Chapter 750

There was never a lack of smart people in the world. The Austrian military's plan was quickly approved by the Russians, and both sides reached an agreement on the war.

After a fierce battle, the commander of the allied forces fell into Austria's hands. It wasn't because Austria contributed a lot, but mainly because the Tsarist government was poor.

"It's easier said than done." The Tsarist government didn't have the confidence to negotiate since the Russian army's supplies were provided by the Vienna government.

Although it was called a joint operation, it was still a separate operation. Austria was responsible for dealing with the enemy's navy, covering the landing of the Russian Army, and ensuring the smooth sea transportation.

Once on land, the Russians would be free to do as they pleased. Life and death had nothing to do with Austria. When necessary, the two sides would cooperate.

For example, after the enemy was mobilized, they would suddenly change the battlefield and attack a new target, which required Austria to send ships.

Time passed quickly, and on March 1st, 1874, Franz declared war on the Osman Empire under the name of "revenge." The House of Habsburg and the Osman Empire once again declared war.

On the same day, the Tsarist government also declared war on the Osman Empire for interfering in Russia's internal affairs and plotting a Bulgarian rebellion.

The Government of Sudan had yet to give a reply, but this was no longer important. The second Near Eastern War was a foregone conclusion, and no one could stop it.

Franz's declaration of war under the name of "revenge" was criticized internationally. Compared to the Russians' excuse for war, this excuse was like a stopgap.

Fortunately, the enemy was the Osman Empire, the public enemy of Europe, and everyone just discussed it. Other than a few people, most European people were happy to be bystanders.

A few people who complained about the Osman Empire's injustice didn't wait for the Government of Vienna to respond, and some people started to criticize in the newspapers. Franz admired this kind of enthusiastic people, but he didn't know if they were hired by the newspaper.

News always needed to be hyped up. If there was only one voice, how could the newspaper sell? Therefore, under normal circumstances, when there was a big news, the European newspaper liked to split into two groups and make a fortune together.

…

In the The Balkans, the Russian Army was assembling. One had to admit that the Tsar's government was very honest. They had promised to send 150,000 soldiers, and they meant it. Not to mention weapons and equipment, they even saved on military uniforms.

Looking at the unarmed 150,000 Russian Army, General Arest was speechless for a long time. No matter what, as the commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces, he had to solve these problems.

The Government of Vienna promised to supply 150,000 troops with military supplies for half a year, so he had to fulfill it.

After pondering for a moment, Arest said to the Russian general, "General Ivanov, the weapons and equipment have arrived. You can send your men to receive them now.

However, the military uniforms will have to wait. Austria does not have the Russian military uniforms, and they are currently being manufactured. You will have to wait. "

They hadn't thought of this at all. Who knew that the Tsarist government would even save on military uniforms?

Alright, a hundred and fifty thousand soldiers was not a small number. According to Austria's standards, it was standard for new recruits to be given three sets at a time. When the season changed, they had to be given another three sets. If they were accidentally damaged during training, they could be replaced.

According to preliminary estimates, to give 150,000 Russian Army uniforms would cost hundreds of thousands of Divine Dukes. It wasn't that the uniforms were expensive, it was mainly because of the supporting equipment, such as canteens, boots, backpacks, tents …

There was no doubt about it. From the looks of it, it was obvious that the Russians had not prepared anything other than humans. In order to save money, the Tsarist government could no longer care about their reputation.

Arest understood the Russians' way of doing things. 150,000 troops came empty-handed, but they could get at least six to seven million Divine Dukes worth of equipment.

At its peak, the Russian Empire might not have cared, but now, it was almost a month's income for the Tsarist government. Compared to practical benefits, what was face worth?

"Ten thousand taels of gold when the cannon is fired." This sentence was not wrong at all. After entering the era of firearms, the cost of war had increased significantly.

For this war in the Near East, the Government of Vienna had prepared 150 million Divine Dukes as war funding. This amount of war funding could only last for a year at most.

If the war continued, more money would be needed in the end. This was also the reason why the Government of Vienna was unwilling to fight. It was too costly.

After listening to Arest's explanation, Ivanov, the commander of the Russian Army, blushed. Not wearing military uniforms was an order from the government. The purpose was not just to save money, but to complain about being poor.

The Tsarist government had no confidence in raising enough war funding. Alexander Ii Of Russia was worried that if the war continued, the government's finances would not be able to handle it.

From the beginning, they were prepared to rely on Austria. Russia and Austria were allies. Halfway through the war, the Tsarist government suddenly ran out of money. What could Austria do?

If they wanted to continue contributing to the war, the Government of Vienna would have to borrow money. Otherwise, they could reasonably slack off and follow Austria to the final fruits of victory.

