Chapter 492

The sun was high in the sky, and a luxurious train sped past. On both sides of the road, the ripe grains seemed to be frightened, bending their backs, lowering their heads, and trembling from time to time.

In the luxurious compartment of the special train, a well-dressed young man was focused on reading the newspaper, and from time to time, he would frown.

The young man was Alexandrovich (Alexander III), who was visiting abroad. He had high hopes for this trip to Paris, and he did not forget to collect information on the road.

He was too lazy to read the information provided by the Tsarist government. From Alexandrovich's point of view, the information was obviously biased, or in other words, politically correct.

In his view, to understand France, it was enough to read the French economic and political newspapers. Alexandrovich was not an expert scholar, and the basic information was enough.

The more Alexandrovich learned, the more emotional he felt. Through the news in the newspaper, he knew that there was a huge gap between France and Russia.

This gap was "qualitative", and it was not something that the bureaucrats in St. Peter Castle said could be caught up in three to five years.

What gave him a headache was that the French people did not have a good impression of Russia, which could be seen from the adjectives in the newspaper.

"Barbarian", "Liar", "Rogue", "Rotten" …

These adjectives pierced deeply into Alexandrovitch's heart. His dissatisfaction did not have any effect. The French newspapers would not be controlled by him, and they would write what they wanted to write.

Although most of the content was exaggerated, it was not completely fabricated. Russia did have a lot of dark history.

Under normal circumstances, people would not bring up these old accounts. Now that Alexandrovich was going to visit abroad, the newspapers that were trying to take advantage of the situation became active.

"Friendship between France and Russia" did not exist, at least these newspapers did not think that there was a traditional friendship between the two countries, but there was a lot of hatred.

What was more annoying was that they were the losers. Everyone clearly remembered that it was the Russians who single-handedly buried the first empire of France.

They did not get revenge for the Near East War, and the French were very dissatisfied. In the recent war between Prussia and Russia, the French people donated the most to Prussia, more than the German Confederation and Austria combined.

What was there to be proud of? Alexandrovich did not know. In short, he understood that many French people did not welcome his visit.

When he was at home, Alexandrovich did not know that Russia was so unpopular in Europe.

Originally, he was still brooding over the failure of the Prussian War, but now he understood. How could they not fail when they were fighting against the entire Europe at the same time?

Aleksandrovich was lost in thought as the papers were published. Deep in his heart, there was a voice that kept telling him that he must do something to change Europe's view of the Russian Empire.

Isolation meant danger. Right now, the Russian Empire had many enemies, but only one ally. Even their last ally was leaving them.

If this situation did not change, it would still be very difficult for the Russian Empire to win the next war.

Even though the war hadn't broken out yet, Alexandrovich already knew that in the next war, there would at least be Poland, Prussia, and Ottoman. There was also the possibility that several Khaganates in Central Asia would appear, and even the Far East region might not necessarily be stable.

Modern warfare was all about logistics. In the last war, the Russian Empire lost in terms of transportation. Although some people in the country accused their ally, Austria, of slacking off, Alexandrovich knew very well that the reason for the Russian Army's defeat was because of themselves.

They had bought supplies from Austria, but they did not have the ability to transport them to the frontlines in time. As a result, there were not enough troops at the frontlines, which gave Prussia an opportunity to take advantage of.

If there were no logistical constraints, Prussia would not be able to stop a million Russian Army at the same time, even if the entire Europe provided logistical support.

There was no such thing as fairness in war. If there was an army, there was no need to rely on numbers to win. Only fools would do that, and fools usually died very miserably.

In the history of war, it was almost always the stronger side that won the war. The reason why the weak defeating the strong was highly respected was because it rarely happened.

In terms of military strength, the Russian Empire was indeed at the bottom among the European powers in terms of military strength.

Alexandrovich was very clear about the reason. It was because of the difference in weapons, equipment, and training. Ultimately, it was because of the lack of money.

Most of the Tsar's soldiers were conscripts. These troops did not need to pay them a salary. A small amount was enough.

Cheapness became the hallmark of the Tsar's army. Compared to strengthening training and upgrading to the most advanced weapons and equipment, from an economic point of view, increasing the number of soldiers brought about a greater increase in combat power.

The cost of one French soldier was enough for the Tsarist government to recruit two of these cheap soldiers and still have some left over. On the battlefield, one French soldier would never be able to defeat two Russian Army soldiers.

That was how the gray livestock came about. Because of the low cost, the Russians fell in love with the human wave tactic.

The train slowed down slowly. Alexandrovich knew that they had arrived at Paris. Looking at the buildings on both sides of the road, Alexandrovich revealed a trace of fascination.

In the 19th century, Paris was definitely one of the most desirable cities in the world. Of course, Alexandrovich was interested in Paris not because it was the Mecca of the Revolution.

