Chapter 666

While the negotiations were still in a stalemate, the gates of Munich had already opened. At this time, it was no longer up to Maximilian II Of Macedon to make the decision.

From the start of the negotiations, everyone knew that there would be a change of ownership. Jonas had no obligation to help them keep it a secret. Now, everyone in the city knew that Maximilian II Of Macedon was prepared to exchange territory with Austria.

Since that was the case, there was no pressure to rely on the new master. In the history of Europe, the exchange of territory had happened from time to time. It was nothing new.

However, the situation this time was special. The Bavarian royalty was in dire straits and had thrown away all the chips in their hands. The only thing they could rely on was the rule of law.

Originally, most of the Bavarian citizens were still a little hesitant. After all, Maximilian II Of Macedon did not do anything that angered the people. It seemed unreasonable to just abandon him.

However, once the news of the exchange of territory came out, everyone's psychological barrier disappeared. It was not them who wanted to betray the king, but the king himself wanted to leave. This had nothing to do with them.

Everyone was at ease. As long as Austria did not mistreat the royal family, they felt that they did not let down Maximilian II Of Macedon.

…

Baden

As a good ally of Bavaria, they were the first to know what happened in the neighboring country. The Baden government was dumbfounded. This was not how things should be played. In a war with another country, the local government declared "neutral," followed by the domestic army.

Regent Prince Friedrich asked, "What do we do now? The Bavarians did not resist at all. The Austrians only carried out an armed parade and reached Munich.

Based on the current situation, the Bavarians have already given up on the government. Munich will not be able to hold on for long. The Kingdom of Bavaria will not be able to hold on until the reinforcements arrive. "

Not to mention the reinforcements arriving, they could not even see the shadow of the reinforcements. Prussia was gathering the German states to form a coalition army. Britain and France were also calling for troops to intervene in the war.

However, all of this needed time. There were so many small states in the German Region. No matter how fast they were, it would take at least a month or two to organize the coalition army.

Who knew that the Kingdom of Bavaria would be so cowardly? It was the third largest state in the German Region. Even if they could not defeat the Austrians, they had to hold on for a while, even if it was guerrilla warfare.

At this time, Prince Friedrich still did not know that both sides had reached a compromise. Maximilian II Of Macedon was negotiating terms with the Austrians.

The Foreign Affairs Minister Nicholas analyzed, "Your Highness, Your Highness, Bavaria has the people 'hearts. No matter how hard the government tries, it is useless.

It seems that we have underestimated the importance of unification in the hearts of the people. The Bavarians regard this war as a war of national unification.

The Bavarians see this war as a war as a war for the unification of the country. d.

Now we are in big trouble. If the people in our country are like the Bavarians, then the risk of interfering in this war is too great. "

Now. "Nicholas to to to the people" King. "What. d" Nicholas, Germany Nicholas, Nicholas.

Prime Minister Volz added, "Your Highness, this is very likely to happen. Most of the public opinion in the country is against sending troops. No one is willing to send troops to rescue Bavaria."

Prime Minister Volz added, "Your Highness, this is very likely to happen. Most of the public opinion in the country is against sending troops. No one is willing to send troops to rescue Bavaria."

Prince Friedrich was silent. He understood the principle that the lips were cold and the teeth were cold, but the risk of sending troops to intervene was too great. He might lose his life.

After pausing for a moment, he slowly said, "Forget it, let's remain neutral in this war!"

…

Obviously, it was not only the Grand Duchy of Baden that made this choice. Many small German states that were frightened chose to be neutral.

It seemed that at this moment, everyone had become supporters of the public opinion. Austria's political offensive had begun.

As the small countries declared their neutrality, the unborn German Coalition Army died prematurely in the womb.

Berlin

Seeing more and more states declare their neutrality, the pressure on the Government of Prussia increased. There were at least 500,000 Austrian troops gathered at the Prussia border, and the number was still increasing.

It was still unknown if these troops had any combat power, but the Prussian government did not dare to make a move. Who would dare to let down their guard when there were so many of them?

What if the moment they sent troops to rescue Bavaria, the moment they sent troops to rescue Bavaria, the troops would invade their own territory? Even if these troops were fake, they could overwhelm Prussia with their numbers.

The Kingdom of Prussia's strength was limited. It was impossible for them to learn from the Government of Austria and mobilize millions of troops.

Even if they worked hard, they could only deal with one Austrian army at most. There was nothing they could do about the other.

Whether they sent troops from their homeland or from the Kingdom of Bavaria, it was not a problem for Austria.

In the era of firearms, they could not take risks even if they wanted to. As long as their logistical supplies were cut off, even the strongest troops were just weaklings.

