In terms of the military, Marshal Radetzky’s decision was correct; politically, however, it was a big mistake.

In the eyes of the outside world, his retreat signified that Austria had lost on the battlefield against the weak Sardinians and that the Austrian Empire had decayed.This would give confidence to the rebels within Austria and make the domestic turmoil even more dire; at the same time, Austria’s international status in the world as a great power would be shaken.

“What’s done is done, so there’s no more to be said. We need to consider what to do next!” Franz decisively said, “For now, the Foreign Ministry will get in touch with the British and French embassies, in case they plan to provide support to Sardinia; between them, the focus should be on the French. If necessary, in exchange for their neutrality, we can promise to remain neutral if they ever enter Italy.”

In fact, Franz actually supported Marshal Radetzky’s approach: as long as he could win the war, it was totally acceptable to lose a few battles. As for the political fallout of this approach, it was not a big deal for him since the Cabinet would be the one to take the blame for it. He had only recently become the regent and thanks to his reputation as a benevolent young man, the people would not scold him.

Minister-President von Schwarzenberg’s face was gloomy. Unfortunately for him, Marshal Radetzky was far away in Venice. Despite the anger he felt towards the old marshal, he had no way to vent it. He also couldn’t impatiently order Marshal Radetzky to retake Lombardy immediately. War was not child’s play and he could not give military orders based on his whims.

Moreover, Franz had already expressed his attitude: the Cabinet’s priority was to deal with the repercussions of the temporary setback. If the war was won in the end, Marshal Radetzky would be a hero of Austria; if not, the consequences would be very serious.

He said, “Your Imperial Highness, there is no need to worry about the French. Since the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the number of active soldiers in the French army had been restricted and they only got rid of the restriction after the February Revolution in Paris.

At present, the internal turmoil within France is very serious as the conservative Doctrinaires, unwilling to be sidelined, are fighting back. The French are too busy dealing with their own affairs, so they have no time to help Sardinia. At most, they could provide some financial or material support.

The British, on the other hand, are the main cause of concern. They were far less affected by the revolutions than the French, so they have the means to intervene on the Italian front, but since we have a decent relationship with the British, I think we should ask for their support.”

On the surface, this was indeed the case. Since the era of Prince von Metternich as State Chancellor, diplomatic relations between Austria and Britain had been very good since both nations wished to maintain a balance of power in Europe. Since their goal was the same, the two great powers naturally had a good relationship. When it came to maintaining the balance of the European continent, Austria had always been allied with Britain.

Foreign Minister von Metternich shook his head and said, “Lord Minister-President, the establishment of a united Kingdom of Italy to keep Austria and France in check at the same time is more in line with interests of the British.

Therefore, it is almost impossible for us to get their support against Sardinia. The best we can hope for is a neutral stance.”

Prince von Metternich had a thorough understanding of Britain; they had no perpetual friend nor perpetual enemy, only perpetual interest. The British were allied with Austria on the matter of maintaining the balance of power in Europe, but they didn’t want a truly strong Austria; they only wanted an Austria which was strong enough to block the westward expansion of the Russians.

It was not possible for the small and poor Kingdom of Sardinia to defeat Austria with just moral support. Either the British had to send their army, or they had to send large amounts of money, food, and weapons. It was highly doubtful that the British would send their army since that would push Austria closer to Russia; similarly, the amount of food and weapons required by Sardinia would easily cost tens of millions of pounds.

This was not an easy decision to make. If the British did send the money, food, and weapons and Sardinia still lost, their investment would be wasted. Austria was also a great power and not easy to mess with. If they were pushed into a corner, they might form an alliance with France and divide Italy equally while Britain would be left twiddling its thumbs.

Recently, all European nations had become vigilant against France since the Vienna system had collapsed. After the news of the February revolution in Paris had spread to St. Petersburg, Czar Nicholas I had even briefly considered an armed intervention. In the end, however, he had to give up any such plan due to financial constraints.

Still, the Czarist government did announce that it had cut off diplomatic relations with France. In addition, before the Russian ambassador to France, Nikolai Kiselyov, withdrew from Paris, he had warned the newly-elected French government to abide by the territorial boundaries determined during the Congress of Vienna and Treaty of Paris.

The British were equally concerned about this issue. They were waiting to see the foreign policy employed by the new French government before they recognized its legitimacy. Nevertheless, due to being an island nation, it was not easy for Britain to directly intervene in matters of continental Europe, especially since most of its army was busy guarding its many large colonies.

Normally, if the new French government sent troops to the Italian front, the European nations would likely form a new coalition to suppress France due to their fear of Napoleonic France. However, if Austria, which, along with Russia, had been the vanguard of the anti-French coalition during the Napoleonic Wars, were to ally with France, no coalition in the world would be able to defeat them.

Finance Minister von Bruck advised, “Your Imperial Highness, our war with Sardinia has just begun. Even if the British want to aid them, they won’t do anything just yet.

For now, our biggest problem is actually at home: our army’s defeat on the Italian front will surely stimulate the rebels’ ambitions.”

These words brought everyone’s attention back to the rebellions within Austria. Compared to Italy, these rebellions were the real problem. Not to mention the other regions,  it was only a matter of time before the Kingdom of Hungary rebelled.

Franz replied in agreement, “The defeat on Italian front will surely cause a chain reaction, but we are not unprepared.

Raise the army’s alert and order the soldiers to immediately take action if they see any signs of a rebellion.”

After suppressing the rebellion in Vienna, Franz had already begun to mobilize the army. Many reserve forces were drafted into the army and soon the size of the Austrian army reached 578,000 troops. If it weren’t for the fact that most of them were recruits who still needed time for training, Franz would not waste time on arguing with the Hungarians, he would simply deal with them through force.

Therefore, for now, he would bide his time and only take action once he became sure that the army was ready and able to swiftly suppress the rebellion, rather than fighting a protracted war which dragged on for years like his historical counterpart. After all, fighting a war cost money.

Historically, the rebellions within Austria lasted for many years, which not only caused huge economic losses but also led the Vienna government to incur immense foreign debts. As a result, after the creation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, development within the nation slowed down to a snail’s pace, which caused it to be defeated by Prussia and forgotten by the rest of the world.

“Your Imperial Highness, should we send more reinforcements to Marshal Radetzky?” Interior Minister Archduke Louis inquired, worried.

Franz thought for a few moments before he answered, “No need! After giving up Lombardy, Marshal Radetzky has more than enough soldiers to defend Venice!”

Marshal Radetzky’s goal was to lure the Sardinians deeper and stretch their supply line, so if there were too many Austrian soldiers, the Sardinians would become more cautious. After all, the Kingdom of Sardinia was not Russia which could deploy hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

The Sardinians would, at most, deploy 70-80,000 soldiers after keeping 10-20,000 soldiers in reserve to safeguard their homeland. As a result, the Austrian army would have the support of numerous defensive fortifications, plentiful supplies, more advanced weapons and a safe rear.

With so many advantages, Franz did not believe that the Austrian army could be defeated by an equally sized army, especially one formed of Italians, who were poorly equipped, exhausted, and unskilled at large-scale warfare.