Chapter 595: Astonishing Numbers
Chapter 582 – Stunned Figures
There is no doubt that the London government finally chose to compromise with the French, which was determined by interests.
The timing of the French choice was too good, if the London government did not compromise, it is not likely that the Paris government turned around and made a deal with Austria.
Although the French are also worried about Austria’s annexation of the Ottoman Empire to become bigger, and the possibility of making a deal with the Vienna government is very small, the London government is still not afraid to gamble.
In case it did happen, it would also mean a strategic understanding between France and Austria, which would be a disaster for the British.
While compromising, the London government also raised its guard against the French. The Parisian government in the midst of the infighting could still swing them, what if the infighting ended?
……
At the London Peace Conference, Minister Hummel was also a bit weary of the joint British and French pressure.
“For the sake of world peace, we can end this war, but the Ottoman Empire must return the land that occupied us and take responsibility for this war.”
Austria gave in, and many people breathed a sigh of relief. Things would have been difficult if it had really been a hard line. Intervention by force is easier said than done.
Let the European countries waving the flag can be, to let them for the Ottoman Empire to fight, that or forget it! Sometimes spittle can kill, and politicians have to think twice about their reputation.
Minister Hummel, whose face was grim, also secretly breathed a sigh of relief that this drama was finally coming to an end. In order not to reveal the cracks, he has to keep his nerves taut every day, this kind of day is not easy to live.
Without waiting for the Ottoman representative to speak, Margrave McLean made the first move for them: ”Thank you for your efforts for world peace, history will remember all of this.
War is cruel, and there are lads falling every moment. For the sake of their safety, I propose that we sign an armistice contract first, so that the war can stop first. We’ll talk about the remaining issues later.”
From the standpoint of the British, preserving the Ottoman Empire was enough. As for the issues of returning territory and holding people accountable for the war, those were minor issues.
It was European practice for the defeated to bear the responsibility for the war. Even though the demand for the return of territory is a bit of a crap shoot, it’s not non-negotiable, who let the Ottoman Empire lose?
In this age of the weak and the strong, weakness is the original sin. Instead of dwelling on these issues, it would be more favorable to the Ottoman Empire to end the war earlier.
Minister Hummel nodded: ”No problem, but the armistice treaty we will only sign for half a month. If within half a month, no agreement is reached then this war will continue.”
Throughout, he did not ask the Russian representative’s opinion. It wasn’t that Hummel was authoritarian or that the relationship between the two countries had deteriorated. The main reason was that there was an agreement between the two countries before the outbreak of the war, and Austria was responsible for stepping in to resolve diplomatic issues.
The Russians were to get involved, and that was only after the armistice treaty had been signed, when the distribution of benefits was involved. Until then, the two countries had to be on the same page diplomatically on the Near East.
Marquis MacLean fought, “Half a month is too short, this war involves too many issues, why don’t we start with an armistice for six months!”
Minister Hummel shook his head, giving a half-month period was to apply pressure and force the Ottoman Empire to make greater concessions.
“Your Excellency the Minister, don’t forget that war has a cost, every day it drags on costs a huge amount of money.
Based on the current coalition force of 336,000 troops, even if we don’t launch an attack, we’ll still have to spend 586,000 divine guilders per day.
This cost needs to be borne by the Ottoman Empire, and if the Ottoman government feels that it can afford to drag it out, we can take our time and talk about it as well.”
There was no doubt that the number of troops was roughly correct, and the overhead was what Minister Hummel had blurted out. The quartermaster would have had a case filed against him a long time ago if the offense didn’t cost 586,000 God’s Guilders every day.
Although Austria was not poor, it was not dirt-poor to this extent. In the case of not attacking, the main expenses are the cost of living of soldiers and military pay.
The government in Vienna promised to supply the Russian army with materials, but said nothing about paying them. Not everyone in the Austrian army in the Middle East had to be paid, and the pay for the cannon fodder units was just the spoils of war.
The only ones who really get paid are the tens of thousands of regulars, which also include conscripts who only need to pay a small combat allowance, which translates to just 20,000 to 30,000 guilders in the sky.
The cost of living is easier to calculate, more than 300,000 troops consume at most more than two hundred tons of food per day, plus a portion of vegetables and meat products, five hundred tons of supplies are enough, even with the addition of shipping costs, it’s not that expensive.
Others can watch the fun, Ottoman Foreign Minister Albiach can not, if calculated according to this figure, enough to make the Ottoman Empire lose their pants.
“Your Excellency the Minister, this figure is too much, even if all the soldiers eat steak every day, it won’t cost this much.”
Just after saying that, Albiach realized that it was bad and was being led astray. The most avoided thing in negotiation was to be led by the nose by the opponent, which would lead to a passive state.
Hummel smiled faintly and blurted out, “Isn’t it worried about the soldiers not being able to adapt to the water, all the supplies including drinking water are shipped from the soldiers’ hometowns, so the cost is naturally a little bit higher.”
