War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

The Ottoman Empire was Britain's traditional trading partner, and the countries along the Mediterranean were huge markets that Britain could not give up.

After the failure of the Mediterranean naval battle, the British strongholds in the Mediterranean fell one after another. At this time, the London government was as ignorant as a blind and deaf person.

Britain's overseas intelligence network has always relied on businessmen and diplomats to deliver it, and other European countries have followed similar practices.

Therefore, every time Britain carries out a naval blockade, it can make the other party blind and deaf, but it is precisely because of this indiscriminate piracy that it has unintentionally dug its own grave.

The Austrian navy and armed merchants carried out crazy revenge after the victory in the Mediterranean naval battle. For a time, news that countless British merchant ships had been attacked returned to London.

Regarding armed merchants, I have talked about it many times before. Merchant ships in this era have gun positions and artillery, and they can be simply modified to become warships.

Then let’s talk about the so-called naval blockade by the British at this time. Since there was no international law at this time, the British blockade was to issue privateering licenses to the army and merchant ships.

That’s right! It was the disgusting Spanish stuff back then, so those British merchant ships were not innocent. After all, many of them also contributed to the British blockade plan.

If it were the age of great navigation and these merchant ships were captured in the war zone, shareholders and ship owners would have no choice but to consider themselves unlucky.

But the continued success of the British Empire at sea and the financial innovations of the City of London resulted in nearly all ocean-going ships being insured.

At this time, the losses of British merchant ships and cargo during the war will undoubtedly generate huge amounts of compensation. During this economic crisis, it is very likely that the banks behind the insurance companies will go bankrupt.

The financial giants in the City of London would not allow this to happen, and they kept putting pressure on the British government.

On the other hand, even if they receive compensation, those merchants who have trade dealings with Mediterranean countries are not willing to continue to spend money. Since the goods arrive late, they will have to pay liquidated damages, which will also reduce their share of the local market.

The most important competitors are Austrian businessmen. After all, what the British can produce can also be produced by the Austrians, and generally speaking, the quality is better and the price is better.

In the past, the British could rely on agreements and treaties to exclude other countries and thereby monopolize the market, but after the war, all these became waste paper.

Austria has repeatedly made concessions to Britain on diplomatic and commercial issues in order to ease the conflict with Britain.

In the colonial era, if Franz did not want to be trapped on the European continent, he had to obtain the consent of Britain, the maritime overlord, either with money or a sword.

But whether it is money or swords, the specific use is not static.

The end of the privateering licensing system in history will have to wait until the Declaration of Paris in 1858, but after this battle, the British should re-examine this double-edged sword.

At this time, those merchants who had trade relations with the Austrian Empire were not very anxious. After all, when the British controlled the Mediterranean, they could use the British flag, and when it was the Austrians' turn to control the Mediterranean, they could also change became the flag of Austria.

The intelligence they brought back was the only clue the British had, but it was still difficult to reconstruct the full picture of the Mediterranean naval battle from just a few words.

Especially why the huge fleet led by Edward Hobart Seymour Sr. failed in Crete. According to British naval estimates, the Austrians did not have enough strength to defeat such a powerful fleet.

If so, then there is no need for the Austrians to wait for reinforcements from the French Grand Eastern Fleet.

The second was the fall of the island of Malta. Malta has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. There are a large number of defensive buildings on the island, and there are Mediterranean fleets patrolling the surrounding seas.

It was impossible for the Austrians to transport tens of thousands of troops to the island through local Greek traitors without being noticed, as they had done on Crete.

Moreover, in the eyes of the British, even if tens of thousands of Austrian troops landed on the island, it would not be possible to easily capture the island of Malta.

The only reasonable explanation is that there is a traitor on the island.

The British succeeded in using a few clues to deduce an incredible answer.

As for the so-called sea monsters by those businessmen, they were selectively ignored by the British senior officials. After all, it was just a joke to fool the people. How could smart people like them be fooled?

At this time, the British government firmly believed that this war would be a suffocating war. After all, land is different from the sea and there are not so many variables.

And according to the latest intelligence from Britain, the French army has occupied the Kingdom of Sardinia and penetrated into the hinterland of Austria.

Although this behavior was against the original intention of the British government, Austria had become Britain's biggest enemy at this time, and France's temporary occupation of the Kingdom of Sardinia was within acceptable limits.

After all, how could France, which was severely weakened after the war, still have the qualifications to bargain? It would not be at the mercy of the British Empire by then.

In addition, Viscount Stratford has been sent to Istanbul, he will definitely be able to convince Sultan Mejid, and the Ottoman Empire will send troops soon.

In addition, there are the Hungarians. The Austrian Empire has been unable to take action against the Hungarian rebels, which also shows that its military and national strength are stretched thin.

Based on the above inferences, the British government firmly believed that the Austrian Empire would not be able to survive at first, so the top government officials did not approve the new expedition plan.

The British Lord of the Admiralty, George Eden, had an extremely crazy plan. He was preparing to form the most powerful fleet in human history, which would have at least one hundred battleships.

In theory, this fleet will use its huge numbers to crush all possible enemies, but the reality is that the British government is firmly opposed to this plan.

Not to mention what impact the deployment of fleets from South, North America and West Africa will have on the local area, the expenses incurred and the time wasted during the period are a big problem.

Besides dispatching the entire North Sea Fleet and all spare ships, the Royal Navy simply does not have that many qualified captains and sailors at this time.

If recruited on a temporary basis, are these recruits really capable of fighting against a ferocious enemy?

Moreover, due to a series of wrong deductions by the British government, they always felt that there was a traitor within, which led to the failure of the first two Mediterranean naval battles.

As for whether there are traitors within the British government? Of course! In this era, there is no country that does not have a few traitors in its government.

But do they have anything to do with the failures of the two Mediterranean naval battles? Of course there are! If you look for it, there are many factors that determine victory or defeat.

Since the nail on a horseshoe can determine the outcome of a war, so can a sail, a cannonball, a pair of leather boots, or even a can of expired corned beef.

For a time, the entire British political arena was in a frenzy about this, but the Hamilton family, which was most closely connected with the Austrian Empire, escaped the disaster.

(Hamilton Sr. has retired, and Gordon, the apparent head of the family, is in Hungary.)