In addition to the military threat, the more troublesome issue was the political problem. The behavior of the Bavarian people also frightened the Government of Prussia.

Even if Frederick William IV Of Denmark had confidence in the domestic army and did not think that they would learn from the Bavarian army and be neutral, he had no confidence in the people.

The confidence of the army came from the fact that Prussia was a "country owned by the army". This was a treatment that other countries could not give.

The people were different. Don't look at how the later generations flattered the Kingdom of Prussia, in fact, they were militaristic.

Now that the Kingdom of Prussia's economic situation was not good, in order to maintain the huge military expenditure, the government had to increase the burden on the people.

Coupled with the exploitation of the Juncker nobles, the ordinary people of Prussia did not have a good life in this era. This kind of hard life lasted until the Franco-Prussian War, when they relied on the French war reparations to get out of the predicament.

Frederick William IV Of Denmark suppressed his anger and said, "What should we do now? Those free cities have long declared their neutrality. Now Baden, Hanover, and Württemberg are also neutral. Felix is about to visit Saxony, and if nothing unexpected happens, Saxony will soon be neutral as well.

The strength of the remaining small states is not worth mentioning. If we continue to organize an intervention army, I'm afraid we can only do it ourselves. "

The number of states in the German Region was not small, but there were very few with strength. Apart from these few that had a little bit of strength, the remaining small states could not even put together 50,000 troops.

Without these states as cannon fodder, Prussia did not dare to fight to the death with Austria. If 100,000 or 80,000 of their troops died, it would be a huge blow to their morale.

The reason why the Kingdom of Prussia maintained such a large active army was to ensure the quality of the soldiers, because they could not afford the quantity.

Joseph von Radowitz advised, "Your Majesty, the current situation is not clear. We can't act rashly. Although Austria has decayed, their military strength has not declined.

From the information we have gathered, Austria has already mobilized a million reserve troops. Together with their 500,000 active troops, the current number of troops has jumped to the first in Europe.

With our strength, we no longer have the ability to intervene in this war. It is better to observe the situation first and wait for the reaction of the European countries! "

If Austria did not mobilize the whole country, then the Kingdom of Prussia and the German State would have organized an alliance army and had the strength to intervene in this war.

The current situation was very clear. The small states were either forced by public opinion or intimidated by Austria's strength, and they had retreated.

The alliance army could not be organized. If they wanted to go up and fight with Austria alone, Joseph von Radowitz did not have any expectations at all with just the 200,000 troops of the Kingdom of Prussia.

Even if they mobilized the whole country, it would be the same. The Kingdom of Prussia could not afford to fight a war of attrition. If they lost once, they would be finished. Perhaps Austria did not have the strength to annex Prussia, but it was very possible to dismember the Kingdom of Prussia.

After all, the Kingdom of Prussia was not invulnerable. Just from the three operations to partition Poland, they had obtained 141,100 square kilometers, which occupied 47% of Prussia's territory.

This meant that there were still a large number of Poles in Prussia. Although these people had almost been assimilated and would soon be digested, that was under the premise that there was no external force.

Once the Kingdom of Prussia was defeated and Austria forcibly split up Prussia, it would be difficult to merge again. The chances of success were too low and the risk was too high. Prime Minister Joseph von Radowitz did not want to take this risk.

The Foreign Affairs Minister Andrea suggested, "Your Majesty, Metternich will be visiting Berlin in a few days. Let's listen to what Austria has to say before making a decision. If the conditions are right, it is not impossible to join forces with them."

To put it bluntly, the relationship between countries was also about interests. Prussia also opposed Austria's annexation of Bavaria because of interests. If the interests were right, then it was not impossible to sell Bavaria.

Andrea was a supporter of the idea of the partition of North and South Germany. He did not mind exchanging interests with Austria. Of course, this did not mean that he did not want Prussia to unify Germany.

The main reason was that the strength of the Kingdom of Prussia was limited. Everyone had the ambition to unify Germany, but they did not think that it could be achieved.

Before Bismarck came to power, the Government of Prussia was not prepared to unify Germany.

Even after the victory of the three dynasties' wars, everyone was still skeptical about unifying Germany.

If it was not for Bismarck's strong persistence and powerful political means, which tricked many countries together and achieved a nominal unification, the two powerful empires of Germany and Germany would not have been born.

After hesitating for a moment, Frederick William IV Of Denmark apologized to the Kingdom of Bavaria. It was not that he did not want to help, it was that his strength did not allow him to.

"In that case, let's keep quiet for now. The mobilization of the troops in the country cannot be stopped, and we also have to prevent the Austrians from launching a sneak attack on us.

