Chapter 815

After the news of the plague in Constantinople was confirmed, Pellissier immediately reported it to the Government of Paris.

Palace of Versailles

Napoleon Napoleon III was in a bad mood. The news of the plague in the Crimean Peninsula had just come back, and the plague had also broken out in Constantinople.

Napoleon Napoleon III was not interested in where the virus came from. He was worried about what to do next.

The Crimean Peninsula was easy to deal with. With such a large territory, they could isolate the epidemic areas and control the spread of the disease.

The Constantinople was now only the size of a palm, and the population density was so high. They still had to fight with the Russians in the streets. How could they control the epidemic?

The Minister of War, Arnaud, said, "Your Majesty, the plague has broken out in Constantinople. I'm afraid the situation at the front line is bad.

Sending more troops at this time is like pushing the lads into the fire pit. The brave French soldiers can defeat the Russians, but only God can solve the plague. "

Since the outbreak of the war in Constantinople, the French army had been sending more troops almost every month. It was not really an increase, but mainly to replenish the troops at the front line and replace some of the damaged troops.

Napoleon Napoleon III did a good job in this regard. He did not use the troops to death. Even when he was eliminating dissidents, he mostly found an excuse to leave his post and did not start a massacre.

The Government of Paris had long wanted to stop the war, but because of political reasons, Napoleon Napoleon III could not compromise.

Now, Arnaud was subtly reminding Napoleon Napoleon III to find an excuse to give up the Constantinople, or to organize more troops to fight against the Russians. In short, he could not continue to use the tactic of adding fuel to the fire.

Napoleon Napoleon III, who was very sensitive to politics, immediately came to a realization. He even thought of more and said eagerly,

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately negotiate with the Osman Empire and ask them to give up the Constantinople. We will protect their interests in other areas in return.

We can work with the British to pressure them. At this time, I believe the Government of London will make a wise choice.

Spread the news of the negotiation and say that we are going to take back the holy city for Christendom. Contact the Catholic Church to help.

Order Pellissier at the front line. I don't care what he does, but he must infect the Russians with the plague! "

In this era, science had not been deeply rooted in people's hearts. If they did not take action, the Russians would seize the opportunity and launch a political attack.

If the plague only broke out in the Allied Forces and the Russians were safe and sound, the British and French governments would not even need to fight the following war. Political means alone could destroy them.

The words "God wants to punish the traitors who help the pagans" would probably destroy the morale of the frontline. Whether they are Protestants or Catholics, they all believe in God.

"Constanople" Christer in, Church, Empire, France, Protestant and France, and. and Christian. Now, the France, Commun, France, in Christ, Russia, France, Empire, and was, we.

If the people in the country knew that the government was punished by God for helping the infidels, would there be any need to consider the consequences?

Napoleon III did not dare to test the faith of the French people. Compared to the terrible consequences, the Osman Empire was not worth mentioning.

In order to survive the political storm that might break out, the interests of the Osman Empire could only be sacrificed.

…

It turned out that Napoleon III was overthinking. The plague was not released by God. It was an indiscriminate attack, and the Russians were not spared.

Maybe it was because the Hairy Bear was strong, but the casualties caused by the plague were not as serious as the allied forces. Acclimatization was also an important reason.

Along with the plague, there was actually dysentery, but the symptoms were similar. The allied forces had not discovered the difference between the two diseases.

In the command center of the Russian Army in The Balkans, the higher-ups of the expeditionary army gathered. Everyone was pale.

Menshikov asked with concern, "Are you sure it's the plague?"

A middle-aged military doctor replied solemnly, "Commander, the news has been confirmed. Up until now, more than 5,000 of our soldiers have symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea. This is beyond the range of a normal influenza. "

"Commander, according to the captives we captured, a large number of French soldiers in the city have also fallen ill," a middle-aged officer added before Menshikov could speak.

Without hesitating for long, Menshikov made a decision. "Order the troops to prepare for the epidemic. The attack cannot be stopped. Our situation is bad, and the French in the city will only get worse.

I will ask St. Peter Castle for help with the plague and ask the country to send more medical personnel. This plague is also an opportunity. I don't believe the French can hold on! "

Menshikov looked nervous, but deep down, he heaved a sigh of relief. Since the plague had broken out, the good days of the French were over.

The reason was very simple. The higher the population density, the easier it was for the plague to spread. Under such circumstances, the losses inside the city would definitely be greater than the losses outside the city.

Since the start of the war, how many people had died in Constantinople? One hundred thousand or two hundred thousand? Or three hundred thousand? Four hundred thousand? Or even more?

Were these corpses disposed of in time? Perhaps the French had disposed of most of them, but even if one percent of the remaining had escaped, there would be thousands of corpses. Didn't they see that the rats in Constantinople had become fat?

The rotting corpses and the breeding of insects were simply the best aids for the spread of the virus. There was no need for an external virus. Constantinople had the possibility of a plague breaking out themselves.

…

Vienna

After receiving the news of the plague in Constantinople, Franz immediately called for a meeting and asked the Ministry of Health to take charge of the epidemic prevention.

Although the plague had not affected a wide area in history and mainly broke out on the Crimean Peninsula, Austria was only slightly affected.

The situation was obviously different now. Since the plague had broken out in Constantinople, would the Balkans be spared? If the Balkans were to suffer, wouldn't Austria be affected?

After the epidemic prevention was deployed, Franz continued to consider the impact of the plague.

"With the outbreak of the plague, the French will not be able to defend Constantinople. What do you all think about the international situation?"