The crowd rolled their eyes, all the supplies were shipped from the soldiers’ hometowns. Not to mention the soldiers, even the officers didn’t have this treatment.
Moreover, with the transportation in this era, even if someone did go and transport them, the vegetables and fruits would all be rotten halfway.
British Foreign Minister Marquis McLean frowned and pulled the topic back: ”Your Excellency the Minister, your navy blockaded the Eastern Mediterranean, now everyone’s trade with the Ottoman Empire has come to a standstill, during the armistice can we first restore the trade routes?
The situation within the Ottoman nation is very bad, especially the food problem is imminent, and there are human tragedies constantly unfolding every day.”
“Lifting the blockade” is the core of the problem, as for the issue of military expenses, wait for the armistice to pass and slowly pull the rug out from under them. The Austrians could ask for whatever they wanted, but the Ottomans had no money.
Even if you sign a treaty of compensation, a sentence of no money is enough.
The British are not prepared to help the Ottoman Empire out of money, the Austrians want to get reparations from the poor financial collapse of the Sultan’s government, that is dreaming.
In contrast, lifting the blockade was much more important. The Ottoman refugees were everywhere, and without supplies coming in, who knows how many days the Sultan’s government would be able to hold out?
Hummel shook his head, ”No, the blockade of the coastline is mainly for everyone’s safety, right now around the Ottoman ports we have put a large number of mines, there is no way to guarantee the safety of the ships.
If the Ottoman Empire is short of food, or other supplies, they can communicate with us, we can sell them a batch of agricultural products at a low price for emergencies.”
Isn’t releasing the blockade giving a chance for the Ottoman Empire to recover? The biggest problem with the Sultan’s government’s man-ocean tactics, which were not carried forward, was the lack of weaponry.
With the style of the British, opening arms warehouses to sell a batch of old antiques to the Ottoman Empire, increasing the difficulty of negotiations, is almost bound to happen.
Minister Hummel’s promise to sell supplies at a low price was a joke. Buying supplies from an enemy that was at war was a travesty.
Not to mention the fact that the Sudanese government was short of arms, would the government in Vienna be willing to sell them?
Well, there’s no telling. If the price is high enough, maybe the Vienna government will sell. The Russians are the ones who are fighting in Asia Minor.
Margrave Maclean did not dwell deeply on the lifting of the blockade, although he could be sure that the Austrians were not dropping mines all over the place, but as long as the merchant ships went over there they were bound to hit the mines.
This has already been tried by unbelieving capitalists, except for a very few who luckily escaped and got rich, the rest went into the sea and fed the fish.
Whether or not they hit a mine, this question no one knows. Anyway, the ship was destroyed, how destroyed is not important.
After some bargaining, the truce was extended to one month. At the same time, Minister Hummel also promised to sell 10,000 tons of food at a low price to the Ottoman relief, so as to avoid another humanitarian crisis.
This was a really low price, ten percent lower than international food prices. Of course, the price of food can be lowered, but the price of freight can never be saved.
In times of war, when people risk their lives to transport food, how can the freight cost be saved? If it is not increased by dozens of times on the normal level, it is not in line with the rules of business.
……
Hummel: “We are not asking for much, and the goal of waging this war is only to regain the homeland of Jerusalem.
As long as your country returns the Kingdom of Jerusalem and compensates us for the losses it has caused us over the years, this war can be ended.
Calculating from 1517, the total number of years until now is 357 years, and based on 1 million Shenduan per year, the total is 357 million Shenduan.
In these 357 years, at least 3 million people have died at the hands of your country, and the pensions are calculated at 600 shillings per person, totaling 180 million shillings.
Before your country occupied Jerusalem, it was a fertile land, now it has turned into a large desert, causing irreparable damage to the geography, which requires ……”
As soon as Hummel spelled out the conditions, everyone was dumbfounded. With such a calculation of compensation, selling the Ottoman Empire would not be able to pay for it.
Unsurprisingly, the final figure that appeared arrived at a staggering 3.062 billion divine guilders. Perhaps realizing that it was a bit too much, Hummel took the initiative to touch off the zero and only asked for a compensation of 3 billion guilders.
It was clear to everyone that this was not to ask for compensation, and the Ottoman Empire could not afford to pay it out; the main purpose was still to cede land. Everyone was still stunned by Minister Hummel’s amazing maneuver.
Ottoman Foreign Minister Albiach immediately retorted, “Your Excellency the Minister, the account cannot be settled this way. Jerusalem was not seized by us from your country, and there is no such thing as liability between us.”
The crown of Jerusalem fell to the Habsburg dynasty less than three hundred years ago, and to the end the Habsburgs never ruled Jerusalem. Not to mention Austria, where there was never a so-called sovereignty relationship between the two sides.
……
(End of chapter)