Chapter 774

Palace of Versailles

Foreign Minister Auvergne said, "Your Majesty, the new Holy Roman Empire's envoy in Paris has sent us a diplomatic note. They propose that our two countries act jointly on the Greek issue.

It seems that the Government of Vienna is worried that the British will take the opportunity to annex the Greek Kingdom and threaten their interests. "

The population of Greece in this era was just over a million. After the war, Greece suffered a serious loss of young people.

If the British intended to make the Greek Kingdom their colony, it would not be difficult.

This worry was obviously not superfluous. The annexation of Greece could bring a lot of strategic benefits to the British. Not only could it block the entrance of the Russians to the Mediterranean, but it could also increase their voice in the Near East.

The Government of Paris was also very worried about this situation. The cake in the Near East was only so big. If the British took too much, they would inevitably squeeze their local interests.

Napoleon Iii thought for a moment and said, "The annexation of the Greek Kingdom by the British is very disadvantageous to our Near East strategy. Send someone to talk to the Austrians. As long as there is no serious conflict of interest, we will act jointly with them."

Napoleon Iii was still very timid against the British alone, but he had nothing to fear with the Austrians. In this era, the strength gap between Britain, France, Russia, and Austria had not yet widened. Even if the British had the advantage, they could not fight one against two.

Common interests were always the basis of cooperation. France and the new Holy Roman Empire had a struggle for supremacy on the European continent. Logically speaking, the two sides should be in conflict.

However, the current ruler of the European continent was Russia. Before the fall of the Hairy Bear, the two countries were only substitutes. It was not yet time to fall out with each other.

Due to the influence of the war against France, France's every move on the European continent would be closely watched.

In this context, any expansion of France on the European continent might be misinterpreted by the outside world and be boycotted by everyone. The Government of Paris had to keep a low profile at this time.

The new Holy Roman Empire was also keeping a low profile. Although Austria had been developing under Franz for more than four years, this development had only allowed Austria to keep up with the pace of the times. It had not formed an advantage over the other countries.

After the annexation of South Germany, the newly established new Holy Roman Empire entered an internal integration period. There was no energy to make trouble in the short term. Franz had no plans to fight for supremacy on the European continent.

Both parties were well-behaved. Naturally, the conflict between France and Austria had not reached the point of igniting. This undoubtedly created favorable conditions for the following cooperation.

Interior Minister Persini analyzed, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid the Austrians' purpose is not that simple.

According to our information, ever since the failure of the unification of Germany, the government in Vienna has been calling for the establishment of overseas colonies.

Now that the situation on the European continent had stabilized, the road for the Austrians to unify the German region had been broken, and Russia and Austria in the Balkans should have reached an agreement.

Regardless of the outcome of the Near Eastern War, the Austrians' expansion in Europe had reached its limit. Even the benefits they obtained in the Balkans were a question mark as to whether they would be able to eat them in the end.

Not long ago, the Government of Paris decided on the next national policy – temporarily give up expansion on the European continent and focus on the development of overseas colonies.

Not long ago, the Paris government had decided on its next national policy — to temporarily abandon expansion on the European continent and concentrate on developing overseas colonies.

Now that Austria was participating in overseas colonization activities, the French were naturally on guard.

It was still the era of sailing, and the technology of the navies of the various countries had not yet reached the epoch-making level. It was not that difficult for the European countries to destroy their navies.

Of course, this was not to say that the French were afraid of Austria joining the overseas colonies. On the contrary, the French had an absolute advantage over Austria in overseas colonies.

However, the overseas colonial competitors were not only Austria. Everyone had many opponents. Under normal circumstances, everyone would restrain each other in the competition for colonies.

As long as it was not a competition for core interests, it was basically a game of power in a certain area. Rarely would they go all out.

If a fight broke out at the slightest disagreement, then the winner would take all. Obviously, this was impossible. There were so many competitors. If one was suppressed, there would be a new country emerging.

