As a piece of pleasant music began to play, the waiters started bringing exquisite dishes to the table.
This is Venice, and the main cuisine is Italian style. The table is laden with delicious food, including Venetian seafood chowder, Italian cured ham, cheese platters, Milanese veal cutlets, and more.
Although the quantity of dishes is not as large as at Hofburg Palace, each dish is meticulously crafted.
"Hess, I have just decided to dismiss Duke Gyulai and Count Grünne," Franz said calmly, dropping this bombshell-like news after tasting the seafood soup in front of him and savoring it carefully.
What!
Adjutant Karl and Baron Hess exchanged glances, their eyes unable to hide their shock.
Duke Gyulai currently commands nearly one-third of the empire's elite troops on the front line, while Count Grünne is not only the emperor's chief adjutant but also the chairman of the Imperial Military Committee.
And they were just dismissed like that?
However, for Chief of the General Staff Hess, this was incredibly good news.
He had long been unable to tolerate these two.
They had no practical military experience yet always criticized his strategic deployments.
Clearly, the beginning of the war was the best time to annihilate the Kingdom of Sardinia's army, but these two procrastinated, ultimately missing the opportunity.
But doing this, would it shake the army's morale? After all, changing generals on the eve of battle is a major military taboo.
Baron Hess furrowed his brows, thought for a moment, and said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, Duke Gyulai is fighting on the front line. Is it perhaps inappropriate to replace him rashly?"
Upon hearing this, Franz threw out a piece of paper.
"Look, he wrote me his resignation when the war began."
Franz laughed somewhat angrily.
A commander leading a large army on the front line wanting to resign at the start of the war—this truly makes him a bizarre comedian of Austria.
Franz paused, then continued, "Furthermore, Archduke Albrecht just reported the true situation of the Battle of Montebello to me—the Imperial Army's losses were nearly twice that of the enemy."
What!
This news shocked the two people present once again.
This was not just concealing the true war report; Hess knew that Duke Gyulai had previously submitted a victory report to the emperor, claiming that Austria had achieved an overwhelming victory in the Battle of Montebello.
However, what was puzzling was why Duke Gyulai retreated from the heartland of the Kingdom of Sardinia to the empire's border.
Now the truth was revealed.
Duke Gyulai disguised defeat as victory, deceiving not only the empire but also the emperor.
"As for Count Grünne, after careful consideration, I believe he is not suitable to continue in this position."
Franz hadn't yet decided how to deal with Count Grünne.
Although he was militarily incompetent, his loyalty to the emperor was unquestionable.
Franz decided to dismiss him first and make a further decision after collecting sufficient evidence.
"Your Majesty, who will now command the troops on the front line?" Hess asked tentatively.
Hess naturally hoped most that he could command the front-line army.
He had long been unable to stand Gyulai's amateurish command.
He recalled that when he was chasing the fleeing Napoleon on the battlefield of Leipzig, Gyulai and Grünne were still playing in the mud somewhere.
Yes, Baron Hess had participated in the Napoleonic Wars.
In fact, there were quite a few veterans from the Napoleonic Wars era in the Austrian army.
There were also many such veterans among the opposing French army, such as Antoine-Henri Jomini, a Swiss man who served as an advisor to Napoleon III.
This military advisor had not only served Emperor Napoleon but also served as a staff adjutant to Tsar Alexander I, wrote a famous military work, 'The Art of War,' which was recognized by many generals, and served as a military advisor to Tsar Nicholas I during the Crimean War, truly making him a living fossil.
Franz glanced at Hess, seeing the burning desire in his eyes.
In fact, Franz felt that Baron Hess was truly unsuitable to command the front-line troops in battle.
He was an excellent chief of staff under Marshal Radetzky, but Franz, who knew history, understood that Baron Hess was often indecisive when commanding battles and was not suitable for leading combat troops on the front line.
Franz was still thinking about how to arrange things for him.
"I have already sent Archduke Albrecht to command the front-line army.
As for the position of chief adjutant, it will remain vacant for now."
A trace of disappointment flashed in Hess's eyes, but he quickly composed himself and continued, "Your Majesty, currently, in addition to the 130,000 troops gathered along the Sesia River, 50,000 reinforcements from various places have arrived in Venice, and the remaining troops are on their way."
Karl added, "Besides that, Your Majesty, General Wimpffen's troops, who were sent out earlier, have arrived in Milan and are currently resting."
Milan, Milan.
Franz again scooped a spoonful of golden seafood soup with a silver spoon and put it into his mouth.
"What do the French and the Kingdom of Sardinia's armies eat?"
This sudden question momentarily stunned Karl and Hess; they didn't understand why Your Majesty was suddenly concerned about the enemy's diet.
Karl mused for a moment, rapidly searching his mind for information about the enemy's diet, then replied, "The French army has about 600 grams of bread, 300 grams of meat per day, plus some vegetables, sugar, and coffee.
In comparison, the Kingdom of Sardinia's army's rations are slightly worse, with only about 100 grams of meat, about 500 grams of bread, and the rest is not much different."
"Karl, you remember very clearly."
Franz nodded approvingly.
Remembering such detailed information, his adjutant was indeed excellent.
Karl scratched his head somewhat awkwardly, then asked, "Your Majesty, why are you asking about this?"
Franz put down his spoon and said thoughtfully, "I'm thinking, with so many French and Sardinian allied forces, close to two hundred thousand troops, after a long march, how much food do they eat every day?
Where does their supply come from?"
"The Kingdom of Sardinia must have prepared the supplies for these two hundred thousand troops in advance, otherwise, with the size of the Kingdom of Sardinia, it definitely wouldn't be able to sustain the consumption of this war."
"Karl, get a map."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Karl, who had just picked up his knife and fork and was about to cut into the tender veal cutlet, could only hastily put them down and immediately went outside to find a military map.
In a short while, Karl returned with two guards carrying a large, detailed military map.
"Your Excellency, Chief of the General Staff, what do you think?" Franz stood up and looked at the Sesia River front line, which was currently being defended.
"Your Majesty, the experience of the Crimean War has made European countries realize the importance of railways.
Now, not only our country, but the Kingdom of Sardinia, under the leadership of their Prime Minister Cavour, has also developed a large-scale railway system.
The existence of railways makes the transportation of materials far less difficult than before.
Therefore, I personally believe their main supplies should be stored in the capital Turin and the cities behind it.
When Duke Gyulai led the First Army Group into the Kingdom of Sardinia in the early stages, at least in the cities near Turin, we did not find large quantities of materials."
Baron Hess, the Chief of the General Staff, shook his head as he spoke.
He clearly regretted that Duke Gyulai had not seized the favorable opportunity to directly occupy Turin.
In this era, basically occupying the capital meant that the country ceased resistance; behemoths like Russia were, after all, a minority.
"Karl, what do you think?" Franz looked at the thoughtful Adjutant Karl and asked.
"Your Majesty, I basically agree with Your Excellency, the Chief of the General Staff's view."
Karl pondered for a moment before continuing, "However, there is another important piece of information that needs to be reported to you."
He took a deep breath and continued, "Although our Austrian Empire has also built many railways, since 1855, we have sold most of the state-owned railways to private investors, many of whom are French capitalists.
Now, although the map shows we have a dense railway network, in reality, the transportation efficiency of many railways is not high."
A hint of resentment involuntarily emerged in Karl's tone.
"These French capitalists often halt railway operations under the guise of 'maintenance,' which has seriously affected our military mobility."