Chapter 1606: Be Serious — We're Holding a Funeral Here!

Of course, the Ottomans would not collapse that quickly. A starved camel is still bigger than a horse! The Ottoman Empire was, after all, a vast and mighty state, and the Ottoman Sultan also held the title of Caliph of Islam. It was only that over the past one or two hundred years the Ottoman Empire had been in very good shape, able to hold off the Christian states of the West with the Janissary corps, Crimean Tatar cavalry, a small number of Sipahi cavalry, and the Barbary pirates. There had therefore been no need to raise the banner of the Islamic Caliphate too high — raising the Caliph's banner high could mobilize the strength of the Islamic territories under Ottoman rule, but it would also make the conservative forces within the Ottoman Empire too powerful, which in the long run would be extremely detrimental to the empire's development.

But when the state faced disaster, the Ottoman Empire could no longer worry about the long term... So the Ottoman Empire could still mobilize the manpower and resources of the eastern Islamic territories to struggle against the West!

Moreover, the great Ming Empire in the East and the Timurid Empire in India would not stand by and watch the Ottoman Empire collapse — if it collapsed, Europe might be unified by Rome. Although a unified Rome would not necessarily be more formidable in battle, it would still look uncomfortable on the map, so it was better to keep the Ottoman Empire going.

Therefore the blow dealt to the Ottoman Empire by the Lakeside—Danube campaign would be roughly equivalent to the disastrous defeat of the historical Second Battle of Vienna.

It was only because in the Christian lands of Europe there was now a state truly capable of leading the pack — the Roman Empire!

So the Ottoman Empire's days ahead would not be easy, and it was certain to lose a good deal of territory. Istanbul, however, would most likely not be lost — first, because it was hard to take: marching troops from Austria, Poland, Venice, and elsewhere all the way to Istanbul was a bit far.

And with so much territory in between, how to divide it up was a problem!

Second, because the Great Louis actually needed a ferocious, saber-rattling Ottoman Empire — that would help him digest the "Carlos inheritance" and the spoils taken in Central Europe and the Balkans...

The "Carlos inheritance" had nothing to do with Marie Anne, Prince Karl, or Archduke Henri. But how the spoils of Central Europe and the Balkans were divided did concern the three of them.

Because much of the territory in Central Europe and the Balkans now looked as though it would be occupied by the Austrian army and the Hungarian knights loyal to Queen Marie Anne!

"How many Hungarians support us now?" Archduke Henri asked with a frown. "And what do they want from us?"

"Apart from the nobles of Transylvania, most of the Hungarian nobility support us — that is a very powerful force!" The one answering was the queen-presumptive of Hungary, Marie Anne. "What they want, of course, is a Greater Hungary!"

She had already found a chair and seated herself in Henri's office. She had not yet put on the Crown of Saint Stephen — because the original crown could not be found, the new crown had not yet been made, and she had not yet been formally crowned Queen of Hungary.

But she had already won the unanimous support of 188 great nobles of Upper and Lower Hungary — the great nobles of Hungary rather liked a queen who was pleasing to the eye. In history, Maria Theresa was beaten black and blue by Frederick II in the War of the Austrian Succession and seemed on the verge of losing her realm, and no one in all Europe could immediately produce troops to save her. With no way out, she had to go and plead with the Hungarian nobles who were always agitating for independence. She delivered a speech in the parliament hall at Pressburg in Hungary, tearfully recounting her misfortunes and begging the noble Hungarian knights for help. In the end, a crowd of Hungarian uncles, seeing how adorable their beautiful young queen was, all abandoned their rebellious thoughts and helped Austria thrash Prussia... Frederick II was truly unlucky — who had he provoked?

Later still, the Austrian Empire was shattered by Prussia in the Austro-Prussian War and again seemed about to fall apart, so Franz Joseph I had no choice but to send his beautiful wife to win over Hungary — and the result was the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Now the Habsburg beauty was gone, replaced by a mature Bourbon-Mancini beauty, which also suited the aesthetic tastes of the Hungarian nobility, so the Hungarians decided to send troops in support of their queen.

Hungary's territory was vast and its population numerous, and because the Hungarian nation had a nomadic tradition, it could provide hussar cavalry of very strong fighting power — far superior to the Tatar cavalry of the Crimean Khan and on par with the Polish cavalry.

