Interests move hearts, and while the British eyed the French warships, the Austrian Navy was similarly scheming to get their hands on France's fleet.
What seemed like an ordinary dispute over warships had in fact evolved into a struggle for naval supremacy, and the ultimate fate of the French fleet would directly impact the world order that followed.
At the Vienna Palace, facing the anxious crowd, Franz calmly asked, "Do you think the French will just willingly hand over their warships to us?"
Truth be told, Franz had also considered seizing the French fleet. Directly inheriting France's naval legacy and combining the naval strengths of the two countries to surpass the British was a tantalizing vision.
However, harsh reality told him that this was impossible. The France-Austrian Navy were each their own system, and just integrating them would take more than a moment to achieve.
