Chapter 694

The failure of the winter war made Alexander II Of Russia determined. If the war was not ended, the Russian Empire would be finished.

Internally, the rebel army was causing chaos. Externally, there were powerful enemies watching them. Alexander II Of Russia did not forget the mastermind behind the war, who was the real enemy of the Russian Empire.

If the war was not ended as soon as possible, other than Constantinople, who could rely on Austria to purchase strategic supplies nearby, there was no hope for the other areas.

Without the logistical supplies provided by the Moscow area, the entire Central Asia region would inevitably fall; without support from the rear, there was no hope for the Far East battlefield.

Needless to say, after this defeat, Belarus and the Sea of Polovia would become battlefields. It was only a matter of time before it fell.

If Sweden stabbed them in the back, St. Peter Castle might not be able to be saved. It also took time to mobilize the army. If the Russian Empire was dying, who knew if the British would continue to hit them?

They did not need to pay a high price. As long as the Royal Navy entered the Baltic Sea, the Russian Empire would really be finished.

In this era, the Siberian Plains had not been developed. The core of the Russian Empire was St. Peter Castle and Moscow. Now that Moscow was in the hands of the rebels, if he lost St. Peter Castle, his Tsar's days would come to an end.

"Clean up the emperor's side, punish the corrupt officials." The key was to punish the corrupt officials. If he killed all of his trusted aides, would Tsar still be Tsar?

He did not dare to do anything to Tsar in the open, but was it difficult to do it secretly? For example, accidentally falling into the water, or suddenly dying.

Since ancient times, there were so many emperors who died accidentally. Were they really all accidents?

Then the probability was too high. It was simply a high-risk occupation, and it was one of the top few.

Alexander II Of Russia would not put himself in danger. As long as he survived this disaster, he could get back the future he lost now.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a note to Austria, inviting them to mediate this war."

After making this decision, Alexander II Of Russia sighed. Now was not the best time to negotiate, but it was the time when it was needed the most.

Winter was the last line of defense for the Russian Empire. If another war broke out next year, they would have to pay a greater price.

Clarence Ivanov, the Foreign Minister, asked nervously, "Your Majesty, should we invite England and France to participate?"

There was no other way. The affairs of the European continent could not be separated from England and France. Even if the Tsarist government did not invite them, they would still appear at the table.

Alexander II replied helplessly, "Let's invite them as well. At this point, we don't have much choice."

This was to England and France. After this war, the weakness of the Russian Empire was exposed. They no longer had the strength to compete with the British for hegemony.

Next, they had to keep a low profile and reduce their presence as much as possible to avoid being suppressed by other countries.

Regardless of how useful it was, doing it was better than not doing it at all. In this period of weakness, it was a good thing to be able to reduce some of the hatred.

It was good.

In Vienna, Franz was dumbfounded when he received the battle report of the winter war between Prussia and Russia. He did not expect that the Tsar bureaucrats would court death to this extent.

False reports of losses, embezzlement of military funds, and raising procurement prices were all small problems. It was nothing more than giving the Tsarist government some money.

Even if they were greedy and used shoddy goods, they should at least ensure that they could meet the basic needs! This was war, and the slightest mistake could cost lives.

Now, the Russian army at the frontlines had been completely wiped out. Alexander II Of Russia did not have time to find trouble with them. Once the situation stabilized, there would be a purge.

Franz asked with concern, "How much did the Russians lose?"

Austria sent military observers to both sides at the same time. With first-hand information on the battlefield, it was still possible to make a preliminary estimate of the losses.

War Minister Albrecht replied, "The preliminary estimate is that they lost more than 300,000 troops. Nearly 200,000 prisoners were captured by Prussia. About 40,000 to 50,000 people died in battle. The non-combat attrition is very serious.

Now that Russia's defense line is open, if not for the logistical constraints, Prussia would have occupied Belarus. "

Franz nodded. The Prussians had picked up a big bargain this time. Otherwise, the war would have dragged on for a long time.

It could be said that William I hit the jackpot. The whole world did not expect them to counterattack in winter. Including Franz, he also thought that the Kingdom of Prussia would win the war next year.

The Tsar bureaucrats' ability to court death refreshed everyone's worldview. The European countries were probably still in shock.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a note to all parties to mediate the war. Warn the Prussia not to go too far and remind them to fulfill their promise. "

Allies naturally had to act like allies. In this regard, Franz had always done a good job. Strictly abiding by the covenant, even the anti-Austrian faction in the Tsarist government did not blame Austria on this.

Small conflicts did not matter, but the general direction must be clear and stand firmly on the side of the ally. The Russians lost the war, but saved the Russo-Austrian Alliance, allowing the two countries to continue the alliance.

For example, warning the Kingdom of Prussia now would actually have little effect. Whether Austria interfered or not, they could not continue the war.

This kind of attitude happened to be what the Tsarist government needed the most now. Austria's position could help them stabilize the hearts of the people and ensure that they did not need to pay too much in the negotiations.

Because of geopolitical reasons, in the two battlefields of Eastern Europe and the Balkans, the position of the Government of Vienna could play a decisive role.

The Kingdom of Prussia won the war, but it did not mean that they were the world's most powerful country. On the contrary, their own strength did not increase but decreased.

If they wanted to become stronger, they had to get their hands on the spoils of war and digest them first.

Not to mention the Osman Empire, their strength was limited. Completing the reform did not mean that the country was strong, it still needed time to develop.

