The Prussian army captured Venice and swept the Republic of Venice into the dustbin of history. This news quickly shocked the entire northern Italy.
You must know that compared with Florence, Pisa, and Genoa, the Republic of Venice is undoubtedly an important country in Northern Italy, and its strength can be said to be the best in Northern Italy. The regular army of the Republic of Venice has ten thousand people, and then
Coupled with the mobilization of troops, in the eyes of other city-states, Venice can hold on for at least half a year or more.
Although the Prussians had the advantage in terms of military strength, Venice's unique terrain and solid city defenses had helped the Republic of Venice resist foreign invasions countless times in history. Therefore, in the eyes of those city-states, even though the Prussians were powerful, they would not be able to survive in a short period of time.
I'm afraid there is nothing that can be done about the Republic of Venice.
But now, in less than half a month, the Republic of Venice has actually fallen! This news shocked the city-states in Northern Italy.
Florence's army of four thousand was supposed to set out a few days earlier, but before Florence's army set off, the Florence army suspended its action for some unknown reason.
In fact, Florence belongs to the Principality of Tuscany, and the current Grand Justice of the Principality of Tuscany is Carl's second brother, Ferdinand.
Because of Ferdinand's help to Karl in the Austrian Civil War, after expelling Alexander, Karl rewarded Ferdinand with the title of Grand Duke of Hungary, while the position of Grand Duke of Tuscany was handed over to
Ferdinand recommended a Habsburg relative to serve.
This is why, after William learned that Florence and the Republic of Venice had formed an alliance, he quickly summoned Karl and had a meaningful conversation with Karl.
Even though Ferdinand's title as Grand Duke of Tuscany has been removed, no one can deny Ferdinand's influence in Tuscany. After all, Ferdinand has been operating in Tuscany for nearly ten years!
In the city of Venice, Karl sat on a chair with a gloomy face, but Ferdinand's face appeared in his mind at this moment.
For Karl, Ferdinand was his brother and the key to his ability to defeat Alexander and unify Austria. Therefore, although Karl was wary and made Ferdinand the Grand Duke of Hungary, at the same time, for Ferdinand
The subsequent candidate for the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Karl, also followed Ferdinand's recommendation.
In general, on the one hand, Karl was wary of Ferdinand, but on the other hand, he did not want Ferdinand to separate from him immediately. After all, he still had to rely on Ferdinand to deal with Alexander.
Under the desperate protection of Daniel and a group of guards, Alexander was not killed, but fled all the way back to Budapest, the capital of Hungary. After escaping to Budapest, Alexander adopted Daniel's suggestion. On the one hand, he continued to fight with the Hungarian nobles.
Communicate and win the support of these Hungarian nobles. On the other hand, Alexander once again sent an envoy to Brandenburg, hoping to get Anna's sympathy and help.
Under this situation, although Ferdinand was appointed Archduke of Hungary, the Austrian army did not continue to attack Hungary for the time being as the civil war in Austria had just ended and Karl needed to go to Frankfurt to attend William's coronation ceremony.
After Karl made up his mind to go to Frankfurt, he also appointed Ferdinand as the Superintendent of Austria to handle state affairs on Karl's behalf during Karl's absence.
"Okay. Ferdinand, you can really do it. But what I can't figure out is why you don't continue to order troops to be sent out. If you continue to order troops to be sent out, I'm afraid I will have become a corpse now!"
Karl murmured to himself with a gloomy face.
Behind the scenes, Florence encouraged the Republic of Venice to oppose Prussia. At the same time, the Florentine army had been assembled and prepared to come to support Venice. It was no longer a secret after the Prussians searched for the letters between Domingo and Florence.
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It can be said that Florence, or the Principality of Tuscany to which Florence belongs, played a very mysterious role behind this incident. It is so mysterious that it is impossible to understand the meaning behind these actions.
If Ferdinand instructed Florence to go against Prussia, then why did the Florentine army actually set off a few days later than originally planned? It can be said that if the Florentine army could arrive in Venice in advance, then the situation might be different.
This is no longer the case.
At this moment, in the palace in Vienna, a close aide of Ferdinand also asked Ferdinand with a confused look on his face:
"His Royal Highness, why did you order the army to suspend operations for a few days?"
