Chapter 670

St. Peter's Castle

The Tsarist government was in a dilemma. Austria was expanding too fast, and they had to find a way to curb it.

But the Russo-Austrian Alliance could not be broken. Austria was the Tsarist government's only significant ally on the European continent, and it could not be lost.

Now that Austria had not expanded beyond the scope of the treaty, they could not even find an excuse to intervene.

This had nothing to do with credibility. As long as the benefits were right, the Tsarist government did not care about selling out its allies.

Obviously, the current benefits were not enough for the Tsar to sell out its allies. Even if Britain and France gave up the Osman Empire, the Tsarist government would not tear up the Russo-Austrian Alliance.

The reason was very simple. The Near Eastern War had woken up the Tsarist government and made them understand that they were not as strong as they had expected. Since they were not strong enough, they needed allies.

Throughout the world, there were only a few countries that were qualified to be Russia's allies. Austria was the most reliable traditional ally.

Spain was unstable, and Isabel II was still busy with internal strife, unable to intervene in the affairs of the European continent. Nicholas I Of Russia would not want such an ally even if it was sent over.

The British and French were indeed powerful, but they were in the middle of a war. How could they become allies when they were clear enemies and unquestionable?

Looking at the Kingdom of Prussia, there was only one quasi-power left. Putting aside the previous conflicts between the two sides, the Russians who allied with the Kingdom of Prussia would obviously be at a disadvantage.

When they needed help, the people of Prussia were powerless; conversely, they had to support Prussia from time to time.

They looked for allies because of common interests. If they could not get what they needed, there was no alliance to talk about. This was also the reason why the three Northern European court system collapsed.

The Foreign Minister Carr Vossel said worriedly, "Your Majesty, there are many voices for the unification of the German Region. Bavaria's nationalism is not the most fanatical. They have all used practical actions to support the unification war initiated by Austria.

The other states are not much better. Except for the Kingdom of Prussia, the other states may be tempted by Austria through political means.

Now the people of Prussia are also frightened and do not dare to send troops to intervene in this war. The war that we expected to unify Germany has now become an armed demonstration by Austria.

If we do not intervene, Britain and France may not be able to stop Austria's next move. "

Allies also need to be wary. Austria's rapid development is not a good thing for the Russians.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Arestan-Rhodes, objected, "We cannot directly intervene in this war for the unification of Germany. The Russia-Austria Secret Treaty has already delineated the sphere of influence of the two countries. Before Austria exceeds the pre-agreed boundary, we cannot violate it.

The enemies of the Russian Empire are the British, French, and Ottoman Empires. If we rashly intervene in this war, it will only benefit our enemies. If we intervene, it, we will be the enemy of the Russian Empire.

The threat of Austria was only a possibility, and that was based on their unification of the German region. The chances of them unifying the German region were still very small, at least the Kingdom of Prussia had not given in yet.

Besides, we are not the only threat. We should be worried about the French. Austria's unification of the German Region is the biggest threat to them. "

Geopolitics determined the strategic threat of each country. The British Isles were isolated from Europe. The threat of the British could only come from the sea. After the German Region was unified, the French would be the first to bear the brunt, followed by Russia.

"No, Mr. Arestan Rode, you have misunderstood. Interfering in this war and abiding by the treaty do not contradict each other. As long as we support the Austrians to get the territory, it is not a violation of the treaty.

We can let Britain and France be the bad guys. There is no need for us to directly clash with Austria, "Carr Vossel explained.

Arestan Rode asked uncertainly, "You mean to break up the German Region and completely cut off the path of unification of the German Region?"

Carr Vossel answered with certainty, "That's right. It has been proven that after the awakening of nationalism, if the German Region is not broken up, it will be unified sooner or later.

It is not too late to stop it. If it is too late, the Kingdom of Prussia will be swayed by public opinion, and it will be difficult for us to stop their unification! "

"What specific plans do you have?" Nicholas I Of Russia asked with interest.

Carr Vossel analyzed, "Your Majesty, this plan needs Britain and France's help, and we cannot propose it. It will affect the relationship between Russia and Austria.

Based on the current situation, it is not a problem for the Austrians to take over South Germany. If Britain and France are willing to stop it, they can be the bad guys.

Prussia can expand in North Germany. The duchies of Schleswig and Holstein can be given to the Danes, and the states in the west can be merged with Belgium and the Netherlands.

Of course, the West German state is not our problem. Let the British worry about it. It doesn't matter whether it is given to Prussia, to the two little brothers, Belgium and the Netherlands, or independence.

As long as these economically developed areas are not annexed by Austria, their strength will not increase. After Germany is divided, Austria's expansion path will be blocked. When that time comes, they can only fight for overseas colonies.

This will inevitably lead to conflict with Britain and France. With a common enemy, our relationship with Austria in the future will hopefully improve. "

Solving the problem once and for all was indeed the best choice. As long as the German Region was completely divided, no country in Europe could threaten the security of the Russian Empire.

