Chapter 139: Stalemate

"Prime Minister Napoleon, upon hearing these words, was stunned. At that moment, he doubted his ears. Did the Austrians consider this a concession? They had only reduced their demand by 20 million guilders—was that supposed to be a concession? Moreover, as the victorious side, how could France possibly pay reparations to the defeated?"

"Ahem, forgive me for being blunt, Sir, but I fail to see any concession from the Austrian side. However, I cannot let you make this trip in vain. Let's do this: since the Austrians have stated their conditions, the French government will also state our reasonable conditions. Chief of Staff, please state our conditions," Napoleon said.

"Yes, Prime Minister!" nodded the French Chief of Staff, stepping forward.

"Respected British envoy, this war, fundamentally, was provoked by the Austrian Empire's aggression against French territory. France was forced to retaliate. Now, our armies have won this war. Yet, Austria regards itself as the victor, which we find unacceptable. If we are to end this war, Austria must agree to our two conditions. First, Austria must sign a formal treaty recognizing Italy as French territory. Second, Austria must compensate France with 100 million francs. Otherwise, the war will continue!" the French Chief of Staff said coldly.

"What? Good Lord! They dare to demand such conditions!" The Austrian diplomat was now flabbergasted. The entire Italian region—such vast territory! Napoleon even demanded a formal treaty. Once this formal treaty was signed, legally, Austria would have no more right to govern this land. And France also demanded compensation of 100 million francs—those were francs! In terms of value, they were more valuable than Austrian guilders.

Meanwhile, British envoy Sir Tom was equally shocked. The worst-case scenario they had feared had come true. Whether it was the Austrians or the French, both were making extravagant demands! The differences between the two sides were so great that reaching an agreement seemed entirely impossible.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible! The Austrian Empire will never accept such conditions! You are delusional!" The Austrian envoy roared in anger, as if he had been deeply humiliated. He completely forgot how boldly he had presented Austria's demands to Napoleon just the day before.

"If Austria does not accept, then the war will continue," Napoleon casually remarked, ignoring the Austrian diplomat's anger completely.

"Austria and the Holy Roman Empire will never surrender. Victory will ultimately be ours. Hmph! Just watch!" The Austrian diplomat spat out these words venomously before storming away.

Undoubtedly, today's negotiations would yield no results.

Napoleon showed no reaction to the Austrian envoy's departure. This peace negotiation seemed like child's play. Clearly, the French were the victors, yet the Austrians treated them as the defeated. How was this even possible?

"Prime Minister Napoleon, I must admit, your conditions are too harsh. With such demands, peace will never come," Sir Tom frowned. Regardless of Austria's position, they were allies of Britain. If France demanded too much and weakened Austria excessively, Britain would not agree.

"Sir, these are merely responses to the Austrians. Otherwise, the world might think we are the ones who have failed!" Napoleon's face bore a mocking smile. The French had clearly dominated on the battlefield, yet the Austrians seemed oblivious to this fact. It was quite a joke. If the treaty were to be signed as it stood, outsiders might think France was weak and easily bullied.

"True! The French have indeed dominated on the battlefield. But, you must not forget, the Holy Roman Empire is the most powerful country in Europe. They have unparalleled influence. If the Austrians are willing, they could easily muster millions of troops to join the fight. Then, it would be hard to maintain French superiority," Sir Tom said impatiently as negotiations continued to go awry.

"Oh, really? Then let the Austrians come. I'm not afraid of them," Tom's threat did not make Napoleon retreat in the least. From start to finish, Napoleon had never feared the so-called Holy Roman Empire.

"Your Excellency seems to forget that Austria is our ally. Britain can provide assistance to its friends," Sir Tom continued. Napoleon's dismissive attitude towards them left him extremely dissatisfied. Though they also looked down on the Holy Roman Empire's declining power, they were friends with Britain now, and one must respect the.

"Indeed, you may do so. However, it would be meaningless. Austria deploying more strength here would also harm your interests. As far as I know, during my expedition to Egypt, your country assisted the Turks. As a result, the Turks were willing to cede some of Egypt's interests to Britain in exchange. But afterward, it seems the Turks reneged on their agreement," Napoleon said with a smile to Sir Tom.

The failure of the Egyptian expedition had always gnawed at Napoleon. If not for the British interference, he would have achieved a great victory in Egypt instead of returning to France in disgrace. But after defeating Napoleon, the Turks promptly tore up the secret agreement and expelled the British from Egypt. That had been a bitter pill for Napoleon to swallow.

However, it was precisely because of this that the British had been looking for an opportunity to retaliate against the Turks, and this required Austrian assistance. This was also why the British had been trying to get Austria to end the Italian War.

"The Turks are nothing but uncivilized barbarians. The British will teach them a lesson. Your country need not worry about that. However, I hope your government will know when to stop and not complicate matters. Otherwise, Britain may prefer to abandon its interests in Egypt and instead join the Italian War," Sir Tom subtly issued a warning.

"Thank you for the reminder, Your Excellency, but I believe our demands are reasonable. By the way, just now, a frontline report arrived here for me. Would you like to take a look?" Napoleon picked up a letter from his desk and handed it to Sir Tom.

Sir Tom took the report and, after a quick look, his eyes flashed with alarm. The report was from the front lines of the French army. It detailed how General Moro, with two infantry divisions, had encircled and decisively defeated an Austrian force, eliminating nearly 20,000 Austrian troops.

"Napoleon, I think we should postpone the negotiations for now. Soon enough, my forces will wipe out the remaining Austrian troops in Italy," Napoleon said with a smile, clearly holding the upper hand in the war. He had time to wear down both the Austrians and the British.

"Please, Napoleon, wait a moment. There are matters I need to discuss with the Austrians," Sir Tom replied, hastily leaving. He needed to confer with his government and the Austrians. If they didn't abandon their unrealistic demands, they wouldn't have any troops left in Italy.

"These damn Brits, always bullying the weak and fearing the strong," Roland muttered as he watched Sir Tom leave.

"Don't be upset, Roland. The British have always been like this. Fortunately, we were prepared early, or they might have threatened us openly," Napoleon said calmly.