"Viscount Stratford, I fully understand your government's position. But I think you should be clear that it was not our Ottoman Empire that launched the invasion, but Russia."

Your country hopes that our country will become a perfect victim, only knowing how to be beaten and not how to fight back. But I want to tell you that if a person is driven to a dead end, he will not wait until the other party launches the final blow before he fights back.

As the saying goes, even a cornered beast will fight, let alone a great empire like the Ottomans.

My son's behavior was not reckless or irrational, but rather a choice he made to uphold the dignity of the Ottoman Empire in the face of unavoidable aggression.

Our Ottoman Empire will never sit idly by and wait to be destroyed. You should know that it was Russia that provoked us first, which is why our country made a reasonable counterattack.

What Britain should do now is protect the rights of the victims and intervene promptly to prevent further conflict.

To be honest, Queen Mother Sheffield's words did make some sense, and could even be described as a reasoned argument.

Under normal circumstances, Viscount Stratford wouldn't mind debating with the other party, but at this moment he neither had the time nor the inclination.

In Viscount Stratford's view, the Ottoman Empire had no right to argue its case, and at that moment he suddenly remembered his colleague.

"The best way to shut a jerk up is to slap him." — Palmerston

“Wise Sultana, I am merely a diplomat. I am only responsible for conveying London’s message. As for how to decide, please do so as you see fit.”

Viscount Stratford turned and left after speaking, but it was Queen Mother Sheffield who finally broke down. The main reason she said those words was to secure her son's Sultanate.

In fact, the British government doesn't really want to replace the Sultan, since they can't be sure if the next Sultan will be even more outrageous.

Ultimately, Murad V's orders did not reach Istanbul, and Afdalpasha and several pro-war officials of the Imperial Party were placed under house arrest.

Queen Mother Sheffield did not execute them, after all, if a war really broke out, they would still be needed to stand at the forefront.

To be honest, Franz was really shocked when the news reached Vienna, and he also wanted to smash some things.

If the Ottoman Empire were to launch an attack on Russia regardless of the consequences, all of Franz's previous efforts would be in vain, and the Austrian Empire would be forced to join the war.

The outcome is hard to predict, but Austria will definitely not be the biggest beneficiary. After all, no matter which side wins, it will be a very unsettling situation for Franz.

As for why Franz knew British secrets, it was mainly because telegrams were not very secure in that era, and the Austrian Empire's intelligence network was also very strong.

Even if the use of Venetian telegrams was not known to the Austrian Empire, Austrian intelligence agents in Constantinople would still send the information back.

Regardless of whether war breaks out, the Austrian Empire must act immediately.

"Convene an operational meeting immediately."

"But we haven't received any formal declaration of war from either side. If we take the initiative, could it be interpreted as our country wanting to join the war?"

Prince Schwarzenberg said with some concern that, frankly, he had no intention of helping the Russians and that he fully supported the neutrality of the Austrian Empire. Franz understood Prince Schwarzenberg's thoughts; although Franz's understanding of war was limited, he knew that even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit.

As the saying goes, speed is of the essence in war. If the Austrian Empire chooses to respond passively, will it miss the best opportunity and cause the balance of the war to tip?
Franz's previous reforms had offended too many people, and the greater his authority was at that time, the more miserable his fate would be when he fell from power.

The Austrian Empire could not afford to lose, and Franz even less so.

"Abandoning unnecessary thoughts, our Austrian Empire must consider its own interests, but this does not mean we need to abandon our allies."

Execute the command.

The war council began quickly, and Archduke Frederick was the first to stand up.

"The British Mediterranean Fleet is now completely unprepared, and the defenses of Gibraltar are negligible. I propose that we take Gibraltar first to block the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea, and then annihilate the British Mediterranean Fleet."

The Minister of War, Count Latour, nodded. He strongly agreed with the plan, or rather, he had always agreed with the principle of striking first.

"The army can also cooperate with the navy. We will send troops through Greece to attack the Eastern Thrace region as soon as possible."

If we can take Constantinople in a short time, we can force the British to the negotiating table.

To prevent a British surprise attack on the colonies, we should immediately send a supply shipment to ensure the colonies' continued combat capability.

The Austrian Imperial military leadership was in unison: strike first.

Franz sighed. Perhaps this was the best course of action at the moment. However, it would only benefit Russia and France somewhat.

Regardless, let's start by deploying troops.

"Then let's get started."

As soon as Franz gave the order, the Austrian Empire's army immediately began to assemble at the front lines, and hundreds of thousands of troops would be transported to the Balkans in the following weeks.

At the same time, a large number of transport ships loaded with medicine and munitions left the docks of Trieste and began their journeys to Austrian Empire's colonies around the world.

Accompanying them were a large number of military personnel and engineers. At this time, the Austrian Empire did not have the strength to drive out the British fleet at sea in the colonies, so it could only continue to use the old method to carry out defensive operations in the interior.

However, this method only applies to colonies with strategic depth and is not very helpful to the islands controlled by the Austrian Empire.

Therefore, Franz allowed the garrison troops stationed in the Canary Islands and other archipelagos to destroy port facilities and surrender to the enemy if necessary.

Franz made this decision out of necessity; he could not expect every soldier to be ready to die for their cause, at least not with the Austrian Empire at that time.

Even with the harshest military laws and consequences, soldiers find it difficult to carry out certain missions that are certain to result in certain death.

News of the Austrian Empire's military deployments inevitably reached London, and even the most staunch anti-Russian figures began to waver in the face of this situation.

In this difficult time, John Russell thought of someone he disliked very much: Palmerston.

Given the current situation, perhaps that monster will have a solution.