Reincarnated as Napoleon II-Chapter 188: Report to the Austrian Emperor

Hofburg Palace, Vienna, Austrian Empire.

March 6th, 1836.

The meeting room inside the Hofburg Palace felt heavier than usual that morning.

The fire along the wall burned steadily, but it did little to ease the atmosphere. The air was warm, almost too warm, yet no one moved to open the windows. Outside, Vienna remained quiet under the cold of early March, but inside the chamber, tension had already settled before a single word had been spoken.

Maps covered most of the central table. It is a marked, revised, layered with updates that had been arriving through the night. Lombardy was no longer the focus. The markings had shifted east. The lines drawn across the parchment no longer represented defense. They showed retreat paths, fallback positions, and uncertain attempts at forming new lines deeper within Austrian territory.

Emperor Ferdinand I sat at the head of the table.

He looked present, but not fully engaged. His posture shifted slightly from time to time, as if he were trying to settle into a position that never quite felt right. His gaze moved across the room, stopping on one man, then drifting to another without always holding.

Archduke Louis stood near him, upright and composed.

Prince Metternich remained across the table, calm as ever, hands resting lightly against the wood. Count Kolowrat stood beside him, holding a stack of reports that had been opened and reorganized more than once already.

No one spoke until Ferdinand did. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"Well... go on," he said, looking toward Louis, though his tone lacked the firmness expected of him.

Louis did not hesitate.

"We have withdrawn from Verona," he said.

The words settled in the room without reaction.

Ferdinand blinked once, then leaned forward slightly.

"Withdrew?" he repeated.

"Yes."

Ferdinand frowned, not sharply, but with a kind of delayed confusion.

"They were supposed to hold it," he said.

"They attempted to," Louis replied. "But the French did not allow them time to consolidate their position. Their artillery forced repeated adjustments. The line never stabilized."

Ferdinand looked down at the map in front of him, though it wasn’t clear if he was actually following it.

"So they left," he said.

"They were forced to withdraw," Louis corrected gently.

Ferdinand nodded, though it didn’t seem like he fully processed the difference.

"Fine," he said. "Then we hold the next line."

Metternich spoke this time.

"Your Majesty, there is no immediate line to hold west of the current position. The French have already moved beyond the expected boundary."

Ferdinand looked up again.

"How far?" he asked.

Kolowrat stepped forward slightly and opened one of the reports.

"Forward French cavalry elements have crossed into our territory," he said. "Near the Tyrol approach routes. Their infantry is not far behind."

Ferdinand’s expression changed.

"They crossed already?" he asked.

"Yes."

There was a pause.

Ferdinand leaned back in his chair, one hand resting loosely on the armrest.

"That was fast," he muttered.

No one responded to that.

Instead, Metternich spoke again.

"They have not stopped advancing since January," he said. "Every time we attempt to form a defensive line, they break it before it can fully establish."

Ferdinand’s fingers tapped lightly against the armrest,

"They move too quickly," he said.

"Yes."

"They don’t wait."

"No."

Ferdinand looked back at Louis.

"How many men do we still have?" he asked.

Louis answered without hesitation.

"We still have significant forces across the Empire," he said. "We have not committed everything to the southern front."

Ferdinand straightened slightly at that.

"Then why aren’t they there?" he asked.

Louis glanced briefly at Metternich before answering.

"Because we cannot commit all forces in one direction," he said carefully.

Ferdinand frowned again.

"Why not?" he asked.

Louis opened his mouth to answer, but Metternich stepped in instead.

"Because if we do," he said calmly, "we leave ourselves exposed elsewhere."

Ferdinand looked at him, clearly not satisfied.

"They are already attacking us from the south," he said. "That is where the war is."

"It is where the war is now," Metternich replied. "That does not mean it will remain there."

Ferdinand stared at him for a moment.

"They haven’t attacked from anywhere else," he said.

Ferdinand shifted in his seat again.

"I don’t see why they would," he said. "They are already winning there. Why move?"

Metternich held his gaze.

"Because they are not limited to that front," he said. "They have the capability to open another if it benefits them."

Ferdinand blinked slowly.

Then looked back down at the map.

"They are already inside," he said, almost to himself.

No one corrected him.

"They crossed," he added.

"Yes," Louis said.

Ferdinand nodded again, slower this time.

"Then we push them back," he said.

Ferdinand leaned forward slightly, his attention sharpening just enough to form a conclusion.

"We gather our forces," he continued. "We send them south. We stop them there before they go any further."

There was a brief silence.

Metternich did not respond immediately this time. He let the idea sit for a moment before answering.

"If we concentrate everything in the south," he said, "we risk losing control of our western frontier entirely."

Ferdinand looked up again, irritation beginning to show.

"They are not there," he said.

"They could be," Metternich replied.

That slowed him.

Ferdinand’s gaze lingered on him, trying to follow the reasoning.

Metternich continued.

"The French have shown they can move faster than we can reposition. If we commit all available forces southward, we remove our ability to respond if they choose another direction."

Ferdinand exhaled, not quite frustrated, but clearly struggling to reconcile it.

"So we do nothing?" he asked.

"No," Metternich said. "We hold in depth."

Ferdinand tilted his head slightly.

"In depth?"

"We do not rely on a single line," Metternich explained. "We prepare multiple positions. We allow them to advance where the terrain favors us. Narrow approaches. River crossings. Areas where their artillery becomes less effective."

Kolowrat added quietly, "Mountain passes..."

Ferdinand looked between them.

"And that will stop them?" he asked.

"It will slow them," Metternich said. "And it will force them to fight under conditions that are less favorable than the open plains."

Ferdinand considered that. "Fine...but if this fails...we will send all our forces south."