Chapter 375: Strategic Gambling
Chapter 365 – Strategic Big Gamble
After returning to the European continent, Stephen and Gabori went their separate ways. One was going to run off and become independent, while the other wanted to find a place to observe the situation.
Stephen and the others did not return to Hungary at the first time, the experience of exile tells them that they must be careful, any little negligence can be fatal.
Although more than ten years have passed, everyone has changed drastically, no one can guarantee that they will not be recognized by acquaintances.
Once word got out, they would have been caught in a pot. In the Duchy of Montenegro Stephen and the others got off the ship and pretended to be merchants to inspect the market in Montenegro.
Then a few young men who had never passed through Austria before were sent into the Hungarian region to gather intelligence.
Adversity is most likely to make people grow, and the Hungarian Independence Organization is now different from what it was a dozen years ago. Not only have they learned to know their enemy and themselves, but their ability to stay alive has also increased by N notches.
……
As a large wave of rebel parties swept toward the European continent, the Pudan War was coming to a close, and it was good that the Tsarist government stepped in just in time at this time.
It couldn’t be considered timely, the Tsarist government should have stepped in more than two months earlier. Unfortunately, the Russians wanted to suppress the Polish rebellion before dealing with the Prussians.
As a result, the Polish rebels were defeated, yet the rebellion continued. There were too many supporters behind this Polish rebellion and the rebels were stronger than the Russians had expected.
It was easy to defeat them, it was harder to destroy them. The existence of the Polish rebellion bought time for the Prussians.
Until the Danes just couldn’t hold out any longer and the Tsarist government had to step in. Otherwise the Kingdom of Denmark would have fallen and the Russian Empire would have lost face.
On December 28, 1864, the Tsarist government issued a war ultimatum to the Kingdom of Prussia, ordering them to quit Denmark in 24 hours.
Berlin, despite the ideological preparations, when the day actually came, the Prussian government felt oppressed.
This time the enemy was the European hegemon, the Russian Empire, not at all comparable to the Danes.
Things had come to a head, and now there was no room for them to back down. Otherwise, not only would they offend the Russians, but they would also offend Britain and France, who were secretly supporting them.
William I also do not care and the military bet, if you lose the war, even if the Russians do not swallow Prussia, at least they will bite them hard.
“Ready or not, is there any certainty of defeating the Russians?”
Army and Navy Minister Ron replied, “We have completed the national mobilization, all reserves have been demobilized, and 427,000 Prussian troops are ready to go into battle at any time.
The most important thing now is to get more loans from Britain and France, as long as we solve the financial problem, we can spend time with the Russians.”
It was not true that the Kingdom of Prussia had mobilized 427,000 troops, but it did not mean that all of these troops could be committed to the war against Russia.
It was also a tragedy to have neighbors that were too powerful; any one of the three neighbors had the power to shoot them dead, and the Prussian government had to be careful.
The Prussian government had to be careful. It was fine to fight the Russians with all their forces, but how to make sure that France and Austria didn’t take advantage of the situation was a big problem.
Even if everyone needs them to fight the Russians, for the time being, France and Austria will not make a move against them, but once the war is over?
Whether it’s a defeat, or a victory, there is the possibility of incurring a blow from France and Austria.
Defeat needless to say, the Russians are going to eat meat, and France and Austria will follow, and the Kingdom of Prussia will not want to get out of it without paying a terrible price.
Winning this war is not the same as victory, the Tsarist government still has the strength to make a comeback, there are long days ahead!
The European continent was too small to accommodate so many powerful nations, and neither France nor Austria wanted to see a strong Prussia emerge.
After the fight against the Russians, the Kingdom of Prussia was done with its role, and it was all too normal to be stabbed in the back.
The precautions that had to be taken, the Prussian government had to prepare in advance. There had to be reaction time in case something unexpected happened.
With so many realities in front of them, the Prussian military naturally did not dare to take risks. Not only did they want to win, but they also had to minimize their losses in order to cope with the possibility of France and Austria taking advantage of the situation after the war.
In this era, the international environment of the Kingdom of Prussia was much worse than in history, and there were too few options available to them.
