The Grand Duke of Saxony, August, was unwilling to be a puppet of the Prussians, which everyone can understand, after all, when the family business passed down by his ancestors for a hundred years was taken by others in his own hands, that kind of resentment and unwillingness were human nature.
But understanding does not mean forgiveness, and Wilhelm and a group of Prussian high-ranking officials have long regarded Saxony as Prussian territory.
And now Leopold is openly bribing August, hoping to make him make waves in Saxony, which Prussia absolutely does not want to see.
At this moment, Julian, the Chancellor of the Prussian Exchequer, spoke: "Your Majesty, all the Excellencies here, please allow me to say a word here, if the Saxony problem really comes to the point of war, then judging from the current financial situation of the kingdom, it can only support two divisions for three months at most, which is already the maximum financial capacity of the kingdom!"
Julian's words did not cause controversy among the ministers, and it was clear to everyone present that no matter how much Auguste tried to win over his subordinates, he would never be able to pull a team that could fight Prussia in a short time.
The Prussian deployment in Saxony for nearly a decade was no joke, and under the deliberate control of the Prussian government, most of the people in the Saxon army were Prussian officers, and most of the guards, including the Grand Duke of Saxony, August, were replaced by Prussians.
In addition, although the Prussian part of the Saxon government was small, the power was always firmly controlled by the Prussians, and the reuse of pro-Prussian Saxons to control the state power has always been Prussia's national policy on the Saxon question.
It can be said that without the consent of the Prussians, Auguste's footsteps could not even get out of his palace.
What made William and the Prussian top brass here angry was not how much damage August could inflict on Prussia, but the fact that the Austrians actually stretched out their hands to Prussia's own place without the Prussians even noticing, which was the most infuriating.
"Don't worry, Your Excellency Julian, the Austrians will never go to war with us as you feared, just with Leopold, the newly enthroned emperor, how dare he start a war with us Prussia because of a small shrimp because his foundation has not been solidified!"
It was Marshal Dessau who spoke out.
Although Dessau had never met Leopold, as a soldier, how could Dessau not pay attention to Austria, Prussia's greatest enemy!
And for those who know the situation in Austria, they know what Austria is like now, maybe it's okay to let Leopold send troops to bully some small shrimps, but let him start a large-scale war with Prussia, not to look down on him, Leopold didn't have the guts.
"Marshal Dessau is right.
Besides, even if the Austrians wanted to intervene, were the two divisions we deployed in Bohemia a joke?
Of course, we must not be unprepared, in case the Austrians seek death, then we may have to scramble for a while............"
As he spoke, William began to think about the situation of the Prussian army.
The regular army of the Kingdom of Prussia was stationed on the mainland, with the exception of the Royal Guard, which had eighteen divisions, and the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth divisions had not yet been completely reorganized, so these three divisions were excluded.
The 1st and 3rd Divisions were stationed in Brandenburg.
The 4th and 5th Divisions were stationed in Denmark, the 2nd Division in Mecklenburg, the 10th and 10th Divisions in Bohemia, the 11th, 12th, and 14th Divisions in Silesia, and the 8th, 13th, and 15th Divisions were responsible for defending Prussia's eastern territory, including East Prussia, West Prussia, Prussian Poland, and Western Lithuania.
Now, with the change of command of Warsaw, the 8th and 13th advanced from Prussian Poland and East Prussia to the border of Austrian Poland from Warsaw, respectively.
The 15th Division remained deployed on the border with Western Lithuania, while the 14th Division was to advance closer to the Masovia area as the rear guard of the 8th and 13th Divisions.
On the basis of not preparing for an all-out war with Austria, the solution of the Saxony problem may only be sufficient by using the 6th and 7th divisions stationed in Saxony, but Wilhelm has always believed that since he does it, he will leave no room for it, and to completely solve the Saxon problem is undoubtedly to incorporate it into Prussian territory, but without the order of the emperor, Prussia's open annexation of a large country like Saxony will undoubtedly cause incalculable impact, which is also a point that Wilhelm is very afraid of.
"Your Majesty.
The minister thinks that it is better to make public the secret treaty signed between us and Leopold and then annex Saxony!
” As soon as Foreign Secretary Elstner's words landed, Deputy Prime Minister Kutlik shouted: "No, Your Majesty, although Leopold himself signed the secret treaty with Leopold, it was made on the premise that it would harm the many small states in the empire, and once we made it public.
