The bourgeoisie was frightened, and Prime Minister Tiza was relieved that as long as Hungary did not break up, whether it was a republic or a constitutional monarchy, he was acceptable.

Well, it was supposed to discuss the second question - whether Hungary should become independent or not, but it turned out that the future political system of Hungary was settled first.

Although the bourgeoisie was forced to choose a "constitutional monarchy", they still wanted independence for their own sake, while the aristocracy believed that it was more in the long-term interests of the Kingdom of Hungary to remain in Austria-Hungary and mostly supported it.

The bourgeois radical Simon put forward: "Ladies and gentlemen, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has rotted from the very roots, and the Kingdom of Hungary must get out of this quagmire in order to achieve greater development!"

If we remain in Austria-Hungary, our markets will be flooded with Austrian industrial and commercial goods, and the Austrians will continue to plunder our wealth by means of trade, and the Hungarian people will be impoverished for a long time, which no Hungarian can tolerate!

Only by establishing an independent state will the great Kingdom of Hungary be able to establish an industrial system entirely of its own, thus freeing itself from the economic slavery of the Austrians! ”

Evidently his theories were mixed with a great deal of selfishness, and were not convincing to the public, and Count Carolil immediately retorted: "Your Excellency is exaggerating, and do not forget that in the Kingdom of Hungary in Austria-Hungary there is no shortage of benefits, why not list them as well?"

As for the fact that the market is full of Austrian industrial and commercial goods, it can only be said that you are looking for an excuse for your own lack of effort!

Whether it is an Austrian capitalist or a Hungarian capitalist, everyone enjoys the same conditions, and if you can't compete with your opponents, you attack each other as exploiters?

Don't forget, everyone is the same, and no one is cleaner than anyone else! And even a lot of times, you go a little bit further!

Now that so many people in the Kingdom of Hungary are short of food, aren't you still hoarding and driving up the price of food?

Don't tell me you're not involved! Don't tell me that the Kingdom of Hungary is really short of food now, everyone knows what the truth is!

Is there a difference between the exploitation of the common people by you and the exploitation of the Austrian capitalists? Please don't talk about things in the name of the Hungarian people, it's very disgusting! ”

In this regard, the aristocracy still has the right to despise the bourgeoisie, although they also participate in the speculation of grain prices, but except for a very few fools, most of the nobles have taken the initiative to stabilize the market in their own fiefdoms!

Naturally, the bourgeoisie can't just give up, in terms of cheekiness, they are completely disgraceful to the aristocracy, in short, they are completely shameless, what is such a little attack?

Simon said casually: "This is our freedom, the law has given us the inviolability of the Holy Spirit of private property, and we have the right to dispose of our own property!"

It is the responsibility of the government to help the people, and it has nothing to do with us, please Count Carolil do not impose these irrelevant responsibilities on us!

Food prices are skyrocketing, and we are just following the laws of the market, which is not our responsibility! If people don't want to, they can not buy it at all? We have never bought by force, and we don't want some people to be so inferior! ”

……

Obviously, everyone is not a good thing, the capitalists are hoarding and speculating on the price of grain, and the nobles are not less engaged in land annexation, everyone is a vested interest!

No, this crisis aristocracy has not yet carried out land annexation, the main reason is that no matter how the price of grain skyrockets, the peasant class does not need to buy grain, there is no fire, and robbery while the fire naturally does not exist!

Imagining a compromise between the aristocracy and the capitalists is not something that can be done in a moment. In the current Kingdom of Hungary, the capitalists have the support of the people, but the aristocracy is the real power, and everyone will not budge, and Prime Minister Tiza can do nothing.

Prime Minister Tissa smiled bitterly and said: "Let's get here today, and we will discuss the question of whether the Kingdom of Hungary will withdraw from Austria-Hungary later!"

Now we still have to complete the first step - withdraw from the Allies and join the Entente, for the sake of security, I hope that you will be able to keep the contents of today's meeting strictly confidential, and adjourn the meeting now! ”

Prime Minister Tisza knows that it is impossible to argue about a result today, and he is not in a hurry anyway, so it is better to postpone it and deal with it.

As a politician, he very much does not like the current situation that is out of control, but unfortunately in the face of the two major classes of capitalists and nobles, the power of the Hungarian government is too weak, and there is not much right to speak at all!