We will wait for Metternich to come and understand the conditions of the Austrians before we make a decision.

Before that, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must try to stabilize the small countries. Without them waving flags and shouting battle cries, we will be very passive politically. "

Betting on the fate of a country also depended on the situation. At least thirty to forty percent of the certainty was needed to place a bet, right? Frederick William IV was not a gambler, and he was not blinded by gambling. He would not blindly play five-card stud.

After the end of the high-level meeting, Frederick William IV Of Denmark immediately summoned the envoys of England, France, Russia, and Spain. He reported the situation to the four major European powers and requested them to send troops to intervene.

Without a doubt, the Kingdom of Spain was already an empty shell. It was able to maintain its status as a major European power by relying on the remaining prestige of its ancestors. It was now busy with internal strife and was not enthusiastic about interfering in the affairs of the German Region.

The ones who had the right to speak were England, France, and Russia, or more accurately, France and Russia. Although the British had great influence, their land forces were limited. They did not have the ability to send troops to intervene in the German Region.

However, England, France, and Russia were engaged in a super friendly match at this time and could not be stopped for a while. Both sides had invested so much. Whoever backed down would be unlucky.

The Russians could not give up on the Constantinople. This was the will of the entire Russian people. The Tsarist government could not back down at the last moment.

England and France could not back down either. The British made a concession. Not to mention the heavy loss of interests, Downing Street would have to be replaced.

Needless to say, the French. If Napoleon Iii dared to back down, his throne would be unstable. Or rather, his throne had always been unstable. The war was launched to divert the internal conflict.

Other than the Spanish envoy who clearly refused to send troops, the envoys of the three countries did not give an answer and waited for the domestic decision.

London

George's cabinet once again held a cabinet meeting for the German Region.

Thomas, the Foreign Affairs Minister, said, "Everyone, the situation in the German Region has changed. The Kingdom of Bavaria fell without any resistance. In this war, the people and army of Bavaria chose to stand by and watch.

The one fighting against Austria this time is probably that idiot Maximilian II Of Macedon and his idiotic cabinet.

Affected by this, most of the states in the German Region chose to be neutral because the people supported the unification of Germany. The governments of these states did not dare to take the risk.

Last night, I received news from the envoy in Berlin that the Government of Prussia also backed down.

We had originally planned to use the power of the German Region to contain the Austrians, but now it is impossible to continue.

If we do not take strong measures, the unification of the German Region will be inevitable. The Austrians are on the political offensive. It is estimated that most of the German states will be forced by the people to join the Austrian Shinra Empire. "

Thomas despised Maximilian II Of Macedon's behavior, and everyone agreed. For a king to be able to do this, it really needed strength.

If the Kingdom of Bavaria was a little bit more powerful, even if they only resisted the Austrian army for ten days to half a month, or even lost all the battles, everyone could accept it.

This was the difference in strength, and no one would criticize them for being incompetent. It could be said that as long as they resisted, the German coalition could be organized.

Now everyone backed down, not only because they were intimidated by the military strength of Austria, but also because of the actions of the Bavarian people. They did not dare to go against the will of the people.

George Hamilton Gordon thought about it and said, "It seems that we have to join forces with the Russians. With just our strength and the strength of the French, we can no longer make the Austrians let go.

The unified German Empire is too powerful, and presumably the Russians do not want to see this monster appear. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will communicate with the Russians. In order to show our sincerity, we can stop the offensive on the Crimean Peninsula. "

"Prime Minister, if we stop the offensive at this time, it is equivalent to giving up the advantage we have. As long as the Russians are not willing to give up on Constantinople, this war will not end.

Unless we want to fight a war to defend India against the Russians in the Indus River Valley, we cannot back down. "War Minister Stanley reminded.

It was impossible to back down. Whoever dared to back down on this issue would be waiting to be nailed to the pillar of traitors and be despised by the people for the rest of their lives!

George Hamilton Gordon sneered and said, "This bit of loss is still within the range of our ability to bear. Even if we can't compromise with the Russians on the Near East issue, we still have the same position on the issue of preventing the unification of Germany.

As long as our three countries are in agreement, the Austrians have no choice but to back down. Once the Russians put pressure on Austria, can their alliance continue to be maintained?

Once there is a rupture between Russia and Austria, the following war will be easy to fight. For now, let's fool the Russians and let them interrupt the unification of Germany. "

When it came to diplomacy, John Bull was not afraid. Even if they wanted to join forces with the Russians to intervene in the war for the unification of Germany, they did not forget to first dig a big hole for the Russians.