Historically, Bismarck was able to lead Prussia to unify Germany, and that was based on the premise that the Russians lost the Crimean War and Austria lost the Franco-Austrian War.
The present situation was totally different, the Franco-Austrian War was not even fought. The Kingdom of Sardinia tried to tempt the French to send troops to attack Austria by ceding land, but the government of Vienna simply dumped the entire Kingdom of Sardinia.
France, which had eaten the Sardinian Kingdom, ostensibly made a great deal of money, but in fact had fallen into a state of strategic passivity and was isolated by the European countries.
In a way, this was also a good thing for the Kingdom of Prussia. The French, who were caught in a diplomatic dilemma, did not dare to hit the Rhineland in a short period of time, and the pressure on their national defense was greatly reduced.
The bullish Russians were a different story, even though they paid more losses in the Near Eastern War than the historical Crimean War, the problem was that they won!
The Russian people weren’t afraid of heavy losses, the Tsarist government captured Constantinople, and all sectors of society were so pleased that the losses were simply ignored.
After the war baptism of the tsarist army, the fighting force is not history can be compared, not only weapons and equipment over the same period of history, military morale is incomparable.
Prussian military chose to play conservatively, it is not surprising. After all, the tsarist government is the least lack of soldiers, and there is a Russian-Austrian alliance in, even if Austria does not support the Russians, it does not prevent them from selling arms.
It was obviously unwise to fight the Russians hard for strength in this context. It didn’t matter if the Tsarist government lost three or five times, the Prussians were finished if they lost once.
War is not a child’s play, and both Ron, and Mauch, were the best military men of the age. Their pattern was naturally not just to win one battle, but to win the war.
The biggest weakness of the Tsarist government was poverty, Prussia had a gold master behind her, and the first ones who couldn’t hold out if they wore down would definitely be the Russians.
Prime Minister Frank questioned, “How can we be sure of holding off the Russians? From a practical point of view, we must keep the enemy out of the country.
You all know exactly what kind of goods the Cossack cavalry are, and once they are allowed to go deep into the country to wreak havoc, the consequences will be unimaginable.”
This is the most headache problem, the Prussian-Russian border line is too long, and the Bode Plain is flat, these areas are still the roots of the Junker nobility, and cannot be lost.
Do not say that the Russian army large troops deep, even if the cavalry of thousands of people rushed in to sabotage, the Berlin government can not afford to lose.
Mauch said with a serious face, “Firm up the walls and move all the people within fifty kilometers of the Prussian-Russian borderline to the rear.
With another secondary mobilization, raising the length of service for soldiers to five years, and adjusting the age of service to 16 to 55, we’ll be able to add another 300,000 troops out, and simply train them to use against the Russians that swoop in.”
The faces of the people changed greatly, annexation and clearing the field is simple to say. If it is really done, then it is bound to cost a heavy price.
The Kingdom of Prussia is not big, retreating 50 kilometers is easier said than done, but in reality it means moving millions of people, one fifth of the country will be reduced to white land.
William I said seriously: “This is impossible, your plan to hold the wall is more than we can bear. If you really do this, we must be the first to collapse, not the Russians.”
Mauch sighed and said, “If that’s the case, we’ll have to take our chances and put the battlefield as far as possible within Poland.”
Trenches and barbed wire had not yet appeared in this era, there were no such cheap defenses, and the Prussian-Russian border line was so long that fortifications could only be built in key areas.
The enemy, in his large forces, did not dare to bypass these fortifications and attack deeper, but the same could not be said of the smaller forces.
Of course, the rear is not without fortifications, the castles of the nobles are the best fortresses, against the small troops without heavy firepower is not a big problem.
The main reason for the fortifications was still to minimize the loss of personnel. After all, it was impossible to keep the people inside the castle all the time, everyone needed to live as well.
Cavalry came and went like the wind, and even if they were notified, they needed time to prepare. The retreat of fifty kilometers was to buy that time.
William I hesitated, the biggest risk of venturing out was not military. Now that the Polish Independence Organization was an ally of Prussia, even if the war was fought within Poland, they had the same popular support.
The trouble was angering the Russians and turning a localized war into an all-out war between the two countries. No wonder the Prussians wimped out, the biggest problem was that they had not experienced a major war after completing their military reforms and had no backbone in their hearts.