Hearing the words of this confidant, Ferdinand smiled mysteriously on his face and said:
"My brother is not an ordinary person. If Florence's army really sets off, then he will definitely be able to think of me. Besides, after thinking about it for two days, I feel that our idea is a bit too much.
Of course, will the Prussians be fooled by us so easily? If Karl escapes unscathed and even gets the support of the Prussians, we must take these risks into account, and if the Venetians cannot hold on for long
If so, then it won’t help if we send troops there, so we must take precautions before it happens!”
As he spoke, Ferdinand picked up the teacup in front of him and took a sip.
As William and Carl thought, the connection between Florence and the Venetians was due to Ferdinand's order. After all, Ferdinand had served as the Grand Duke of the Principality of Tuscany for nearly ten years.
In ten years, with the support of Vienna, Ferdinand successfully established his roots in Tuscany.
When Karl had to follow William to Rome under the strong demands of the Prussians, Ferdinand in Vienna had other thoughts in his mind.
At present, Karl is under the control of the Prussians and can be said to be a puppet. At this time, Ferdinand is the only adult man in the current Habsburg generation. Ferdinand's existence undoubtedly represents
Orthodoxy, if Karl dies, there is no doubt that Ferdinand will become the next ruler of the Habsburg family.
It was precisely because of this situation that Ferdinand agreed to the suggestions of several of his close aides and asked Florence to form an alliance with Venice so that he could trap Karl.
"Okay, let's not talk about Northern Italy. The next thing we should be concerned about is Alexander. After all, my brother is not a fuel-efficient lamp either!"
"But what if His Highness Karl comes back to Vienna and asks for guilt?"
A staff member said worriedly and hastily, and after hearing what this staff member said, Ferdinand actually smiled and said:
"Florence did not send troops after all. Under this situation, even if Carl wanted to deal with me, what could he do without evidence? Don't forget, I am no longer the
The Grand Duke of Tuscany!”
After hearing Ferdinand's words, several of the staff standing in front of him fell silent.
Ferdinand then began to discuss with several of his staff how to deal with Alexander.
After Alexander fled back to Budapest in embarrassment, his situation was very embarrassing for a while. Not only Karl was thinking about how to deal with it, but also many nobles in Hungary were thinking about how to get the most from Alexander.
the benefits of.
For these nobles, Alexander's strength after fleeing to Budapest was very weak. Although Alexander went around recruiting troops and winning people's hearts after returning to Budapest, for now, because anyone with some vision knows that Alexander's current decline is very obvious.
, so Alexander's actions had little effect.
Fortunately, Budapest was the base where Alexander had been operating for several years, so after escaping back to Budapest, Alexander's army expanded to 10,000 men.
It was by relying on this army of ten thousand men that Alexander was able to secure his last territory, Budapest. Otherwise, I am afraid that he would be immediately torn to pieces by the greedy Hungarian nobles.
William led the army and a group of princes to leave Venice. It is obvious that after the Prussians captured Venice, the towns in northern Italy had a more respectful attitude toward the Prussians.
However, this attitude made William very satisfied. At least he didn't have to worry about anyone daring to blatantly come out and speak against him.
What made William even more delighted was that when he was only thirty miles away from Florence, the ruler of Florence, the newly minted Grand Duke of Tuscany, appeared in person.
At the place where the Prussian army passed by, he expressed his respect to William.
The Duke not only presented William with a headband made of palm trees symbolizing power, but also took out a box of soil from the Florence region and solemnly handed it to William's hands.
As a ruler, when he makes such a move, it means he surrenders.
Just when William accepted the gift with a smile on his face, the crowd behind William looked at the Grand Duke of Tuscany with an obviously unkind look. This person was none other than Carl.
You must know that Tuscany is a vassal state of Austria, but now the Grand Duke actually dedicated the soil of Tuscany to William. It seems that Karl is simply betraying his country!
Of course, in a sense, the actions of the Grand Duke were not excessive. After all, although William could not use the title of Holy Roman Emperor, he had the right to be titled King of all Romans.
In a sense, Tuscany, as a part of the Holy Roman Empire and a city of the Romans, naturally needs to surrender to William. (To be continued...)