Chapter 1679 - 1585: The Emperor’s Wrath

Chapter 1679: Chapter 1585: The Emperor’s Wrath

Joseph was far from finished, and continued: "Of course, the focus of the ’Dual Core’ remains on the military aspect.

"Signing a mutual defense alliance is just the foundation. To ensure that the two armies can fully cooperate in combat, a ’United Staff Headquarters’ must be established.

"The armies will still be loyal to their respective kings, and the decision to go to war will be made by you through negotiations, but once the decision to go to war is made, it is this Staff Headquarters that will formulate the specific operational plans.

"The headquarters will have an equal number of officers from both countries, and it will make detailed arrangements for daily training, exercises, equipment, intelligence, and even troop recruitment.

"Oh, and the annual military budget must be submitted to the headquarters for review."

Maximilian I swallowed upon hearing this, testing: "Your Highness, you aren’t joking, are you?"

Indeed, the proposal from the Regent of France was too radical, even the most radical plan submitted by his ministers seemed like child’s play in comparison.

Joseph nodded with a smile: "I never joke about serious matters. You know, a strong Southern German Dual Core absolutely accords with the interests of our three countries, as well as with the interests of most of the German states."

The two kings exchanged glances again, their eyes brimming with joy.

This scheme from the Regent of France impacts the sovereignty of the two countries in a completely acceptable way. If it were to be implemented, the Southern German Dual Core would truly become a powerful entity capable of changing the German situation!

Thinking about how the strategic plan to change the German situation, which Bavaria had been plotting for centuries, finally saw the dawn, Maximilian I suddenly became nervous.

After all, dreams are as pleasant as one can imagine, but in reality, one must first face difficulties.

He looked at Joseph with concern and said: "Your Highness, but such a radical form of cooperation might provoke strong opposition from His Majesty the Emperor.

"If Austria declares war on our country because of this, would you..."

He intended to say "Would France intervene?" but Joseph immediately interrupted him: "Austria has just gone through a civil war and has no capacity for large-scale external warfare."

The reason for choosing this period to advance the Southern German Dual Core was precisely to seize the opportunity of Austria being extremely weakened.

Joseph continued: "Even if the situation you describe does occur, there is no need to worry. You can entirely seek support from Prussia."

Maximilian I and Friedrich III were momentarily stunned.

The Southern German Dual Core was obviously something Prussia would not want to see, how could they possibly seek aid from Prussia?

However, both were relatively capable monarchs of this era, and quickly realized—Prussia would never miss an opportunity to greatly weaken Austria’s strength. Moreover, with the future might of the Southern German Dual Core, working together with Prussia, they might even be able to defeat Austria!

Joseph didn’t give them another chance to ask questions, he stood and pointed to the carriage that had been waiting outside the window: "If I don’t set off now, I won’t be able to reach Augsburg before dark."

The two kings had no choice but to stand up and follow.

Joseph walked out of the royal palace shoulder to shoulder with them, and then brought up the topic of helping Bavaria accelerate railway construction: "The Paris Transportation Bank will offer you a loan of 7 million francs, with the railway operation’s revenues as collateral.

"Although this sum is far from sufficient to lay the tracks from Stuttgart to Munich, it will bring confidence to investors. Subsequently, Southern German private capital will flow in, and along with your two countries’ fiscal allocations, the construction cost should be sufficient.

"Moreover, I plan to build a rail forging plant together with you in Zilkenroite to supply the railway under construction in the Germanic Region.

"Oh, I will provide a new steam forging machine, with exceptionally high production efficiency. Specific cooperation plans will be discussed in detail by officials from the Ministry of Industry."

Zilkenroite is a city in northern Bavaria, which already has some forging industry.

With the powerful weapon of vulcanized rubber shock-absorbing pads in hand, the task of forging tracks can completely be set aside for other countries.

Actually, because of the high transportation costs, countries like Bavaria, which are relatively distant from France, will still use some tracks produced domestically when laying railways, even if the price is a bit higher and the quality is slightly inferior. After all, industrial protectionism is inevitable.

And by building a factory directly in Bavaria, the majority of the funds will undoubtedly come from Bavaria, while France can earn more benefits.

It also promotes French industrial standards. Currently, most Southern German states are using local units of measurement, and at the very least, they must first be brought into the system of international standard units.

In addition, the revenue from the rail forging plant can also enhance the strength of the Southern German Dual Core, and this is part of Joseph’s support plan.

By the time they reached the carriage, Joseph was emphasizing to Maximilian I: "...Now is the best time to carry out Church reform. You must seize the opportunity, otherwise, religious issues will sooner or later affect the unity of the Dual Core."

Currently, the Church’s power in Bavaria is still very significant, and it is just the right time to proceed with thorough reform while the Pope is preoccupied.

Soon after, Maximilian I gazed at the departing carriage and couldn’t help but sigh: "Why doesn’t Bavaria have such a ’Son of Divine Favor’? Jesus is really too biased."

Friedrich III shook his head and said: "No, you should be happy. At least now he stands by our side."

...

Austria, Graz.

The sky outside Eggenberg Palace was overcast, the atmospheric pressure so low it felt suffocating.

In the Emperor’s study, Franz II grabbed the document in front of him, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it violently to the ground.

"Damn it, these audacious bastards are provoking the Empire!"

As if not satisfied, he then hurled the crystal ink bottle on the table at the opposite wall, the black ink slowly dripped down from the wall like a twisted snake.

A minister nearby glanced at the document he had delivered, shrinking his head in fear, not daring to breathe.

It was the note delivered this morning by Bavaria’s Foreign Minister, demanding Austria to formally apologize to Bavaria for the invasion and pledge before major German states that such incidents would not occur again, as well as compensate for a loss of 3 million florins.

It must be noted that O’Leary, fearing to provoke a diplomatic conflict between the two countries, restrained his soldiers from fighting back, and the Bavarian army’s casualties were almost negligible. Conversely, nearly a hundred soldiers from the O’Leary Army were killed.

What made Franz II even angrier was that due to the Bavarians’ obstruction, a key figure from the Austrian Revolutionary Party successfully escaped to Innsbruck.

The Empire was forced to continue dispatching tens of thousands of troops to suppress them.

He hadn’t even reproached Bavaria when it came to Graz to cause trouble!