Chapter 610

Vienna

Affected by the failure of the Battle of Sofia, the negotiations between the Government of Austria and the Osman had achieved initial results. There were only a few details that were still being discussed.

Franz did not care much about the results of the negotiations. Even if the two countries signed an agreement, the possibility of it being fulfilled in the future was less than one-third.

The international situation was ever-changing. The outcome of the war in the Near East would directly affect Austria's benefits. In terms of benefits, a pyrrhic victory for the Russians was, of course, the best choice.

Not only could they rush to the front to attract hatred and share the pressure of Austria, but it would also not let the Russians really soar into the sky without any restrictions.

The Minister of War, Prince Wendisch Gretz, said with a strange expression, "Your Majesty, the Serbian frontline has sent a battle report. A group of British soldiers mistakenly entered and were disarmed by us."

Franz asked doubtfully, "The war in the Near East can't spread that far, right? Isn't there still Kosovo in the middle?"

This deviation was too big. Even if the Battle of Sofia was lost, Kosovo was still controlled by the Osman. They could ask the local government to send a guide.

Prince Wendisch Gretz handed over the battle report. Franz glanced through it and finally understood why his expression was so strange.

Franz thought for a moment and said, "This is also a good thing. We have another small bargaining chip in our hands. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will inform the British and ask them to send people to discuss bringing these people back."

There was no doubt that these people would be detained after the war. Informing the British now was nothing more than telling them that Austria had a group of British soldiers.

These people were useless now. When the war in the Near East escalated and the news of the heavy casualties of the British troops at the frontline spread back to the country, it would cause a sensation. The Government of London would have to pay attention to these soldiers.

Franz admired the person who came up with this idea.

This was a genius. They were all deserters. Other people worked hard to run, hide, and after the war, they were worried about being liquidated and could not return home.

They also became deserters and stayed in Austria until the end of the war. The Government of London would not miss their salary and benefits. After the war, they would take them back.

Fortunately, there were not many people like this. Otherwise, if tens of thousands of British soldiers ran to Austria to eat and drink, the Government of London would vomit blood.

As for the Sardinian army that came along to mess around, Franz directly ignored them. This was a normal operation. The fact that they did not rush over meant that they were still in the Kingdom of Sardinia and not Italy.

…

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Felix's trip to Berlin was a failure. The Kingdom of Prussia rejected the proposal to rebuild the Holy Roman Alliance.

In order to avoid public condemnation, Germany, Germany, and Germany, Germany, of Kingdom, and Germany, Prime Minister, King of Prussia, Germany, Germany, Kingdom, Germany.

Prime Minister Felix proposed a referendum, but he flatly refused. It seems that the Prussians are up to something. "

They weren't afraid of the Prussians stirring up trouble. What they were most afraid of was the Prussians not stirring up trouble. If they really rebuilt the Holy Roman Empire in the name of a referendum, Franz would be the one crying.

The democratically elected emperor looked good, but in fact, it had fallen by a few levels. It was no longer supreme. Since it could be elected, it could be abolished. It was worse than the previous system of electing an emperor.

Regardless of whether it was good or bad for the country, it was definitely a disaster for the royal family. Unless there was no other way, no emperor would be willing to accept this kind of democratically elected emperor.

At least, Franz would not accept it. There were many families in the German Region that were qualified to elect an emperor. Even if they won once, they could change the next time. Then, the difference between an emperor and a president was only in name.

Not only could Franz not accept it, but the Government of Austria also could not accept it. If Austria could not control the Holy Roman Empire, then what was the use of rebuilding it?

The people of Prussia were worried that Austria would use the empire to restrict them, but they did not know that Austria was also worried that they could not control the empire.

Due to the relationship of interests, once the empire was unified, the awkward situation of Prussia in the German Region would immediately change. The small states would support them against Austria.

Of course, this kind of support could only be in secret. On the surface, it was impossible to stand up against the central government. Most of these states would play a balancing game, which was to let the central government with Austria as the core and the local forces represented by the Kingdom of Prussia to maintain a delicate balance.

Finance Minister Carr said with uncertainty, "It is a little surprising that the people of Prussia did not stand up against us. Could it be that they expect the small states to stand up against us openly?"

Under the influence of the nationalists, the unification was now accepted by many people. If they opposed the unification of the country, it would undoubtedly attract hatred.

Of course, the strength of the nationalists was still not strong enough. They could influence the position of the government, but they could not influence the government's decisions.

