Chapter 257: Each Takes What He Needs
Chapter 249: Each Takes What It Needs
“One dead over here!”
“Get the body out of here and arrange for cremation as soon as possible!”
……
The yells also revealed numbness and despair, every day a large number of people died, and after more deaths everyone became numb.
Unlike the previous deaths of the wounded, this time it was a plague, a plague that even the medics were not immune to, and even a major general in the French army walked into the crematorium because of it.
Safety precautions? Unfortunately, the safety precautions of this era were so primitive that basic disinfection was not possible.
In the corners of the quarantine area, there are still sick people wailing from time to time. This place is already a Jedi that everyone is afraid of, and the medical staff comes over every day, only to distribute medicines in a hurry and then quickly leave.
Checking on the sick? That was non-existent, how many doctors were there in the French army?
Moreover, there is no specific medicine for the plague, and the medicines used now play a greater role in comforting the patients than in actually treating them.
Soldiers in charge of distributing supplies, but also to avoid this place, put the food at the door, yell a little, and then quickly leave.
“Adolf, is it still holding out?”
“No problem, thank you Alfonso, I feel much better, I should make it through this time.”
“Rest well, you’ll be fine if you make it through.”
This kind of conversation, Alfonso would say it many times a day. As the earliest plague infected person, Alfonso was lucky to have survived.
According to the usual practice, after escaping a wave of plague, God wouldn’t call him again in a short period of time, and then he had to stay behind to act as a caregiver.
According to the doctor, he still needed to stay in the hospital to continue observation and treatment to make sure everything was okay before he could be discharged.
In effect, he was asked to stay and do hard labor, such as taking care of the sick and distributing food to them, or disposing of corpses, for example. These jobs, which everyone feared, fell into his lap.
For the sake of the extra paycheck, Alfonso gladly took the job that everyone dreaded.
Alfonso was a veteran, one of the first French troops to enter the Balkans, and half the men who came with him had already fallen.
The dead, for veterans of the battlefield, had long been fearless. More people die every day on the battlefield, blood and flesh are commonplace.
In his opinion helping out here was much easier than being on the battlefield. All he had to do was look after thirty or so patients a day, and then he was a free man.
Staying longer, Alfonso realized that this place was nowhere near as horrible as the outside world thought it would be, and in the month or so he’d been here, he’d had a total of five deaths and seven recoveries.
……
At the French command in Constantinople, Ambroise brought bad news.
“Your Excellency the Commander, the Russians’ attack has failed our defense against the plague, and the spread of the plague has become inevitable!”
This news was not unexpected by French Commander-in-Chief Pelissier. With the plague outbreak, the Russians would certainly not give up this opportunity.
Inside Constantinople, besides the French army, there were also citizens who stayed behind. The Ottoman Empire was their ally, and it was impossible for Pellissier to drive all the people of Constantinople out of the city.
The denser the population, the more difficult it was to combat the plague. This was compounded by the Russian attack.
Pelissier calmly asked, “Tell us about the plague situation in the city?”
Ambroise said with some sadness, “This plague is probably from the cholera in London not long ago, and there is also an outbreak of plague over in the Crimean Peninsula, with symptoms similar to our side.
It’s just strange that the plague that broke out in Constantinople is highly transmissible, much stronger than other regions, and our initial judgment is that it was spread through mosquitoes, flies, and these kinds of insects.
The mortality rate in the plague can only be considered average, green and strong are able to resist the past, the mortality rate will not exceed 15%, the old and weak mortality rate is much higher.
The most serious ones are still the wounded, once infected with the plague, basically all have a death sentence.”
Pelissier can only greet the British in his heart, the cholera outbreak in London is not serious, the epidemic was quickly brought under control, did not fully spread, but instead they suffered.
……
London.
Foreign Minister Thomas said seriously, “Your Excellency the Prime Minister, we have just received news that the French army in Constantinople was not able to control the plague, and it has now begun to spread.
Last night, Napoleon III received the Austrian ambassador to France at the Palace of Versailles, and the two had a secret talk for more than two hours.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs analyzed that this secret talk may be related to the war in the Near East. The change of heart in Constantinople has caused the French to lose confidence in this war.
The government in Paris was in danger of ending the war unilaterally with the Russians, and now they were sending signals of peace talks to the Russians through the Austrians.
According to the intelligence we have gathered, the Austrian minister in London has also been active lately, frequently contacting the leaders of the peace faction at home, and it seems that the government in Vienna is interested in mediating this war.”
After a few moments of contemplative effort, George Hamilton Gordon spoke up and asked, “It is not surprising that the French are interested in ending this war.
What is the reason for the Foreign Office’s judgment that the Austrians want to mediate this war? From the point of view of interest, the longer this war lasts, the better for Austria.”
International political interests are always the decisive factor, and the continuation of the war in the Near East will not only deplete the strength of Britain, France, and Russia, but Austria will also be able to make a fortune from the war.
From the point of view of interests, the Vienna government has no reason, let the three countries end this war early.
Thomas chestily replied: “The Austrians do not want us to really split the difference between victory and defeat, although the Vienna system collapsed, but the Austrian government did not give up the European balance strategy.
