As the Prussian leadership, headed by King Wilhelm I and Chancellor Bismarck, actively prepared and maneuvered.
The Kingdom of Prussia's army stood ready with weapons at their pillows, while the Austrian Empire's army was also on its way.
The Austrians naturally saw through Prussia's ambition to unify the German territories.
Prussia's rapid development in recent years had long ceased to be a secret. With the establishment of the Zollverein, industrial growth, and interconnected railways, the Kingdom of Prussia's voice in the German territories had grown ever stronger.
Thus, the Austrians naturally would not miss this war against Denmark. They could not allow Prussia to gather the hearts of the German territories to itself.
Of course, Austria's ambition to unify the German territories was no weaker than Prussia's. Unfortunately, interference from Britain, France, and other countries kept it from acting rashly. This time, Bismarck lured Austria into the waters by proposing that they jointly determine the fate of the two northern duchies.
Before their shared interests, Austria indeed took the bait. This was an open scheme. If it did nothing, it could only watch Prussia win over the hearts of the German territories; if it acted, it could not avoid joining Prussia. Prussia had already placed itself beyond defeat.
Schleswig and Holstein lay far from Austria. Even if Austria gained control of one of the two regions, it could only treat it as an exclave, while Prussia could swiftly digest its spoils of war with the advantage of geography.
Yet Austria had countless exclaves throughout its history, so no one paid much attention to this issue. The old Habsburgs had not only possessed innumerable exclaves within the Holy Roman Empire, but across Europe and even the world. Prussia could make an issue of this in the future.
This was also where Bismarck's brilliance lay. Austria had no choice but to swallow this open scheme. Pulling Austria into action was equivalent to sharing Prussia's international pressure.
As one of the world's foremost great powers, Austria was naturally not something a second-rate power like Prussia could compare with in the eyes of other nations.
At the height of the Habsburg Dynasty, it could be said that it had no rival in Europe. Even now, it remained a world arbiter on the same level as Britain, France, and Russia.
The Austrian Empire of the present was not the dual monarchy of the later Austro-Hungarian Empire. Its strength was still respectable.
The old hands from the Napoleonic Era had not yet withered away completely, and the Austrian Army remained one of the foremost forces on the European continent, not to be underestimated.
Of course, the likelihood of these old hands personally going to the front to command was small, but they could at least steady Austria's military morale. They were all people who had seen great storms and mighty waves.
Even a rotten ship still had three pounds of nails. Though their ideas might have grown outdated, they still possessed ability and vision.
From the looks of it this time, the Austrian army could still keep pace with the times. Though its composition was chaotic, its preparations remained orderly and methodical.
As the Austrian army marched north, troops instantly converged upon North Germany. Bavaria, Württemberg, and a host of other states also raised their own forces and joined in.
In terms of mobilization capability alone, Prussia naturally held the upper hand. Though Prussia was largely deploying within its own territory, while Austria had to march out from within its country and then head north over long distances, placing it at an inherent disadvantage.
But it had to be said that the Prussian Army possessed first-rate discipline and quality. Through the unified coordination of railways, ports, mules, and horses, the General Staff drew up plans in an orderly fashion.
With its interconnected logistics network, all of Prussia resembled one enormous military depot. Every link of the state machine could mesh smoothly with the army.
The Prussian Army, shaped by standardized uniforms and comprehensive regulations, appeared clean and efficient as a whole.
The Austrian army, by contrast, was a bewildering hodgepodge. Lacking a unified language and culture, nobles from every region led the armies of their respective lands. Their unit designations were all manner of strange, their uniforms not even standardized, each retaining the characteristics of its own region and ethnicity.
Only because the Austrian Empire had such deep foundations did its logistics not collapse. With support from the northern states as well, the Austrian army could still obtain relatively good conditions for rest and recuperation.
Aside from the Prussian and Austrian armies, other states with the means also brought their own troops to lend support to the two nations. Compared with Prussia and Austria, however, they could only play minor roles.
As the armies of various countries assembled, it was naturally impossible for all subsequent supplies and logistics to be transported from their homelands, aside from the materials that accompanied them. Most were still purchased from Prussia and the northern states.
At this moment, the well-prepared Ernst joined the great cause of supporting the troops. The first batch of industrial goods was loaded directly from factories and warehouses onto carts and hauled to the camps—and given away for free.
Many armies that had never used products made by the Hohenzollern Development Company found them quite novel.
Cigarettes and lighters in particular became wildly popular among the soldiers, especially within the Austrian army.
Although the Austrian army was also Ernst's customer, distance had previously prevented him from supplying Austrian forces with products on a large scale.
Now, Ernst intended to seize this opportunity to popularize his products throughout the Austrian army. By the time the war ended, his tobacco company would have factories built in Austria as well.
Because the Prussian Army centrally purchased and distributed living supplies to soldiers and officers alike, Ernst was instead unable to play any little tricks there.
Austria was obviously different. Its mixed-bag army, uneven officer quality, and lax discipline opened up a market for Ernst's products.
By bribing officers, these soldier-thugs began blowing clouds and puffing smoke throughout the camps. Before long, the cigarettes Ernst supplied had been completely consumed. Austrian quartermasters had no choice but to increase their cigarette requirements in their supply orders.
Since cigarettes truly could keep the soldiers' emotions stable, there was nothing more to say. Austria's generals turned a blind eye, and with a grand stroke of the imperial pen, vast orders flew into Ernst's factories.
Once these soldiers retired, it would also be difficult for them to quit their dependence on tobacco. Ernst could then continue his tobacco business. Convenient, cheap paper-wrapped cigarettes would spread throughout all of Germany along with these soldiers.
January 16, 1864.
Representatives of Austria and Prussia formally signed an agreement. Austria had drafted a clause intending to continue upholding the 1852 agreement, but Bismarck struck it out and replaced it: the two countries could only jointly determine the relationship of the two duchies, and neither could decide the question of succession without the other's consent.
This way, the two countries would jointly bear the pressure of public opinion from outside powers. Matters of the German territories should naturally be settled by the Germans themselves.
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