Chapter 184 Mass

Because Franz couldn't tell her that a hundred years after the fall of the Austrian Empire, the guerrillas in Tyrol were still seeking opportunities to restore their country on Italian soil, and were not completely wiped out by the Italians until the 1990s.

During World War II, the soldiers of the SS Skeleton Division locked themselves in their positions, and their madness made the Allies unbelievable.

However, decades ago, the border guards of Tyrol did the same thing. They locked themselves to cliffs and stone walls until they died in battle.

During World War I, when facing the 800,000 Italian troops, they chose the same tragic fighting style as the Iron Triangle Battle.

The soldiers of Tyrol locked themselves in their positions in companies and platoons, using the advantageous terrain to block the elite mountain divisions of Italy until they were all killed.

As one position after another was conquered, the number of border guards in Tyrol continued to decrease. There was only silence on the positions behind, and the soldiers could only watch their companions die in battle.

And in the subsequent battles, they accepted their fate.

As the battle progressed, the Italians had less and less time. Finally, the reinforcements from the Austro-Hungarian Empire arrived, but the number of Tyrolean border guards was less than a quarter of the original number.

In the hellish war of World War I, young people in the Tyrol region were sent to the battlefield in batches. Most of them could not come back alive, and even some small towns had all the young people dead, so they had to send the elderly to the battlefield.

According to the laws of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time, the Tyroleans had the right to refuse to participate in the war, because the battlefield of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was not in Tyrol. They could use this to refuse the empire's call, but in fact, those people did not exercise this right until the end of World War I.

(The duty of the Tyrolean Defense Force is to guard Tyrol and belong to the local army.)

And in the coming storm year, there were only two regions in the entire Austrian Empire that had not experienced large-scale rebellions.

One of them was Tyrol, and the other was Galicia.

Adjani was a Polish patriot. Although she was working for Franz now, she would still favor her nation.

When Adjani learned that Austria was going to build a railway to Krakow, she knew that the last bit of dignity of the Poles would be wiped out.

Adjani could not stop the tide of the times, but she could make her compatriots live a little better.

So naturally she hoped that Franz would be more inclined to Galicia.

However, the important reason why Franz could not be inclined to Galicia was because of Adjani's Polish compatriots.

The land in this area was controlled by the Polish nobles, and they were the source of unrest and backwardness in Galicia.

These nobles thought about restoring their country all day long, violated Austrian laws, and refused agricultural reforms, so that the land in Galicia was not fully developed, but was regressing year by year.

The reason was ridiculous, "slaves do not deserve to enjoy the same food as their masters."

Galicia has developed agriculture, and the Austrians gave it considerable preferential treatment after annexing the area, one of which was free mills.

This was actually a means for the Austrian government to weaken the power of the Polish nobles. After all, at that time, serfs could only deliver grain to the mills of the landlords, and the landlords could re-harvest the serfs' property according to the situation of the year.

These free mills only served a small number of serfs, but they still dealt a heavy blow to the interests of the Polish nobles, and the serfs could often eat the same food as the landlords.

These Polish nobles not only did not regard the local Jews and Uruks (Ukrainians) as human beings, they did not even regard the Polish civilians as human beings, so that the most supportive of Austrian rule in Galicia were the Polish civilians.

According to a philosopher, "the nobles have everything, and the civilians have nothing, but the life of the serfs is worse than nothing."

The serfs also supported Austria, but they did not have enough power, and the civilians could provide weapons and intelligence to the large number of serfs, as well as legal support, to severely strike the Polish nobles' resistance.

Galicia was one of the few oil-producing areas in the Austrian Empire, but at that time the application of oil in industry was still very limited.

As for agriculture, as mentioned above, most of the land is in the hands of Polish nobles, many of whom are not very friendly to the Austrian Empire and even refuse agricultural reform.

The Habsburg family, known for its kindness, certainly cannot take tough measures directly. Franz is still looking for opportunities. Building a railway to Krakow is indeed an opportunity, but it is not the best time.

Franz also tried the strategy of peaceful evolution, but the Polish nation is unexpectedly united. They would rather not make money than follow the rhythm of Austria, and are unexpectedly difficult to tame.

Franz doesn't want to cause corpses everywhere, at least he doesn't want to do it himself.

Outside the port of Beirut, on the sea.

With the waves, broken planks and corpses are constantly washed onto the beach. The bloody smell attracts countless fish to participate in this feast.

On the "King", the musicians are still playing "Nelson's Mass".

William Simmons walked back and forth on the deck of the warship impatiently, urging the soldiers.

"Hurry up, guys! My grandfather's cannon is more accurate than yours, and the girls in Beirut are waiting for you. I want to eat those roasted meatballs skewered with olive branches tonight, don't waste my time!"

At this time, the "Monarch" first-class battleship was in the center of the Egyptian fleet.

However, just as its name suggests, the six Egyptian warships around it slowly lowered their heads like they were paying homage to the emperor.

Looking at the Egyptian warships that were on fire and sinking, the sailors on the "King" did not show any joyful expressions, but just did their own work.

The "King" rushed into the center of the Egyptian fleet, but any Egyptian ship that tried to approach it was blown to pieces.

And those Egyptian warships that were far away from the "King" did not dare to shoot at it for fear of accidentally injuring friendly forces.

A brigantine was in front of the "King", trying to stop it from continuing to run rampant.

However, Simmons did not order an emergency evasion, but instead crashed into the brigantine in front.

The 300-ton brigantine was cut like butter in front of the "King", and instantly broke into two pieces.

As for those small gunboats and small sampans, they were blown to pieces before they approached the "King".

At the moment when Simmons' flagship was killing all around in the Egyptian Navy's queue, the remaining British warships lined up.

However, the Egyptian Navy Commander-in-Chief Eparic Pasha was surprised to find through the telescope that the British did not intend to support their flagship, but intended to surround and annihilate it with less than half the Egyptian Navy's troops.

Eparic Pasha threw the telescope to the ground and smashed it to pieces. He vowed to teach the British a lesson that they would never forget.

However, the reality is that those British people do have the qualifications to be proud.

The British warships are far stronger than the Egyptian Navy in terms of firing rate and protection, and the quality of personnel is even more different. Many of the sailors of the Egyptian Navy were farmers or soldiers half a year ago. There is only one reason why they became sailors, that is, they don't get seasick.

The sailors of this British fleet are a group of out-and-out veterans. Many of them have been trainees on ships since they were twelve or thirteen years old. They have been sailors all their lives. Even when drunk, they can walk on the bumpy deck as if it were flat ground.

The most terrifying thing is the technological gap between the two sides. The British army has used the latest high-explosive shells, which are called ship killers by later generations. It can even be said that it was the emergence of this shell that ended the era of wooden sails.

However, the Egyptian Navy was always waiting for reinforcements, but the French Navy did not arrive as promised.

The battle ended in the "Emperor's Mass at Sea". The British Navy won a great victory, with 127 deaths and 503 injuries.

Of the 25 battleships of the Egyptian Navy, 15 were sunk, 10 were captured, and 4,700 people were killed.