Whether the Russians win or we win, Austria’s supremacy no longer exists, and a new round of international struggle is bound to break out.
The continuation of the war in the Near East was in Austria’s interest, but the final result was uncontrollable.
In this Near East War, Austria had already gotten too many benefits, and was now in urgent need of digesting them. Metternich’s style has always been to seek stability, and it’s normal to see good things come to pass now.”
Prime Minister George nodded, compared to the national strategy, some economic benefits were not worth mentioning. Caught between France and Russia, the Austrian government couldn’t even think of not implementing a continental balance policy.
“What are your plans?” Prime Minister Henry asked
Thomas replied, “Your Excellency Prime Minister, the Near East War has been fought to this point, and our plan to contain the Russians has failed.
Continuing it does not have any practical significance other than increasing casualties.
Our advantage is at sea, running onto land to fight the Russians is something only the idiots of our predecessors could do.
In the future, our strategy is still to provoke Russian-French, Russian-Austrian, and Russian-Prussian conflicts, and utilize the power of the European countries to hold the Russians at bay, and we’ll just be able to encircle them at sea.”
War always teaches lessons, and the Near East War allowed the London government to come to the conclusion that running onto land to fight the Russians was pretty idiotic.
Use your own shortcomings to attack the enemy’s strengths.
It was enough that it happened once, and they would not make the same mistake a second time.
……
Vienna.
Looking at the map of the Balkans, Franz was fuming.
It seems that he has played a big game this time. If the Russians are really allowed to annex these regions, not only Britain and France will have headaches in the future, but Austria will also be in trouble.
Do not look at the government meeting, Franz repeatedly emphasized the importance of the Russian-Austrian alliance, that is only a political need, secretly tripping things, he did not do less.
Just now, for example, Franz was thinking about how to restrict the Russians. Attracting the attention of Britain and France, the Russians occupying Constantinople were more than up to the task.
The area of Istanbul was also very rich, and apart from Constantinople, this area was home to most of the Ottoman Empire’s industry.
Even if the war caused heavy losses, but as long as the base is there, it will not take long to recover.
If all fell into the hands of the Russians, then when Alexander II completed the reform of serfdom, the strength of the woolly bear will be too powerful.
The maid whispered, “Your Majesty, Mr. Metternich is here.”
Franz said faintly, “Invite him in.”
……
Metternich reminded, “Your Majesty, the Ottoman Empire does not have the ability to stop the Russians from expanding, and according to the current situation, it won’t take long for the Russians to annex the Balkans after the war.
In this situation, there is no need for us to fight hard against the Russians. The more territory they annex, the more they will cause the European countries to be wary, and one bad move will make them public enemies of Europe.
If the Czarist government can’t handle this, Napoleon the Great is a lesson for them, and there’s no need for us to worry too much.”
Franz pointed to the map of the Balkans and said, “Look at this is the control area of each country now, according to the Russian-Australian secret treaty, the territories belonging to us have all been gotten.
The rest of the area is in the hands of the allied forces, except for Bulgaria, which is controlled by the Russians, and the Duchy of Montenegro, which has been driven back home by the allied forces.
If there are no surprises, after the war these areas will be handed over to Ottoman rule, but we all know that as long as Constantinople falls, then the Sultan’s government will not have the strength to control these areas.
The Russians would have little difficulty in annexing these regions. Because of the covenant, we can’t intervene in this.
Once we let the Russians take control of these regions, the pressure on us in the Balkans will be great. If we were to give these regions a new owner and let them hold off the Russians, would the result be better?”
Metternich was surprised and asked, “Your Majesty, is it to give these territories to the French?”
Franz explained, “It’s not that I’m going to give these regions to the French, but Napoleon III needs to take these territories to give an account to the people at home.
After fighting a war for two or three years, killing over 100,000 people, spending a lot of military expenses, and in the end gaining nothing, how can the high-minded French people stand it?
Now Constantinople is still in the hands of the French, as long as they do not let go, the Russians are not so easy to take down.
The Tsarist government also didn’t want to fight on, they just needed to occupy Constantinople and give an explanation to the people at home.
Wouldn’t it be more in our interest if we all made secret contact and let the French and Russians take what they want?”
After a few moments of contemplative effort, Metternich spoke, “Your Majesty, I can’t answer you on this question. If we push for it, the possibility of France and Russia secretly reaching this deal is indeed high.
However, where are our interests? After this battle, the Russians will not start a war in the Balkans for at least ten years.
Bringing in the French to check the Russians is only ideal, and the greater likelihood is still that France and Russia will ease their relationship, or even ally even further.”
Franz nodded and said, “That’s right, theoretically France and Russia do not have a core conflict of interest, as long as there is a common enemy that emerges, the possibility of the two countries allying is very high.
But under the current international situation, who is qualified to be the common enemy of France and Russia?
The answer to this is clear to all, there would be no alternative to the British, and the London government is not going to watch this happen.
In case the London government fails to operate, the big thing is that we join this alliance.”
……
(End of chapter)