Chapter 550: Balkan Storm Clouds Rise

  Chapter 538: Balkan Storm Clouds Rise

What you love is always easy to produce results. It wasn’t long before the Czarist government convinced Austria and both sides unanimously decided to give the Ottoman Empire a venomous beating.

Now it was just a matter of some details that needed to continue to be communicated. For example: when to attack? From where to start the attack? The distribution of benefits after the war ……

Having reached a preliminary agreement, Alexander II’s mood did not lighten. The Russian Empire was not in a good state right now, and theoretically it was not the right time to start a war at this point in time.

The Ottoman Empire wasn’t the first choice of the Tsar’s government either, and if possible, Alexander II would prefer to punch the Kingdom of Prussia now.

Unfortunately, the Vienna government was uncooperative, and no amount of offers, even support for Austria’s unification of the German regions, moved the Vienna government.

This was also expected by Alexander II, this kind of promise between countries is very unreliable, the Vienna government naturally can not be easily believed.

If Austria really united the German region, it is estimated that Russia and Austria would have to turn their backs on each other. In front of interests, allies are not worth mentioning at all.

The Far East is out of reach, and the value is too low to help the domestic agricultural crisis.

The Central Asian khanates were a good target to start with, but by starting a fight in Central Asia, all the pressure fell on the Tsarist government.

Now the tsarist government is still waiting for the British loan as military expenditure, if you run to fight other people’s little brother, that is not looking for a whip?

There is only the unlucky Ottoman Empire left, this enemy is big, meat, enough for the two countries to divide. International pressure can also be thrown to the Vienna government to deal with, Alexander II also understand, playing diplomacy they really can not.

And Austria and joint combat, this attack does not need to be dead Caucasus region, the Ottoman Empire coast of any area can become a battlefield.

Learning from his mistakes, Alexander II, who was good at learning, now attaches great importance to logistics. He would not undertake a military adventure without mobilizing enough supplies.

“Has the Vienna government promised us strategic supplies?”

The second reason to join forces with Austria was logistics, this attack relied mainly on sea supply, the logistical pressure was relatively small.

The most critical problem is not in the transportation, mainly is the “money” problem. The Tsarist government’s finances were not good, and the money that was not easy to raise had to be used to build railroads, so there was no money for the war.

If you don’t have money, you need to look for allies. Do not need real money, as long as the Vienna government is willing to afford strategic supplies, then they are not afraid of anything.

Foreign Minister Chris Basham: “Your Majesty, the Austrians have made concessions, they have agreed to provide us with half a year’s worth of combat supplies for 150,000 troops.

It’s just that when it comes to the division of benefits, we’ve suffered a big loss this time, the Austrians have a big appetite, they want the Middle East and half of the Asia Minor Peninsula.”

Doing a full set of theater, from the surface, the Vienna government is to destroy the Ottoman Empire in one fell swoop, to completely solve this arch-enemy, the interests of the natural need to compete.

Alexander II shook his head, “This is a small problem, the Middle East is mostly desert, the actual value is not high, and we can not reach, they want to give them well.

Three parts of this war depend on the military, seven parts depend on politics, if we can’t put an end to European countries interfering, the Ottoman Empire we simply can’t eat.

As long as we get the Caucasus and half of Asia Minor, we won’t lose out.”

The Middle East in this era leaves everyone with the impression of a desert, and although the area is large, the actual value is not high.

Not knowing what he was throwing out, Alexander II naturally did not feel at a loss. From the obvious point of view, Austria needed to bear a heavier responsibility, and it was normal to take the biggest share.

Chris Basham nodded in agreement, this war the tsarist government to achieve a lot of purposes:

First, alleviate the domestic food crisis, to avoid large-scale bankruptcy of agriculture;

Secondly, to finish off the Ottoman Empire and settle the enemy in the next Russo-Prussian War in advance;

Third, to restore military morale through victory and get rid of the shadow brought by the Russo-Prussian War;

Fourth, to expand power and build up the prestige of the monarch;

……

To achieve the above purposes, preparations were naturally indispensable. The Tsarist government could no longer afford to lose, and Alexander II himself even more so.