If this continued, they would be busy suppressing their opponents. Where would they have the energy to open up colonies? There was also a limit to colonial expansion. Blind expansion was likely to result in losses.

Not every piece of land had the same colonial value. Even the same area would produce different benefits if it was ruled by different countries.

Colonies with no strategic value and average economic value would usually belong to whoever occupied it first. If it was a colony with high strategic value and rich benefits, a fierce battle would be inevitable.

After the middle of the 19th century, countries had disputes over overseas colonies, but wars between colonial empires over colonies were very rare.

The reason was that the most fertile land had been divided up by everyone. The rest of the land was not worth a war. In the end, everyone was in it for the benefit. No one would do a losing deal.

After a moment of contemplation, Napoleon Iii said confidently, "For us, this should be a good thing. The Austrians opened up overseas colonies, so they must increase the development of their navy.

This way, the military pressure on our mainland will be reduced. Compared with the Austrians, we have a much greater advantage at sea than on land.

Due to their geographical location, the Austrians are at a natural strategic disadvantage in the fight for overseas colonies.

Unless they only develop from the Mediterranean to the African continent, they will have to go under our noses if they want to develop in other areas. They will also have to go under the noses of the British.

The more power they invest in overseas, the less they dare to fall out with us diplomatically in the future. Otherwise, we can choke them at any time. "

After saying that, Napoleon Iii's expression darkened. The situation of Austria was indeed as he said. They were at a disadvantage in opening up overseas colonies and exposed their weakness in front of them.

But didn't the British, who controlled the Strait of Gibraltar, choke them at the same time? Once the two countries went to war, the British could split the French navy in two at any time, so that they could not look after each other.

Why did the Government of Austria give up on opening up overseas colonies? Was it really because they were not interested in the benefits of colonies?

Obviously, that was impossible. Everyone knew that overseas colonies could bring rich benefits. But for overseas colonies, Austria's geographical location was too bad, and they were at a disadvantage in the process of overseas colonization.

It was fine if they did not develop and grow. With Austria's strength, they could keep colonies of average strategic value and average economic value. Once they encountered fat meat, they would definitely not be able to compete with Britain and France.

For a few colonies of low strategic value and low economic value, they invested a lot of money to develop the navy. In the eyes of the previous Government of Austria, such investment and return were not proportional.

But times were changing. With the development of industrialization, overseas colonies that seemed useless in the past once again showed their value.

Although Austria's geographical location seemed to be at a disadvantage, Franz knew that with the development of naval technology, this weakness would become smaller and smaller in the future.

In the era of sailing warships, Austria's overseas colonies had to travel thousands of nautical miles more than Britain and France. This was very fatal, meaning that the cost and risk increased.

But with the arrival of the era of ironclad warships, the use of steam engines on warships, the problem of distance was gradually solved.

Especially after the opening of the Suez Canal, Austria's voyage out of the Mediterranean Sea into the Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and Atlantic Ocean would be greatly reduced, and the safety would be greatly improved.

This was also one of the reasons why the Government of Vienna eased relations with France. Digging a canal to connect the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea had been proposed by Franz.

This required cooperation with the French. Austria's voice in Egypt was still too low. Even if Franz strengthened the penetration of this area after succeeding the throne, it was impossible to catch up in a short time.

…

On the Crimean Peninsula, Britain, France, and Russia fought a fierce war. The casualties on the battlefield were still within the range of all parties.

But the humid climate, a variety of small insects, and the invasion of the vicious schistosome brought the spread of diseases, causing a large number of non-combat casualties, which was unbearable.

In the spring of 1854, the number of non-combat casualties of the coalition forces exceeded the number of casualties on the battlefield for the first time. Of course, the Russians were not spared, but they were better adapted to the local climate than the coalition forces, so the number of non-combat casualties was relatively lower.

The commander of the Russian Army, Fitzroy Somerset, would never have dreamed that it was not the arrival of new equipment that equalized the casualties on both sides, but the help of the disease.

