Author: Seven Years Period

Vienna, Schonbrunn Palace

At the turn of spring and summer, the royal gardens seemed a bit sultry. This weather made Franz feel irritable, and the damn sense of ceremony made him feel even more aggravated.

It was obviously against the rules to conduct such an aboveboard conspiracy in such a beautiful place because they were obviously going to discuss important strategic decisions.

But there is one thing to say, even though he is already a frequent visitor to this place, he still can't help but linger.

The scenery here is really charming, completely in line with the feeling of climbing up and looking far away. There are no floating clouds but beautiful royal buildings, royal gardens and beautiful artificial lakes.

Wait, what is that? Something is coming over the waves. At this moment, a seal as fat as a torpedo is dragging Friedrich through the artificial lake.

Just five minutes ago the young archduke realized that he seemed to be late.

So he decided to take a shortcut, and after climbing up a neat tree wall, he jumped down. However, his leap of faith was ruined by a branch hanging from his trousers.

Although Friedrich tried his best to swing his arms, he had no wings after all, and finally fell straight down. After the smoke and dust passed, he found that he was not injured and could feel the soft and waxy Q-bomb on his hands.

Friedrich suddenly became excited. He still remembered that Franz once told a story about a young prince who met a beautiful princess.

It's just that the princess climbed over the wall and knocked down the prince, but she was just the opposite.

While Friedrich fantasized about the other person's appearance at the moment, he was also a little troubled that he was about to get married. He didn't know whether this behavior was considered unfaithful to his fiancée.

After a battle between heaven and man, Friedrich finally opened his eyes, and he found a pair of big black, moist eyes staring at him.

But it was not a princess, but a huge seal.

"ah!"

"Ah!"

"Ahhh!"

The frightened Friedrich was about to get up and run away when the angry sea beast bit his trousers. He only had one thought in his mind at this time, why wasn't this damn rag torn?

However, the quality of military products was tested by practice at this moment. Seeing that he could not pull out his feet, the young Grand Duke thought of a plan to lift the seal in front of him with both hands and throw it out.

After all, he had witnessed Franz's father being able to pick it up with one arm. Presumably this thing should be as puffy as a balloon and not too heavy.

The idea is beautiful, but the reality is very skinny. The "little giant" who is only 1.6 meters tall cannot even hug the waist of this giant beast, but he accidentally touched the seal's itchy flesh.

The result was that because of the stimulation, it wanted to speed away from here, and the young archduke, who was also frightened, subconsciously pressed his whole body tightly against the seal.

Then a seal carried a man on its back and began to dash forward in the palace garden. Along the way, it passed through bushes, crushed flowers and grass, and knocked over several pieces of exquisite porcelain.

A team of maids delivering food were still joking, but they suddenly heard some strange noises. When everyone was confused, one person and one leopard rushed out of the bushes, rushed into the crowd like bowling balls, and knocked down all the maids.

, drinks were flying all over the sky.

The advancing seal also grabbed a fish in its mouth and then sucked it in. Although Friedrich's trousers were loosened, he could not notice them as he was already in a state of embarrassment along the way.

Finally, one person and one leopard rushed out of the garden, rushed to the pier, jumped into the air, and then landed heavily on the water.

Before the water calmed down again, the seals sprinted again, one person and one leopard chopping through the waves in the artificial lake.

Although the scene of the leopard charging was very satisfying, Friedrich, as a passenger, was not happy at all. Soon he could no longer hold himself up and fell down. What was even more unfortunate was that his legs actually cramped.

"I am the marshal of the navy! How could I die in the sea!"

"Damn it! I can't float!"

"No wonder Franz always keeps himself away from the water. He is really hated by the sea!"

The lack of oxygen to the brain in the water made Friedrich gradually lose consciousness. Before losing consciousness, he saw a figure swimming towards him.

Half an hour later.

Franz: "Mr. Sintepna, how is he?"

"The Grand Duke is fine. He just drank some water and swallowed a fish. He may have indigestion."

"Thank you doctor, please go this way."

Franz was speechless for a while. Friedrich seemed to be really not suitable for "playing with water".

"Ahem!"

Friedrich coughed up another large amount of water and then woke up.

"Franz?"

"Yes, uncle, I'm here. How did you fall into the water?"

Friedrich gasped hard: "There was a seal, it dragged me in. Who would have thought it was so heavy?"

After hearing the cause and effect, Franz was even more speechless.

"The seal my father held only weighed about 60 kilograms, while the one you tried to lift weighed at least 150 kilograms. Even my father knew that persimmons should be picked when they are soft. Obviously, your challenge was overstepped."

Friedrich rolled his eyes at Franz and then changed the subject.

