The hall of Petőfi Palace fell silent in an instant, and Janos and the others all had evasive looks in their eyes.
The Hungarian Parliament had been avoiding this issue, but now the French had laid it right on the table.
Hungary's August Decree stated in black and white that Croatia, Slovakia, and Serbia were all part of Hungary, and people had already been sent to those places to implement Magyarization.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly's current laws incorporated every Austrian territory outside Hungary's core region into the newly established Republic of Austria. This had already been a compromise reached only after lengthy debate in Parliament. According to the Radicals, even Hungary was part of the Republic of Austria. In other words, the Hungarian Parliament and the Austrian National Assembly had a massive territorial dispute.
For now, both sides were dealing with a common enemy and had not examined these matters too closely. But once the Royalist Party was driven back, the question of who would control the newly occupied lands would immediately become a problem.
After a long while, Janos finally stammered, "There... there will always be a way, won't there...?"
The president of the Chevalier Chamber of Commerce said calmly, "Yes. The way is for war to break out."
Janos said nothing, because the Frenchman was right.
President Dupont continued, "In fact, judging from the intelligence I have received, the National Assembly's army will withdraw back to Vienna before your decisive battle with the Russians."
Councilor Palffy's eyes widened. "How is that possible? We have a pledge!"
Dupont glanced at him. "Do you know Vienna's financial situation?"
"I heard their funds are quite abundant. Not only have they purchased vast quantities of weapons and equipment, they have even paid out the pensions the Emperor had owed those old soldiers