The turmoil in Bohemia quickly spread abroad. Clearly, this was one of the greatest spectacles of 1859.
Across Europe, whether Britain and France or Russia and Prussia, all were waiting for the repercussions to grow.
Yet, to their utter disbelief, the so-called rebels vanished completely in a single night.
Opinions varied wildly. Some said the rebels had switched sides at the last minute, causing independence to fall short at the final hurdle. Some said Franz had carried out another decapitation strike. Others claimed the Empire had summoned some kind of monster.
But no matter what, the Bohemian rebels, from whom so much had been expected, had been wiped out so easily. That still left many people deeply dissatisfied.
Among them, Napoleon III was the most frustrated. After receiving Markray's telegram, he had, as if possessed, actually written a reply.
Even Markray himself had not expected that not long after he sent that telegram, his own people would be gone.
Now Napoleon III had to worry whether the Austrian Empire would receive that telegram—and, if it did, whether it would use it as leverage against him.
New technology really was unreliable. It could not even be recalled in time.
Prussia, meanwhile, had been undone by its own intelligence. According to official Prussian reports, the garrison in Bohemia was fully capable of standing against Prussia's main field army.
So when unrest broke out in Bohemia, William I had even opened a bottle of Champagne in celebration. After all, such internal strife would not only weaken Austria's military strength; its economy and control would also suffer.
Yet when he woke from his hangover the next day, he discovered that the rebellion was already over.
William I could not help feeling that he might not have sobered up yet. Otherwise, such an outrageous result