Chapter 1154: Surrendering Means Losing Half
The British referendum was still underway, but armistice negotiations had already begun ahead of it. Even a rotten ship had three pounds of nails left in it—let alone the British Empire.
The Continental Alliance undeniably held the upper hand, but if they truly wanted to steamroll all the way through, it still could not be done in less than a year or two.
The overseas colonies in particular—Canada and Australia were both vast territories. If fighting truly broke out, it would be difficult to control the regions without an army of eight hundred thousand to a million men.
Franz had no intention of spending another three to five years hunting rats after winning the war. No matter how great the family fortune, it could not be squandered like that.
War was extraordinarily expensive, after all, and prolonged combat drained national strength the most. Expending too much power on the British would not benefit the Holy Roman Empire's next strategic arrangements.
War was merely a means, not the ultimate objective. Weighing the pros and cons was one of a politician's most basic abilities.
Austrian Grand Hotel Conference Room
The moment Adam received the armistice terms, he exploded with rage. Declaring surrender was a minor matter; they had lost the war anyway, and admitting defeat was only a matter of time.
The problem lay with the territorial cessions and reparations. By Europe's usual traditions, ceding land and paying indemnities after losing a war was perfectly natural, and Adam had long been mentally prepared for it.
But after seeing the exact amount of the reparations and the territories they were required to cede, Adam could no longer hold himself back.
The demands for territory were almost the same as before: all overseas colonies, plus independence for