Chapter 861

There was no harm in the Persian battlefield. They were all pushovers anyway. Even if the quality of military service was discounted, they could still charge up with numbers.

The problem was that they were not allowed to fight at the frontlines. This was awkward. Everyone was out to build a career, make a fortune, and get gilded. How could they do it without war?

If it was just to pass the time, wouldn't it be better to stay in St. Peter's Castle or Moscow? Why would they come to this remote and desolate place?

The Tsarist government's military pay was not enough for the nobles to maintain a luxurious life.

If the war did not start, not only would the officers at the frontlines not be able to make a fortune, but the bureaucrats in the rear would also be affected.

There was a law in daily military expenses. No matter how much they scraped, they had to leave basic treatment for the officers and soldiers below them. Otherwise, it would be troublesome if the people below them caused trouble.

This little bit of profit had to be divided layer by layer. There was not much left in the hands of the individual, and it could not satisfy everyone's desires at all.

The rear had almost been deducted, and frontline officers like Colonel Seacrest could not do anything.

If the war did not start, it was estimated that Colonel Seacrest would not even be able to recover the expenses he had spent after the end of his term of office.

Colonel Seacrest, whose career was not smooth and his path to wealth was not smooth, was naturally not in a good mood. At this moment, he was looking at the Caucasus Mountains in the distance and sighing.

Behind the mountains was his home, an ordinary Russian aristocratic family that could fall into the mundane world at any time.

"Colonel, urgent telegram from the division headquarters."

The voice of the messenger interrupted Colonel Seacrest's thoughts. Seacrest's brows furrowed even tighter as he took the telegram.

There was no other way. The content of the telegram was too deceptive. It said that the Allies were borrowing the way, but it did not mention what to do. It was clear that they did not want to take responsibility.

Similar things had happened too often in the Russian Empire. When things happened, everyone would push it away if they could and hide if they could. There were too few officials who were willing to take responsibility.

That was the case with this telegram. It was just a notification without any specific instructions or authorization, and the matter was pushed to Colonel Seacrest.

"Colonel, the Austrians are crossing our lines and are said to be joining forces with us to attack Persia. Captain Hashpi asked if we should intercept them. "

The telegram from the division headquarters had just arrived, and the Austrians had already reached their defense area. If there was no problem, Colonel Seacrest could write his name backwards.

"Intercept my ass. Tell Captain Hashpi to do as he sees fit. Tell Captain Hashpi to do as he sees fit.

Putting aside the question of whether or not he could stop them, Colonel Seacrest would not be able to shoulder the responsibility if a conflict broke out during the interception without orders from the country.

Of course, allowing the Austrians to cross the border and attack Persia without permission also required them to take responsibility.

It was just that the bureaucrats in the country and the higher-ups of the Russian army at the frontline were all trying to reap the rewards.

If he took the initiative to stand up and take responsibility, he would at least be in line with everyone's wishes. In the future, when the matter of responsibility was pursued, at least there would be someone to speak up for him.

No matter what, they still had to take care of the reputation of the Russian-Austrian alliance. The crime of cooperating with the Austrian army couldn't be brought up to the public. Settling accounts after autumn would only be making things difficult for him.

If he were to make some more contributions on the battlefield, he reckoned that he wouldn't even be able to make things difficult for him in public. Otherwise, it would affect the morale of the troops, at least until the end of the war.

. that. after the war... was... The upper echelons of the government had been stable for so long, and it was time to replace them.

It was a big taboo in any country to "shock the ruler with one's achievements". If the war was won beautifully, the government's prestige would rise, and Tsar would be wary.

If the war was won beautifully, the government's prestige would rise, and Tsar would be afraid. If the government performed badly in the war, the government would have to take the blame.

There were already so many troubles at home, and there were even more international troubles. Colonel Seacrest did not think that the Tsar would care about a nobody like him.

…

On the battlefield, the enemy's machine guns fired wildly. Columns of black smoke, a mile or so in diameter, whirled up into the air in whirlwinds on the already cratered sand, and the assailants scattered and tumbled away from the sides of the crater.

Crawl, crawl … The black smoke from the exploding shells swept the ground more and more tightly. The shrill screams of the shrapnel shells splashed on the bodies of the attackers more and more frequently. The machine guns on the ground fired more and more cruelly.

