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

Chapter 1844 A new journey
Fortunately, not many people know about this. Adjani has already gone abroad, and Talia doesn't talk about it.

Not many people knew about this secret room. At the time, Adjani and Talia were peeking through the window cracks when Franz, out of curiosity, went over to investigate.

However, Franz did not want to interfere too much in such private matters within the family, after all, the things that happened in other noble families were even more outrageous.

In fact, her dissolute private life was only a minor issue for Grand Duchess Sneka; her biggest problem was a difference in values.

Having grown up in the Omani royal palace, Grand Duchess Seneca was indifferent to life. Although there were bound to be some unsavory things in the palace, she did not regard anyone outside the royal family as human beings.

In the Omani Empire, the Sultan's power was almost limitless, so matters of life and death were not a big deal.

In the past, Sneka could dispose of her servants at will based on her own mood and preferences, but the Austrian Empire was different; even the royal family had to find a reasonable excuse to kill someone.

Moreover, in most cases, they were not executed directly, but rather driven out, out of Vienna, or even out of Europe.

Of course, Sneka had been exposed to modern ideas, and Friedrich was not a bloodthirsty or unrestrained person. However, Sneka's punishments were often too harsh, and she also had misunderstandings about her status as Grand Duchess.

Although Friedrich wasn't love-struck, he couldn't control his wife.

It's a disgrace to the Habsburg family!
A combination of factors fueled Seneca's extreme thirst for power, while in the Austrian Empire, with Franz present, she had absolutely no chance.

At this time, the internal strife in the Omani Empire provided Sneka with the stage she longed for, but Franz did not entirely believe her when she said she was willing to make the Omani Empire a vassal.

It wasn't that Franz thought the Austrian Empire was afraid of being outmaneuvered if it couldn't conquer Oman; he was afraid that a complete breakdown in relations would affect the harmony of his family members.

"The Oman Empire is not small; the two regions combined have at least two hundred thousand troops."

Even if the Austrian Empire wanted to get involved in troop transport, it would have to bypass the entire African continent.

"Distance is not a problem. Our steam warships are minimally affected by wind direction and ocean currents. With our national strength, deploying 2 to 3 troops at once is absolutely no problem!"

"We only needed 2500 people to conquer Copenhagen."

Friedrich analyzed with great excitement that he was quite skilled in military campaigns.

Franz coughed lightly twice.

"Cough. Cough. How many people does the Marine Corps have in total? You're taking twenty or thirty thousand with you at once?"

I've never heard of using special forces as infantry.

Furthermore, given the long distance involved, damage to the soldiers and ships was inevitable.

This mobilization will take at least several months, and the war could potentially last for years. Have you calculated the losses incurred by the troops and the costs of logistical support during that time?

Grand Duchess Sneka spoke without hesitation.

“The losses of the Austrian Empire’s expeditionary force were naturally borne by the Omani Empire.”

Franz continued.

“We also need a reasonable excuse. We can’t just say that Said’s grandson is going to fight for the throne after his death, can we?”

Grand Duchess Sneka was prepared for this, and following European propaganda conventions, she gave a very respectable reason.

"The reason is naturally that we cannot bear to see the people of Oman suffer from the ravages of war and we want to stop the war and call for peace. We are waging a war to end the war."

"Then what risks did the Austrian Empire itself have to bear? The risk of a depleted military force at home and the risk of strained diplomatic relations with other countries."

Friedrich and Seneca understood that their forces were depleted, but they didn't quite understand why it would offend other countries.

Could it be Oman? They had no idea that the Omani Empire held such weight in Franz's heart.

"You don't think you're the only ones interested in the Oman Empire, do you?"

To be honest, the British are definitely involved in the current internal strife in Oman.

Perhaps there were other countries, but none of that matters. What matters is that the inclusion of the Austrian Empire would inevitably trigger even greater conflicts.

Friedrich said, puzzled.

"Doesn't that further demonstrate the necessity of our intervention? Are we just going to watch the Oman Empire fall into the hands of others?"

Seneca seemed to understand something, and she quickly said.

"We will do as Your Majesty wishes. We trust you."

After saying that, she placed her hand on Franz's wrist, revealing a smile that said, "You can have whatever you want."

Franz had to admit that the person in front of him was intelligent. Talking to intelligent people doesn't require too much beating around the bush, but it's still important to make things clear.

