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

Chapter 1795: Concealing the truth
Compared to the British Army, the Royal Navy was not so pragmatic.

They did not give a specific time for surrender, but they made many demands.

First, the Royal Navy demanded that honor be preserved, that there be a grand surrender ceremony, and that British officers and soldiers be allowed to retain their flags and personal property.

Secondly, the Royal Navy also demanded the establishment of a buffer zone and the phased surrender.

In addition, the weapons and equipment of the British Royal Navy can be transferred to the Holy Alliance in batches. Both parties need to conduct an inventory, registration, and cataloging, and then jointly supervise the sealing and storage, rather than being seized.

These conditions from the British Mediterranean Fleet made several Holy Alliance diplomats laugh in exasperation.

"Are you kidding me! Do you know what the situation is like now? Our Holy Alliance Army has more than a million people. Do you still have a chance to win?"

Your country's army has surrendered, and now those generals are probably being sent to St. Petersburg by carriage.

If you refuse to surrender, you will face certain death!
Handover? That's laughable! Have your brains been soaked in saltwater?! Even if you die, that equipment will still be ours!
If you're going to surrender, then surrender. Why all the nonsense?
Next, are you going to say, "Please don't attack between 2 and 3 pm every day, that's our afternoon tea time!"

The Russian diplomat was a general named Makarov, a long-standing problem of Nicholas I, who had an extreme distrust of the civilian government and always had generals temporarily fill in for diplomats.

However, it must be said that everyone has their own expertise, and Russian generals are really not well-suited to be diplomats.

Makarov's claim of a million-strong army is not entirely accurate. At that time, the Holy League's forces across the entire Near East were approximately 800,000, with only about 500,000 specifically on the Thracian front.

Although the Russian diplomats used somewhat harsh language, the Austrian diplomats also felt that the British were not sincere.

When the British Army surrendered before, there wasn't so much nonsense. They started exchanging terms right away and then prepared for the surrender.

What is this? If you didn't know better, you'd think it was a wedding procession.

The diplomats from the British Royal Navy looked extremely grim; they never expected the other side to be so disrespectful.

The Russians were spewing nonsense, while the Austrians watched the spectacle while adding sugar to their coffee.

Sir Charles Chatterton couldn't help but grumble inwardly when he saw the Austrian diplomat put eight sugar cubes in a cup of coffee.

"Why not just pour the coffee directly into the sugar bowl? It'll save us all that trouble."

"General Makarov, you are mistaken. The Holy Alliance does have a large army, but we are the British Royal Navy."

Do you understand?

Sir Charles Chatterton spoke slowly and deliberately, habitually leaving blanks.

"Then what are you waiting for! Attack! We'll destroy your port tomorrow! Let's see where you can run to!"
"Unless you never set foot on land again! You bunch of filthy fishmongers!"

General Makarov continued his scathing remarks, while the Austrian diplomat beside him remained aloof and indifferent.

In fact, it wasn't just the British who lacked sincerity; the situation was similar in the Austrian Empire.

Franz's main objective in joining the Near East War was to weaken British naval power; it would have been a mistake to allow the British Mediterranean Fleet to escape unscathed.

However, Franz was overthinking this. Through this Near Eastern War, the Russians had fully realized the importance of naval supremacy.

It can be said that if Russia hadn't lacked control of the sea, it wouldn't have been in such a passive position. It was precisely this lack of naval control that left Russia with a powerful military but unable to effectively utilize it, with more than half of its supplies coming from Austria.

It wasn't that the Russians lacked supplies; Nicholas I had prepared for this war for many years, but supplies couldn't be transported by sea, and the losses from land transport were too great.

Having learned his lesson, Nicholas I was now even more eager than the Austrians to destroy the British Mediterranean fleet. He had not considered what would happen after the Mediterranean fleet was gone.

Sir Chabbot remained calm in response to Makarov's remarks.

"We need to see your sincerity. Otherwise, don't even think about crossing the strait."

This was the Royal Navy's trump card. After all, the Ottoman Empire still had a large territory in Anatolia, and the Holy Alliance had no choice but to cross the Bosphorus Strait if it wanted to press its advantage.

