Holy Roman Empire

At the Vienna Palace, Franz was holding a year-end meeting, and a sudden telegram interrupted the meeting.

On November 27, 1879, the Russian army that reinforced Brest was ambushed by the generals halfway, and the Southwest battlefield showed a turning point.

On the face of it, the Vienna government of the Russian-Russian War will do as long as the relationship ends up, and the changes on the part of the battlefield are not enough to make everyone wait so hard.

The exception is the Southwest Battlefield.On the one hand, it is because the tsarist government mortgaged the land west of the Dnieper River to Austria. If these areas fell into the hands of the Poppo Confederation, the future Vienna government would be very troublesome to collect debts.(Only in Ukraine)

On the other hand, it was for export trade. Since the outbreak of the war, the tsarist government bought and bought in Austria.

Once the Dnieper River is cut off and restricted by traffic, Russian-Austrian trade will definitely be greatly affected.

In order to make a fortune in war, the Vienna government also made full preparations.Many state-owned enterprises have increased their production lines. If the volume of Russian-Austrian trade decreases, these enterprises will suffer heavy losses.

When it comes to vital interests, the government should naturally take it seriously.As for the year-end meeting, it is important to say that it is important, but that is not the case.

The year-end meeting includes: a summary of developments in the political, economic, diplomatic, and military fields this year, and government plans for the coming year.

The various departments have already done their homework, and now they are reporting to Franz to prepare for the budget competition for the coming year.

Most of these plans revolve around the national policy. The core was originally dominated by Franz. When it comes to specific plans, he rarely intervenes. The cabinet government is responsible.

...

Franz: "Chief of Staff, talk about the situation on the front line now!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The Chief of General Staff Albrecht replied

"Yesterday afternoon, the Russian army, who was heading to Brest for reinforcements from the Warren area, was ambushed by the generals just after crossing the Pripyat River.

Since these Russian troops were temporarily mixed from various places, the organizational relationship has not been straightened out. The 30,000 Russian troops were defeated by a general division and the loss of troops was at least 8,000.

The rest of the troops have become frightened, the birds fled, and a large number of weapons and equipment were abandoned, and the ability to fight again was lost in a short period of time.

Not counting these troops with no morale, the total strength of the Russian army in the Warren region has dropped from the initial 102,000 to 67,000, and it has no advantage over the general army.

If I were Mao Qi, I gave up Brest and placed the main direction of the attack on Koveli.Taken here, whether it is to take Kiev east, or Brest north.

But the generals only took advantage in the southwestern battlefield.The Russians in the north have already approached Riga, and the Vizeme Heights defense line is in jeopardy; the central battlefield Smolinsk has become a meat grinder.

Judging from the current situation, the Russians may go by sea and land.Relying on the advantages of the Russian navy, there is a great possibility of gaining an advantage on the Baltic coast."

Franz: "So, must Mao Qi be under much pressure now?"

Albrecht replied affirmatively: "Yes!"

If the general army is unable to achieve a substantial breakthrough on the battlefield, the Russians take action in the Baltic Sea, the homeland is seriously threatened, and the naval factions within the Berlin government rise, it will be lively.

Involved in vital interests, the people in the coastal areas made trouble, and the navy sent the opportunity to exert force. Even if Mao Qi was noble, he could not bear the pressure of all parties.

Franz sighed secretly, any general will always be so weak when facing internal crisis.Mao Qi is anxious to open up the situation in the Southwest battlefield, I am afraid it is also based on this.

Starting purely from the military, in fact, let the Russian army enter the Polish region, and then find a way to encircle and annihilate, the chances of winning will be even greater.

Not only does it have a solid mass foundation to rely on, but it also reduces the pressure on logistics and transportation, and even the front line is shortened. More troops can be invested in the decisive battle of the Russian army.

Military superiority is politically a failure.If the Russians were allowed to come in, the Poles would be separated from them.

Foreign Minister Weisenberg reminded: "According to the information we have received, Russia's diplomatic work has also made breakthrough progress.

They seem to have secretly promised the Danes that just a week ago, the Danish government submitted a naval exercise plan to the Nordic Federal Parliament, which was located in the Danish Strait.

If the plan is passed, the maritime transport channel of the Federal Republic of Popo will be broken.The Russians ’bids should be high. The Swedes have already moved, and the odds are high."

The maritime blockade could not kill the Pope Federation. They could also borrow from the German Federal Empire to transport supplies through the Elbe.

But in this way, the logistics pressure will increase greatly.The most important thing is the standing team of the Nordic Federation. The diplomatic situation is very unfavorable to the Berlin government.

