After the Crimea peninsula was occupied by the French. The 8th Marine Division was required to be permanently stationed on the peninsula and was responsible for guarding the peninsula's security. For this reason, the 8th Marine Division stationed heavy troops in the Armeniansk and Kerch areas respectively to prevent the Russian army from counterattacking. The three infantry divisions of the Iberian 1st Army marched northward, and together with a part of the Iberian Army and the Russian Liberation Army, swept across the entire southern part of Ukraine. Now, except for the eastern part of Ukraine, which is still in the hands of the Russian Southern Front, the rest of Ukraine has fallen into the hands of the French army.
After the entire southern part of Ukraine was occupied by the French army, the French southern maritime transport line was also opened, with the starting point and ending point being Valencia in Iberia and Odessa in Ukraine. The opening of the southern sea transport line has greatly eased the logistical pressure, and all troops in the entire Ukraine region are supplied by the southern transport line. Under such circumstances, the French General Staff issued an order requiring the front-line regiments to start hoarding combat supplies in preparation for launching a large-scale military operation against Russia.
When the front line was preparing for the war, Xiao Jie and the military and cabinet members were not idle. It has been several months since the Austrian Empire was occupied by the French army. Due to the defeat of Austria, a large number of its ruling class fled to Russia, leaving Austria in a state of anarchy. A large number of Russian and Austrian spies acted everywhere, inciting criminals to rebel, making the situation in the Austrian Empire very chaotic. Such an Austria is obviously not what France wants to see. Therefore, Xiao Jie asked the cabinet and the military to come up with a plan to deal with Austria as soon as possible.
After nearly a month of discussions, success finally came out, and the military and the cabinet finally reached an agreement.
"Your Majesty, the Austrian Empire has always been one of the important threats to our country. The existence of a strong Austria is not in the interests of France. Similarly, a turbulent Austria is obviously not in the interests of our country. The past few months since Austria's defeat During the period of time, under the instigation of Russian and Austrian spies, hundreds of guerrillas, large and small, appeared in Austria, with tens of thousands of people in the big ones and only a few dozen in the small ones. Most of them Composed of forcibly discharged soldiers and refugees, they attack the cities, attack our transportation lines, and cause great trouble for our country. If this problem cannot be solved, then in essence, even if we have defeated Austria , but we are still not victors in the war," Foreign Minister Grigio stated.
Xiao Jie nodded, he was really troubled by these guerrillas, and even felt dumbfounded. These new tactics, which appeared more than a hundred years in advance, caused the French army to suffer a lot.
"Therefore, in order to calm the chaos in the Austrian region, after our discussion, we feel that we should support the pro-French government to come to power as soon as possible, and then support these new governments to eliminate those guerrillas. In this way, we will save a lot of trouble." Ge Rigo continued.
"Then what is your final plan? Who do you plan to support to form a new government?" Xiao Jie asked. At this time, he remembered a promise he had made in Poland, and it was probably time to fulfill that promise.
"Your Majesty, the Austrian Empire was originally composed of several kingdoms and duchies, which were organized to form a strong Austrian Empire. A strong Austrian Empire is obviously not in our interests. Therefore, we intend to follow the policy of dealing with Prussia. Like the United Kingdom, Austria will also be dismembered and dismembered into several small countries. In this way, our interests will be protected to the greatest extent." Gregor said.
Xiao Jie nodded. They would come up with such a plan, which did not surprise him at all. After all, Austria, after being split into several small countries, will not pose any threat to the mighty France. The premise is that they no longer form a huge empire, and of course, France will not allow them to merge.
"According to our plan, first of all, the Kingdom of Bohemia has made a lot of contributions to our country in this war. Therefore, the territory of Bohemia should be expanded. After discussion, we think that the west of the upper Oder River The area assigned to the Kingdom of Bohemia. The other member states of the Austrian Empire will be divided into the Kingdom of Austria, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Principality of Slovakia, the Principality of Slovenia, and the Principality of Croatia. As for the heads of government of these countries, His Majesty still needs to determine." Gregory continued.
"Let's talk about your views first, I believe you must have found a suitable candidate." Xiao Jie said lightly.
"As for your proposal, I agree in principle, but I think some things should be revised." Xiao Jie dragged his chin and said.
Gregor's face tightened, and he said quickly, "It's all up to His Majesty."
Xiao Jie waved his hand, signaling that he should not be overwhelmed, and then said: "For Slovenia and Croatia, I don't think it is necessary to support puppets. It is entirely possible to establish a viceroyalty to rule directly like Italy." In Xiao Jie's impression However, the Balkan Peninsula region is a troubled region, and the First World War in the previous life started here. If you support a new country, you are not sure what kind of chaos it will be.
"However, how should we deal with the guerrillas in these two areas?" Gregor asked a bit embarrassed. You must know that due to the terrain of these two places, the development of guerrillas is the fastest among several countries. Yes, the strength is also the greatest.
"The threat of guerrillas is not the main problem in these two areas. The main problem is the ethnic issue in the area. As long as we can grasp it well, then we can firmly control this area." Xiao Jie reminded road.
Gregor's eyes lit up, and he understood Xiao Jie's meaning as soon as he heard it. The ethnic conflicts in Croatia are very sharp. The Serbs, Albanians and Croats are constantly fighting. If the contradictions between them can be made good use of, it will be very easy for France to rule these areas.
Seeing that Gregory already understood what he meant, Xiao Jie nodded. After a while, Xiao Jie continued: "In addition, I also have different opinions on the throne of Austria. Earlier, I had already agreed to hand over the throne of Austria to others, so the Conrad family can only Say sorry to them."
"Have you promised someone else long ago?" Gregor was very puzzled. "Would you tell me to whom you promised?" Gregor asked.
Xiao Jie smiled, and then said: "When I was in Poland, I promised Princess Louise that I would support her to become the Queen of Austria in the future. Now that the Austrian Empire is gone, I can only support him to become the Queen of Austria."
Only then did Gregor fully understand. When he was in Poland, he was also very clear about what happened between Xiao Jie and Louise. Now Xiao Jie wants to give Louise the throne of Austria, which is very reasonable. up.
"After Louise abdicates in the future, according to our original agreement, she will pass the throne to Francois, no matter what~www.mtlnovel.com~ Francois is always my younger brother, the only uncle My son. Even though my uncle treated me so well back then, I can’t be ungrateful, after all, in the early years, without his love and support for me, I wouldn’t be where I am today.” Xiao Jie said sadly. In a flash, he had forcibly ascended to the French throne for more than ten years, and the throne originally belonged to Francois, and now, he should indeed be compensated.
Gregor frowned, although he understood Xiao Jie's approach very well, he was still a little worried. At the beginning, Francois was just a child who didn't know anything, but now it was different, he had grown up, and it was inevitable that he would not have other ideas. In the past, due to the situation, even if he had ideas, he was powerless, but now it is different. If he becomes the king of Austria, it will definitely not be a good thing for France.
Xiao Jie saw Gregory's expression, of course he knew what he was worried about, and he also expected that such a situation might really happen, if François really still misses the French throne , then Xiao Jie had to take some action, even though he was the only son of Napoleon. At the same time, Xiao Jie had long thought of a way to prevent this from happening, that is, to prevent the Austrian royal family from having real power. In this case, François would not be able to turn around. Therefore, Xiao Jie said: "Another point is that we can appoint Corey Conrad of the Condella family as the Prime Minister of the Austrian government to be in charge of government affairs, and we will also directly send someone to take charge of military affairs."