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

Chapter 1908 When the Kingdom of Sardinia Loses Sardinia

Of course, Walevsky never intended to actually help the Kingdom of Sardinia defeat Austria; he merely wanted to mitigate France's losses.

Walevsky had prepared for the worst. If the Austrian Empire did forcibly annex Sardinia, France would at least gain its long-desired natural border and block the Austrian Empire's offensive routes.

Such opportunistic exploitation left Cavour feeling desperate; he was losing money on one hand and was losing even more on the other, and it seemed that the Kingdom of Sardinia was doomed.

At this point, Cavour was unable to resolve the problem of Victor Emmanuel II, so he chose to remain silent.

If even the Prime Minister doesn't speak up, how can anyone else dare to?

In the end, only a sigh from Victor Emmanuel II remained.
To be honest, the situation in the Kingdom of Sardinia was somewhat unexpected by Franz. He had thought that the other side would surrender, would be in a fit of impotent rage, and would completely side with England and France, but he never expected that the Kingdom of Sardinia would explode on the spot, and explode so thoroughly.

Imperial Council.

"Your Majesty, this is truly a godsend!"

At that time, this was the prevailing opinion among the high-ranking officials of the Austrian Empire.

"Your Majesty, our vanguard has been deployed and is ready to launch an attack on the Kingdom of Sardinia at your command!"

War Minister Latour's speech immediately drew cheers.

"Your Majesty! Nine of the eleven governors of the Kingdom of Sardinia have expressed their willingness to serve our country."

They will surrender immediately as soon as our army arrives. Many nobles and merchants of Sardinia are also actively cooperating with us.”

Foreign Minister Habescu spoke with obvious excitement, and the other ministers were also overjoyed.

"Your Majesty, the Kingdom of Sardinia is rotten to the core! We should seize this opportunity to take it down in one fell swoop!"

"That's right! This will not only strengthen our power, but also save the poor people of the Kingdom of Sardinia."

This is the mission God has given us!

Every word and every piece of news that followed was exhilarating.

The actions of Britain and France are also reassuring; neither country has taken any substantial action, and even the voices of opposition have diminished considerably.

It is believed that after the Turin riots, the voices of opposition from Britain and France will become even less noticeable.

However, despite the barrage of positive news, Franz remained expressionless, even seemingly deep in thought.

Baron Ritter von Geerz, the newly appointed Minister of Transport in Franz and a representative of the younger generation, seemed to have thought of something and immediately spoke up.

“Your Majesty, we do not need to bear the responsibility of starting a war. We can simply ask the Kingdom of Sardinia to invite us in the name of restoring order.”

Once everything is settled, we can have those governors who are willing to pledge allegiance to us form a new government that is closer to us.

This new Sardinian kingdom should be stable but weak.

In this way, we can achieve our strategic goals without having to consider the risks of overexpansion.

In just over a decade, the Kingdom of Sardinia will become our de facto territory, just like the rest of Italy.

Franz couldn't help but look at the new Minister of Transport with new respect. Baron Ritter von Geerz was originally a military fortress expert.

In 1848, Baron Gertz was promoted to general for his meritorious service in suppressing the rebellion. Given his title, being promoted to general before the age of 40 could be described as having a very promising future.

However, Baron Gertz answered Franz's call and became an official in the transport department, where he accomplished many incredible feats over the next decade.

Franz's initial goal of completing the task within twenty years was accomplished by Baron Geerz in just ten years. By 1859, the total length of the Austrian Imperial Railways had already surpassed the combined total length of the British and French railways.

The 28,000-kilometer railway had connected all the major cities of the Austrian Empire at that time.

Besides his practical execution skills, Baron Gertz's plans were also very forward-thinking, and Franz enjoyed dealing with such intelligent people.

In addition, this person was also very good at handling subordinate relationships and multi-departmental cooperation, making him the most dazzling star in the Austrian Imperial government at that time.

Baron Gertz's words at this moment were also very insightful; there are not many people who can remain calm and think rationally in such a fervent atmosphere.

People have a natural tendency to be lazy and want to solve problems in the simplest way, but they don't realize that some things cannot be simplified.

