Chapter 443

London

The direction of the war in the Near East stunned the British. The Russians actually gave up the two Danube Duchies in exchange for logistical assistance from Austria.

This meant that Russia's appetite was very big this time. Only greater benefits would make the Russians give up the Duchy of Moldavia and the Duchy of Wallachia.

John Russell said with a gloomy face, "Our previous plan has failed. The Austrians and the Russians have reached an agreement. If we don't act now, the Osman Empire will definitely not be their match.

Mr. Palmerston, what can the Ministry of Foreign Affairs do to break up the alliance between Russia and Austria in the shortest amount of time?

If the two countries join forces, they are basically invincible in the Near East. Even if we join forces with the French, it will be difficult to win. "

Prime Minister John Russell's words were not without purpose. The areas bordering Russia and Osman were only the The Balkans and the Caucasus.

The Caucasus was limited by the terrain. If they were to engage in a large-scale battle, logistics would be a big problem.

With the terrible traffic situation in Russia and the complicated terrain of the Caucasus, they would not be able to support more than 200,000 troops in a battle.

Of course, if they did not lose control of the Black Sea, they could still attack along the coastline. Logistics would not be a problem.

Now, the only route for the Russians to send their troops on land was the The Balkans. The two Danube Duchies were major producers of food. The food problem could basically be solved on the spot. The logistical pressure of the Russian Army would be reduced by half.

Even so, the Russians did not have the ability to fight all the way to Constantinople. After occupying the two Duchies, they had basically reached the limit of their attack. The strategic supplies transported from the country could not keep up with the consumption rate of the frontline troops.

But with Austria, it was different. With the Danube River, strategic supplies could be transported quickly. There was no problem supporting hundreds of thousands of troops in the The Balkans.

Palmerston replied without changing his expression, "Mr. Prime Minister, it is very easy to break up the alliance between Russia and Austria. We have proposed it long ago.

As long as the Osman Empire agrees to cede the two Danube Duchies to Austria, it will be enough to feed the Austrians. With Austria separating them from the Russians, the current situation will not be so bad. "

In order to balance the Russians, the British did have this plan, but ceding the two Danube Duchies to Austria was only a part of it.

In history, the British proposed to give Sweden the Aran Islands and Finland, cede the Baltic coast to Prussia, let Poland become independent, cede Moldavia, Wallachia and the Danube estuary to Austria in exchange for Austria giving up Lombardy and Venice to be occupied by the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the Crimea and the Caucasus to the Ottoman Empire …

In theory, once this plan was implemented, the strength of the Russians would be greatly weakened and they would lose the ability to compete with the British for world hegemony.

However, the plan could not keep up with the changes. It was aborted before it could be implemented. Not only would the Russians not agree to the plan, but the Austrians could not agree to it either.

Although the two Danube Duchies were large and the land was fertile, these areas had not been developed. In terms of economic value, they were lower than Lombardy and Venice.

If they occupied these areas, Austria would have to invest a lot of manpower and resources to develop them. They would also become the vanguard of the resistance against Russia. It was very disadvantageous in terms of strategy.

Instead of that, they might as well join forces with the Russians. Austria could also obtain these territories, but it would only be sacrificing the interests of the Osman Empire.

Franz always believed in the saying, "A bird in the hand is worth a thousand birds in the bush." He would not sacrifice his own interests just to balance the Russians.

The butterfly effect was still useful. The performance of the Austrian army in the Austro-Hungarian War proved the strength of the Great Powers. In Palmerston's new strategy, he did not mention giving Lombardy and Venice to the Kingdom of Sardinia.

It was the British's forte to judge people based on their judgment. Austria was stronger than in history, so naturally, their treatment was better than in history.

In order to trick Austria into turning against Russia, they did not hesitate to promise a lot of benefits. Unfortunately, before their plan could convince the Osman Empire, the war had already broken out.

"But the stupid Osman government can't see this. They only see that ceding the two Danube Duchies will cause them great losses. They can't see the benefits at all.

I believe that after this Russian-Turkish war, the Ottomans will be more clear-headed and make the right choice. "John Russell complained incessantly.

It was obvious that the British Prime Minister was tired of the Osman Empire's matters.

Palmerston sneered, "Prime Minister, the Osman government has woken up now. I believe they will make the right choice.

But this is a matter for the future. The most important thing now is to convince the Parliament to send troops to the The Balkans. If we are late, the Osman might not be able to hold on. "

This was the British national policy. They would prioritize dealing with the biggest threat. Before the Russians fell, they would not change their target.

In terms of threat, Austria was not even comparable to France. Austria's terrible geographical location meant that it could not threaten the British's core interests.

John Russell thought for a moment and said, "The problem with the Parliament is not big. In order to protect our interests in the Mediterranean, we must lock the Russians in a cage."

Interests were the eternal theme. The Russians annexing the Osman Empire had seriously harmed the British's interests. In order to protect their overseas investments, the interest groups naturally supported the government's intervention in the Near East.

…

Constantinople

Abdul Mejid I regretted it. If he had known that the Russians and Austrians would compromise so quickly, he would have accepted the British's suggestion.

There was no medicine for regret in politics. At this time, the Russian Army and the Osman Army had already started fighting in Bulgaria. What was more tragic was that as the side with more troops, they were actually at a disadvantage on the battlefield.