As a crown prince, especially the crown prince of the Tsarist government, he was born to be a member of the reactionaries. It was impossible for him to play with the revolutionaries.

The reason why Alexandrovich was interested was because Paris was the capital of France and had the most developed industry in France.

As one of the three most famous cities in Europe in this era, although Paris was known as the Mecca of the Revolution, it was not bad in other aspects.

After Napoleon Napoleon III's reconstruction, Paris had now gotten rid of the dirty and messy label. The city's environment was much better than London's.

…

Franz was not interested in Alexandrovich's trip to Europe. Even if Alexandrovich was famous in the future, he would not be moved by him.

History was the easiest to deceive. Exaggeration had always been the favorite of scholars. For example, the Italian Three Heroes, who were highly praised by later generations, had achieved nothing because of the changes in the international situation.

Franz admitted that their ability was indeed strong. Unfortunately, they were unlucky this time. It was just a small change, but it had changed their lives.

The revolution led by Garibaldi and Mazzini failed and were forced to go into exile. The famous Prime Minister Cavour was even more miserable. His strategy of alliance had just begun and he had already failed.

Austria's position was different from the history. They allowed France to expand in the Regions of Italy. Napoleon Napoleon III felt that annexing the Regions of Italy was more beneficial than cooperating with the Kingdom of Sardinia.

A single decision from the upper echelons had rendered all of his efforts futile. There was no other way. The success of the original time and space was based on luck. Now it was just a little bit of luck.

Countless real cases told Franz that the ability of the failed was not necessarily bad. They were often only a little bit of luck away from success.

It was this subtle difference, and the final result was often the difference between heaven and hell.

Napoleon Napoleon III was also an example. The original time and space had already failed. As a result, because of Franz's butterfly effect, Napoleon Iii was now called "Napoleon the Great" by the French.

Looking at the information in his hand, Franz frowned. If there was no accident, his unlucky brother would soon be out of luck.

Unable to find an international buyer, the Government of Paris decided to withdraw its troops from Mexico. Without the support of French soldiers, Franz did not think that Massimiliano could stabilize the situation.

Without any hesitation, a secret order flew from the Palace of Vienna to the Austrian Central American colony. In any case, this was his nominal brother, and it was impossible to really sit back and do nothing.

Even the placement problem, Franz had thought about it. Just throw him in the castle in the countryside. Anyway, Hapsburg had a lot of castles.

An idealist like Massimiliano did not have the courage to come back to see people after suffering a failure. It was good to live in the countryside.

The original time and space Massimiliano refused to run away. Franz suspected that he was afraid of losing face, afraid of being laughed at, and did not dare to return to the European continent.

This kind of mentality was not strange. It was like working without earning money and was too embarrassed to go home for the New Year.

Franz was not a psychiatrist for Massimiliano's psychological problems. Knowing was one thing, but how to treat it was beyond his ability.

Perhaps this problem could be thrown to Empress Dowager Sophie to find something for her to do and share the nagging in Franz's ears.

Mexico City was not far. As long as preparations were made in advance, it was not too difficult to have an armed intervention. Anyway, in the end, the new Mexican government could pay the bill.

Unlike the French, the Austrian Central American colonial empire was next door to Mexico. The farmers there had long wanted to annex the Yucatan Peninsula. However, due to face, Franz was too embarrassed to make a move against Mexico.

When Maximilian I Of Castile was defeated, this obstacle would no longer exist. Cut the grass and hit the rabbit, bite off as much meat as possible.

The power of the Austrian Central American colony may be equivalent to one or two large states for the Americans. Even if the Germans could fight a little, it was equivalent to the power of two or three large states, completely not worth mentioning.

But starting with the Mexican Empire, this little bit of power was enough to wake them up. Of course, this was based on the situation where the Mexican rebels were looking for a fight.

If they were smart enough, they would directly send Maximilian I Of Castile out of the country. Without an excuse for war, Franz, who paid attention to his table manners, would not make a move against them.

To put it bluntly, the American region was not the focus of Austria's expansion. The Government of Vienna's energy was limited, and it was impossible to take care of so many places at the same time.

Even in the strategic area of Panama, Franz could endure not making a move, let alone Mexico.

Now Franz was already considering which son to let go to Central America to be the king.

With the rise of nationalism, it was too difficult for the central government to directly control a colony tens of thousands of miles away. It was easier to establish a state.

This was also in line with the tradition of the House of Habsburg. In the past, the ancestors could separate Spain and Austria. Now, Franz could naturally divide a colony.

Not only the Central American colony, but the Nanyang region might also establish a state in the future. Anyway, it was better to let the meat rot in the pot than to throw it out.

These states were under the name of the Shinra Empire. Everyone played in the same economic circle, and it would not be considered a failure.