Although Franz had vetoed the Land Cruiser project, the Austrian Empire's military had not abandoned its research into large land machines.
That land cruiser, 25 meters long, 8 meters wide, and with a combat weight of 320 tons, had been hauled back and refitted into the mobile hunting platform now before them.
The Austrian Empire's Weapon Development Bureau had comprehensively improved upon the issues Franz had raised. Although considerable problems still remained, it had already made great strides.
Naturally, such a cumbersome contraption was just as meaningless in actual combat, but things were different here—it was more than enough to show off the Austrian Empire's strength to the other German princes.
After a morning of hunting, the young royal members from every nation had thoroughly enjoyed themselves, mainly thanks to the Austrian Empire having stocked the hunting grounds with more than enough prey.
Nearly everyone's tally had reached double digits, but Franz had gained the most. His haul had already broken into triple digits, and even included brown bears and lions.
As for how there could be lions in Bohemia, that was something only the Austrian Empire's chief forester and the hunting ground staff could answer.
Franz stood beside his mountain-like pile of prey for a photograph. At that moment, the buglers sounded their most resounding calls, proclaiming the end of the hunt.
By tradition, Franz needed to personally cut off a piece of meat from the largest beast he had hunted and present it to a trusted retainer or guest as a mark of favor.
Franz cut a large piece of meat from the lion's chest and presented it to the Austrian Empire's veteran general, Marshal Radetzky.
To the others, Franz's action seemed highly unusual. After all, this was a critical moment in the Gold Bullion Standard reform. As