It was already spring in St. Petersburg in the middle of March. In another month, all the ice and snow in the city would melt.
In such cold weather, the French ambassador to Russia invited the British ambassador to Russia to dinner. According to the characteristics of the French, the French ambassador first asked the British ambassador about the scenery in North America and how it felt to be an American. The British ambassador knew that the British becoming an American country was laughed at by the European countries. After all, the Europeans always felt that Europe was more noble than other regions.
"The scenery in Quebec is very beautiful," the British ambassador replied calmly.
The French ambassador's face changed. The British ambassador's counterattack did hit the sore spot in the French's heart. Quebec was taken from the French by force by the British. However, the French ambassador was not embarrassed. He picked up a thin bread stick with a slice of raw ham and stuffed it into his mouth. The rich salty meat flavor, the charming hazelnut flavor, the mouth full of cheese like old oil and gas, and the smooth and fat raw ham softly melted in the mouth. Coupled with a sip of red wine, it really made people feel comfortable.
The British ambassador was equally satisfied with the ham and red wine, but the British ambassador was a little surprised. Hungary had always been a major exporter of red wine in Europe, and the royal families of all countries had special wine shops in Hungary. However, this Hungarian ham was obviously imitating the taste of Spanish ham, but it was so easy to enter a high-end hotel in Russia. This change was very unusual.
After the appetizer, the French ambassador said again, "Russia has made a request to the Osman Empire to let the Slavic areas of the Balkans be independent. If the Osman Empire does not accept, Russia will take action. Our government has told Russia not to do so. But the Foreign Minister of Russia told us that Germany and Austria have said that they will not interfere with Russia's actions in the Balkans. I don't know what the British attitude is. "
The British ambassador to Russia did not say anything for the time being. The Crimean War a few decades ago was a joint effort between Britain and France to deal with Russia's expansion in the Black Sea region. Russia was a very interesting country. They had an outlet to the Atlantic Ocean, but it was blocked by Germany. They had an outlet to the Black Sea, but the Osman Empire blocked the Russian Navy's main route to the Mediterranean Sea. The distance from being able to freely enter and exit in any direction was only a short distance away, but this short distance became the end of the world.
"Does Russia have the ability to conquer Constantinople now?" The British ambassador to Russia asked the French ambassador. Russia had borrowed most of its money for industrialization from France. The British ambassador also knew that Russia's steel industry was developing rapidly. It was said that Russia could produce 600 million tons of crude steel annually, which was 1.5 times that of France. The British Empire only produced 900 million tons of crude steel in 191.
"Is Britain willing to take the risk?" The French Ambassador rolled his eyes. Britain and France had a common interest in preventing Russia from entering the Mediterranean Sea. Letting the paws of a hairy bear stir up a big bathtub like the Mediterranean Sea would not be a small storm.
The British ambassador to Russia didn't want to talk nonsense either. This was a strategic issue, and there was no room for petty tricks when it came to strategic issues. In any case, Britain didn't want Russia to rush into the Mediterranean Sea. Before, Britain once thought that the rising Min dynasty would attack Russia. However, the Min dynasty didn't pick the soft persimmon but went straight to the big rock of North America. After the Min dynasty crushed the North American part of the United States, everyone found that the Min dynasty's hands were full of large diamonds peeled from the rock. The Min dynasty didn't care about the small profits of Russia at all.
"I will go to see the Foreign Minister of Russia." The British ambassador to Russia gave an answer. "I will go after the meal."
The meal was quite good. After the meal, the two ambassadors in Russia saw their subordinates coming side by side. This situation was not common. The biggest possibility was that something big had happened. The two ambassadors took the note from their subordinates with some uneasiness. The British ambassador stood up after reading it. "Goodbye, I will go to see the Foreign Minister of Russia now."
"Let's go together!" The French ambassador stood up decisively and said.
It was already a warm spring on the south coast of the Black Sea thousands of kilometers away from St. Petersburg. The bright sunshine was not even blocked by the smoke created by the artillery. Russia dispatched the entire main force of the Black Sea Fleet. Eight warships, which could probably be classified as battleships, were shooting wildly at about seven large warships of the Osman Empire. Columns of water rose from the sea. In the distance, four large warships of Russia and two large warships of the Osman Empire left the battle area with thick smoke billowing out.
When the large warships were shooting at each other, the small warships that should have launched the torpedo attack did not dare to get close at all. They could only watch this extremely lively naval battle from the periphery.
At this time, the British Navy and the Min dynasty Navy had come to watch. It was these two navies who passed the news to their own country through radio. As for the Min dynasty intelligence agency 'accidentally' passed the news to France, it was not within the jurisdiction of the onlooking Min dynasty Navy personnel. The Min dynasty Navy personnel who were watching from afar looked at the warships that were full of China style spitting fire in vain, and their hearts were filled with mixed feelings.