Major General Chris roared, "Hurry up the air force, we need firepower reinforcements!"

It couldn't be helped. Speed was the most important thing in a road attack, and the heavy artillery was still on the way.

They thought the Russian Army's artillery could suppress the enemy's firepower, but reality was cruel. The Tsarist government didn't care about the Persians at all. They didn't deploy enough heavy artillery at all.

The Russian Army officers, including Colonel Seacrest, were all red in the face. They couldn't even suppress the Persians' firepower. They couldn't lift their heads in front of their allies.

"Attack!"

"Attack!"

…

In order to save face and prove their strength, the Russian Army general had to urge the troops to speed up the attack after the Shinra air force arrived.

Now was not the time to preserve their strength. If they couldn't prove their strength in front of their allies, there would be no room for negotiation.

Everyone was participating in the war to get promoted and get rich, not to be a bystander. The battlefield was always the stage for the strong. The right to speak and the distribution of benefits were based on strength.

The Persian defenders could be proud that their line of defense was still standing despite the simultaneous attack of the Shinra and Russian Empires.

However, this kind of pride couldn't last. Any line of defense had its limits, and the long front line was constantly squeezing the Persian Empire's limits.

The British ally, who had high hopes for them, didn't play its role at all. The Indian colonial army they sent was useless and only added to the chaos.

Accompanied by the intense sounds of cannon fire and battle cries, the Persian defenders, who had been enduring the heavy pressure, finally collapsed.

Once morale collapsed, it would be gone for a thousand miles. Facing the attack of two empires at the same time, the Persians' morale collapsed.

…

Victory always brought a good mood. As the war progressed smoothly, Franz's mood became better and better.

For the entire world war, the breakthrough in the Persian battlefield was only an interlude. But for the British, who regarded India as their lifeblood, it was definitely a blow.

In particular, the Russian Army appeared on the battlefield. Although they were forced to do so, the Russians did participate in the war.

Regardless of whether the Russians would attack India from Afghanistan or not, the Government of the United Kingdom was now under a lot of pressure.

If the enemy wasn't comfortable, Franz would naturally be comfortable. In his spare time, he played "art" again.

Not only did he play, but he also played with a group of grandsons. Franz was too lazy to think about what kind of impact the East-West combination of art would have on the future generations when it spread.

Perhaps it would be fiercely criticized by experts and scholars, or it might open up a new genre of art. Anyway, the future was full of uncertainty.

It wasn't art that determined all of this, but politics. The essence of art was public acceptance, but the premise of public acceptance required a social background.

If you opened a history book, you would find that in the course of human development, the popular art and culture in different periods were different.

Lowly people and elegant people were both part of art. In essence, there was no difference between them. It was just that their social status was different in different periods.

Today's lowly people might become upper-class people tomorrow; today's upper-class art might become marginal culture tomorrow.

If the hegemony of the Holy Roman Empire could last for a hundred years, it would promote the great integration of Eastern and Western culture and the immortal greatness of the process of human integration.

On the contrary, the hegemony of the Holy Roman Empire was short-lived. Then, there would be no then, and it would directly disappear in the long river of history.

As an emperor, especially an emperor who led a declining empire to the peak again, he was bound to be deeply interpreted by future generations.

Looking at his grandchildren who could form a football team, Franz found that he was really old.

With Franz's age, if it wasn't for the European royal family's habit of late marriage, the fourth generation would have already come out, and maybe the fifth generation would have come out.

Fortunately, his family was rich. If it was an ordinary family, raising so many children was not a blessing.

Although many families had more than a dozen children in a lifetime, if only half of them could really grow up, it proved that the family could still live.

"Father, the Russians have sent troops to India!"

Frederick The Great's voice sounded, pulling Franz out of the mood.

"Oh, it seems that the little guy Nicholas II's kung fu is still not good enough. We haven't even agreed to their conditions yet!"

Franz, who had survived three generations of Tsar and became an antique of the European royal family, now had the right to tease the younger generation.

It seemed like an understatement, but in fact, Franz had already begun to ponder. The impact of Russia's invasion of India was not small at all.

In the short term, it would indeed help speed up the pace of winning the war, but the Russians also needed to eat meat.