However, as long as the British Mediterranean Fleet was present, even if the Holy Alliance had a million-strong army, it would not be able to cross the Bosphorus Strait, since the army could not fight the navy at sea.

Should we launch a strong attack using the navy?

Leaving aside the Russian Navy, which was already half-dead at this point, even if the Austrian Imperial Navy committed all its main forces to win, it would still have to pay a huge price.

However, Franz and Nicholas I had an agreement that if the Austrian Empire joined the war, the Ottoman Empire should not be completely destroyed for the time being.

Franz's reasoning was that a corrupt empire was easier to deal with because it had to contend not only with the Holy Alliance, but also with its people and its own elites.

But if we rush things and allow this decaying empire to collapse completely, who knows what extraordinary figures might emerge, or it might just become a complete wasteland.

Nicholas I at least outwardly agreed with this, given the considerable suffering Russia had endured in the Balkans over the years.

In fact, Nicholas I never understood why the Balkans, which were also Slavic Orthodox Christian regions, were more difficult to govern than the Lesser Caucasus, a region inhabited by pagans.

Nicholas I had one good point: he didn't dwell on things he couldn't understand; he just did them.

The region of Asia Minor was so desirable to the Austrian Empire that they wouldn't even accept it as a free gift.

The Holy Alliance diplomats were well aware of their own bottom lines, so they had absolutely no interest in what the British called the Straits.

Sir Chabbot was getting restless; he couldn't understand what the other party really wanted.

"I propose that we both calm down for a few days before negotiating. After all, this concerns the lives of tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of people, and I hope everyone will be cautious enough."

"agree."

"How many days?"

General Makarov, with an air of arrogance, seemed to be hoping for a war between the two sides, even though Russia was hardly in a position to deal with the navy.

Indeed, General Makarov was a typical anti-Austrian, and his actions were largely aimed at sparking a major war between Britain and Austria.

This would both eliminate the British forces and severely damage the Austrian navy.

While the Russian high command was eager to eliminate British naval power in the Mediterranean, the anti-Austrian faction felt it would be best to eliminate the Austrian navy as well.

Just because Nicholas I couldn't think of something doesn't mean no one else in Russia could.

Faced with the Russians' repeated, almost provocative remarks, Sir Chabbotton could no longer contain himself.

How many days do you want?

"Three days."

"make a deal."

The Austrian Empire's diplomats remained silent, which was essentially Franz's stance.

Sir Charles Chabbot returned to his Golden Horn post.

"Three days. We only have three days. If we don't surrender, the Holy Alliance will most likely not give us another chance."

"Has the strategy of transferring weapons failed?"

“Those Russians are idiots! They sent a big, uncouth fellow! You wouldn’t believe it, I could hear him bragging from a kilometer away.” Sir Chabbotton finally lost his composure; he was usually a very cultured man.

"This is a difficult situation. If we hand over our ships to the Austrians, the Mediterranean Fleet will be completely wiped out."

And let's not forget what the Austrians started with. It was their raid on an Egyptian fleet that enabled the Austrian Imperial Navy to achieve a qualitative leap in size.

Otherwise, what good could their few dilapidated ships do, no matter how powerful they were?

"The Count of Stratford sighed," he said.

"I don't understand why the fleet has to be handed over to the Russians. Is it to enhance the strength of the Russian navy to counter Austria?"

If that's the case, why don't we just sail the ship to Sevastopol?

An old general asked, puzzled.

In fact, according to the tradition of the British Navy, it should be "fighting the enemy whenever possible." Avoiding battle before had already damaged the honor of the navy, and now he wanted to surrender. He felt that he had become a joke.

Many British naval officers share this view. They are accustomed to the tradition of "fighting the enemy at all costs," and it is this indomitable spirit that has enabled the Royal Navy to repeatedly create miracles of fighting against superior numbers and winning battles.

“That’s right, let’s go to Sevastopol. A lot of my brothers died there. Maybe the Russians will stuff us into barrels too.”

We can keep each other company then!

Soon, the generals present became agitated, because the battle had been incredibly frustrating.

What are they doing? Cleaning up the messes for the Ottomans all day long, and guarding the gates for the Russians (blocking the ports).

