#875 - Britain and Austria's last-ditch effort
From the highest tower of the Mantua fortress, Beaulieu and Wurmser watched as four riders galloped out of the fortress, braving the French fire, and soon disappeared from sight.
The two Austrian commanders silently made the sign of the cross on their chests, praying that the riders could break through the encirclement and deliver their joint letter of request to Vienna.
Outside the fortress, French skirmishers with rifled guns quickly killed three riders, and then the skirmisher company commander hurriedly pressed down the guns in the hands of the soldiers who were still eager to shoot:
"Let him go! Hey, no one is allowed to shoot!"
This was Napoleon's order.
Letting the messenger go was to urge Austria to send reinforcements to Mantua as soon as possible, while killing the three was to increase the sense of urgency in Vienna.
… …
Vienna.
Schönbrunn Palace.
In the Great Gallery Hall, Mayer, a diplomat from Mainz, knelt on the scarlet carpet, wiping away tears with his sleeve, and sobbed to Franz II:
"The people of Mainz are eagerly awaiting His Great Imperial Majesty to save them... Every day, people flee from the west bank of the Rhine, while the people in Mainz flock to Frankfurt.
"There are seven or eight thousand French troops across the river, staring at Frankfurt like hyenas, begging you to grant us an eagle banner so that we have the courage to face their cannons..."
Maximilian, the Crown Prince of Bavaria, loudly interrupted him: "Your Imperial Majesty, the French obviously do not care about North Germany.
"Currently, more than 30,000 French troops are heading south, ready to cross the Rhine River at any time to launch an attack on Memmingen. We are the real target of the French.
"You know, our country has lost a large number of troops in Luxembourg and is simply unable to resist the French."
He glanced at Franz II, with a hint of threat in his tone: "If you do not send troops to reinforce, the Elector will have no choice but to compromise with the French. Once the French army crosses Bavaria, it will directly face Linz."
Linz is a western province of Austria, only 150 kilometers away from Vienna.
The Foreign Minister of Cologne, who was standing next to him, also knelt down and was about to speak, but saw Franz II stand up with a livid face, turn around the chair, leave a sentence "Baron Thugut will give you a reply," and quickly walk out of the hall.
Mayer hurriedly knelt down and turned around, raising his hand to his back and said: "Your Supreme Majesty, we have received your solemn promise that you will make up for the losses caused to the states by this war..."
Franz II squeezed the letter in his pocket tightly, which Wurmser had sent at the risk of his life.
At present, there are only 20,000 soldiers left in the Mantua fortress, and there are as many as 55,000 French troops surrounding it. The fortress will fall at any moment.
And those damn Bavarians and Mainz people are still asking him to send troops to reinforce.
He doesn't even know where to scrape together the troops to reinforce Mantua!
A thought suddenly popped up in Franz II's mind: perhaps, he should just make peace with France...
At this moment, Foreign Minister Count Reinfeld walked up to him and bowed to him after seeing him: "Your Majesty, Lord Grenville requests an audience."
"He's finally here. Damn British," Franz II muttered through gritted teeth, "He was the one who said it would be easy to defeat France..."
"Let him go to the Great Gallery Hall... No, go directly to my reception room."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
A dozen minutes later, Lord Grenville appeared in front of Franz II and bowed to him.
Before the British Foreign Minister could speak, the Holy Roman Emperor said with anger: "Great Britain cannot even restrain its allies. Ha, first the Netherlands surrendered, and then even Prussia was frightened by the French!
"Please tell me, how can this war continue!"
"Confidence and persistence." Grenville said calmly, "Please believe me, the difficulties France faces are no less than ours.
"Our country has cut off all of France's maritime trade, which will bring devastating blows to their finances.
"As long as we continue to fight firmly, perhaps next month, or the month after next, the French will retreat!"
Franz II waved his hand: "Your fleet has suffered losses in the Mediterranean..."
"Yes, the French used despicable tricks to plot against Lord Hood." The British immediately said, "However, our country has formulated a huge shipbuilding plan. In half a year, the Mediterranean fleet will have 60 steam warships.
"You know, the French rely on this kind of ship to carry out sneak attacks.
"At that time, France will lose all Mediterranean trade and control over North Africa. This will completely destroy France's finances!
"And you, His Great Imperial Majesty, only need to lead the empire to persevere until that moment, and the balance of victory will tilt back to our side."
1.2 million pounds is 30 million francs, which shows that the United Kingdom is also going all out this time.
The British glanced at the Holy Roman Emperor's expression and added: "Your Majesty, I can also reveal a secret to you.
"In fact, half a month ago, when the French army invaded Mannheim, Mr. Wilberforce discovered a huge loophole in French finances.
"He has made preparations and will soon launch an attack on this point. If all goes well, perhaps before half a year, French finances will collapse."
In this world, gold coins can indeed solve most problems.
1.2 million pounds obviously gave Franz II new courage.
He and Count Reinfeld looked at each other, and the latter immediately said to the British Foreign Minister:
"His Majesty will seriously consider your proposal. At the latest tomorrow afternoon, I will personally reply to you."
Two hours later, Austrian dignitaries gathered at Schönbrunn Palace to discuss the expansion of conscription under the auspices of Franz II.
The new conscription decree was signed in the evening.
The decree stipulates:
First, every landlord in all German provinces in the country must send one person to join the army for every 15 male serfs they own (aged between 16 and 40).
Second, the Hungarian aristocratic parliament must send 18,000 soldiers within a month, and the Galician aristocratic parliament must send 13,000 soldiers within a month, all to gather in Goerz.
Third, in the name of the Holy Roman Emperor, call on all noble men in the country aged 16 to 45 to devote themselves to the holy war.
In addition, Baron Thugut also suggested sending 10,000 troops from the Liegnitz garrison in Silesia to Mantua.
The plan is to recruit a total of 80,000 troops, commanded by Marshal Alvinzi, to regain control of Northern Italy.