"Okay, let's not talk about it anymore. Why do you want to come to me?"

"Do you remember that little island in the Pacific that I described to you?"

"Hawaii? Isn't that a British place?"

On February 10, 1843, the Royal Navy battleship HMS Calisterford arrived in Honolulu.

British merchants Richard Charlton and Alexander Simpson claimed that British people and their property were being treated unfairly on Hawaii Island.

So the British commander George Paulette made a series of demands to the then King of Hawaii, Kamehameha III, and threatened that if the British's legitimate rights and interests were not met, he would immediately launch an attack.

In fact, similar things have happened before. The Americans and the French have used similar reasons to blackmail this kingdom surrounded by oceans.

But the former extorted only money, while Britain's target was the entire Hawaiian Islands.

Although Kamehameha III wanted to fight hard. After all, he had hundreds of thousands of subjects and thousands of warriors, but these natives, who were only equipped with spears, daggers, axes and some old-fashioned flintlocks, were unable to fight against the British.

Long guns and short cannons.

Although George Paulette actually had only about 300 Marines and 500 Navy soldiers.

But just a simple contact with one hundred of the bravest warriors in the Hawaiian army destroyed most of them, while only one British recruit was burned by the gunpowder gas of his own rifle.

In the end, Kamehameha III had no choice but to surrender, and finally on February 25, 1843, the Kingdom of Hawaii and the United Kingdom signed a temporary cession agreement for the islands.

Afterwards, the British established a committee on the Hawaiian Islands and began to rule the islands in a high-pressure manner. They began to occupy ports, drive away merchants from other countries, erase the traces of the Hawaiian Kingdom, support puppets, and even established a puppet army composed of Hawaiians.

.

However, the British's behavior of eating alone was quickly protested by French and American businessmen. The French even sent a fleet to prepare to reason with the British.

So the British soon restored the independence of the Kingdom of Hawaii, but in fact they still firmly held the position of emperor.

It has to be said that the British Empire's strategic vision was indeed unique. This island country located deep in the Pacific Ocean indeed became the strategic core of the Americans' control of the Asia-Pacific region in the future, and one of its places was also occupied by an aircraft from another island country nearly a hundred years later.

patronize.

Although there are three forces on Hawaii Island: Britain, France, and the United States, Britain and France obviously did not ask the Americans for their opinions when they carved up the islands, and they did not intend to let the latter join the party.

An American businessman on Hawaii Island wrote to James Knox Polk, the then President of the United States, hoping that the most powerful president in American history would send a fleet to threaten Britain and France like the French, thereby protecting the United States.

businessman's interests.

But toughness does not mean being stubborn, especially after being tricked by the British in Sierra Leone. Polk began to re-examine himself and the United States, which seemed not as perfect as he imagined.

The U.S. government rejected the businessman's request, so the businessman named Thomas Faneuil instead wrote to the Austrian Imperial Government, claiming that his ancestors were subjects of the Holy Roman Empire.

Austrian senior officials have little interest in this kind of operation that spans half the world. After all, the output of those small islands may not be enough for transportation expenses.

But Franz was quite interested in this, and he had other purposes, which was to knock on Japan's door.

After all, Austria wants to develop California and Nevada, and the current manpower alone is far from enough. Moreover, Japan's financial system is also very chaotic at this time, but it can still make a lot of money, and it is even possible to take advantage of the loopholes to control its financial system in one fell swoop.

In fact, Franz still brought some private goods, such as some music

In Schonbrunn Palace, Friedrich expressed his inability to understand Franz's strategy, because Japan at this time was still very mysterious to Westerners.

Although Austria has a large amount of intelligence provided by the Dutch, it still does not know much about its internal structure, military strength, and resource allocation.

Friedrich: "My navy has launched another new ship. This time it's time to give it a try."

Franz: "You can try, but I don't think I can fight."

Friedrich: "I'm not talking about the British and the French. How can such a big Japan sit down and talk with us if they don't fight a few wars?"

Franz: "You don't need to do the negotiation."

Friedrich looked at Franz with some confusion, and the latter snapped his fingers. Kagura put on the miko costume again, but the feeling was completely different from before.

"Don't you say that Japan is a patriarchal society? Are you sure this little girl won't be quartered?"

Franz: "That depends on whether you have enough deterrence!"

Friedrich sighed.

"I don't know what you are planning? But I must tell you that Britain and France have made many small moves at sea.

If we continue to go out in full force like before, if there is any trouble, the previous U.S.-Mexican War is the best example."

In fact, because the main force of the Austrian Imperial Navy went to the East and failed to return in time, Franz had very few choices during the Mexican-American War, leaving the Austrian side strategically passive, especially in the direction of California, which was almost lost.
To be continued...