After William finished speaking, Locks immediately understood. Locks was also very dissatisfied with Sunigo. After all, it stands to reason that such a Duke of Hesse, who is closely related to William, should be a good person in every aspect.
Closer to the Prussians than to the British.
In March 1794, William fulfilled his promise and upgraded Austria from a principality to a kingdom in the name of the King of the Romans, and the king of the new Kingdom of Austria was Karl.
In the Imperial Parliament in Frankfurt, the moment William's edict was officially promulgated, Karl felt relieved.
In order to upgrade Austria to a kingdom and legitimately become the king of Austria, Karl took huge risks before making up his mind to come to Frankfurt.
After all, after William officially arrived in Frankfurt from Brandenburg, Frankfurt and nearby areas could be said to be crowded with Prussian troops. The main Prussian army of more than 50,000 people was no joke.
Karl had indeed suspected that the Prussians were luring him to Frankfurt under the pretext of making Austria a kingdom. How could Karl escape the control of the Prussians when heavily troops gathered there.
And once the Prussians take control of Karl, facing Austria without Karl, Prussia will undoubtedly take and take away more. Don't forget, Karl is now the last hope of the Habsburg family.
After Karl took the risk and came to Frankfurt, the Prussian government had already sent someone to teach him what Karl's duty was during the coronation ceremony. That was to be the first to salute and congratulate William!
This request made Karl feel ashamed and angry, but his arms could not hold his thighs, let alone. Now that Karl had arrived in Frankfurt, he had put his safety in the hands of the Prussians. At this time, if he disobeyed the Prussians
Doesn’t it mean that you can’t live with yourself?
Therefore, despite being ashamed and angry, Karl faithfully followed the Prussian script.
While appeasing Austria, William did not forget the other states. Facing the powerful external enemy of Britain, it was in Prussia's interest that at least no major changes should occur within the Holy Roman Empire.
As for Hesse, which has always been against Prussia, it can be said that Hesse is the only one who did not benefit from the Prussians this time.
And just after William officially promulgated the coronation edict for Karl, William also summoned his brother-in-law in the palace in Frankfurt.
The reason why William summoned Karl was naturally not just to congratulate Karl, but mainly because William hoped to borrow a passage from Austria!
From Frankfurt to Rome, Italy, there is a mountain range blocking the way. This mountain range is the world-famous Alps.
There are only a few roads from Prussia to Northern Italy. Either go through Switzerland. After hundreds of years of pioneering by the Swiss, although it is not easy to walk, you can still walk. Or you can take a detour from France, but obviously for William
It is very unrealistic to take a detour from France.
Then there is only the last way left, which is to go from Austria.
In fact, the best way to get to Northern Italy is from Austria. After all, except for Slovenia, which belongs to Austria, the terrain is relatively gentle, and the rest of the terrain, whether from France or Switzerland, is steep and not suitable for large armies.
If the Alps were so easy to climb, then the names Hannibal and Napoleon would not be famous throughout Europe for climbing the Leer Alps.
The most convenient way to go to Northern Italy is from the Slovenia region of Austria, but this involves a problem, that is, whether the Austrians are willing to give way.
You should know that although William had just made Austria a kingdom and made Karl the first Austrian king in Austrian history, this does not mean that the Austrians were grateful to the Prussians and were willing to lend roads to the Prussians.
"Karl, congratulations, you have become the first Austrian king of the Habsburg family!"
William sat on the throne and said to Karl, with a smile on his face.
Seeing the smile on William's face, Karl's heart was immediately filled with vigilance.
The emperors of the Holy Roman Empire of all generations have to go to Rome. This is not a custom but has formed a law. In this case, although William has been crowned in Frankfurt, but this trip to Rome, William is
It cannot be avoided no matter what.
Karl, who was born in Habsburg, naturally knew very well that if he wanted to go to Rome from Frankfurt, the fastest way would undoubtedly be to go through Slovenia.
Knowing this, when Karl heard the news in Frankfurt that William was preparing to go to Rome, he immediately began to worry about gains and losses.
"All this is thanks to His Majesty's grace!"
Karl smiled and said to William who was sitting at the top.
And just after the two of them finished speaking, the room suddenly fell into silence. After all, it was really difficult for William to speak in person about borrowing money, and Karl, when William did not speak out, he naturally
I am happy to be deaf.
After a while, William felt that he could no longer bear it, so he only heard William say:
"King of Austria, I have called you here. In addition to expressing my blessings to you, I also need your help for something!"