Well, for the short-sightedness of the capitalists, Prime Minister Tiza did not want to make an assessment, and secession from the Austro-Hungarian Kingdom of Hungary would indeed benefit in the short term, but in the long run it would do more harm than good.

At the very least, if you want to spend only 30 percent of your military spending, you can get the treatment of the great powers, it is impossible to happen again!

……

In order to end the war as soon as possible, in December 1916, under the leadership of the British, the British and French forces launched the Battle of Ypres, which was also the third Battle of Ypres in the world war!

On December 13, 1916, the British army concentrated more than 3,300 artillery pieces and launched an offensive in the Ypres area, with the British 5th Army taking charge of the main attack; The French 1st Army and the British 2nd Army served as assists.

On the same day, the Allies took the first line of German defense with 30,000 casualties, but the Germans soon made tactical adjustments.

The German 4th Army organized an "elastic defense", building a series of pillboxes in the forward positions surrounded by water on three sides, easy to defend and difficult to attack, equipped with part of the forces to block the enemy, and the main force was deployed in depth to counterattack, forcing the coalition forces to pay a heavy price for every step forward.

The new German tactics and bad weather delayed the Allied offensive, and on 12 January, the Allied forces were forced to switch to the British 2nd Army as the main attacker.

In the next half month, the coalition forces successively captured the Menen Road Ridge, the Poligon Forest, and Bruz Eynd, and gradually seized the initiative on the battlefield.

In the battle, the British and French air forces had air supremacy, and the artillery also exerted great power, and the Germans launched 11 counterattacks, all of which were defeated by the coalition forces.

From 26 January to 6 February, the Anglo-French forces launched two more attacks, capturing the village of Pahandael and advancing 8 kilometers, but were forced to halt the attack due to the heavy casualties and the arrival of German reinforcements.

In the Third Battle of Ypres launched by the Anglo-French forces, the Entente was only half of the victory, and the strategic goal of destroying the German submarine base was not completed!

In this battle, the British suffered 310,000 casualties, the French suffered 12,000 casualties, and the German army lost about 270,000 people.

Although the victory in the Third Battle of Ypres was not perfect, it was undoubtedly encouraging news for the Entente, which marked the beginning of a major counteroffensive on the Western Front.

One of the most noteworthy is the famous Messina blast, there is a small town called Messina in the southeast of Ypres, the Germans have established a strong defensive line on the ridge of Messina in the north of the village, there are countless complex trenches and strong pillboxes, coupled with the condescending terrain, there is a tendency to be untouchable.

If it were to be attacked, the Anglo-French forces would surely suffer heavy losses, and there was a high probability that they would return in vain.

The British commander, Oliver Woodward, decided to take a chance, he called in geologists to carry out exploration, and finally decided to give the Germans a blasting operation.

After the painstaking efforts of British, Canadian and Australian engineers, a total of 5,454 meters of tunnels were dug to 22 blasting chambers under German positions.

Most of these tunnels were 20-30 meters underground, and the blasting chambers were located just below the main German fortifications or at the most vulnerable points of the geological formation.

Naturally, such a big movement could not be concealed from the Germans, but the German commanders underestimated the determination of the British and did not pay enough attention to it, and before the start of the war, the German engineers only discovered a blasting room.

On January 15, 1917, the British army was ready to do so, burying a total of 445 tons of high explosives in the remaining 21 blasting chambers.

The largest of them was 80 meters in diameter, 12 meters high, 27 meters deep from the German positions above, and 41 tons of explosives were stuffed into it in one go, which can be called the largest mine in history.

At three o'clock in the morning, the British began the blasting operation, detonating the explosives, and only 19 of the 21 blasting chambers were finally detonated, but this was enough.

Tens of thousands of German troops were buried directly in the earth, and the sound of explosions reached Berlin and London, and the whole world was shocked!

The British, who had been prepared for a long time, put on earplugs one by one, and barely resisted this catastrophe. But the Germans on the opposite side were miserable, after the explosion, thousands of Germans completely lost their hearing due to the huge shock wave, while others were more or less affected.

When the British attacked, many German soldiers still did not slow down, but just sat there stupidly and did not move, and entered the prisoner of war camp in a daze.

Oliver Woodward also rose to fame after the war when he was awarded the rank of Major General in the Field Army as Commander of Australia's 1st Tunnel Corps, and was one of only four Australians to be awarded this honour.

……