If they waited for 20 or 30 years, and Austria raised the banner of "Rebuild Shinra — Peaceful Unification", it might really succeed.

"I'm not sure about that. In any case, someone has to be the leader. Otherwise, this plan will succeed. When that time comes, the Government of Prussia will have to pay a huge price to oppose us.

Now, we just have to see which unlucky person is fooled by them. In any case, whoever stands up against us will be the enemy of the nationalists in the future. "Metternich analyzed.

Franz thought for a moment and said, "It would be best if it is Bavaria. We need the Bavarian government to stand up against us. This is the most suitable choice for us."

Metternich analyzed, "Your Majesty, if we want Bavaria to fall into the trap, we have to push it ourselves. I reckon that the people of Prussia also want to push the Kingdom of Bavaria to be the first bird to stand up.

As the third largest country in the Federation, only they have enough influence to make everyone respond collectively.

If the Bavarian government wants to gain the support of the small states, then this is an opportunity. If they succeed, they will become the leader of the small states in Germany. "

…

The Government of Austria was discussing how to lure the Kingdom of Bavaria into the trap. Thousands of miles away, in St. Peter's Castle, the Tsarist government was also discussing their next strategy.

The Battle of Sofia had ended, and the Second Battle of Bulgaria had entered a new phase. At this time, they had two choices:

They could either concentrate their forces on the Sliven region, or they could first occupy Kosovo and Macedonia and join forces with Montenegro and Greece.

The Minister of Finance, Arestang Rode, suggested, "Your Majesty, first conquer the Sliven region, clear the obstacles to the Constantinople region, and then capture Constantinople in one go. When that time comes, Britain and France will have no choice but to retreat."

This was a quick strategy. From a financial point of view, this was the way to win the war with the least expenditure.

The prerequisite was that they could win the war. If they lost, then everything would be over. High profits were accompanied by high risks.

The Foreign Affairs Minister, Carr Wood, objected, "No, now that the Battle of Sofia has just ended, the troops at the frontline are in urgent need of rest. If we fight another major battle at this time, the frontline will be under too much pressure.

It's better to attack the weak areas of the enemy first. First occupy Kosovo, Macedonia, and Thrace, then join forces with Montenegro and Greece to attack from the enemy's flank.

Although this speed is a little slower, it's a good opportunity to train the new recruits and let the troops recover their combat effectiveness as soon as possible. "

Seeing that the Minister of Finance and the Foreign Affairs Minister had finished speaking, the Minister of War was embarrassed to find that he had nothing to say.

Who to support? This question was not easy to solve. Before it was implemented, no one knew which strategy was more reliable. From a professional point of view, Ivanovich judged that it was feasible in theory.

In fact, it looked good to outflank the war, but the logistics would probably drag the people to death. They could not expect Montenegro and Greece to provide logistics, could they?

Otherwise, while occupying these places, the Russian Army would also have to station troops to ensure that the logistics and transportation lines were unblocked.

Ivanovich knew that it would be too much for him to send troops to fight the final battle immediately. The troops at the frontline were already tired. If they did not reorganize, they would not be able to guarantee their combat effectiveness.

After hesitating for a moment, the Minister of War Ivanovich analyzed from a professional point of view, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of War suggests that we transfer new troops over and replace some of the troops that have suffered heavy casualties. We will withdraw them to the Danube River Valley to reorganize and serve as the reserve troops for the entire army.

After the change of defense, we will immediately engage the enemy in a decisive battle. Now that the British Expeditionary Force is also greatly weakened, we only need two main divisions to defeat them.

Now, we have to race against time with the enemy. Whoever can reinforce the frontline faster will be the one to win this battle. "

Without a doubt, he did not support anyone. Ivanovich was very dissatisfied with the two amateurs acting as professionals, but he could not afford to offend these two big shots.

Nicholas I Of Russia was a soldier. Regardless of military training, he still had basic common sense. Naturally, he understood that Ivanovich's suggestion was more reliable than the previous two.

"Transfer five divisions from the Lvov region to replace the troops that participated in the Battle of Sofia. Then transfer eight divisions from the Moscow region to replace the heavily damaged troops at the Sliven frontline.

Order the troops in the Ukraine region to strictly prevent the enemy from landing, especially on the Crimean Peninsula. Do not let the enemy take advantage of the loopholes. "

"Yes, Your Majesty," Ivanovich replied.

The advantage of having more troops was reflected at this time. The Russians could mobilize the reinforcements in the shortest time possible.

Unfortunately, this benefit was a little weak on the battlefield. The poor transportation limited the speed of the Russians' troop mobilization.