Of course, he did not have the time to pay attention to this. Now, Fitzroy Somerset was also having a headache about the large number of soldiers in the Russian Army falling ill. The cruel reality of the lack of medicine made him helpless.

If he knew the tragic situation of the coalition forces, Fitzroy Somerset's mood would probably be much better. If possible, he did not mind letting the Russian Army on the island perish together with the enemy.

This war was related to the fate of the Russian Empire. Until now, more than 300,000 Russian Army soldiers had fallen in the war. On the Crimean Peninsula alone, the Russian Army had suffered more than 70,000 casualties.

A middle-aged officer reported, "Your Excellency, the enemy has recently slowed down the intensity of their attacks. According to the captives we have captured, a large number of the enemy soldiers have fallen ill. It is said that they have contracted a cold, dysentery, and syphilis. "

"Syphilis?" Fitzroy Somerset was puzzled.

"Yes, Your Excellency, it is syphilis!" The middle-aged officer replied with certainty.

Upon receiving this answer, Fitzroy Somerset did not know whether to laugh or cry. Apart from the war, there were very few entertainment activities on the Crimean Peninsula.

Gambling, alcohol, tobacco, and women were the soldiers' favorites.

Apart from alcohol and tobacco, the Russian Army rarely participated in the rest of the activities. It could not be helped, as the Russian Army soldiers were all poor. Without money, they naturally could not afford to play, and the less they played, the lower the chances of contracting diseases.

The British and French allied forces were much better. They all had their own salaries and salaries, and there would naturally be a market when there was demand. The service industry was booming among the allied forces.

They were all idling away their days on the battlefield. After today, they did not know if there would be a tomorrow, so they naturally had to enjoy themselves!

As they did not pay attention to personal hygiene, some unlucky soldier contracted syphilis, and it quickly spread through the entire army through the service industry.

(Note: More than ten thousand people died from syphilis during the Crimean War)

In this era, there was no effective treatment for syphilis. The most reliable way was to take antibiotics at the beginning of the infection. Unfortunately, penicillin was still lying in Franz's laboratory, and it was still far from being commercialized.

Since there was no medicine, then it was up to God to take it! Anyway, the normal mortality rate of syphilis was about 20%, and those who were lucky would most likely be able to survive.

Considering the terrible environment in the barracks, and the soldiers did not pay attention to personal hygiene, the mortality rate would probably increase further.

These were all small problems. Colds and dysentery could also kill people, and the mortality rate was not low. Since they were all going to die, what disease was the same?

It was not only the Russians who lacked medical care, the allied forces were in a similar situation. The British army's situation was even worse. The logistics system was chaotic, and most of the soldiers did not know where the field hospital was.

It might not even be useful at the hospital. There were too few doctors, and it was impossible to satisfy everyone. Unless it was an officer, ordinary soldiers would not be able to get good treatment if they did not give red packets.

Many of the medicines needed to be bribed by the soldiers to get them, or else they would not even know where the medicine was stored.

If they found that the medicine was a few miles away from the hospital, there was no need to be surprised or panic. This was just a normal operation, and it would not be surprising even if it was more than ten kilometers away.

The mechanical bureaucrats completely followed the rules. Many times, the field hospital moved with the army, and the medicine warehouse was left behind. They had to go through all the procedures before they could be moved.

There was a joke: A transport ship called "Pioneer" transported more than 150 tons of vegetables to Balaklava, but the military department suddenly found that the ship's procedures were not complete, so it was forbidden to disembark the goods it carried.

According to the rules, the goods had to go back to London to complete the procedures before they could be registered for storage. In the end, the procedures were completed, and the more than 150 tons of vegetables had also rotted.

Logically speaking, they should be scrapped, right? In the end, the mechanical bureaucrats directly stored these goods in the warehouse, and then distributed them to the army.

The consequences could be imagined. In historical post-war statistics, the losses caused by the British army's logistics department to the expeditionary forces far exceeded that of the Russians.