"Oh, I wonder if the Almighty Emperor needs my help for anything?"
Seeing the dumbfounded look on Karl's face, William secretly cursed the little fox in his heart.
Both of them are smart people. If Karl doesn't know what William wants to say, then William is the first to not believe it. After all, such a big thing can be understood by just thinking about it with some brains.
"I am planning to go to Rome next month. If I do so, I will need to pass through your country. I hope your country can open the road!"
William finally chose the most straightforward words to confess.
But after William finished speaking, Karl immediately fell silent. After a while, Karl said:
"I understand your Majesty's thoughts. However, the Slovenia region is still very chaotic at the moment. If Your Majesty goes to Rome in a short time, he will inevitably be affected by some bad effects. Therefore, in my opinion, it is best for Your Majesty to postpone it for a while.
Time, it won’t be too late to discuss it again after your Majesty has cleared the Slovenia area!”
Karl smacked a haha in his mouth.
Seeing that Karl was actually preparing to use dragging tactics with him, William also had a sneer on his lips.
"Your Majesty Karl, of course I will be escorted by a large army when I go to Rome this time. Besides, as a member of the Holy Roman Empire, Austria is naturally under my rule! Under my rule, Slovenia is still
The chaos is undoubtedly discrediting the empire! Therefore, if Austria fails to do so, then I can also help you clean up Slovenia!"
William's words seemed a bit aggressive, and to be honest, this was what Karl was most worried about!
The false Taoist attack on Guo is a very famous allusion in Chinese history. Those who don’t know can ignore it.
In the West, although there is no such word, it does not mean that there are no such examples. Among them, Karl, who is on the weaker side, naturally has to be more defensive.
"I don't need to worry Your Majesty, but this matter is really of great importance. Please give me some time to discuss it with your ministers!"
"Haha. Well, Karl, you and I are in-laws. How could I harm you? Besides, if I had harmed you, then I would have supported Alexander a long time ago. How could you be the king of Austria today?
I'll give you three days. If you don't give me a reply after three days, do you think you can return to Vienna safely?"
Hearing the threat in William's words, Karl took a breath.
As William said, Karl took a huge risk when he came to Frankfurt this time. In addition to the fact that there were 50,000 Prussian troops gathered in the Frankfurt area, there was also another reason: Karl came to pay his respects like this.
The princes of the empire and states are not allowed to carry more than 500 followers each.
At first, all the princes were very worried about this rule of the Prussians, but with the guarantee of the Prussians, the princes finally came with their guards.
Even with the addition of some people who secretly protected Karl, Karl could only mobilize less than a thousand people in Frankfurt. On the other hand, Prussia had an army of fifty thousand!
Karl left the palace in despair, and William looked at Karl's back as he turned and left, his eyes full of coldness.
After two days of deliberation, Karl finally agreed to the Prussians' request to use the road.
Karl allowed the Prussians to use Frankfurt to Vienna, and then from Vienna to Venice, all roads included in Austrian territory.
Karl's consent was also forced. He finally understood that the Prussians had no plans to target him at the moment, but if he was on the opposite side of the Prussians at this time, then William would not mind letting him be his target after he ascended the throne.
The first target.
Just after Karl agreed to borrow the passage, William immediately summoned officials in the Prussian government and the Prussian military generals to begin discussions about marching into Rome.
Marching into Rome is not that simple. After all, Rome is the seat of the Catholic Pope, and William can be said to be the first Protestant Holy Roman Emperor in history to march into Rome. No one knows what the Pope in Rome will do.
What attitude should you take towards William?
And for William, he believed in Protestantism.
If he marches to Rome and accepts the Pope's blessing and coronation, then it can be regarded as William accepting the influence of Catholicism. Will this cause an uproar in Prussia?
Religious issues have always been one of the most important issues for a country, especially for the West. More than a million people have died because of religion in history!
However, marching to Rome and accepting the blessing and coronation of the Pope was the unanimous opinion of the Prussian leaders. After all, although William believed in Protestantism, it has to be said that the largest number of religious believers in the world is Catholicism.
Moreover, although Prussia believed in Protestantism, Prussia's religious policy was not harsh.
In the end, the Prussian leaders believed that William's trip to Rome could be appropriately modified through propaganda, such as narrowing down religious sensitive issues and amplifying German national issues.
The end of March 1794
The Russian army led by Bagration, with less than 15,000 men, finally appeared at the gates of St. Petersburg. His retreat to the Russian border meant that Latvia and Estonia, which had been recovered at the cost of tens of thousands of casualties, were once again handed over.
handed over to the enemy.