Prime Minister Frank opened his mouth and said, “Your Majesty, it’s come to this point, why are you looking over your shoulder?
If we win this war, the independent Kingdom of Poland is the future buffer between Prussia and Russia; if we lose this war, the Kingdom of Prussia will lose its future.”
As a prime minister of Junker noble birth, he was still on the side of the Junker nobility at the critical moment. In any case, class interests had to be preserved.
The retreat of the Kingdom of Prussia was blocked, and the retreat of the Junker nobles still existed. These nobles who could fight were still very much in demand in this era and did not worry about the way out at all.
William I nodded fiercely and said, “Don’t worry and do it boldly!”
With things as they were, he decided to take a big gamble. By placing the battlefield in the Russian Polish region, not only could the losses on the mainland be reduced, but there was also a chance to take a bite out of the Russians after the war.
The British were the ones who supported their expansion in the Baltic region, and with no chance to expand in the German region, expanding to the east became the only option.
European countries will not mind seeing the birth of a Prussian Empire that is in a dead heat with Russia, and taking over the heavy responsibility of surrounding the Russian Empire, John Bull will not watch Prussia finish.
Prime Minister Frank proposed, “Your Majesty, we must seek more supporters, or at least keep the Austrians neutral.
A Russian Empire with Austrian support is nothing like Russia without it, we cannot be enemies of both empires at the same time.”
Since it was a war of attrition, it was natural to consider the contrasting strengths of the two sides. Austria might not be as rich as Britain and France, but Austria’s industrial strength was no weaker than France’s.
Support doesn’t necessarily have to be given in terms of money, giving supplies can work just as well. As long as there is enough food, weapons and ammunition, the necessary munitions, the Russians can always support.
Most of the conscripts in Europe in this era were not paid, and the noble officers could be paid in arrears, and they would not strike because the king could not afford to pay them.
William I thought about it and said, “Well, send someone to talk to the government in Vienna, as long as it’s not a core issue, it’s negotiable.”
……
Vienna, Franz is not yet aware that Austria has once again become the center of contention between all parties, and at this time both Prussia and Russia need Austria’s support.
Geopolitics, will never be able to get around the topic. Nearby Austria, can play a role, not thousands of miles away from the British and French can be compared.
He was still worried about the letter in his hands, suffered a difficult situation Massimiliano finally knew to ask for help, and then Franz was difficult.
The Russo-Prussian War was about to begin, and the government of Vienna had to fight and pay attention to it; the American Civil War was about to be divided between the North and the South, and the Austrian forces in the Americas had to be put into action for the intervention that was to follow.
To meddle further in the internal affairs of Mexico would be to kill a man.
Direct refusal and a bit unkind, after all, simple Massimiliano thought that diplomatic support would be enough, not realizing that behind every diplomatic support are forces in play.
Diplomacy without power support is not worth mentioning at all. After hesitating again and again, Franz decided to give Massimiliano a wave of chicken soup for the soul and let him struggle on his own.
As a good older brother, Franz still gave dry goods.
He profoundly analyzed the internal contradictions of the Mexican Empire, and suggested that Massimiliano first pull together the constitutionalists to establish a stable government, and the issue of reform will be discussed later.
No money is even simpler, rest assured that boldly to the French to ask for loans. Guan said, right of way, fiscal revenue, minerals …… as long as the price is right, all can be mortgaged out.
Listen to it or not Franz can not be swayed. Anyway, the proposal to give out, according to this above to do, although it can not make the Mexican Empire strong, at least can ensure that Massimiliano’s throne stabilized.
Increased the difficulty of future reforms, directly ignored by Franz. In front of survival, any other factors can be discarded.
The one who owes money is a great master Although it may not be applicable in this era, at least it can guarantee that Napoleon III will not dare to easily give up his support.
The question of repaying the debt, that must also wait until the throne is secure. If you are ousted in the middle of the day, all these debts have nothing to do with Massimiliano.
Borrowing money from the Mexican government, but not Massimiliano himself. In the event of being ousted by the enemy, then leave them a mess, it is also a small revenge.
(End of chapter)