"How long will it take for our reinforcements to reach the frontline?" Abdul Mejid I asked with concern.

"Your Majesty, there are too many guerrillas in Bulgaria. Our reinforcements will only arrive in three days," the Minister of War replied in a low voice.

In this war, the speed of the Osman Army was slower than they had expected. Naturally, the Minister of War did not have the confidence to speak.

Abdul Mejid I snorted coldly, "Hmph!"

He then said, "I don't care what you think of, we can't lose Bulgaria. You all know what this means! "

Everyone lowered their heads and did not dare to speak. The ethnic policy of the Osman Empire was actually very open-minded in modern times.

Unfortunately, no matter how good the policy was, it still needed people to implement it. The decadent Osman government undoubtedly lacked the ability to implement it efficiently. In the end, it naturally caused the people to be angry.

The aftereffects were now appearing. Not only did they not get the support of the people, but they were also attacked by guerrillas, which slowed down the speed of the reinforcements.

Fortunately, the Russians' reaction was also very slow. Otherwise, a decisive battle would have broken out on the frontline. The Osman government could only cry.

…

Greece – Athens

When the Near East war broke out, the Greeks were happy. Their chance to achieve their goal had come.

Otto I, on the other hand, had a headache. Faced with the enticement of four big countries at the same time, he did not know where to stand.

Ever since the conflict with the British broke out in 1850, Greek nationalism began to rise. At the beginning, Otto I believed that nationalism was beneficial to his rule, so he supported this idea.

Otto I believed that he had grasped the key to gaining the support of the people and placed himself at the forefront of the patriotic movement.

Otto I's problem was how to keep the patriotic enthusiasm of the people from cooling down.

After the outbreak of nationalism, recovering the lost land became the common goal of the Greeks. It was also the "great ideal" of Otto I and Queen Amania.

The Greeks' demand to recover the territory was almost endless. The theoretical basis of this demand came from the Byzantine Empire. The Greeks wanted to recreate the territory of the Byzantine Empire.

When the power and ideal were out of balance, the day of tragedy was not far away. In this era, the Greek Kingdom only had a territory of more than 50,000 square kilometers and a population of less than a million. It could not support their "ideal" at all.

"Everyone, which side should we stand on now?" Otto I asked with a frown.

As a small country, the most rational thing to do was to stand on the side of the winner. However, countries with strong nationalism were often not so rational. Instead, they would choose the side with the greatest benefits.

At this time, Otto I still did not know that his rule was about to usher in a new crisis. No matter which side he stood on, it was impossible to satisfy the appetite of the people to recover the lost land.

In Greece, where idealism was prevalent, the people would not care so much. They would only make demands from the government according to their own ideals.

In history, for more than a hundred years starting from Otto I, the successive kings of Greece did not have a comfortable life because none of them could fulfill the ideals of the Greek people.

The Minister of Finance replied with a complicated expression, "Your Majesty, the British and French navies have already controlled the Mediterranean Sea and the Aegean Sea. For the sake of national security, we can only stand with them."

This was the most rational thing to do. No matter who won or lost, Greece, which was surrounded by the British, Fao and Seman, had no choice.

The Minister of War retorted, "What can we gain by standing with the Osman Empire? Do you expect them to return our homeland to us just because of their charity?

Now the Russians have made a promise. As long as we declare war on the Osman Empire, they will support us in obtaining Thessaly and Epirus after the war.

The Austrians have also promised that they will support us in obtaining as much territory as we conquer.

Are we going to give up such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? "

There was no other way. The Russians and Austrians were generous and naturally did not mind making promises to the Greeks. The British and French were now allies with the Osman Empire. How could they choose to sacrifice the interests of the Osman Empire to satisfy the demands of the Greeks?

Even if they wanted to rope in allies, the Greek Kingdom was not qualified.

The British and French also had their pride. Not any Tom, Dick, or Harry could be on equal footing with them.

The Prime Minister echoed, "That's right. If we give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the people outside will not agree.

For the revival of the great Greek Kingdom, it is worth taking a little risk! "

It was not that he wanted to stand with the Russians, nor was it that he could not see the risk of doing so. It was that the Greek people outside had already made a choice for them.

Nationalism was a double-edged sword. It could kill the enemy, but it could also hurt oneself. Now, Otto I's government had been held hostage by the public.

Otto I thought for a moment and said, "Since the people have made their choice, then our government must respect their choice.

However, considering the position of Britain and France, we cannot directly declare war on the Osman Empire. Does anyone have any good ideas? "

There was no good idea, but there was a bad one.

The Minister of War suggested, "Your Majesty, we can form a civilian armed force to attack the Osman Empire. This will not only give an explanation to the Russians and Austrians, but also give face to Britain and France."

In his view, Britain and France's support for the Osman Empire was only to attack the Russians. It did not mean that the two countries were really supporting the Osman Empire.

As long as the Greek Kingdom controlled the situation well and did not hurt the reputation of Britain and France while attacking the Osman Empire, they would not interfere.

A bad idea was better than no idea at all. Without a better idea, they could only make do with a bad idea.

Seeing that everyone was cheering, Otto I finally made a decision. "Then let's reply to the representatives of Austria and Russia. We will support them in this war!"