Chapter 1660 - 1566: The New Diplomatic Landscape

Lord Hawkesburg reacted quickly, knowing where the Mainzer was steering the conversation, and immediately said, "This is not the topic of this meeting, and there's no need to explain the matters between our country and Portugal to you. Let's discuss the deployment of the Imperial Army instead."

He looked at Hillger with eyes full of threat.

But the latter seemed not to notice, shaking his head vigorously, "No, no, my Lord, I think it's important. You see, your arrival in Graz shows that your country intends to play a key role in German affairs, and your country's diplomatic credibility determines whether all this can be realized."

He smiled harmlessly, "Therefore, I hope you can introduce to everyone when your country plans to send an expeditionary force to South America according to the Anglo-Portuguese Hundred-Year Alliance."

Indeed, perhaps Mainz as a country does not want to offend powerful Britain, but as a Member of Parliament, he does not care. Not to mention that the French people would support him, even without that factor, he dared to debate what he said today in Congress publicly—this was carefully probing the diplomatic stance of Britain, for which His Majesty the Emperor ought to be thankful.

Lord Hawkesburg, surrounded by dozens of gazes, immediately darkened his face and said through gritted teeth, "This is a bilateral agreement between England and Portugal, not for a small state to comment on..."

He had just said this when he saw the Oldenburg diplomat Krechmer stood up, pointing at Hillger and loudly saying, "Ridiculous! Can anyone actually doubt the strength and credibility of Britain?

"I tell you, Britain's strategic deployment is considered from the whole picture, and it will never abandon its obligations!"

Lord Hawkesburg was stunned for a moment, then immediately thought of the massive trade between Oldenburg and Britain, realizing that Krechmer was trying to curry favor with him, so he nodded approvingly at him and forced a smile.

Krechmer, like a hunting dog rewarded by its master, raised his voice even more, "You should all imagine that at this time, the invincible Royal Navy is gathering towards Guyana, carrying countless Marines clad in red shirts..."

Yes, Lord Hawkesburg only remembered the trade between Britain and Oldenburg but forgot that nearly half of the latter's territory was given to them with the strong urging of France through the Stuttgart Declaration.

In order to prevent the British from passing off the matter with diplomatic rhetoric, Joseph arranged for someone to "argue" with Hillger. Everything needed to be "torn apart" to gain heat.

Hillger looked "shocked" at the British Foreign Minister, "Is that so, my Lord?"

The British were blushing and wished to kick Krechmer, this fool, twice.

At this moment, he could neither say "yes" nor "no," and after half a day, he managed to squeeze out a sentence, "No comment."

But Krechmer became even more enthusiastic, "That's right, it's military secrecy, how could we tell you casually! As long as the right time comes, the British expeditionary force will flatten the South American colony!"

Hillger nodded in agreement, "Yes indeed, at the right time. Jesus bless the Regent King Noan's army can hold on until then... oh, sorry, they will surely hold on until reinforcements arrive."

His words immediately prompted "curious" inquiries from those around, "How many expeditionary forces will there be?"

"So, will the war situation in South America turn around before spring arrives?"

"I heard the situation in the United States is not good, will London also provide reinforcements there?"

"Who is the commander of the expeditionary force? General Harris or Lord Castlereagh?"

Lord Hawkesburg turned helplessly to Count Waldesai for "assistance", "It's past time to return to the established topics."

However, even though the latter had pounded the table with disregard for etiquette, he still could not pull the discussion back from everyone's enthusiasm for the situation in America.

The "much-awaited" Lord Hawkesburg endured a few more minutes before finally leaving in anger.

Representatives of "staunch" French countries such as Baden and Nassau exchanged glances, showing knowing smiles.

The meeting finally continued, but the discussion content was soon again brought to the Imperial Army's funding by the Hesse envoy…

At five o'clock in the afternoon, Count Waldesai had no choice but to announce an adjournment, inviting everyone to attend the evening banquet, with the meeting continuing the next morning.

As the representatives of various countries walked out of the conference hall, the journalists who had been waiting outside immediately surrounded them.

According to Count Waldesai's arrangements, these reporters were originally meant to report on "the Holy Roman Empire uniting to deal with the rebels."

The Baden representative chatted and laughed with the reporters for a while, then left Eggenberg Palace with his assistant, heading to a villa in the eastern suburbs of Graz.

This was the temporary residence of the French diplomat Fang Dan, who was "vacationing" in Graz.

All representatives of the German states knew well that although France was not invited to this summit, no major decisions could be made without France's approval.

The Baden representatives met the Wurttemberg representative who had arrived earlier in Fang Dan's sitting room, and the two courteously exchanged greetings.

In the study upstairs, Fang Dan quickly browsed a news draft sent by his subordinates and nodded, "Change 'Lord Hawkesburg did not respond' to 'Lord Hawkesburg did not deny', and leave the rest unchanged."

The drafts were all prepared in advance and only needed simple adjustments based on the day's meeting situation.

Once the Paris News Agency's reporter left, Fang Dan went downstairs to the sitting room.

The Baden and Wurttemberg diplomats, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately stood and saluted him, then proceeded to give a detailed report on the day's meeting process.

Fang Dan ordered a servant to bring hot tea, then looked at the Baden representative and said, "Are you saying that Graz alone has increased by tens of thousands of soldiers?"

The latter hurriedly replied, "Yes, sir. The nobles in Graz are very enthusiastic about the Emperor's call, and many come with their own weapons and warhorses. There are also thousands of soldiers in Judenburg who will arrive in Graz in the coming days."

As the "birthplace" of the Habsburg family, Graz's ruling foundation is still very stable, and it houses a large number of old nobles. In comparison, Vienna does not have as many nobles.

Fang Dan nodded, "It indeed matches the Regent King's prediction. In that case, there's no need to provide substantial assistance to the Emperor."

Graz originally had nearly ten thousand troops, and with the newly recruited noble soldiers, it almost cut off the possibility of the National Assembly's army continuing south.

And at this time, the Northern Bohemian and Slovak Army Corps were also approaching Vienna. To the east was the main force of the Royalist Party led by Archduke Carl, along with the Russian intervention army.

This meant that the Habsburg Family had already stabilized the foundation.

The next task of the Vienna Affairs Summit was to engage in long-winded discussions and annoy the British.

The next day, the front pages of newspapers in various countries almost all quoted the Paris News Agency's news—"The Vienna Affairs Summit falls into fierce debates, no consensus was reached on responding to the rebellion on the first day," and "The British Foreign Minister has yet to deny the large-scale dispatch of an expeditionary force to New Granada."