Chapter 620

The defeat at the front line intensified the infighting in the Government of London. Coupled with the political scandal some time ago, Prime Minister John Russell was forced to resign.

The Whig Party lost the new general election, the Peel Party and the Conservative Party formed a coalition government, and George Hamilton Gordon stepped onto the stage of history.

A new government, a new atmosphere. For George Hamilton Gordon's government, the most important thing at the moment was the Near East War.

It was impossible to retreat. This was related to Britain's international status. Now was the era of Britain and Russia. If the Government of London retreated at this time, it would be admitting defeat to Russia, which was equivalent to admitting Russia's position as the world's hegemon.

Not to mention the heavy loss of interests, just the psychological blow was unacceptable to the British people.

As the leader of the anti-war faction, George Hamilton Gordon understood John Russell's difficulties. This was a war that had to be fought.

Even if the casualties were high, they had to fight. If they did not curb the expansion of Russia now, the British Empire would have to pay a greater price in the future.

10 Downing Street

"Everyone, now it's our turn to clean up this mess. The situation on the Balkan battlefield is very unfavorable for us. According to the battle reports from the front line, the coalition forces may be defeated at any time.

The question now is whether we should continue to open a second front, or a third front. "George Hamilton Gordon asked.

It was obvious that Prime Minister George Hamilton Gordon's heart was not calm. A few wrinkles between his eyebrows had already betrayed his inner uneasiness.

Secretary of the Navy James Graham replied, "Prime Minister, from a strategic point of view, there is no problem in opening a second front in the Crimean Peninsula.

Russia's strength is strong, but limited by their domestic transportation, restricting the projection of power. Because of early preparation, Russia has the ability to support the Caucasus battlefield and the Balkan battlefield at the same time.

In fact, in the Balkan battlefield, the Russians relied heavily on Austria's logistical supplies, otherwise they would have been defeated a long time ago.

If we open a new front, it will soon exceed the limits of Russia's endurance. Even if we can't completely win on the battlefield, we can exhaust them.

Now that the Black Sea Fleet of Russia has been destroyed, we can launch an attack at any time. If necessary, we can turn the coast of Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula into a battlefield, exhausting Russia. "

The cabinet changed, but there was no major change in the government's top officials. The ministers related to the war remained in their posts.

It was not surprising that the Navy supported this plan. If they could not open a second front, how could they demonstrate the importance of the navy?

Power struggles were everywhere, and it was impossible to stand aloof from worldly affairs. Although the Royal Navy occupied an absolute advantage and suppressed the Army, they also had to run out from time to time to show their existence.

"We can open up a second front line, but the situation on the Crimean Peninsula is a little complicated. The climate on the island is a little different from that of the country. If we launch an attack rashly, there will be serious non-combat casualties.

Why don't we land on the coast of Ukraine and cut off the connection between the Crimean peninsula and the mainland, trapping the Russian army on the island? "War Minister Stanley suggested.

"Mr. Stanley, isn't the main force of this attack the French?" asked James Graham, First Lord of the Admiralty.

…

. At Front, the war, the Army, he Army, Ad. to

It turned out that the British Navy was much more powerful than the British Army, so the outcome of this battle for dominance was self-evident.

Napoleon Iii could not wait any longer. He could lose this war militarily, but he could not afford to lose politically.

Napoleon III could not restrain himself any longer. This was a battle he could afford to lose militarily, but not politically; France could afford to lose, but he could not afford to lose personally.

After some negotiations, on February 12, 1853, Britain and France reached an agreement to send 300,000 troops to open a second front on the Crimean Peninsula.

After some negotiations, on February 12, 1853, Britain and France reached an agreement to send 300,000 troops to open a second front on the Crimean Peninsula.

At this time, the war on the Balkans was coming to an end. Under the attack of Russia, the Allied Forces were unable to hold the Sliven area.

Amable Jean-Jacques Pellissier successfully made the Osman take the blame. On the surface, it seemed that the Russians broke through the Osman's defense line and completed the outflanking.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, on February 14, 1853, Amable Jean-Jacques Pellissier ordered the French to break through. The well-prepared French army easily broke through the encirclement of Russia.