Directly satisfying the Sardinians' demands and annexing the Sardinian kingdom seems perfectly reasonable and legal.

But he didn't know what kind of bad consequences this would bring. Franz wasn't worried about the direct conflict with Arcane magic that would result from losing the Sardinian Kingdom as a buffer.

Annexing a legitimate country at the request of the people is tantamount to opening Pandora's box.

Especially for a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, and multi-heritage country like the Austrian Empire, does this mean that every race and every community within the Austrian Empire could do the same?

The impact of this victory will be far worse than that of the Great Rebellion of 1848.

In addition, how would the weaker countries outside view the Austrian Empire?

Leaders of countries like Prussia, Hanover, the Netherlands, and Denmark would probably be terrified, as their influence within their own countries is not necessarily comparable to Franz's.

At that point, let alone a four-nation alliance, there might be a fourteen-nation alliance joining forces to counter Austria's influence.

This kind of thing is not only very troublesome for weak countries, but even some strong countries will reconsider the threat posed by the Austrian Empire.

After all, there were almost no great powers that were loved by the common people, and the good life in the Austrian Empire was obvious to all.

So, if they can't make ends meet, will they raise the banner of support for the Austrian Empire?
Rebellions in European history have always lacked leaders, so they often relied on the banner of God or priests, as well as local nobles.

These people are either too abstract and incapable of taking overall control, or they are traitors or using their troops as bargaining chips.

The Austrian Empire, however, was entirely different, as it was a complete and powerful empire with a comprehensive system and a highly legitimate ruler.

Once this so-called leader becomes Franz, then the program, goals, and even discipline are all there.

The advantage is that it will likely attract people from all directions to surrender, but the disadvantage is that it will definitely make enemies on all sides.

Considering the Austrian Empire's current national strength and its geographical location in Central Europe, Franz did not intend to do so for the time being.

After all, doing so would fundamentally change the rules of the game in European politics, and even alter the source of power.

Of course, Franz would do the same.
There are a few issues that must be addressed: doing this could make the Austrian Empire a convenient scapegoat for anyone. It's possible that a situation could arise where a local government in a country has a conflict with its central government, and then the Austrian Empire is invoked as a convenient excuse.

"If you don't meet our demands, we'll become Austrians!"

At that time, Franz would have been either beaten to death or cursed to death, since there was once a country that wanted to take advantage of it, but even decades after its demise, it was still being repeatedly trampled on.

"Baron Gertz, your idea is good. However, things are not that simple, and England and France are not as incompetent as they seem."

Our situation is not as optimistic as it seems. Those governors who have chosen to betray the Kingdom of Sardinia now may very well choose to betray us after they seize power.

Let Sardinia handle its own affairs. We should just take what we deserve, and we do need something more substantial.

In fact, the reason why the Kingdom of Sardinia was able to develop rapidly at this time was inseparable from the Apennine Commercial Alliance formed by the Austrian Empire.

This is precisely why the Austrian Empire had such a strong following within the Kingdom of Sardinia, but it is truly an exaggeration to say that it could achieve such widespread support before the war even began.

Franz knew that there were definitely a lot of speculators involved, and if Franz could not meet their demands or they felt the deal was not worthwhile, they would very likely turn against him again.

Even knowing this, Franz was not sure how to deal with these guys, because taking direct action would be seen as killing them after they had served their purpose.

Then a scene will appear where Franz hates them to the core but has to give them high-ranking positions and generous salaries, and even has to help them cover up their crimes.

That outcome was clearly not what Franz wanted, and it was inconsistent with his past actions.

If we actually do that, all our previous efforts will be in vain.

Franz would rather spend a fortune on horse bones than carve flowers on dung.

The other ministers at the Imperial Council found it hard to understand, but Baron Gertz, who had made the suggestion, had no objection. As the Minister of Transport, he shouldn't have interfered in such a setting.

"Your Majesty is wise; it was I who failed to consider this matter."

Baron Gertz was also clever; he knew he couldn't let his leader's words fall flat, so he asked another question.

"Your Majesty, are you referring to Genoa, something more substantial?"

