Not all Hungarian refugees needed to go to refugee camps. The shareholders in the Imperial Territory, for instance, did not.
Franz had been recruiting shareholders in Hungary for some time. After all, he had considered pursuing a peaceful policy of conciliation, using the economic base to change the superstructure.
But this war had ultimately been unavoidable. Even if he wanted to strike at the root of the problem, he first had to see whether the other side's fists would agree.
Fortunately, over the years Franz had won over some Hungarian nobles. Their participation was also an important reason the Imperial Territory had been able to expand so smoothly.
One had to be ruthless toward one's enemies and welcome friends with courtesy. Austrian officials sought them out at once and sent them and their families to Vienna by water.
Traveling by water was the fastest and safest option at the time, since the Hungarians had no naval forces on the Danube River whatsoever.
The Austrian Empire, however, had the only fleet on the Danube River. It could even launch a surprise attack from the river and cut off the connection between Buda and Pest.
But Franz had not chosen to do that. Building a bridge to connect the two cities was no easy task; it would take years.
Besides, although Austria's river fleet was known as the "Danube Invincible," that reputation only applied against other river craft. If they got it into their heads to trade fire with fortress guns, even their technological superiority wouldn't necessarily give them much of an advantage.
If they ran aground in some little stream, it would undoubtedly deal a blow to the Austrian Empire's prestige, hurt their own morale, and undermine the atmosphere Franz had worked so hard to create.
So this kind of military