They were able to run smoothly, but the allied forces were suffering. Not to mention the Osman army, they were directly betrayed. Of the 300,000 troops, less than 30,000 managed to escape.

The British were also tragically shot. They were busy reorganizing their troops to recover their combat power, but the Hairy Bear attacked them from behind. Unprepared, they were defeated and fled.

When he counted the losses, Major General Oliver was so angry that he couldn't speak. The failure of this battle had nothing to do with them, but the losses on the battlefield were terrible.

Needless to say, he had been demoted as the commander of the expeditionary army. He could barely be considered a division commander. At least he had retained more than 9,000 troops.

The rest were naturally scattered. Only God knew how many of them had died in battle, how many had been captured, and how many had escaped.

General Headquarters of the Allied Forces of Constantinople

Oliver roared angrily, "Pellissier, you bastard, you'd better give me a reasonable explanation, or the British Empire will not let this go!"

Of course, they would not let this go. The British expeditionary army had suffered such heavy losses. If they didn't even give an explanation, how would they explain it to their country?

"General Oliver, calm down first. Our position was suddenly breached by the enemy, and we fell into the enemy's encirclement. We didn't have the ability to inform you at all, "Amable Jean-Jacques Pellissier explained forcefully.

"Bastard, such an excuse can only fool children! Even if the Russians broke through the defensive line, they couldn't have immediately surrounded us. You didn't even have time to send someone to inform us?

If you hadn't used us as scapegoats, I'm afraid the French army wouldn't have been able to retreat so completely! "Major General Oliver sneered.

"I'm afraid this can't be blamed on us. The 50,000 reinforcements promised by your country's government should have arrived 20 days ago, but there's still no sign of them. If it wasn't for the delay of this army, we wouldn't have lost this battle at all.

Now that things have come to this, you can't escape the blame. It was the wrong information you provided that directly misled the Allied Forces' military deployment, which led to this failure, "Amable Jean-Jacques Pellissier retorted.

…

Who didn't know how to shift the blame? In times of crisis, it was always better to die than to die. Without the Allied Forces to block the Russians' pursuit, would the French army be able to retreat in one piece?

If they had informed them in advance, the British would have escaped. The part of the Russian Army that they blocked would have flanked them, and the French army would have been completely annihilated.

Even if the French army cheated, it would be a blessing from God to be able to escape with half of their army when they were being chased by the enemy.

Now, things were much better. The French army had only paid a little more than 20,000 casualties, and they had rescued all of their main forces.

With the cover of the navy's firepower, the French army could defend Constantinople. From the perspective of the French's interests, Amable Jean-Jacques Pellissier's decision was not wrong.

However, the repercussions were quite serious. Apart from the Sardinians who had been slacking off, the French army was the only main force left in the The Balkans.

The Osman Empire became the biggest loser, and they directly lost everything. After receiving the news, Abdul Mejid I was so angry that he fainted.

Unfortunately, the Osman government had no place to vent their anger. Unlike Oliver, they did not have the backing of the British Empire.

Now that the French had the final say in the The Balkans, Amable Jean-Jacques Pellissier would also kill them if they were angered. How could they expect the Government of Sudan to stand up for them?

Whether they were willing or not, they were going to be the scapegoat. As long as the French held Constantinople, the Government of London would acquiesce to this result.

Interests were always more important than the truth. Even if they were cheated to the point of vomiting blood, the Government of Sudan had to continue to rely on the French.

More than 70% of the Osman Empire's revenue came from the The Balkans, and most of the industry was concentrated around Constantinople. (Istanbul)

After losing the The Balkans, the Osman Empire's strength was not comparable to that of Sweden and Belgium. The consequences were not something the Government of Sudan could bear.

...

Aimable Jean- Jacques Pellissier's actions had been a military success, but they had caused no end of political trouble for the government of Paris.

Of course, Napoleon Iii himself was willing to face this trouble. He chose the lesser of two evils. Trouble in international politics affected the interests of France; it was better than losing on the battlefield, which would shake the foundations of his own rule.