As one of the executors, General Ivanov was obviously not thick-skinned enough. After listening to Arest's explanation, he was a little embarrassed.

"No problem, Commander. Not having military uniforms doesn't affect the battle. It's not a problem to make up for it after a while."

Ivanov didn't think there was a problem, but General Arest didn't think so. If the Russian Army really went to the battlefield like this, he, as the commander-in-chief, would probably be laughed at for hundreds of years.

"Don't worry, the military uniforms will definitely be issued before the landing. Now, you should rest first. You will only be allowed to go on the battlefield after the Navy's performance. "

Arest was an admiral. He was able to serve as the commander-in-chief mainly because Austria was mainly responsible for the sea in this cooperative battle.

Franz didn't like to command from thousands of miles away. The commander-in-chief was in Constantinople, which was thousands of miles away from the Middle East. If the Middle East was placed under the command of the commander-in-chief, it would be no different from remote control in Vienna.

Therefore, in this war, the commander-in-chief was actually just a coordinating body. Its main task was to ensure the smooth sea transportation channels and cooperate with the Russian Army to attack the Asia Minor peninsula.

Battle? The battles on land would be commanded by the Russians themselves. Arest wasn't responsible for the outcome of the battle.

The only thing that was under his command was the naval battle. If the few broken ships of the Osman Empire were counted as enemies, the Austrian Navy still had to fight a naval battle.

…

In the Palace of Vienna, Franz instantly felt unwell after receiving Arest's telegram. The insufferably arrogant Russian Empire no longer existed. Now, all that was left was a calculating Tsarist government.

This change undoubtedly meant that the Tsarist government had become more rational. Face was sometimes very important, but sometimes it was worthless.

Without a doubt, to the current Tsarist government, "money" was the most important thing. Face was not something that could be eaten.

From the moment they lost the Prussian War, the Tsarist government's face was worthless. Being able to change his mentality undoubtedly proved that Alexander Ii Of Russia had grown up.

"Let's do as Arest says. There's no need to affect our plan for such a small matter."

It was just a batch of military uniforms. From the standpoint of the Government of Vienna, it was indeed a small matter that was not worth mentioning. Naturally, no one would object.

War Minister Albrecht: "Your Majesty, according to the plan, we will only launch our attack in the Middle East after the Asia Minor peninsula war has begun.

Due to the influence of the Bulgarian rebellion, the troops that Russia had initially prepared were sent to suppress the rebellion, resulting in insufficient preparations.

The current batch of soldiers has not gone through sea combat training at all. In addition, they have just received new equipment and still need some time to get used to it. I'm afraid that they won't be able to launch an attack in the short term. "

Franz retracted his previous thoughts. The Tsarist government was as unreliable as ever. The war had already begun, and suddenly he was told that the Russian Army had not gone through sea combat training.

What were they doing earlier? One had to know that this war had been prepared for more than half a year. The equipment and logistics were all handled by Austria. The Tsarist government had only sent people.

If it wasn't to save time for the Russian Army to go through sea combat training, why would they wait for more than half a year? Could it be that the Russian Empire could not even produce 150,000 active soldiers, and needed to recruit new soldiers?

Naturally, there was a reason for starting the Asia Minor peninsula war first. To the Osman Empire, the Asia Minor peninsula was its core territory.

Once war broke out, the Government of Sudan would definitely have to concentrate its forces to defend the Asia Minor peninsula. Even if the number of troops deployed in the Middle East did not decrease, it would not increase either. This was very beneficial to Austria, who wanted to seize territory.

"Don't worry so much. Proceed according to the original plan. The Russians did not go through sea combat training. That's their own business. We will follow our previous agreement and send them ashore.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will inform the various countries to evacuate their nationals as soon as possible. We will launch an all-out attack in half a month. We can only express our regrets if there are any accidental injuries. "

The declaration of war could only be used under special circumstances. In this war in the Near East, Austria would definitely bombard the coastal cities of the Osman Empire. Civilian casualties were inevitable.

In this case, it was necessary to give the various countries time to evacuate their nationals. Otherwise, if a large number of foreigners were killed or injured, the Government of Vienna would also feel troubled.

Franz did not want to be condemned by the public. Sometimes, spittle could kill. There was no hurry to attack the Osman Empire. They could not escape anyway.

Don't be fooled by Franz's relaxed words. If the Russian Army really suffered heavy casualties and did not complete their mission, they would need Austria to send troops to help clean up the aftermath.

There was nothing wrong with the saying that allies were meant to be tricked. The war had just begun, but Franz already felt like he was tricked.