Large-scale military preparations could not deceive anyone, and as the Russians moved, Prussia, Poland, and the Ottoman Empire followed suit, and smoke filled the continent.

It is not true that William I wanted to take fire out of the fire, but before the war was fought, no one could guarantee that the Russians would not be bluffing and turn around to come at them.

Prussia’s house was not strong, and all it would take was one defeat and all would be lost. The Berlin government could not afford to gamble and had to follow the preparations for war.

On the contrary, Austria, one of the protagonists, did not move much. This was not Franz’s pride, but mainly because he was simply not prepared to finish off the Ottoman Empire in one breath.

The Russians are willing to sell the fight, Franz will not oppose, anyway, the Vienna government to provide strategic materials are so much. It was impossible for the Ottomans to face more than 100,000 Russian troops and not be able to hold out for even half a year, right?

To carry out the main decisive battle, not Franz look down on the Ottoman Empire, this era of the Sultan’s government really can not.

In recent years, in order to consolidate power, the Ottoman Empire has never been peaceful. The power struggle within the government was constant, and the reformers used bloody violence to defeat the conservatives in the government.

As if that weren’t enough, the conservative factions scattered among the people are still strong, and these forces are usually cloaked in religious garb, making things even more complicated.

The reforms of the reformers did have some positive effects, but they did not solve the internal ethnic conflicts. Greeks, Armenians, Jews, and Slavs within the Ottoman Empire all wanted independence.

While there was certainly a push from outside forces that spread nationalism, it was more a result of internal ethnic inequality, and the main problem was still religious.

An enemy with holes all over his body, Franz naturally didn’t worry about it. Anyway, he had decided to slowly nibble away from the Middle East, just to fight a long war of attrition, or a practical training.

Playing steadily, even if Britain and France gave blood to the Ottoman Empire, it would not be of any use, unless they were willing to explode their livers, the one who would lose would definitely be the Sultan’s government.

The year 1873 was already half over and launching a war within the year was no longer possible. Even though Alexander II increased the efficiency of the Tsarist government, they still could not do it to organize an expedition of more than 100,000 troops in a few months.

This war Alexander II wanted to win beautifully, so the gray animals had to be trained properly as well, and this all took time.

Franz naturally had no problem with delaying it a bit. Strategic layout also needed time, and trying to induce all parties to make the decisions he wanted was definitely not a simple matter.

In case something went wrong in the middle, he would still be responsible for the aftermath, and couldn’t let these problems affect the big picture.

In order to make sure that nothing goes wrong, now Franz was very concerned about Napoleon III’s health. Although he received the news that Napoleon III had fallen ill in January of this year, his body was already failing.

Since June, Napoleon III had not appeared on any public occasions, and many activities were attended by Crown Prince Eugene.

The lord is not dead, then it is worth to be vigilant. If we delayed until Napoleon III’s death to make a move, it would be more certain.

Crown Prince Eugene is young, if the years of peace this harmless, slowly accumulate prestige, step by step control of the rights on the line, but unfortunately caught up with the great struggle of the world.

In recent years, France began to bide its time, that is, Napoleon III wanted to leave as much as possible to his son a loose international environment, lest he die, the enemy will hit the door.

In the midst of the induction program, the Vienna government had one more top-secret plan against the French. The success rate of this plan was so low that the French had to cooperate voluntarily in order for it to succeed.

Simply put, it is to allow the French to send troops to occupy Belgium, the Rhineland, or the German Federal Empire, any one of them can be, preferably by the young emperor himself to lead the troops.

The difficulty of defeating the French on French soil was just too great. If the main French army was fished out, the chances of winning this one would be greatly increased.

The successful annexation of the Italian region had already caused many Frenchmen to drift, and if it weren’t for Napoleon III’s strong pressure, they would have been unable to resist annexing the territories west of the Rhineland.

