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

Chapter 1814 Solving the Problem (Part 1)

Franz continued.

"Regarding the language issue you mentioned, it is only natural for officers to learn the official language of the country. We cannot expect officers to learn the same language as soldiers."

The "Fifty Essential Battlefield Terms" alone is far from enough for commanders. If they are not even willing to make this much effort, they might as well continue to be soldiers.

And you should also know that many of the teachers in our military academy are retired generals who have served on the battlefield.

Isn't it a bit much to make these elderly people learn other languages ​​to please the young people?

Franz raised his hand, and Mia immediately took a document from the cabinet and handed it to Benedek.

"This is an evaluation report on the implementation of a multilingual teaching model in military academies."

Benedek was immediately astonished and began to look through the pages.

In fact, he was not the only one with similar thoughts; the ethnic and linguistic issues of the Austrian Empire had always been major problems.

However, precisely because of this, Franz would never allow such a divisive behavior, as discipline and unity have always been considered fundamental to the military (except in Hollywood movies).

If officers are allowed to divide themselves into groups based on language, isn't that condoning separatism?

Franz stated directly that he wanted a group of loyal soldiers who could fight tough battles, not a group of LGBT+ overgrown children.

Moreover, achieving absolute equality for all was impossible, at least in the 19th century.

The Austrian Empire had too many ethnic groups, making it extremely difficult for linguists to master all of them.

What's even more frightening is that there are local dialects in different places. Does that mean that military academy teachers will have to learn them one by one?
Should different languages ​​be taught with different teaching aids and textbooks?

Given the productivity of the 19th century, even royalty wouldn't have been so extravagant in educating their heirs; at least Franz and his brothers never enjoyed such treatment.

Of course, the report wouldn't be so straightforward, nor would it include all this nonsense.

Benedek spoke more about his own feelings. Born in Hungary and from a poor background, he encountered many problems with the language after arriving in Austria.

Because of their differing stances and ideologies, Franz was more inclined to solve problems than to adapt to them.

However, solving the problem is not as simple as it sounds. It requires not only huge investment but also continuous efforts to cope with the possible counterattack at any time.

At the same time, we must be prepared to bear huge costs. History is not lacking in people with the ambition to "solve problems", but most of them underestimated the difficulties and costs of "solving problems".

Even if Franz were a time traveler, he would only dare to implement his reforms after ascending the throne and personally quelling the rebellion to achieve absolute control over the country.

Even so, Franz often faced opposition and questioning, and even more extreme behavior.

The assassinations and frame-ups targeting members of the royal family and reformist officials have never stopped over the years, and the story behind Olga's assassination is far more complex than it appears on the surface.

Franz had previously avoided the question of the arrogance of Austrian Imperial officers.

This problem was actually caused by the times; the changes in the 19th century were too drastic. Much new knowledge and technology became outdated as soon as it was systematically organized. In just over twenty years, the standard weapons of the Austrian Empire alone were changed several times, and theories about war were also constantly evolving.

Some tactics that have been used for decades or even centuries are indeed outdated. Many new war theories are based on conjecture, and there are certainly many aspects that deserve discussion and debate.

Moreover, most of those who studied at the Austrian Imperial Military Academy had participated in wars and witnessed countless glorious victories; they had every right to be proud.

Returning to the present, Benedek felt from the bottom of his heart that His Majesty the Emperor was remarkable, seemingly always one step ahead of others, and often able to pinpoint the crux of the matter.

“Your Majesty, I understand. You have considered everything very thoroughly. I have one last thought: if possible, I hope that officers can be promoted more quickly.”

These are Benedek's honest words. Although he is often referred to as a legend among ordinary people, even such a legendary figure took 27 years to rise from a military academy student to a general.

Most officers from civilian backgrounds could only rise to the rank of colonel in their entire careers, unless they made great contributions and received a respectable posthumous award.

In reality, it is a low-probability event for a military academy student to become a general. It is precisely because of the many restrictions that generals have not become too numerous, and even if there were so many generals, there would not be that many actual vacancies.

Rapid promotions seem meaningless.
“I know what you mean. You feel that there are too many people in high positions who are just sitting there doing nothing, right?”

Franz spoke very directly, but Benedek quickly changed his tune.

"I just think that the peak of a soldier's life is between 30 and 40 years old. But unless you come from a very noble family, it is impossible to climb to a position that can influence the overall situation at this age."

I."

Benedek was clearly nervous in Franz's presence, constantly trying to explain or conceal something. But Franz had already seen through his thoughts, which made Benedek even more flustered.

“I understand what you mean, General Benedek. There are indeed quite a few incompetent and lazy bums in the high command of the Imperial Army right now.”

But I think the royal family members' performance was passable, right?

Archduke Karl's family, along with several other archdukes from collateral branches, held considerable prestige within the Austrian Imperial army.

Archduke Albrecht and Archduke Frederick, in particular, were leading figures in their respective fields, and the others were also quite capable, at least without any major blemishes on their records.

Benedek could only nod heavily.

"Reform takes time. Please give the Empire some time and be patient."

When the topic of friends came up, Benedek's pupils dilated suddenly, but Franz didn't seem to care much. After all, he had seen far too many people being used as pawns.

Franz always held a great admiration for a saying by a great man: "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." His reign as emperor had barely begun, and now he was already being targeted.

After ascending the throne, Franz carried out several major purges of the country's high nobility, and even the entire noble class.

But Franz's goal was never to destroy the aristocratic class; on the contrary, he was performing major surgery on the nobles of the Austrian Empire.

Franz could not relinquish control of the army and have a group of young officers overthrow the old generals who had just made great contributions to the Austrian Empire.
Then let them overthrow their own regime?

Franz had no interest in repeating the mistakes that his predecessors had made countless times. He would naturally promote commoner officers, but he would never alienate the nobles or exclude them.