The Battle of Sofia ended more than half a month ago. At this time, the Tsarist government made a decision. A lot of time had been wasted. When the troops arrived at the frontline, it was already more than a month later.

In any case, the Russians in the Battle of Sofia had performed well. The Osman Empire's rule in the The Balkans was on the verge of collapse. At this time, the Government of Sudan no longer had the strength to reinforce the frontline.

This meant that the French's good days were over. The Osman Empire lost more than 300,000 people in half a year. Now the Government of Sudan was anxious to deal with the Greeks in Thrace and did not even have the strength to replenish.

For the first time, Amable Jean-Jacques Pellissier realized that the Osman Empire was still so important. With the lack of cannon fodder, the French Expeditionary Force had to fight on their own.

A war of attrition was not fun. Almost every day, they had to cripple a regiment. This kind of loss was not so easy to bear. The Osman cannon fodder in front of them didn't think much of it. Now they knew how powerful it was.

Menshikov was fighting as if he didn't care about his own life. Every few days, he would launch a huge attack, and after each battle, both sides would groan in pain.

Of the 170,000 French expeditionary forces, there were less than 100,000 who could still fight. The rest were not all dead, nor were they all injured. It was because the troops had been crippled and had to be reorganized.

In fact, the French lost about the same as the British. They both paid more than 40,000 casualties. However, they had more soldiers and could withstand this kind of loss.

The French had already provided them with reinforcements twice. The total number of soldiers was as high as 48,000. Now, the total number of French troops had not decreased. Amable Jean-Jacques Pellissier was still experienced. He knew to let the troops take turns on the battlefield. He did not use an army to death.

Even so, the basic battalion and company level troops were often beaten to the point of no organization. This could not be helped. After a round of attacks from the enemy, the few companies at the front were often destroyed.

From this point of view, the British were far inferior. Of course, this was the difference between a land power country and a sea power country. Even when Napoleon Iii was eliminating dissidents, he did not play tricks on these issues.

As a result, the French still had some strength left in the battle. If they could rest for a month or two, they would be able to rebuild their lost organization and return to their peak.

Time was a problem. The Russians obviously would not give them this opportunity. Although the Russian casualties were not small, the gray beasts were easy to fool.

In the face of the bright future promised by Menshikov, the Russian soldiers mustered up the courage to go to the battlefield. This was something the British and French troops could not compare with.

The serf soldiers of the Hairy Bear were simple-minded and basically illiterate. As long as they were promised freedom and land, these people would risk their lives on the battlefield.

If it were the British and French soldiers, it was estimated that no one would care. Everyone had learned to be smart. This little trick could not tempt them. The most important thing was that everyone knew that there was no land in the mainland to make a fortune.

Using the land of the colonies to fool people, were they not afraid of being shot in the back? In those damn places, one pound could buy a farm, and they wanted everyone to risk their lives for it?

Even if it was not easy to fool, they had to find a way to fool them. Amable Jean-Jacques Pellissier decisively sacrificed the revenge of Russia and France to boost everyone's morale. At first, it was okay, but now the effect was not obvious.

If someone paid attention, they would find that the French army was retreating and seemed to be ready to escape.

Amable Jean-Jacques Pellissier felt bitter. This battle was of great importance. It was related to the reputation of his boss, Napoleon Iii, so he must not lose.

Even if he had to pay a heavy price, it was fine to fight a nominal victory. Since he could not afford to lose, he naturally had to consider a way out. If it was really not desirable, he had to push the blame!

Of course, it was better to win the war. Losing would still have some impact. At this time, Amable Jean-Jacques Pellissier regretted it. If he knew that the British were so useless, he would have rushed to fight the Russians from the beginning.

A pyrrhic victory with both sides injured was also a victory.

Moreover, the boss originally wanted to eliminate the dissidents and eliminate the forces in the army loyal to the Orleans Dynasty. Even if it was a pyrrhic victory, it would still be a great achievement.

It was just that Amable Jean-Jacques Pellissier still had a conscience. He was reluctant to let so many French boys die with him, so he chose the safest way to fight, which turned into a war of attrition.

However, the Russians' resilience on the battlefield was above the coalition forces, so the French suffered.

They missed the opportunity to fight the decisive battle. Now, even if they wanted to rush, the French army would most likely not be able to defeat the Hairy Bear. Amable Jean-Jacques Pellissier did not want to be a stepping stone for the Russians to make their reputation as the world's number one land power more famous.