Although Franz values ​​emotions, he won't talk about feelings with people who value interests.

This is the least you can do to show respect to the other person.

“That’s good. Uncle Friedrich, I can allocate one-third of the fleet to you, and give you five thousand marines.”

Sneka frowned slightly. She was well aware of the strength of the Austrian Empire's army, but five thousand men were far too few. After all, the Oman Empire boasted an army of two hundred thousand, and fighting forty men against one was simply too much of a stretch.

It's worth mentioning here that these propaganda slogans are basically all lies. According to Omani historical records, at the height of Said's rule, the country's military strength was only 2 to 3 men, more than 60% of whom were naval personnel.

The Omani Empire in the book has been significantly strengthened and has gained some new territories, but its military strength is still less than 100,000.

Of course, this has nothing to do with the propaganda line; if it's going to be said that it's 200,000, then it's still 200,000.

As for Seneca, she may be very politically sensitive, but military and political matters are not entirely equivalent, and she does not know as much about the situation in Oman as she thinks.

Putting aside other factors, Sneka greatly underestimated the Austrian Empire's influence in the Omani Empire, and even more so, the Austrian Empire's intelligence-gathering capabilities.

Friedrich, on the other hand, seemed completely unconcerned, believing that winning was all that mattered and everything else was irrelevant.

The army Franz allocated was sufficient for him to carry out his plans.

This is actually related to the different ways of thinking. Friedrich had seen many cases and experienced many wars.

Wars between European countries and colonies in this era were mainly naval battles, which were essentially a process of fleets defeating the enemy fleet, occupying ports, and waiting for the other side to come and negotiate. This was later known as "gunboat diplomacy".

Although the Omani Empire was a maritime nation, Princess Sneka's plan was to gradually conquer cities. This was the only way to maintain the stability of her rule. However, Franz could not accept this approach; he was not so idle as to conquer a modern nation by force.

Such behavior is undoubtedly counterproductive. Even in Southeast Asia, Franz adopted a backdoor listing strategy and did not directly engage in military conquest.

"Then I wish you a safe journey."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Friedrich had little interest in being the retired emperor of the Omani Empire, but looking back at his family history, it seemed that legally acquiring land through marriage had always been a Habsburg tradition, and he felt that he and his son should also do their part for the family.

Franz's decision to intervene in the Omani civil war did not face much opposition from the Austrian Empire's high command, as they were already accustomed to Franz's various bizarre orders.

It's just about bypassing Africa to participate in a war.
The lower classes of the Austrian Empire consistently supported the war; it didn't matter who they fought against, as long as they could win.

The elite class felt that the wars were too frequent, but they couldn't bring themselves to say that it was a waste of resources and manpower, since the Austrian Empire's economy was not declining but was actually growing rapidly.

However, this did not bring glory to the so-called elite class; on the contrary, it instilled in them a deep-seated fear. Because Franz was so powerful and extremely averse to money-for-power exchanges, this greatly limited their opportunities for advancement.

The elite class has lost the ability to manipulate politics with money and public opinion. Although they have a lot of money, they may be taken away at any time for breaking the law.

The nobles were also walking on thin ice, because they had lost the ability to check the power of the monarchy since 1848.

The catastrophes Franz had caused over the years had severely weakened the traditional aristocracy, while most of the new nobles had been disciplined into loyal servants of the emperor.

The millennia-old game of power suddenly fell apart, and they were reduced from players to pawns.

The nobles still maintained their high status on the surface, but in reality, if they dared to act recklessly as before, Franz would send them to the gallows.

The Austrian Empire was not afraid of Oman, a powerful nation in the western Indian Ocean. Although the war had not yet begun, many people had already started to study what benefits the war could bring.

Although the Austrian Empire had trade relations with the Omani Empire, these were mainly at the official level, with very little private exchange.

In fact, Emperor Said the Great was very afraid of the invasion of the Austrian Empire, so he guarded against it in all areas and spent a lot of money to hire Austrian advisors and scholars.

His approach isn't wrong, after all, the Arab world has been doing it this way for thousands of years.

However, this land lacks even the most basic "soil," and those who are truly talented are unwilling to come to such a place; those who do come are only there for the money.

Franz is not saying that people who work for money are not talented, but in order to maximize their profits, they will inevitably hold back some skills, or even talk nonsense with a straight face.