Franz is very clear, the French annexation of the Italian region have exceeded the bottom line of the European countries, did not form an anti-French alliance, that is, there is no one to take the lead, coupled with the Russian and Prussian antagonism can not join forces.

If the French continue to expand, the European countries want to do nothing can not. Do not look at these small countries limited power, but how also than the last straw to crush the camel has weight.

As for the crippling of France, will not be a deadly feud, Franz is not worried at all. Debt is not a pressure, turn over the history will find that France and Austria have a bunch of muddled accounts to be counted.

Moreover, the two countries do not border, the French still dare to fight all the way over it?

The original time and space France and Germany contradictions are not in the war, mainly Alsace and Lorraine, this issue on both sides have no way to give in.

Alsace and Lorraine is the old land of God Luo, part of the German region, the Germans certainly can not let. The nationalism of France is bursting at the seams, and with John Bull fanning the flames, the Paris government likewise does not dare to compromise.

This problem does not bother Austria, the big deal is to be transferred to the German Federal Empire, Austria will share some colonies.

If the French send troops to take revenge, then the German Confederation will be crying and shouting to join Shinra, then no one can stop.

The prerequisite is that Napoleon III died first, the little emperor can not suppress the main war faction in the country, otherwise the French nested in the house does not venture, Franz also dare not hit the door.

This is related to the problem of power projection, if the army in Austria’s mainland can play ten points of combat power, then put the battlefield in France, at most, only five or six points.

It’s not that the army’s combat effectiveness has dropped, but mainly that logistics is going to be a problem. In the original time and space, the Kingdom of Prussia gambled and won, it was completely God blessed, Napoleon III personally led the troops to the door.

The Emperor was captured, a revolution broke out within France, took out the government itself, and resistance was out of the question.

Otherwise, if only the war had dragged on for a few months and the French had mobilized, the outcome would have been very different.

Head of Intelligence Tyrone: “Your Majesty, something has happened in Greece. Last night, a revolution broke out in Athens, and the rebels defeated the government forces and captured Prince Ludwig, who hasn’t had a chance to succeed the throne yet.”

Prince Ludwig, is the Bavarian King Ludwig III in the original time and space. Now Ludwig II did not come to the time of offense, his old father Prince Liutbold did not even have time to regent.

In the order of succession of the Lombardy royal family, Prince Ludwig is already five out of five, the possibility of succession to the throne is almost zero.

Theoretically, even the Greek throne didn’t have a part for him, but the few guys ahead of him in the ranking refused to come, so it was his turn.

This kind of bad luck have encountered, Franz can only be attributed to Ludwig has the attribute of bad luck, send him to Greece as the king, this move is considered to be the right move.

He was also the first to abdicate in the World War. This time is even worse, before he became king, he became a prisoner.

“Call the General Staff and tell them to prepare for armed intervention in Greece, and at the same time have the cabinet ministers on duty come over for a meeting.”

In Franz’s opinion, this was a small matter that didn’t even require all the cabinet ministers to come together and confer. Ludwig’s safety was of no concern to Franz at all.

Now Ludwig was only one of the heirs to the Greek throne, and more importantly, he was the prince of the Lombard Kingdom of the New Holy Roman Empire. If the Greeks dared to click him, the excuse for war would come.

Austria didn’t annex Greece, that’s watching what it eats. The consequences of annexing a sovereign state for no reason in continental Europe would have been very serious.

If the Greeks had taken the initiative to screw up, it would have been a different story. Even if it’s not good enough to annex them, it’s still very easy to beat them up.

So simple that many people thought about it. So the ones who were most nervous about Prince Ludwig’s safety right now would be the rebels.

In case this guy unfortunately died, they would have to follow the bad luck. Even for the sake of face, Austria must send troops to avenge Ludwig.

Push book: “Cold Door Scourge”, a good-looking Ming Dynasty imperial examination officialdom text!

(End of chapter)