Chapter 889

On September 25th, 1890, France and Belgium mobilized for war at almost the same time. Everyone knew that they were going to be serious.

Europe's attention was focused on Vienna. As the leader of the anti-French alliance, the stance of the Government of Austria would directly affect the situation in Europe.

Palace of Vienna

Franz asked, "The German Confederation still hasn't come to a conclusion?"

Belgium's strength alone couldn't stop the French. If they wanted to wait for Austria's reinforcements to arrive, the cooperation of North Germany was particularly important.

Everyone understood the principle of interdependence. Once the French army occupied Belgium, North Germany would become a battlefield, and it would be impossible for it to stay out of trouble.

Under such circumstances, it was inevitable for North Germany to send reinforcements to Belgium. However, this was only in theory.

Numbers did not necessarily mean strength. There were too many states within the German Confederation, and each had different core interests. Not everyone was willing to risk their lives against the French.

There would never be a lack of idiots in the world. There were also such people within the German Confederation. At this time, there were still people fantasizing about betraying Belgium in exchange for peace.

Since there was a conflict, let's just quarrel. The existence of the Imperial Parliament was to provide a place for everyone to quarrel.

Foreign Minister Wesenberg said, "The states of North Germany have reached a preliminary agreement on the issue of sending reinforcements to Belgium.

However, on the distribution of troops and command, there are differences between the parties.

George the First is very passive and isn't in a hurry to urge everyone to send troops. It seems that he wants to preserve his strength. "

Everyone had their own selfish motives. Franz was sure that both Belgium and Germany hoped that the Fao would suffer losses on both sides, or even perish together in order to obtain the greatest benefits.

It wasn't strange for George the First to slack. Anyway, the battlefield was far from Hanover. Even if the front line lost, the first to suffer would be Belgium and Baden.

When the territories in the west fell, Austria's reinforcements would arrive. At that time, all they had to do was wave the flag and shout the war cry.

In the Austro-Prussian War of the original world, Austria was killed by a bunch of lazy allies and had to face an enemy with twice their strength.

Franz frowned and fell into hesitation. Frankly speaking, he wasn't prepared to betray his teammates before this. After all, the strength of both Belgium and Germany was limited, and it wasn't worth deliberately weakening them.

However, the scene in front of him forced him to consider killing them with a borrowed knife.

A German Region that suffered heavy losses seemed to be more conducive to stability after unification and reduced some unnecessary troubles.

"Cancel the original emergency mobilization plan. Just mobilize according to the normal intensity. Send troops to reinforce the frontline in a week.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has to coordinate and communicate well, and must obtain the dispatch of the railways along the way. Tell the Belgians that reinforcements will will arrive within a month.

As for George the First, we'll leave. As for George the George the First, I won't.

Franz was a man of integrity. He only delayed the deployment of troops by a week, which was totally worthy of being called an ally.

No one could accuse Austria of tricking their allies. Preparations had to be made before an expedition, and a week was really not a lot of time.

"Austria didn't go," Germany "Army" by Germany, "Germany and walked.

It couldn't be helped. The railway's capacity was limited, and it involved many countries, so it couldn't be efficient at all.

The precious transport capacity could only be used to transport logistics, weapons, and equipment. As for the ordinary soldiers, they still had to walk.

They had traveled more than 1,000 kilometers in more than 20 days. Even if they were traveling with light equipment, this speed would be considered outstanding in Europe.

Without further explanation, the Government of Vienna had made its position clear with action. Armed troops were the most powerful response.

The Tsarist government was anxious. The Fao was about to fight. Without the financial backer and logistics captain, how could they fight the next war?

This made the Tsarist government extremely anxious. Seeing that a war was about to break out between Fao and Fao, how were they going to fight the war without their financial backers and the logistics team leader?

"The Tsarist government is anxious. The Fao is about to fight. Without the financial backer and logistics captain, how can they fight the next war?

"Saint Peter Castle

Alexander III reprimanded angrily, "What is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs doing?

I asked you to delay the outbreak of the war in Europe. It hasn't been long, and the situation has become out of control … "

From the moment he entered the room, Oscar Jimenez lowered his head and tried to reduce his presence as much as possible, but he still couldn't hide.

There was no other way. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made a mistake. They thought that the French would only start the war after they finished preparing for war.

Unfortunately, the plan didn't change quickly. The French were not stupid. They were preparing for war, and so was the enemy.

When they were ready, the enemy would be ready. The scale of the war would not be tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, but millions of troops.

In such a war, even if they won, they would suffer a great loss. It would only benefit the fisherman on the sidelines. The loss outweighed the gain.

Otherwise, Napoleon Iv wouldn't have chosen to make a fuss even though he knew that someone was planning it.

After Alexander III vented, Oscar Jimenez explained tentatively, "Your Majesty, the war in Europe has been brought forward mainly because the French economy can't support it.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has made emergency preparations. We have signed a contract with Austria. Even if the war breaks out, they will guarantee our supply of strategic materials.

With the industrial strength of the three countries of the anti-French alliance, it is not a problem to support multi-front operations. The war in Europe will not affect the battlefield in Afghanistan. "

In terms of industrial strength, the anti-French alliance had an absolute advantage. The industrial strength of Belgium and Germany combined was already very close to that of France.

In this context, Austria only needed to guarantee the logistical supply of its own army. The military logistics of Belgium and Germany could be handled by themselves.

Even if there was a gap, they only lacked industrial raw materials and food. The French didn't have the strength to block the anti-French alliance, and Austria could provide these materials.

In terms of industrial size, Austria had no problem supporting three to five million troops, but the frontline definitely didn't need that many troops.

Then, Austria would have spare logistics and promised to guarantee the export of materials to Russia. In theory, it was completely feasible.

Alexander III sneered, "Indeed, it won't be affected, but as a price, we must unconditionally support Austria in this war.

If the anti-French alliance loses on the battlefield, we still have to send troops to help them fight. Otherwise, if Austria is defeated, we will also be defeated.

Oh right, I remember some time ago, there was an idiot who sold all the export shares of this year's food to Austria.

We have long been tied to the chariot by Franz. Now, we are just tied even more tightly.

From now on, everyone should pray that the Austrians perform well, or else the Russian Empire will also suffer.

At the same time, we also have to pray that the Austrians aren't too capable. If they defeat the French in a few moves, then we can only hand over the European hegemony! "

Alexander III couldn't help but be angry. The European war hadn't even started, and the Russian Empire's strategic initiative had already been lost.

Unless they could immediately cut their losses and decisively give up the Regions of Afghanistan, in this European war, they could only go down the same path as the Austrians.

The food, which originally belonged to the Tsarist government's powerful weapon, was sold to Austria by the greedy bureaucrats. Now, it was impossible to go back on their words.

Unless the Russian Empire's food exports would never go through the Black Sea, and in the upcoming war in Afghanistan, they wouldn't purchase logistics and industrial equipment from Austria.

It was useless to be angry, it had already happened. Now, other than praying that the Fao and Austria would both suffer losses, there wasn't much the Tsarist government could do.

…

Time flew, 48 hours passed in a flash. Leopold II's fantasy of delaying time didn't come true.

The French's position was very firm, and they didn't even give them a chance to explain. Even international mediation was useless.

On September 27, 1890, the Government of France officially declared war on the Belgian government on the grounds of Belgium's conspiracy to kill French soldiers.