This time it was not Kutuzov but the Swedes who occupied these areas.
As soon as Bagration returned to St. Petersburg, he was received by Panin, the current actual controller of the Russian Imperial Government.
Originally, after Alexander came to power, his position as Speaker of the Imperial Duma caused quite a stir. Surrounding this position, even the forces that supported Alexander's rise to power made a lot of money.
In the end, it was Alexander's decision that Panin serve as Speaker of the Imperial Duma and Head of Government.
At that time, Panin's rise to power was only the product of compromise between all parties, but who would have thought that this man who came to power thanks to the compromise of all parties would actually take control of St. Petersburg within a few months of Alexander leaving St. Petersburg.
situation.
"General Bagration, I remember that the government should have issued an order to you before, so you can explain to me why you originally had more than 20,000 troops, but now you have less than 15,000, and
The army is very short of supplies. I remember that the government clearly authorized you to collect supplies along the way!"
Panning received Bagration in his official residence, and the current leader of the central government of the Russian Empire had a very ugly face when he saw Bagration.
The defeat of Rumyantsev's army filled the entire St. Petersburg with a sense of crisis, and this sense of crisis reached its peak after learning that Brankov was preparing to attack St. Petersburg next year.
Everyone knows that without the control of Rumyantsev's army, there are no armed forces around Brankov that can pose a threat to him. This means that the 50,000 rebels entrenched in Moscow and nearby areas can completely mobilize large forces.
Some of the troops went north.
Compared with the rebels, the current Russian Imperial Government's army, except for Alexander's more than 10,000 troops stationed in Tepoko north of Moscow, only 5,000 city guards in St. Petersburg and Bagration's army are left.
Already.
Now, there are only 15,000 Bagration troops left, which means that even if the entire army of St. Petersburg is added, there are only 20,000 people, and even if the more than 10,000 troops led by Alexander are added,
Not necessarily a match for the rebels.
"Dear Sir, I have to say here that being able to pay this price to return to St. Petersburg is God blessing us in Russia! Don't forget, it is winter now, and I don't know what the government is thinking in such a hurry.
If we are asked to withdraw to St. Petersburg, have we forgotten that there are 60,000 Swedish troops opposite us?
Also, Your Excellency, I disagree with you about collecting supplies along the way!
All the people living in the areas on the retreat route of our army are the people of our Russian Empire. It is already a very cruel act for the empire to abandon them again now. If our army conducts plunder in the name of collecting supplies, then this winter,
Do these poor people want to live anymore?"
After Pan Ning finished speaking, Bagration did not relent, but frowned at Pan Ning and retorted.
Regarding Panin, Bagration actually had a lot of opinions in his heart. Don't forget that Bagration was loyal to Paul I, and this Paning was said to be the biggest murderer of Paul I!
It's just that Bagration was suffering from the fact that he had no evidence in his hand. Otherwise, without Pan Ning talking to Bagration with this attitude, Bagration would have cut off Pan Ning with the knife on his waist just when he saw him.
Ning’s head!
Hearing Bagration's displeasure and rebuttal to him, Paning's neck felt like veins were jumping.
"Bagration, you are really lawless. Look at your attitude! Are the government's orders just a piece of waste paper in your eyes? Do you know that St. Petersburg can no longer recruit troops? In this case,
, are you going to watch the rebels capture St. Petersburg and overthrow the Romanov dynasty!"
There was a serious tone in Pan Ning's voice, but Bagration was even more disdainful of Pan Ning's performance.
"Your Excellency Panning, I hope you understand your identity. Although you are the Speaker of the Duma Parliament, you have no right to issue direct military orders to me unless you have an edict from His Majesty the Emperor. In addition, I will do my best to be loyal to Romanov."
Annihilate the rebels, not just talk like some people do!"
With that said, Bagration ignored Pan Ning and turned around directly to leave Pan Ning's room.
Bagration's attitude made Pan Ning, who had been enjoying the feeling of being a master for more than half a year, feel as humiliated as if he had been poured cold water on him under the spotlight.
At this moment, Pan Ning wanted to kill Bagration, but his reason told Pan Ning that he could not do this. It could even be said that even if he did this, he might not be able to get what he wanted. After all, Bagration's fifteen thousand
Thousands of troops are in St. Petersburg, and as long as a few thousand of them are determined to follow Bagration, Panin will have to walk around without food. (To be continued...)