Having learned his lesson, Major-General Oliver now greatly admired the foresight of his predecessor. He was now firmly opposed to joining forces with the French.

The Government of London was equally dissatisfied with the French's actions, and exerted political pressure on Napoleon Iii for an explanation.

With the British taking the lead, the Osman Empire naturally followed suit. Under pressure from his allies, Napoleon Iii made concessions.

In the following battles in the Balkans, the French independently bore the heavy responsibility of blocking the Russians and guarding the Constantinople; the British and Sardinians were responsible for Greece and Montenegro; the Osman suffered the most losses, and as a pacifier, they could take a break.

The war expenses were undoubtedly borne by the British, with France and the Osman each sharing 25%. If there was no money, the British consortium would provide loans.

The clear division of combat tasks resolved the internal conflicts of the coalition forces, and at the same time cast a shadow over the upcoming Crimean War.

...

In just over two months, Prime Minister Felix traveled to more than 20 states in Germany, and now came to Frankfurt, where the Federal Parliament was located.

After such a long period of diplomatic efforts, Prime Minister Felix had gained something. At least several free cities had banners proclaiming their support for the "Holy Roman Empire."

There was nothing strange about this. These free cities were the areas most heavily influenced by nationalism, and their governments themselves were the most deeply influenced by public opinion.

The rest of the states either expressed their opposition or were hesitant. In short, everyone was smart. They were looking for excuses to delay, and no one was foolish enough to express opposition to the unification of the German Region.

The Kingdom of Prussia was not idle either. Their representatives often arrived before Felix, communicating with the governments in advance to oppose the reconstruction of "Shinra."

The situation at the top was unclear to the people. Most German people were optimistic about the peaceful unification, and the reason was very simple — no state government had directly opposed it.

The people were free to express their opinions, but the state government did not dare to speak carelessly. They could not say that "Shinra" was unreliable, and the unification of the German Region could only be achieved by force, right?

Austria had prepared for so long, and even Franz did not dare to raise the flag of unification by force, let alone the governments of these small states.

As the target of unification, they could not wait to oppose it, so how could they support it? Even in order to protect their own interests, they could not block the road to the reconstruction of Shinra.

In case unification was unavoidable, rebuilding Shinra was the path that best suited their interests. Therefore, most of the rulers of the German states had a complicated attitude.

They wanted to oppose the reconstruction of Shinra, but they could not say it directly. They could only hope that someone would take the lead and disrupt Austria's plan.

By now, the slogan "Rebuild Shinra" had sounded in every corner of the German Region. Everywhere Felix went, he was warmly welcomed by the local people.

If this continued, Felix was likely to be called "Father of the Nation" by future generations, and no one would call him "Prime Minister Butcher."

At this moment, he became the spokesman of pacifism, and in the future, he might even become the Prime Minister of Iron and Blood. Anyway, Franz would not come out to steal the limelight.

It was not easy to fool people, especially a group of sly old foxes. Felix constantly promised various benefits to various interest groups after unification, and from time to time answered everyone's questions.

He bragged to the capitalists about the benefits of the big market, assured the nobles that everyone's interests would not be harmed, and sold the dream of a powerful country to the nationalists …

In short, it was just one word – bragging. Regardless of whether they believed it or not, and regardless of whether it could be fulfilled, Prime Minister Felix bragged to his heart's content along the way.

To quote a saying: "Every politician is a good salesman."

He bragged until his mouth was dry, but in fact, the effect was only to reduce everyone's determination to resist.

Most people still chose to be neutral. They could accept the reconstruction of Shinra, but if they wanted to contribute, there was no need to talk about it.

Everyone was a person who would not release the eagle without seeing the rabbit. Before seeing the benefits, don't expect them to invest.

Felix was satisfied with this result. Originally, he only wanted them to be neutral. Now that he could fool some of his supporters, it was already a gain.

The focus of public relations this time was the South German States, which was the most influential place in Austria. The people had a deep foundation, and it was the easiest to fool.