At least for now, no country had the power to threaten Russia. Even the French, which the Tsarist government feared the most, were not as scary as they were during Napoleon's time.

…

Paris

The situation changed too quickly. Napoleon Iii's plan to sit on the sidelines and watch the tigers fight was aborted before it could even begin.

All the states in the German Region acted like ostriches, as if the Bavarian government was really guilty and Austria's overthrow of their rule was expected.

Well, from the information from Bavaria, Napoleon Iii had to admit that Austria was indeed expected this time.

This meant that Austria's annexation of Bavaria would be very easy. From the beginning to the end, it was just an armed demonstration, and the total number of casualties on both sides would not exceed three digits. With a good foundation among the people, there would be no problems in ruling in the future.

Napoleon Iii cursed, "Everyone knows the news from the German Region.

The situation is completely out of control. If we don't take action, it might not be long before Austria can rebuild that damned Shinra Empire.

If you don't want to see the monster that has troubled France for hundreds of years come back to life, then think of a way to strangle them now! "

Interior Minister Persini suggested, "Your Majesty, in the current situation, we must be prepared for armed intervention. Considering the current situation in the German Region, these states will not become our allies.

Austria's strength is not weak. To be on the safe side, it is best to act together with Britain and Russia. The most important thing now is to coordinate diplomatic relations and ensure that the great powers have the same position. "

Pessigny was Napoleon III's chief strategist, including the plan for the restoration of Napoleon III. He might not be good at governing a country, but he was definitely an expert at playing politics.

He was clearly trying to persuade Napoleon Iii not to interfere in this war, but when it came out of his mouth, it became a diplomatic necessity.

He also vaguely reminded Napoleon Iii that the main forces of France were still in the Near East, and that the domestic forces were empty. If they were to send this small number of troops, it would be contributing to the enemy's achievements.

There was no other way. The Napoleonic era where everyone was a soldier was already a thing of the past. The current France Empire's mobilization speed was not as fast as Prussia's.

If he didn't have enough troops, wouldn't he be making a fool of himself if he jumped out and interfered by force?

Napoleon Iii asked with concern, "How long will it take for us to have enough troops to interfere in this war?"

Minister of War Arnault thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, because of the war in the Near East, our standing army has now exceeded 800,000, and a large number of reserves have been recruited.

There are 280,000 on the Crimean Peninsula, 200,000 on Constantinople, 154,000 on the overseas colonies, and less than 170,000 troops in the country.

Now we can mobilize 150,000 young men into the army every month, and these new soldiers need at least three months of training before they can be put into the battlefield.

If we want to interfere in this war alone, it will take at least half a year for us to have enough troops. "

Napoleon Iii completely gave up on the idea of doing it alone. This was all the fault of the July Dynasty. During the reign of Louis Philippe, the French standing army usually only had a little more than 200,000, and the system of everyone being a soldier was abandoned.

After Napoleon Iii came to power, the army expanded to 800,000, and there were not so many reserves that could be directly recruited.

There was no shortage of young men of the right age in France, but these people could not just pick up a weapon and go to the battlefield, they also had to undergo a certain amount of training.

After three months of basic training, they were actually cannon fodder among cannon fodder, and their combat power was pitifully low. Even Napoleon Iii did not dare to bring such an unreliable army to the battlefield.

It was not that the French were really bad at mobilizing troops. In this era, everyone was about the same. Before Franz reformed the military system, the Austrian mobilization ability was similar to the French.

In this era, the countries in Europe that could quickly mobilize 800,000 troops were only Russia, Russia, and the Fao. Of course, there were still many countries that could gather enough people, but there was no way to guarantee their combat power.

Based on the situation in France, Napoleon Iii quickly came to the conclusion that it would be difficult to carry out the military intervention.

Unless the Austrians really wanted to unify Germany, and everyone was anxious. Britain, France, and Russia withdrew their troops from the war, or else they would not have enough troops.

His judgment was not wrong. The British immediately gave up on the military intervention plan because the British Army did not have a large enough army.

…

While all the countries were preparing, Franz was not idle. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was busy and opened up public relations throughout Europe.

Even Switzerland, who had a feud with the House of Habsburg, was not spared. Hatred was in the past. Since the declaration of permanent neutrality at the Vienna Conference in 1815, the relationship between the two countries had been normalized.

Of course, this was not the focus of Austria's public relations. It was just a routine to show the Swiss government their attitude.

Unless Switzerland was willing to give up its neutral position, they would not participate in this war. In fact, they did not have the ability to participate.

In this era, Switzerland was not yet the developed country in the future. As a mountainous country, it was naturally poor before the completion of industrialization.

In addition to fooling the countries in the German Region, the biggest public relations target was actually the French. The Russians could not be counted. This was settled in advance, and now they just continued to maintain communication.

It was not that Franz did not want to do the British's work. The problem was that John Bull was too smart, and Austria had no interest in buying them.

On the other hand, the French had a common language and could be bought over by paying a certain price. Franz was afraid of the pain of cutting his own flesh, so he could only be generous at the expense of others.

…