Metternich reminded, "Your Majesty, from the current situation, the death rate of the plague is not too high. If the epidemic is controlled, the French will still be able to defend Constantinople."

Franz laughed and then asked, "Marshal, how long has it been since the Russians cut off the water supply to Constantinople?"

Marshal Radski replied, "Your Majesty, it has been almost 16 months. However, Constantinople is connected to the port, so they still have enough fresh water. There is no shortage of water in the city now. "

Due to geological reasons, Constantinople did not have underground water. Even though there were water storage facilities in the city, it could not supply the consumption of so many people.

Franz shook his head and said, "There are so many people in Constantinople, and the daily water consumption is not a small number.

After being cut off by the Russians for so long, we can boldly conclude that the water reserves in the city have been exhausted.

Now, they rely on ships to transport fresh water to meet the water needs of hundreds of thousands of people in the city.

With so many people, the daily consumption of fresh water is not a small number, and this requires a large number of ships to transport.

How many ships are active in Constantinople? After the various supplies are transported, how much fresh water can be supplied?

The British and French officials will at most guarantee the basic water supply for these people, and the daily water supply is probably limited.

Under normal circumstances, when the supply of fresh water is insufficient, everyone can persist. At most, they will not bathe, wash their faces, or wash their hands for a period of time.

However, the situation is different now. Without enough fresh water, how can the French carry out the epidemic? If the basic sanitation conditions cannot be improved, how can the spread of the virus be stopped? "

Because of the epidemic prevention meeting, everyone crammed for a while on epidemic prevention knowledge. Some of it was raised by the Austrian Ministry of Health, and some were supplemented by Franz according to his memory.

Now everyone knew the importance of sanitation, and at this critical time of the outbreak, the French in the city did not have enough fresh water. If the virus did not come from them, who else would it come from?

Even if the people in Russia did not pay attention to sanitation, they did not lack water, and they would at least take a bath occasionally, right?

The French soldiers in the city did not know how long it would take for them to have such an opportunity, or rather, there was no chance at all.

Regardless of whether the French noticed this problem or not, they could not do anything about it.

This was because the shortage was not a small one. It was enough to meet the needs of survival, and a small basin of water a day was enough. If the sanitation conditions were improved, the consumption would increase many times.

Where could they find so many ships in such a short period of time?

Tens of thousands of tons of fresh water were consumed every day, and it was estimated that all the British and French ships in the Mediterranean Sea would be able to meet their logistical needs.

Felix thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, if the French cannot solve the problem of the plague, we can prepare to mediate the war.

Once the Russians take over Constantinople, the war will not continue.

The Russians are already in a financial crisis. If it were not for the special political status of Constantinople, I am afraid they would have already compromised.

Now that the Russians have occupied the Bulgarian region, and if they occupy Constantinople, it will be even more difficult to control them in the future. It is best to contain them. "

Metternich objected, "Prime Minister, it is too late to contain the Russians at this time. Unless we can tear up the Russian-Austrian secret treaty, we must support them in future negotiations.

We have our support in diplomacy, and as long as Constantinople is occupied by the Russians, I don't think Britain and France have the ability to force the Tsarist government to spit it out.

Don't forget, for us, at this time, maintaining the Russo-Austrian Alliance is more important than containing the Russians. We can't oppose the Russians to annex Constantinople.

Since we can't contain them, why should we be the bad guys?

It is better to simply give them a push and let the Russians continue to attract the firepower of Britain and France, deepening the conflict between them. "

"Give them a push", this proposal was very interesting to Franz. To control the Black Sea Strait, it was not enough to only control Constantinople. It was necessary to control The Balkans and the Asia Minor peninsula at the same time.

Did the Russians still have the ability to fight? Obviously, it did not exist. Even if the Tsarist government were to go all out, they would not be able to reach Constantinople.

If Britain and France were forced into a corner, they might be pushed back. The traffic of the Russian Empire restricted the projection of their strength.

In the The Balkans, even with the support of Austria, the Russians could at most play seventy to eighty percent of their national strength. How could they fight with Britain and France?

Now the Russians had the upper hand, but Britain and France did not react and were trapping each other on the battlefield.

Once the Russians put too much pressure on them, the two countries would put aside their contradictions and cooperate sincerely. It would be another situation on the battlefield.

It did not matter if the Russians could not defeat them. Franz also did not want the Tsarist government to be able to really control the Black Sea Strait.

The Mediterranean Sea was too small. Britain, France, and Western Austria were not enough to share. There was no extra benefit for the Russians.

But it did not prevent the Russians from having ambitions. After all, Constantinople was taken, and the Mediterranean Sea was one step closer.

As long as the Russians had ambitions, they could not compromise with Britain and France. With Britain, France, and Russia against each other, Austria would be safe.

In history, Bismarck had designed it this way. As a result, William II's diplomacy failed and France and Russia formed an alliance. As the sandwich biscuit, it was naturally a tragedy.

"The Russo-Austrian Alliance cannot be destroyed. Britain and France can control the Russians. As an ally, we must not go back on our word!"

Franz directly expressed his attitude. He did not want to send out the wrong political signal and let the senior government mistakenly think that Austria had gotten the benefits they wanted and could abandon the Russians.

From the perspective of national interests, this kind of betrayal was very normal. Now that Britain and France were close to each other, it was beneficial for Austria's overseas colonization. It seemed to be more in line with the national interests.

However, when it came to strategic security, the situation was different. Compared to the unstable Government of France and the ambitious Kingdom of Prussia, Franz felt that an alliance with the Russians was more reliable.