Bordeaux, standing to one side, asked tentatively.
"Your Majesty, shall I summon Count Latour and Archduke Albrecht?"
What had happened in Prague could already be considered a rebellion from Vienna's perspective. With the precedent of 1848, coupled with the Austrian Empire's hard-line stance toward rebellions in recent years, Bordeaux had reason to ask.
Franz drew a deep breath and replied evenly.
"What are you planning to do? Start a civil war? This is a purge operation. There is no rebellion! Do you understand?"
Though Franz was furious, this matter absolutely could not be classified as a civil war.
The Windisch-Grätz family's influence had to vanish from Bohemia. No local strongman with such immense power could be allowed to exist within the Austrian Empire.
All of Prague, all of Bohemia, had to be thoroughly purged.
"Send a telegram to Marshal Haynau. Have him make the trip."
Bordeaux was somewhat surprised, but he said nothing. He understood that his duty was to carry out Franz's orders.
Franz had not wanted to go this far either, but if it was to be done, it had to be done thoroughly. Haynau's reputation was already utterly ruined; within the Austrian Empire, he was a slandered hero who had saved the nation.
No matter how the Austrian Imperial government promoted him, anti-Austrian elements at home and abroad would never let him off.
There was simply too much to smear Haynau over, and he himself did not care in the least.
As mentioned before, Haynau was an exceptionally useful chess piece. His identity as an illegitimate Jewish son, combined with his foul temper, inability to fit in, and soldierly manner, meant that he was destined to have no faction.
Moreover, Haynau himself was in fact deeply dutiful and had no political ambitions. His background could not possibly