In this war, they were originally forced to go to the battlefield by everyone, so they did not perform very actively in the war. It could be considered as playing a supporting role and did not have any noteworthy achievements.

In Berlin, William the First's face was full of smiles recently. The meat pie that fell from the breakthrough made him dizzy, and he had not yet woken up from the joy.

Because of the victory on the battlefield, the original whimsical plan became feasible. The road from the Kingdom of Prussia to the Empire was about to set sail.

The sudden warning from the Government of Vienna interrupted his good mood and pulled William the First back to reality. He knew that winning the war did not come without a price.

Up to this point in the war, the Prussians had lost 460,000 soldiers, of whom 176,000 had died in battle and 12,000 had died from other causes.

From a strategic point of view, these losses were worth it. Not only did they solve the threat on the eastern front of the Kingdom of Prussia, but they also made a name for themselves, so that other countries in the world did not dare to look down on Prussia.

In addition to the loss of the army, the loss of population and economy was even more of a headache for William the First.

The loss of population had already exceeded a million, and the Middle East region of Prussia suffered the most, with only 10 to 20 percent of the local population remaining.

In terms of economy, except for the Rhineland region, which was still able to barely support itself, the other regions were finished.

This was the credit of the Russian navy, who caused destruction in the coastal areas every day, and a large number of refugees poured into the rear, causing a serious blow to the economy.

If it were not for the financial support, the Kingdom of Prussia would have collapsed a long time ago. It was not much better now, the domestic economy was considered to be ruined, and it would take a long time for it to recover.

William the First asked, "What do you think of the diplomatic note from the Government of Vienna?"

Mao Qi said without hesitation, "Now we are also at our limit, it is not worth the loss to continue fighting. It is better to determine the benefits in our hands at the negotiation table. "

After winning the war, the influence of the military in politics was further increased. As the commander of the war, Mao Qi was also at the peak of his power.

In the past, he would never have expressed his position so clearly, but it was different now. As the winner, Mao Qi's right to speak had already surpassed that of the Prime Minister.

William the First heaved a sigh of relief in his heart. It was best that the military was willing to stop, otherwise he could only use the pressure of the great powers to make the military stop the war.

As for Mao Qi's attitude, that was a small problem. William the First did not lack broad-mindedness, he could even tolerate Bismarck in the original time and space, let alone Mao Qi.

Other than Ron, the three heroes of Prussia, Mao Qi and Bismarck all had flaws in their personalities, normal people would not be able to tolerate it.

Prime Minister Frank frowned and said, "It is not that easy, getting the two duchies and part of the Baltic Sea is not a big problem, but I am afraid it will be difficult to get the Polish region.

In addition, there is another problem in front of us, and that is' Silesia. ' Previously, we promised the Austrians. Now, we have to think carefully about whether we want to fulfill this promise. "

The two duchies of Schleswig and Holstein were the least controversial, the Tsarist government would not entangle on this issue, as for the Kingdom of Denmark, they did not have the confidence to entangle.

It was also relatively easy to get the Baltic Sea region, the local people were staunchly anti-Russian, as long as they could break away from the rule of the Tsarist government, there were many issues that could be discussed.

(Today: The three countries of the Baltic Sea, the area of the region to be extended inland)

The most important thing was that the British supported Prussia to obtain the Baltic Sea region, France and Austria also tacitly agreed on this issue.

It was really difficult to annex Poland. First of all, the current Polish provisional government was the first obstacle.

Although Mao Qi had been using the opportunity to fight with the Russians to deplete the strength of the Poles, the provisional government's military power suffered heavy losses, they still wanted independence!

It was not as easy as it sounded to want to swallow them in one go. The Polish provisional government did not agree to the merger, but Prussia could not directly attack their ally, right?

If these factors could be overcome by force, then the reaction of the Great Powers would make people despair. After annexing the Polish region, the territory of the Kingdom of Prussia would only be after the existence of Russia and Austria, and the population would also catch up with France.

France and Austria would never allow such a giant to appear, and the Russians, who had just been defeated, would not agree to it either.

As long as the Great Powers intervened, the Kingdom of Prussia was destined to be unable to annex Poland. If they dared to force it, they had to be prepared to be beaten to death.

Minister of War and Navy Ron said, "Annexing Poland is not a problem that can be solved overnight. We can first let the Polish region be independent, then look for opportunities later.

Silesia must not be ceded like this. Austria did not maintain absolute neutrality in this war, if it was not for them supporting the Russians, the war last year would have ended. "

Silesia was a bad debt, the two sides only had a verbal agreement, it did not fall on paper, it was not impossible for the Government of Prussia to directly renege on the debt.

The main problem was that Austria was not to be trifled with. If they reneged on the debt now, they would be retaliated.

Perhaps this would not be enough to trigger a war between the two countries, but just the diplomatic difficulties would be enough to make the Kingdom of Prussia uncomfortable.

The atmosphere in the conference room became tense, this was a dilemma. No one was willing to cede territory, and no one wanted to go against Austria at this time, especially when the Prussian-Russian negotiations were imminent.

In particular, the Prussian-Russian negotiations were imminent. If the Vienna government fully supported the Russians, could they get everything they wanted?

No one could answer this question, no one knew where the bottom line of the Government of Vienna was!

After pondering for a while, William I said cautiously, "The problem of Silesia, let's delay it first. Unless it is absolutely necessary, we cannot give up every inch of the country!"

Delaying was not the best way, but it was the most effective way.