Therefore, Said's reforms also had little effect, and his reforms collapsed after his death.

Most Austrians apparently viewed the Omani Empire as a dumping ground, and in their eyes, Omanis should be similar to Mexicans or Americans.

However, many observant people noticed that the authorities did not take any major action, after all, Franz knew just how poor the lower classes in such countries were.

Those at the bottom level were already doing well just to maintain the most basic survival, and the amount of currency held by the local powerful families was pitifully small for the Austrian Empire at that time.

In fact, given the situation in Oman, selling arms is the fastest way to make money, but due to inconvenient transportation, it doesn't actually earn much.

Of course, robbery is a faster way to make money than doing business.

Moreover, plundering can weaken the resistance of local powerful families, making it easier to rule them. Franz thought that Seneca would definitely accept this approach.

For Franz, Oman's true value lay in the fact that after the Suez Canal was opened, he needed a watchdog to protect it.

The Austrian Empire launched a new war, finally bringing relief to its neighboring countries. After all, it was unlikely that the Austrian Empire would wage a new war during this expedition, and at least the European continent was safe.

However, the British were not so happy. In fact, the British were indeed behind this war, because the Suez Canal was about to open and they no longer had the strength to continue fighting for it.

So Lord Palmerston came up with an underhanded tactic, as the Earl of Derby, as Prime Minister, just didn't want to have any more direct conflicts with powerful nations.

Thus, the two sides quickly reached an agreement and devised a plan to overthrow the Omani Empire. They did not support Majid, the sixth son whom Saeed favored, because Zanzibar had very limited appeal to Britain.

In contrast, the Omani Empire's homeland could both threaten the Red Sea and control the Persian Gulf.

In addition to the Aden region previously controlled by the British, they effectively locked the Suez Canal from the Asian side, and could even control the entire Arabian Peninsula.

Said's eldest son, Suweni, not only held real power but was also very dissatisfied with his sixth son, who had always been favored by his father. Such people's ambitions are very easy to provoke.

Suveni trusted the British promises implicitly, so he sent someone to smuggle something into Said's wine.

When Saeed died suddenly, Suweni hastily declared himself the new Sultan, while Majid was accused of poisoning his father.

Suveni knew very well that without the colonies of Zanzibar and Somalia, the Omani Empire would be an empty shell, unable to maintain its dignity and sooner or later degenerating into a nomadic era.

Historically, after losing Zanzibar and East Africa, the Omani Empire quickly fell to the point of selling dates and dried fish to survive.

As for the luxury goods of the Omani Empire, although they were highly profitable at the time, their sales were dismal, and their contribution to the country's revenue was negligible.

Historically, Sueene's abandonment of Zanzibar was largely due to being misled by the British. During the mediation, the British made both sides agree that Zanzibar would pay a tribute to the Omani Empire every year.

However, as time went on, Suveni gradually lost his ability to collect debts by force, and the so-called tribute naturally ceased to exist.

However, Suveni overestimated his influence and underestimated Majid's abilities.

Suveni's orders even reached Zanzibar before Said's obituary, and Majid used this to confirm that Suveni was the regicide.

Moreover, Majid had been operating in Zanzibar for many years, and local officials and people regarded him as Said's successor. As a result, the civil war in Zanzibar did not break out as Suveni had planned.

Majid, on the contrary, declared that Suveni was the traitor and said that whoever could kill Suveni and avenge the Sultan would be crowned the new Sultan of Muscat. He also called on the people to overthrow Suveni's rule.

With Said's other sons making moves, Suveni naturally wouldn't sit idly by, and thus the drama of the nine princes vying for the throne was staged once again.

Although Suveni had gone too far, Majid had no intention of launching a counterattack on Muscat. Majid was merely trying to alleviate his own pressure, and his promises were nothing but empty words.

According to the original script, Britain would very likely have taken control of Muscat (referring to Oman), but at this point, the Austrian Empire chose to intervene.

Although Franz did not explicitly state which side he would support, there was no doubt that whichever side the Austrian Empire supported would be the ultimate winner of this succession war.

In Whitehall, a cabinet member from the Navy keenly sensed something.

"The Austrian Empire has finally divided its forces! Are we going to fight them in the western Indian Ocean?"

(End of this chapter)