Chapter 1,609 Surrender or Destruction 3

Chapter 1609 Surrender or Destruction 3

"Everything has a price! Austria can lose Bohemia and Moravia for the sake of the empire. Then can't Hungary give up some interests for its own survival? Hungary will still gain its rights and interests in Romania after the war. Guaranteed." The Austrian emperor didn't care how Tisa cursed himself in his heart, anyway, Slovakia must be obtained!

Why take Slovakia? The reason is very simple, because this place is "vast and sparsely populated", and the Slovak nation's demands are not high. They only demand a certain degree of autonomy and do not want independence. An area of ​​49,000 square kilometers has only a population of about 2 million. The population density is even lower than in Ukraine. Moreover, these 2 million relatively moderate Slovaks can easily integrate into the Austrian system.

As for why the action should be taken this time in Slovakia and not elsewhere? This is also after careful consideration. Transylvania, which is dominated by Romanians, cannot interfere. This place is quite large, covering more than 70,000 square kilometers, and the Romanian population is also very large, at least 4 million or more. There is also a strong tendency for national independence, which Hungary will definitely not give, and it will be very troublesome to come over. Without the Bavarian Army directly intervening in the internal affairs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria's military strength is not sufficient. So, don’t think about it here for now.

Then there is the Croatian region, where Hungary's control ability is actually very weak. The Croatians are alienated from Germany, but they have not directly declared independence, and Hungary is too lazy to take care of it for the time being. Vienna is in contact with the Croatians. If it is delayed for a while, when Hungary is in a more difficult situation, there will be no problem at all for Croatia to establish secret autonomy and establish contact with the central government. So I won’t consider it for now.

As for other places? Well, it can only be said that after excluding Croatia, Transylvania and Slovakia, the Hungarian nation is really the majority in other regions. In other words, among the more than 100,000 remaining territories and a population of about 14 million in the Kingdom of Hungary, it is almost impossible to rely on ethnic issues to divide them! This requires another method!

"The army of two divisions is just a drop in the bucket, and we are short of food and fuel. For the upcoming winter, the Hungarian government cannot support the consumption of tens of millions of people." Count Andrássy said.

"Haha, I also think that two divisions are not enough. Then, I am willing to send two armies to help you solve the Transylvania problem. Do you accept it?" The Austrian Emperor looked at the Count himself with a smile on his lips, and then looked at He looked at Count Sadie next to him, whose expression could be described as wonderful.

In fact, the Austrian emperor was always considering the acceptance of the Hungarians. This is true even for counter-insurgency forces. As a person who has been involved in politics for decades, he knows very well that even though the situation in Hungary has deteriorated considerably, he still will not accept the existence of two Austrian troops in Transylvania!

On the one hand, it is not necessary.

After all, the Romanian rebels seem to have a lot of people, but they lack heavy weapons and experienced officers. It is okay to fight against the Hungarians who are also low in morale and poorly equipped, but forget it about fighting the Austrian regular army in this dimension. An army has two divisions, but two divisions cannot be equated with one army because there are too many heavy weapons and directly affiliated units at the army level. The supply of the Austrian troops to Transylvania must be provided by the Hungarians. There are too many people, and Hungary itself is troubled, let alone tens of thousands of troops and horses...

Another aspect is that after the precedent of Slovakia, Hungary has been worried about what will happen if the Austrian army does not leave... If the Austrian troops of the two armies stay in Transylvania and refuse to leave, Hungary really has nothing to do. Therefore, when the Austrian Emperor proposed two divisions of reinforcements, Prime Minister Tisza agreed in principle. The most important reason why he continues to bargain on this issue is the issue of food and fuel!

During the war, Hungary was unable to be completely self-sufficient. This not only meant that there were not enough industrial products, but food was sufficient in normal times, and fuel needed to be imported. Light industrial products also need to be imported, such as various textiles. However, now, during the war, Hungary cannot even guarantee normal food! In other words, the food of the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire depends on the food produced in the United States re-exported through Germany on the one hand, and on the other hand the food shipped from Turkey! No matter where the food is shipped from, the right to distribute it is in the hands of the central government in Vienna.

If it was a government of a country, then the food distribution system would naturally be a distribution system, but after all, there were two countries within a country in the Austro-Hungarian Empire! The food coming from outside cannot be given for free, it must be exchanged for real money and silver. Under the current situation, it is obviously impossible for Austria to feed tens of millions of Hungarians unconditionally! What is given for free is just a gesture. If you want to truly solve the problem, you still need to pay a price. So what's the cost?

"Hungary's finances are very depleted. We may not be able to get enough hard currency to buy food and fuel. In this regard, we hope the central government can provide some help, such as loans." Prime Minister Tisza felt that he was a little embarrassed to say it.

"The total amount of the loan cannot exceed 30% of the total value of the materials. Hungary has a population of more than 20 million. This is equivalent to helping you feed 6 million people in vain, which is almost one-third. And Hungary's expected output this year is about normal. About two-thirds of the year, this should be able to meet Hungary’s needs.” The Austrian Emperor thought for a while and said.

"Your Majesty, this is a period of war. Consumption during war is much higher than in normal times. It cannot be calculated this way. The consumption of hundreds of thousands of troops and horses during war is very terrifying, and there are too many losses in the war. This loan The total amount is definitely not enough." Tisa's eyes twitched after hearing this.

"If, at this time, the Hungarian government can ask domestic monopoly capitalists, large landowners and nobles to provide some funds, then it will not be difficult for your country to survive this winter. But if you are not even willing to make these sacrifices, then why is Austria Are we going to help you? When did the Hungarians not even know how to save themselves?!" the Austrian Emperor sneered.

Looking at these so-called patriots in Hungary in front of him, the Austrian emperor was full of contempt. Compared with the interests of the country and the nation, they cared more about their own gains and losses. Yes, these people were wealthy people themselves, but they didn't want to Pay a little price to save your country!

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