With the style of the Hairy Bear, once it was eaten, it would not be spat out again. If it was any other place, Franz would agree.

But India was different. It might be a burden in the future, but it was a rare rich place at the moment.

If left alone, who knew how much territory the Russian Army could occupy before the end of the war?

Although the Government of Vienna was not prepared to colonize India, it did not mean that they would give up the Indian market, especially not letting this market fall into the hands of the Russians.

Otherwise, the Tsarist government could rely on the wealth plundered from India to get out of financial difficulties, and at the same time rely on the Indian market to improve their own industrial system and grow stronger.

The Russian Empire, which had no weaknesses, was simply too terrifying. Although "Life is born from suffering and death in ease," Franz still did not want to leave a huge pit for future generations.

After pacing a few steps, Franz seemed to have thought of something. He looked at Frederick The Great and asked, "How are you going to deal with it?"

It was obviously impossible to stop the Russians from sending troops to seize territory. The Russian Empire was only an ally of Shinra, not a follower. It was not so obedient.

As an ally, attacking the enemy was beyond reproach. Even if there were restrictions, for the stability of the Continental Alliance, the Government of Vienna could not use them indiscriminately.

If an ally was disobedient, the ruler would also have to worry, especially if the ruler had a competitor. They would have to think twice before acting.

If they did not handle it well, they would violate the rules of the game and cause public anger. The Government of Vienna would also have to bear the consequences.

If they did not take action and allowed the Russians to grow stronger, then it would be even worse.

Even if it was not easy to deal with, it had to be dealt with. Franz threw the question to Frederick because he wanted to see how much his successor had grown in terms of his ability to adapt to changes.

"Speed up the pace of the war and end the war before the Russians occupy India. If necessary, we can also negotiate with the British.

In the long run, the British threat is far less than the Russians. As long as we take away their colonies, the British Isles can at most support a second-rate country. "

After a pause, Frederick The Great added, "In order to avoid direct confrontation with the Russians and affect the current war against the British, we can also form the European Allied Forces and advance from Persia to India under the banner of the Alliance.

In the future, take out the interests of India and share it with the European countries. When there is a dispute, we can encourage Europe.

If necessary, we can provoke the conflict between the European world and the Russians, and rope in the European countries to restrict the Russian Empire. "

The first part of the operation could only be regarded as normal. The later part of the plan was the essence of Franz's diplomacy.

Many people only saw the diplomatic skills of the Government of Vienna, but they ignored how many interests the Government of Vienna had taken out to share with its allies along the way.

Regardless of whether there was a trap or not, the interests were taken out after all. If you ate it and had indigestion, that was your own problem. You could not blame the Government of Vienna for giving too much.

If they were not willing to share, there would not be the current Holy Roman Empire. However, the most important thing about sharing was that one had to grasp the "degree" of sharing.

For the sake of this "degree," many times, seemingly stupid things had to be done.

However, this operation was very complicated. If the position of the pit was not dug correctly, and others did not fall into it, but instead jumped into it, then it would be really stupid.

Franz nodded, "It is not enough to just share. If you want the European countries to contribute, you have to pay a lot.

We can clearly tell them that the Empire will not seek colonies in the Indian region. After the war, we will rebuild the international order, clarify the sphere of influence of each country, and ensure that everyone's colonies are not threatened by foreign forces.

The distribution of the spoils of war is still the same, according to the contribution in the war. Those who are interested in India can now use their own means. "

Ambition was stimulated. If Shinra wanted to rob India, other countries had no chance except for the Russians.

Just the promise of sharing the interests was too illusory and could not motivate people at all.

It was different to throw out the whole of India. With such a big cake, even if all the European countries ate it together, every one of them would be full.

Just look at the wealth that the British plundered from India every year. It was more than the combined revenue of the European governments except for Russia, Austria, and France.

With such a big benefit, the Government of Vienna was still willing to provide security and protection. If it could not stimulate everyone's ambition, then it would really be a salted fish.

Of course, it was understandable for small countries to be salted fish. For example, the small country of Monaco, even if it was taken care of by the Government of Vienna after the European War, it still only had a few towns.

Apart from shouting slogans, it was not even qualified to go up there and be some bystanders. There was really no other way.