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

Chapter 1819 Golden Divine Might
In fact, Alexander did not slack off in Alaska; on the contrary, he led his army on an expedition.

In the previous war, Alexander led his 5,000-strong army to successfully invade the Yukon Territory, and his forces even reached the Mackenzie River.

However, due to the inability to find the enemy and the lack of supplies, they had to retreat. The situation in England was similar: they could not find the enemy at all on the vast snowfield.

After several months of back-and-forth, both sides shifted to a strategic defensive posture, as the cost of attacking was simply too high.

In other words, the Russian army was able to circle around in this freezing weather and then retreat back to its own territory. Any other country's army would have collapsed long ago; the British, for example, suffered a loss of one-fifth of their troops after just one such circumnavigation of their own territory.

Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna.

Nicholas I's reply left Franz speechless; the Tsar's thought process was indeed quite unusual.

In fact, there was another reason why Franz didn't try to monopolize the gold mines in Alaska: with the technology of that era, it was difficult enough to survive in Alaska, let alone mine gold.

That's frozen wasteland; even if you break a shovel, you might not be able to break through the soil.

For a specific example, you can refer to the Great Northern Wilderness: to reclaim wasteland, you must first burn it. Put coal and wood together and burn them for a few days, then dig through the ashes while they are still hot.

Once it has cooled down, the campfire is lit again, and this process is repeated.

However, unlike winter land reclamation, Alaska is permafrost, making the challenges even more extreme than those in the Great Northern Wilderness.

Moreover, the cold in Alaska is extremely terrifying. Temperatures of minus forty degrees Celsius can affect the physical properties of many things. For example, mercury thermometers will freeze solid, and shovels will become as fragile as glass.
In this kind of weather, let alone engaging in high-intensity physical labor like mining, simply surviving is extremely difficult.

Previously, the Austrian Empire had transported several batches of laborers to Alaska, and the mortality rates for Hawaiians, Japanese, and Irish were alarmingly high.

(Most of these people also have some problems; they are either lazy or have strong anti-Olympic tendencies.)
Their survival rate in the first year was less than 50%. From 1851 to the present, the Austrian Empire has sent more than 50,000 laborers to Alaska, but only more than 10,000 have survived.

While the Russians' inhumanity played a part, it also illustrates the danger of this place.

Even in the development zones and trading posts that the Austrian Empire established in the southwest near the coast, the living conditions were quite harsh.

The supply of goods mainly relied on trade with California. Franz had done everything he could to make money, but the return on investment was really, really low.

Normally, such a large-scale undertaking should have resulted in huge profits, but in reality, even the officials sent to the site are requesting the cancellation of the plan.

Whether it's reindeer farming, greenhouse agriculture, fur trade, or ice trade, these are all tough, tiring jobs that don't pay much.

Compared to this, the deep-sea fishing industry, which involves battling the ocean, seems so wonderful.

In fact, Franz did all this to lure the Russians to North America. The best way to keep a land from being peaceful is to turn it into an arena for great powers to fight.

Moreover, Russia's arrival in North America would directly affect Britain's strategic layout in the Dominion of Canada. Despite the fact that Britain and Russia fought for a year in the freezing cold without finding anyone, Russia's arrival would be a significant factor.

But as long as gold and sufficient temptation are present, the Russians will soon be drawn in. Even the desolate Siberia couldn't stop a Russian invasion, could it?
At this point, it was entirely predictable that Russia would upgrade its military presence in Alaska after the discovery of gold, and Franz's objectives had essentially been achieved.

Once Russia establishes a foothold in North America, future conflict with the United States will be almost inevitable. The idea that the United States can once again exploit the lulls in the European wars to secretly develop itself, as it has historically done, is nothing but wishful thinking.

Surrounded by three major powers
As for the gold mines, they weren't that important. Franz even believed that Russia might not be able to mine inland gold for quite some time. Naturally, Franz would choose the gold mines in the south near the sea, since the Austrian Empire also needed to collect some interest and replenish its ammunition.

It was quite necessary to make Nicholas I hit a wall, otherwise it would be easy to be suspected of having ulterior motives.

Of course, if the Russians were stubborn enough to forcibly mine the gold mines inland, then the Austrian Empire's simple layout in Alaska could have made a fortune. After all, no matter how hard the Russians could endure, they couldn't go without food, clothes, or tools.

In Alaska, only the Austrian Empire could supply these goods.

Franz recalled the potholed roads in the photos. He clearly remembered ordering the repair of the roads throughout the country, so how could they still be like this?

It seems highly likely that the problem lies with the oversight system, or that these roads were simply unimportant in the eyes of those officials.

Franz suddenly wanted to understand the true situation of the people of the Austrian Empire. The only way he could find out was through reports and photos provided by various surveillance agencies, as well as news reports disclosed by investigative journalists.

However, it remains to be seen how credible the information presented to Franz was.

As Emperor of the Austrian Empire, it was virtually impossible for Franz to personally understand the true situation of the general public.

As for the people around Franz, they were either nobles or officials. If they were commoners, they must have been even more extraordinary, otherwise they would never have met him.

Archduke Karl's family suggested that he experience the life of a low-ranking soldier.

"By sleeping in soldiers' tents and eating soldiers' food, you can know what the soldiers are thinking."

Based on Albrecht's words, Franz decided to experience it for himself. Actually, military life wasn't unfamiliar to Franz, as he had indeed led troops.

Although Franz was in the army, he had a large retinue of servants and guards, and he lived in temporary palaces, and even had beautiful women by his side.

It perfectly matched the military career that traditional nobles imagined, more like a well-prepared journey than a campaign.

However, Franz didn't feel anything special about sleeping in military tents and eating communal meals in the army.

In fact, thanks to his efforts over the years, the logistics of the Austrian army have been greatly improved, with thicker blankets, early sleeping bags, and even cots readily available.

Historically, the invention of the sleeping bag didn't occur until the 1870s, but its structure wasn't actually that complicated, and Franz invented it ahead of schedule without much effort.

With the Austrian Empire's industrial production capacity, mass production of sleeping bags was not difficult, so at this time, sleeping bags were the most common type of bedding in the Austrian army.

The military dining cart next to them even had different kinds of food to choose from.

Jianbing guozi (Chinese crepes), grilled sausages, hamburgers, oden, mala tang (spicy hot pot), curry rice, various carp balls, carp cakes, and even shawarma (invented by Franz in this life), as well as traditional broth, vegetable soup, and porridge.

Hard biscuits, hard bread, flour sausages, and canned goods are all available, but these are emergency foods; regular food is usually handled by the food truck.

Franz stared at the food in front of him, lost in thought.