Franz shook his head. Genoa was now indistinguishable from the territory of the Austrian Empire, and in terms of loyalty alone, it might even be stronger than some turbulent regions.

"No, Genoa is already ours. What we need is more money and land, and power."

For example, Sardinia.

However, what Franz was unaware of was that a turbulent situation was already brewing on Sardinia.

In the former palace of the Kingdom of Alborea, local nobles, guild leaders, top merchants, and several renowned priests from Sardinia held a semi-secret meeting.

“Those Savoy lackeys don’t treat us like human beings at all! They’re nothing but a bunch of thieves who stole the throne!”

They don't deserve to call themselves the Kingdom of Sardinia! We are the true Sardinians!

"That's right! We have 800,000 people, why should they treat us so harshly!"

"Get rid of those conscription officers and tax collectors!"

"Burn down their houses! Drive those vampires into the sea!"

"Those bastards in Turin are fighting amongst themselves! What are we afraid of!"

Clearly, the islanders of Sardinia had long suffered under the rule of the Kingdom of Sardinia, so at the instigation of several Roman missionaries, they quickly united and decided to revolt.

Of course, there was another objective reason why the islanders of Sardinia acted so quickly: 8,000 of the 10,000 soldiers originally stationed on Sardinia were withdrawn to deal with the war against the Austrian Empire.

It is indeed a bit difficult for the remaining two thousand people to take care of the entire island of Sardinia, but this is the opportunity that the islanders of Sardinia have been waiting for.

The islanders' long-standing bandit culture has made them fearless and they have a deep-seated hatred for the lackeys of the Savoy dynasty.

The battle was intense from the very beginning, with islanders armed with various farming tools lying in ambush along the roads to ambush tax collectors and grain requisition teams, and then spreading false information to nearby military camps.

When the Sardinian army came out in full force, the islanders who had just been conscripted rebelled and opened the gates of the camp. Countless islanders who had been waiting for a long time rushed in and killed all the remaining enemy soldiers.

The battle was exceptionally fierce because the option of surrender was never available from the beginning.

The situation in the city wasn't much better; it wasn't a haven from disaster, but rather a true death trap.

Those rural nobles and lowly islanders who were usually obsequious turned into the most terrifying enemies at this moment.

They knew the Sardinian army's deployment and habits far too well; they had waited far too long for this day.

Although the country ruled by the Savoy dynasty was called the Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was located on the periphery of the country.

The heart of the Kingdom of Sardinia is Piedmont, while Sardinia is merely the most peripheral and least valuable part of the kingdom.

The relationship between the two is somewhat similar to the title of the British Emperor of India, but India is still the most dazzling jewel in the crown of the British Empire.

Sardinia is considered garbage and a burden to the Kingdom of Sardinia, and even the word "Sardinian" itself carries a derogatory connotation in the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Sardinian officials viewed the islanders as Africans, not Europeans. Sardinia was a poorly paid colony for the Kingdom, and they even had to maintain stability there.

The islanders of Sardinia once believed that joining the army was a viable path to success, and they displayed remarkable bravery on the battlefield. Their performance in the anti-French war was particularly heroic, leading the Kingdom of Sardinia to begin recruiting large numbers of Sardinians into its army.

However, their bravery was met with the assessment that they were "foolish and reckless, suitable as cannon fodder."

In fact, the officers of the Kingdom of Sardinia did just that, always placing the islanders of Sardinia in the most dangerous positions to face the most dangerous enemies.

These islanders are neither superhumans nor truly fools; they are simply a group of marginalized people who want to change their fate.

After repeated blows, the islanders of Sardinia chose to give up. They would rather be called "shepherds" than be the fools who stick their necks out.

In governance, Turin did not trust the local elites of Sardinia. Their officials and governors were directly appointed by Turin, and local nobles and elites were excluded for a long time.

The Sardinian government fears collusion between officials and locals, so officials are appointed to very short terms, usually only 2-3 years, which ironically makes corruption even more rampant.

Many officials sent to Sardinia were there with the mindset of making a quick buck and leaving. They didn't care what would happen to them after they left, so they would use their power to the fullest extent to squeeze out as much profit as possible.