Then it will inevitably cause an uproar within the empire, and perhaps Leopold will be overwhelmed by this, but the result for us will certainly not be much better, and many small states will be hostile to our Prussia.
In the future, it will not be difficult for our country to move an inch!
” Kutlik also made sense in what he said, once the secret treaty was made public, and then the small states learned that the Austrians and Prussians had divided the many states within the empire without the knowledge of everyone, and this kind of action was bound to arouse the vigilance and hostility of all the states, although Prussia had great strength, but Wilhelm would not be stupid to pull hatred like this.
It was then that the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Transport, Mr.
Furkes, spoke "Your Majesty, in fact, we might as well change our thinking, our country has indulged His Royal Highness August a little before because of the international influence, but since we already know that August is not willing to be ordinary, then why don't we put him under house arrest after the matter is over, of course, the difference is that our house arrest after that will be more thorough, and then after a period of time, after the influence of the matter has decreased, and the same strategy we have formulated before, His Royal Highness August suddenly fell seriously ill and entrusted the country to His Majesty on his deathbed, That way, you can get back on track!
” There is also a truth in Furks's words, and the previous Prussian Saxon strategy was to wait for August's death, and use William to inherit the title of Archduke of Saxony on the grounds that August had no heir.
As Fukes finished speaking, everyone in the room couldn't help but ponder, and everyone weighed the pros and cons.
After a while, William was heard: "Let the 6th and 7th Divisions move at once to arrest the Austrian spies and the rebellion of August in Saxony, and to order two divisions of Bohemia and three divisions of Silesia to move south at once, and the 8th and 13th divisions to be stationed near Warsaw for my orders!
By the way, let the 3rd Division go south to Saxony, and the remaining defense area will be taken over by the 16th Division" At this moment, Chancellor of the Exchequer Julian said: "Your Majesty............"
Before he could finish speaking, William interrupted him with a wave of his hand and said: "Don't worry, Julian, I'm not ready to go to war, I just have to give the Austrians a little color, otherwise they really think that we Prussia are afraid of them, this time I deployed seven divisions on the Austrian border, I see if Leopold still has the courage to fight with me!"
.................................................
With Wilhelm's order, half of the regular army of the Kingdom of Prussia began to move, and the Prussian move finally put the pressure on the Austrians.
At this moment behind the Imperial Palace in Vienna, Leopold was sitting alone on his throne sulking, and the Prussian press made him feel a great pressure, as if he was overwhelmed.
"Your Majesty, the news has been confirmed, three days ago, the Prussians did hold a high-level meeting, and after the meeting was over, several military orders were issued, although the content of the military orders I know for the time being, but these military orders were sent to Bohemia, Silesia and Warsaw, obviously the Prussians this time the action is not small!"
It was Kaunitz who spoke, and Kaunitz was the only one in the hall at the moment besides Leopold.
"How's the situation going in Saxony?"
"Your Majesty, according to the news from August, Auguste has attracted a lot of people, although these people do not have great military and political power in Saxony, but these people also have their own strength, and including the Prussian garrison officers, about forty officers have been bought by August, even if most of these officers are middle and low-level officers, but their strength is also very important" Hearing Kaunitz's report, Leopold's depression seemed to be relieved, but before he could relax, Kaunitz continued: "But Your Majesty, according to the old minister's view of this unusual behavior of the Prussians, it is very likely that the news from the Saxon side has leaked, and the Prussians have already become conscious, although Auguste has achieved some results, but whether we continue to support Saxony has become a question!"
Hearing Kaunitz's tone of wanting to give up Auguste, Leopold's heart was a little dissatisfied, in order to help Auguste make trouble for Prussia, Leopold has invested a lot of manpower and material resources in Saxony, many of which were invested before Leopold ascended the throne, otherwise do you think August would take the lead in supporting Leopold at the Electoral Council for no reason at the risk of offending William?
As early as the death of Joseph II, the Austrians had some contact with the Saxon side, but they were limited by the strict guards of the Prussians, so the previous actions were more cautious, but over time, as the number of people in Saxony was bought, the Austrians saw the possibility of return, so the action began to grow.
Free novels bring you joy and joy ---> storyskyline.net
But what Leopold didn't expect was that before he could reap the fruits of success, the spies lurking in Brandenburg suddenly sent back information about the Prussian movement, and the news of the change of flag in Warsaw had not yet dispersed............