The Min dynasty Navy personnel firmly believed that if these warships were used by the Min dynasty Navy, about half of the ships of the Russian Navy would have sunk. However, the Osman Empire Navy was trained by the Min dynasty Navy. Judging from the performance of the naval battle until now, the Osman Empire Navy had displayed an unprecedented level of courage and proficiency in fighting. There was really no way to ask more of them.
The British Navy did not feel so much. The head of the spectator group said to his colleague beside him, "Using warships that are not outdated even in 1900 to fight a naval battle in 1850. What do you think of this title? "
This metaphor was very British style of a cold joke. The British Navy personnel around him could not help but smile when they heard it. Both sides tried their best to sink the other's warships. The level of naval warfare shown in the battle made the British Navy feel very relieved.
"If it's the medium warship that dealt with the Italian battleship, how many warships do you think can defeat the Russian Navy?" The head of the British spectator group continued to ask.
This question moved the British Navy personnel. The battle of cannons washing the deck reminded the British Navy of the history of the battle between the British Royal Navy and the Min dynasty Navy. In that battle in Japan, the Min dynasty Navy used the firepower of eight cannons on each warship to deal with the average of 40 cannons on each British warship. Then the British Far East Fleet suffered a tragedy. The terrible cannons washed away the overtime of the British Grand Fleet. Just like the poor Italian battleship, it only had 350mm main cannons, but it was washed away by 150mm and 125mm cannons. In the end, it had to flee in panic.
"If it's one on one, the Russian Navy definitely can't win." Immediately, a British Navy soldier who had seen the last naval battle replied.
"But if the medium warship takes a shot, it definitely can't survive. The Russian warship probably can't sink. "Immediately, someone put forward another opinion.
"No, no, no. As long as the Russian warship starts to be beaten, there will be no chance to save the situation. They will continue to be beaten. When the Russian Navy loses its combat power, we can use the Fish 1 to close the Russian warship. "
The British Navy was discussing the possibility of a battle between Russia and the Chinese Navy. No one mentioned the Osman Empire Navy. After all, the Osman Empire bought China's old warships. According to the intelligence obtained by the British, none of these warships were built after 1900. In fact, the youngest warship among them was built in 1893. Although these warships could still fight against the younger Russian Navy, it was meaningless to discuss the battle between them and China's new warships.
The battle went on for a few hours. In the end, even the bystanders were tired of watching. The navies of Russia and the Osman Empire also felt exhausted. In the end, they each withdrew their troops. This happened on March 15, 1911. On March 16, 1911, Montenegro, which was ruled by the Osman Empire in the Balkans, later known as the Republic of Montenegro, was the first to declare war on Turkey. The Balkan War broke out.
On the next day, the Min dynasty ambassador to Austria met with the Austrian Foreign Minister and asked Austria to ensure that the troops trained by the Min dynasty returned to Hungary from Austria. The Austrian Foreign Minister didn't answer immediately. Instead, he went back to discuss the matter with the upper echelons of Austria.
The Min dynasty couldn't do anything. Hungary didn't have its own estuary. Its four neighbors were Russia to the north, Austria to the west, Romania to the east, and the Osman Empire to the south. At this time, Romania had not signed an armistice agreement with Hungary since it declared war on Hungary a few years ago. Russia and the Osman Empire were at war. The Balkan countries had been reorganizing their armaments, buying weapons, and training troops. Everyone knew that the Balkan War was only a matter of time. The Osman Empire bordering Hungary was the Balkan region. There was bound to be a war. The only stable channel left was Austria. However, Austria's attitude toward Hungary was not friendly at all.
The former Archduke Ferdinand had already succeeded the throne. The people in his government generally felt that it was not bad to make things difficult for Hungary. However, the former Archduke Ferdinand himself felt that it was not good to do so. It was not that it was bad for Hungary, but that making things difficult for Hungary would only benefit Russia. Russia's strength was stronger than Hungary. Hungary could not win the power struggle. At this time, if Hungary wanted to see a long-term war with Russia, even if they did not support Hungary, there was no need to drag Hungary down.
However, the attitude of the court officials was that they wanted Hungary to suffer a severe setback and make the former Archduke Ferdinand very passive. In the end, the Austrian Emperor could only turn to his cousin, William II. Germany's influence in Austria was not low. William II responded to his cousin's request. The German ambassador to Austria visited the Austrian officials for official reasons and expressed the German Emperor's position. Then the Austrian Emperor finally achieved his goal.
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