They were about to surrender after only a few decent battles, and to the Russians no less. In their eyes, there was nothing more shameful than this, and they should leave as soon as possible like those irresponsible guys, so they wouldn't have to worry so much.

Seeing that his own people were about to fight, Viscount Stratford quickly explained the purpose of the negotiations.

"Our aim is to sow discord between the Austrians and the Russians, not to actually surrender!"
Theoretically speaking, if we simply hand over a small portion of our ships and equipment to the Russians, the Austrians will immediately become restless and start fighting amongst themselves.

We can take this opportunity to leave. As long as we don't dock at any point, the chances of being discovered are very low. Once we get out of the Strait of Gibraltar, we'll have accomplished our mission.

Although the Mediterranean Sea doesn't look very big on a map, in reality, without satellites, it's extremely difficult to intercept a high-speed fleet on the vast ocean.

Or rather, it would be almost impossible without accurate intelligence.

Even if reconnaissance ships discover the fleet, it will take time to establish contact with their own fleet before they can intercept it.

Unless the Austrian Imperial Navy is stationed at the Strait of Gibraltar, which is impossible, not to mention that the Austrian Navy has already deployed its main force in Athens for this Near East war.

Even if the Austrian Navy were truly stationed in the Strait of Gibraltar, let's not forget that Gibraltar was still in British hands, and they could have used primitive warning methods such as smoke and lights to give the Mediterranean Fleet an early warning.

Moreover, the Austrian Imperial Navy's squadrons were no match for the British Mediterranean Fleet, making it easy to lure away the main Austrian naval force.

"Then why don't we leave immediately? Why waste time talking to the Austrians and Russians? And why hand over our ships to them?"

Why should they get them?! Even if we sink the ship, we won't give them to them!

"Yes! That's so ungentlemanly!"

Another round of jeers erupted, and Viscount Stratford could only grit his teeth and explain.

"We have too many sailing warships now. It would be a huge disadvantage to run away from the Austrian Empire's all-steam warships."

What he said couldn't be clearer to the naval commanders. In fact, the Royal Navy had suffered from a lack of maneuverability in previous naval battles.

If they win, they can't catch up; if they lose, they can't escape. Moreover, due to the different speeds, the fleet can easily become separated, eventually leading to being divided and surrounded.

Abandoning some of the sailing warships would indeed make it easier to escape, and by then the Austrian navy would be too late to catch up.

These ships could also be used to bribe the Russians and even sow discord within the Holy League, since it's not so easy to get the Russians to give back what they've taken.

If the Russians kept all the spoils, the Austrians would find it difficult to let it go. In fact, even if the Russians later returned the spoils, the Austrians would find it hard to trust them again.

Everything was contingent on the Russians receiving the goods first, but those Russians were really acting strangely.

The British Mediterranean Fleet admirals couldn't help but feel a little regretful at this moment.

"Now what?"

The problem seems to be back to square one.

"Luckily, we still have three days."

Sir Chabbot said with a wry smile.

"We now need some people to stay behind to hold back the Holy League and surrender to the Russians at the last minute."

Do you need a group of martyrs?

Sir Charles Chabbot did not deny the matter.

"Those left to cover the rear will face the full force of our Royal Navy's most formidable enemy since the Anti-French War."

You only have wooden-style warships, while the Austrian Navy has their most advanced steam-powered ironclads.

Whether in terms of quantity or quality, you have no chance of winning.

Your act of surrender will condemn you to the pillory of shame.

"Great! We're doomed!"

A general clapped and laughed, tears welling up in his eyes.

“My heir gets seasick, so he can only work in the shipyard. I'll cover the rear.”

Sir Chapton said with a serious expression.

"You alone are not enough. You are only familiar with the members of the North Sea Fleet, so that you can play the most basic role."

We need one commander from each fleet.

Two more generals stepped forward.

"Alright, you have two days to get to know your new subordinates. We'll leave under cover of night in three days. Good luck."

"England expects that every man will do his duty."

(England hopes everyone will do their duty)

Three days later, one night, Austrian Imperial scouts spotted a British fleet attempting to leave the Black Sea straits.

However, this fleet of sailing warships was merely a decoy; their purpose was to provide cover for the elite British Mediterranean fleet.