Chapter 809: Chapter 717: Assist

(There is still a bit more that hasn’t been encoded, please refresh after 20 minutes to check again. My apologies.)

You must know, according to the communication speeds of this era, even if horses were run to death, it would still take four to five days from Rome to Paris.

In fact, of these two days it took for the news of the assassination attempt to reach Joseph, the vast majority of time was spent on the journey from Rome to Lyon.

Lyon only took 40 minutes to relay the message back to Paris via a semaphore system!

This is despite the signal operators just having started their jobs, being quite inexperienced, and the reports from Rome being somewhat long.

According to Sharp’s estimates, if the semaphore line were connected throughout, and everything went smoothly, it would take less than half an hour to transmit 20 words from the southernmost tip of France to the northernmost tip.

This was truly the telegraph of the era!

Joseph, looking at the secret report, nodded and said, “This matter will have a significant impact on the entire political landscape of Europe. Eman, please have Archbishop Brienne and Mr. Talleyrand come over immediately.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Before long, the two high officials of France arrived at the Crown Prince’s reception room.

Joseph gestured for them not to bow and handed them the secret report directly: “What are your views on this matter?”

Both quickly read through the secret report. Brienne pondered and said, “The Pope may have escaped a disaster, but Archbishop Inoddi was seriously injured while protecting him. The Pope must be very angry right now and will severely punish the Emperor of Sanctum.”

Talleyrand, however, shook his head and said, “I think the Pope does not seem to want to fall out with the Austrians too badly.”

“Oh?” Joseph looked at him and said, “Please state your reasons.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Talleyrand bowed slightly and continued, “If the Pope decided to retaliate against the Emperor of Sanctum, he would have publicly announced his misconduct and the punishment he would face from the get-go.

“But instead, he chose not to reveal the Holy See’s stance and sent a special envoy to Vienna without even clarifying the envoy’s mission.

“This is clearly to give the envoy more flexibility in negotiation.”

Joseph nodded, tapping his fingers lightly on the armrest of his chair, “You make a very good point. So, what does the Pope want?”

Brienne interjected, “More comprehensive support from Austria for the Church, a protection pledge to the Pope State.”

Talleyrand also added, “More control by the Holy See over the Austrian Church affairs. It’s even possible that they directly demand a large sum of money.”

Joseph nodded slightly: “If Austria chooses to cooperate with the Holy See, although it will be subject to deeper control by the Church, it could gain a lot of benefits in the short term.

“For instance, the war in the direction of Poland will appear more justified.

“We should probably do something.”

What Joseph didn’t say was that, in his long-term plans, the Pope State was to be dismantled, with the orthodox authority of the Holy See eventually transferring to Avignon in France.

But if the Pope State becomes deeply bound to Austria, it will attain a more stable political and military environment, creating a significant obstacle to dismantling it.

Brian said, “We could choose to assassinate the papal legate on Austrian soil. This would deepen the Pope’s anger towards Austria.”

Talleyrand followed, “Or our country could directly step forward to denounce Austria for assassinating the Pope. Thus, for the sake of dignity, the Holy See will have to punish Austria, and any secret dealings would no longer be possible.”

Joseph suddenly narrowed his eyes: “I am thinking, if Austria and the Pope reached a compromise, what should be done with that Cardinal named Muzareli?”

After Muzareli debunked the rumors in Vienna about the Pope calling for a “Crusaders’ Holy War”, the Holy See has remained silent. Coupled with his subtle relationship with the Pope, it’s easy to assume that he must have made some sort of deal with Austria.

Talleyrand said, “He may be abandoned by Austria. And the Pope will subsequently settle the score with him for acting on his own.”

“So, if he knew in advance that the Emperor of Holy Rome was going to negotiate with the Pope, what would he do?”

Talleyrand immediately said, “He would do everything in his power to sabotage the negotiations.”

Joseph nodded and looked at Fouche: “How long would it take for the papal legate to reach Vienna from Rome?”

“About 20 days, Your Highness,” replied Fouche. “The grandiosity of the Holy See will slow down his pace.”

“And the time for us to send a message to Vienna?”

“Around 10 days. The signal machine will first send the message to Lorraine, then a rider will rush to Vienna.”

Joseph smiled: “That is to say, if we intervene, Archbishop Muzareli will have 10 days to prepare?”

“That’s correct, Your Highness.”

————–(The following has not been completed yet, please wait and refresh later to continue reading)

On January 8, 1745, Britain, Holland, Austria, and Saxon signed the Warsaw Treaty, a secret agreement whereby the Saxon would provide an army of 30,000 for the Allied Forces, and Britain would give Saxon substantial subsidies. The goal of the allies was to help Austria reclaim Silesia and restore the unity of the Empire’s princes. On January 20, Emperor Charles VII passed away, and the most favored candidate to succeed him by the electors was undoubtedly Duke Francis, the husband of Theresa, which was a massive blow to both Frederick and Louis XV. Charles VII’s son, the new elector of Bavaria, Maximilian Joseph, organized a disheartened and poorly equipped army, attempting to attack Upper Austria but was quickly defeated by an Austrian force commanded by Count Batthyany, the Governor of Croatia. Maria Theresa, wishing to initiate peace negotiations with Bavaria, ordered Count Batthyany’s army of 10,000 to attack Bavaria to pressure for peace talks. Count Batthyany soon occupied Amberg and Vilsheim in Bavaria, forcing the France-Bavaria Allied Forces within Bavaria to adopt a defensive posture. Due to the ferocious Austrian offensive, General von Torin, who commanded the Bavarian troops, retreated his Bavarian Army and the Hesse Mercenary Army to the west of the Lech River but failed to inform General Segur, who was responsible for commanding the French Army. This led to the French Army being left exposed to the Austrian onslaught, and Count Batthyany, realizing the isolation of the French, promptly instructed the Austrian Army to attack the French Army in Pfaffenhofen.

Despite the French Artillery in Pfaffenhofen putting up a strenuous fight with gunfire to stop the Austrians’ advance, the French infantry, only 7,000 strong, were quickly pushed out of the town by the 10,000-man strong Austrian Army. When Segur ordered a retreat to avoid being encircled by the Austrian forces flanking his own side, the French Army almost collapsed. The retreating French Army suffered heavy losses under the pursuit of the Austrian Light Cavalry and were forced to burn the bridges over the Lech River to block the Austrian advance, thereby losing a significant amount of supplies.