By this time, the warships of the Austrian Imperial Navy had all been replaced with steam power, so they could also move at high speed in the windless zone of the Mediterranean, which the British Navy was obviously unable to do at present.

Moreover, the main warships of the Austrian Empire have basically completed the armor transformation, and even the early airships have been successfully tested.

If the main fleets of Britain and Austria were to meet in close numbers, Friedrich felt that he had a nine-in-a-nine chance of winning, and the remaining 1% would be an extreme situation such as a tsunami or meteor shower.

As for the seizure of the island, it is not a problem, for so many years Friedrich has been intensively pondering the Mediterranean navy of the British, and has cultivated a large number of internal forces on Crete.

It is no exaggeration to say that Friedrich knew every move on Crete even better than the commander of the Mediterranean Navy of the British.

As for the Albanian fleet that was used to deter Austria, it was too showy for the Austrian navy to run over or simply let the land attack their ports.

To be honest, the British garrison in Albania themselves did not feel that they could hold the Austrians by the throat, and they had long been beaten out of temper by local partisans and "mercenaries".

In fact, Franz would often send his mercenaries who were skilled in assassination, and if they had nothing to do, they would go around the vicinity of the British station.

Franz didn't want the British to be on their doorstep in Austria, and they had to know that they were just outcasts of the British, but lambs to the slaughter.

The annual attrition of up to 40% of the population changed the tone of the British Navy, and gave it a very Greek name, "Hades' Gate".

Friedrich's insistence embarrassed the Count of Latour, who was the former's superior, but he was himself an old subordinate of Archduke Karl, and it was not a smart move to get the royal family to apologize to him in the middle of the dynasty.

So the Count of Latour could only apologize and explain.

"I don't know much about the state of the navy, but the Strait of Gibraltar does not border our country, and the army has to pass through France and Spain to get there, which we can't do, but if we let the army fight land, we will definitely be able to beat the British."

Due to some political, economic, cultural, diplomatic, military, scientific and technological changes, the Austrian top level is now extremely inflated.

Before, Metternich dared to go to war against France, and at this time, the two military bigwigs clamored to beat the British was just a microcosm.

But they still thought of the war as too simple, and if it was a local war of relatively short duration, Austria now had a great deal of confidence that it would have beaten the other side all over the ground before it could react.

But what if it's a long-term all-out war? If the attack cannot be carried out for a long time, the war will be stalemate and attrition, and then it will be Austria itself that will collapse first.

The contradictions that have been masked by the rapid economic development and high welfare will erupt in a concentrated manner, and the more the people now support the empire, how much they hope that the empire will be destroyed.

In fact, the question of the Strait of Gibraltar was a common problem in the minds of the entire Mediterranean Rim countries, and Austria could have joined forces with France and Spain to challenge Britain and give them a good sense of the malice coming from the continent.

Then contact the United States, Brazil, Oman, Afghanistan, and the Indian states to attack Britain at the same time, and the armies of Nanming and Chenla can completely cut off the Strait of Malacca.

After all, Singapore is predominantly Chinese, and the surrounding indigenous areas have been completely infiltrated by the church.

But the problem is that even this will not necessarily win the battle against the British, because the alliance does not have a real core, and every member is easily satisfied, and as long as the British are willing to offer chips, some will withdraw from the war or even turn against each other.

The whole chamber soon became a tumult, and Franz's sale of grain to Britain at a low price (relatively low, but several times higher than at home) was met with much opposition.

The top brass felt that as long as Austria stopped selling grain to the British, there would be a famine in Britain, and the British would naturally not choose to go to war when the time came.

But what they didn't know was that the grain that Franz sold to the British was profitable, and it was an important measure to ensure that domestic food prices would not be too low and the living standards of the peasants would decline.

Sometimes money is the most favorable proof, and Franz took out the financial reports that had been prepared for a long time and handed them to every high-ranking official.

By this time someone had already understood what Franz meant, Prince Metternich asked.

"Archduke Franz, do you want?"

"Yes, I'm against sending troops, but I'm not against paying for it. And the Transvaal is nothing more than a barren land, and I think the British will be happy to talk to us if we are willing to bid.

Have you ever wondered how much economic loss we would have if we went to war with the British? How many families will lose a child?

What if we lose? Will it cede land and sue for peace, will it accept a humiliating treaty? Will neighboring countries take this opportunity to fall into the trap? ”

After being splashed with cold water by Franz, the emotions of the high-ranking officials finally eased, and they soon discovered that what Franz said was not wrong.

Rather than crossing the ocean to fight an uncertain war, perhaps it is better to buy it with money.

Friedrich agreed with this, and although he wanted to fight the British, as the richest aristocratic family in all of Austria, he was taught from an early age that problems that could be solved with money were not a problem.

And the war with the British, the Austrian navy was not ready, because the British had too many fleets, and it was not a problem that could be solved in one war.

In addition to the number of ships, the British had terrible production capacity, they could build a fleet in a very short time, which no other country in the world could do.

As for the Count Latour, he was not very much in favor of war, because his army was useless except to fight Albania.

But it was only a port garrisoned by 3,000 men, and Austria could have leveled it with a maximum of 20,000 men, but what did that have to do with the outcome of the whole war?

While Archduke Friedrich did have some epic victories, they were against some natives and Arabs.

The British had fought even more impressively in the East, so this kind of war against non-Western countries had no reference value in his eyes.

Prince Metternich always thought Franz was rich, but he didn't expect to have so much money. There are too many unknowns about the war with the British, but the negotiations are within his domain.

Count Korolav, although a Croat, was a fanatical German nationalist who himself considered himself German.

But old Pretorius's "Boer" had reached his ears, and Count Korolav did not want to be taken advantage of.

But if he had paid for the land, he would have raised his hands to support it, after all, even if it was proved that the Boers were not Germans, the land belonged to Austria, and at least he would not lose money by doing so.

(End of chapter)