If Henri could gain the support of tens of thousands of Hungarian hussars, his strength would increase enormously.

Henri asked, "Greater Hungary... how great?"

"The bigger the better! A very large map — only then will the Hungarian nobles feel proud and satisfied!" Marie Anne replied. "So this Greater Hungary must certainly include Upper Hungary, Lower Hungary, and Transylvania... And this state must also protect the interests of the Hungarian nobility, and must not allow German or French nobles to go to Hungary and seize estates."

"Then..." Henri said thoughtfully, "what benefit would Austria get? The Austrians have paid an enormous price for this war!"

"The Austrians can obtain the right to establish and participate in the administration of autonomous cities along the Danube!" Marie Anne said. "Most Hungarian nobles are serf-owners... they cannot manage cities, and they have little interest in them. So Bratislava, Győr, Buda, and Pest will all become chartered autonomous cities, where Austrian merchants will be allowed to reside freely, and separate Austrian quarters will be set aside and granted to the Austrians."

"Not enough," Henri shook his head. "Austrian merchants should also obtain duty-free and free navigation rights on the Danube within Hungarian territory!"

"That is no problem," Marie Anne said. "I can persuade the Hungarians, because it is what the Austrians deserve.

In addition, one more point must be emphasized... Austria and Hungary will never merge, but they can be allied forever!"

Henri thought for a moment and nodded. "That works too... The Hungarians have suffered plenty at the hands of the Austrian nobility. If Austria and Hungary merged, they would sooner or later fall out!"

He paused and looked seriously at his wife. "Then will the Great Louis agree to our swallowing Hungary? Hungary is a big piece of fat meat!"

This Greater Hungary was very large! Upper Hungary was roughly the area of later Slovakia, Lower Hungary was roughly the later Hungary, and Transylvania was the northern region of later Romania.

"He will!" Marie Anne laughed. "Because my father is the biggest winner of all!"

"He..." Henri asked, "what does he get?"

"First, of course, the Kingdom of Bohemia!" Marie Anne said. "We can arrange for the Bohemian nobles to elect the Count of Vermandois as their king.

Second, the Kingdom of Croatia — we can arrange for the Croatian nobles to elect the Duke of Maine as king."

The Duke of Maine was also Louis's son, named Louis Auguste, the illegitimate son of the Great Louis and Madame de Montespan, legitimized in 1673.

Marie Anne said, "And I am also the Great One's daughter... In this way, the three kingdoms of Hungary, Bohemia, and Croatia will all be ruled by the House of Bourbon! And the Archduchy of Austria will appear just as before — a harmless, neutral little state.

My father will certainly be satisfied with such a distribution plan."

Would he be satisfied? Archduke Henri shot his woman an exasperated glare, thinking: The Count of Vermandois and the Duke of Maine are both outstanding soldiers! Far stronger than Crown Prince Louis... And Crown Prince Louis's health is very poor — he might not even outlive the Great Louis.

If such a situation truly came about, would the Count of Vermandois, the Duke of Maine, and you, Queen Marie Anne, raise troops in a Jingnan campaign?

The moment he thought of the "Jingnan Campaign," the Archduke of Austria found it hard to decide, and he turned his gaze toward one of the Great Louis's "illegitimate" sons, Count Eugene — that fellow was a formidable fighter! If he happened to help the King of Bohemia or the King of Croatia launch a "Jingnan campaign," little Louis would be in dire straits!

Henri of course could not have imagined that little Louis, the son of Crown Prince Louis, was fated to a short life and would also fail to outlive his grandfather, and that the one to inherit the throne of the Roman Empire would be the Great Louis's great-grandson... who would ascend the throne at the age of only five!

"Archduke," Count Eugene, who had been pondering the current situation all along and had now formed an opinion, said, "we probably do not have the capacity to swallow the entire Balkans in one gulp!

But taking Upper Hungary, Lower Hungary, Transylvania, Bohemia, and Croatia should be achievable.

Moreover, after taking Upper Hungary, Lower Hungary, and Transylvania... we will also need an Ottoman Empire that still looks somewhat vigorous to play the role of the enemy of God!"

End of the complete text.