If the Pupo Federation is at a disadvantage on the battlefield, who can guarantee that the Nordic Federation will not fall?

The Danes always wanted to take back the two principalities. As long as the Russians offered to buy the Swedes, everything was possible.

The confusing situation left Franz with a headache.I originally thought that the combination of William I + Mao Qi was already able to play, and I did not expect that Alexander II was not easy to mess with.

In the last Russian-Russian war, Alexander II had not yet grown up and could only be regarded as an emperor of semi-finished products. He was slightly inferior in the game. This time the comeback was different.

Since the beginning of the war, Franz has not found any signs of an uprising in Russia. This is a remarkable achievement.

You know, it was a wonderful work in the modern tsarist government, and every uprising in the domestic war will occur.

The absence of problems means that the reform of Alexander II was successful.A stable Russian empire is absolutely terrible.

After hesitating for a while, Franz said coldly: "Don't act rashly in diplomacy temporarily, unless the Nordic Federation directly participates in the war, or the situation on the battlefield is completely out of control, otherwise we will remain neutral.

The Staff Department pays close attention to the direction of the war and finds that either party may gain an overwhelming advantage. They must report to me as soon as possible.

Judging from the current situation, the odds of the Russians seem to be greater, then we will not move first, and wait for the British and French to give blood to the Popper Federation.

Once the balance of strength between the two sides is unbalanced, they secretly sell the Mark core machine gun technology to the weaker party, teaching them to use trench tactics to delay the war time as much as possible, and mortars can also be sold."

To maintain the balance of the battlefield, the three countries of Britain, France and Austria also have a division of labor.For example, if the balance of power on the battlefield is broken, if the Commonwealth of Popo is weak, the British and French will be responsible for blood transfusion; if the Russians are weak, Austria will be responsible for blood transfusion.

Anyway, it ’s everyone ’s pursuit to weaken and support anyone, and to let both Russia and Russia lose both sides.Not letting the fourth pole rise, this is the common will of the three veteran empires.

No, it should be said that it is the common will of France and Austria, and the British are not sure.In this regard, Niu Niu's strategy is still quite confused.

Low-tech weapons, Franz never felt the need for confidentiality.It was not taken out in advance because it was unnecessary.

In order to achieve strategic goals, throwing out a few technologies is nothing.If not for performance, Franz is ready to throw out tank technology.

Regrettably, it is difficult to play its due role if it is thrown out.

A steam engine tank with a big brain hole is too big, slow and very inflexible. It is easy to be the target of artillery.

Internal combustion engine-powered tanks have insufficient performance, the cost is also expensive, and the price / performance ratio is too low to be used at all.

Austria cannot afford it, and Franz does not think that both Russia and Russia can afford it.Moreover, they cannot produce engines.

Don't look at the internal combustion engine that has been around for some years. In fact, this thing is still high-tech.

Except that Austria has gone further in this area because of Franz, other countries have not invested much in research and development.

Science and technology are all piled up. Without capital investment, it is naturally difficult to achieve results.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Albrecht replied

After the episode, Franz asked: "How is the situation in South America, has the Chileans released our ships?"

The London government installed an ostrich and handed over the detained ship to the Chileans, and Austria naturally found the Chilean government guilty.

Bullying and fear of hardship have always been the nature of the powers. Compensation from the British and compensation from the Chilean government are completely two concepts.

Foreign Minister Weisenberg laughed: "The three children in South America are still fighting, and they should not be able to win or lose in the short term.

Since the British handed over the detained ships to the Chilean government, things have gone much smoother.The only problem now is that the materials on board the ship are no longer there, and we are talking to the Chileans about compensation.

If it was not the British who suddenly intervened, we have now signed an agreement with the Chilean government.

Perhaps the British were too greedy and caused dissatisfaction with the Chilean government. They all wanted to bring in the power of us and the French to check and balance the British."

This is good news. Although Chile's saltpetre is not the only one, Austria has also found some saltpetre mines in the colony, but from the cost point of view, it is still the cheapest to import Chilean ore.

As for the contradiction between the two countries, it is totally not worth mentioning in the face of interests.Thinking of this, Franz suddenly found that this Chilean government was not easy.

Selling well to France and Austria seems to have betrayed national interests, but it actually laid the foundation for winning the war.

Even if they defeated the two hooligans in advance, even if they defeated Peru and Bolivia, they would not like to eat the benefits.

There are too many examples of winning on the battlefield but spitting out spoils of diplomacy.

The Chilean government clearly understood the nature of the powers, and took advantage of this ship arrest incident to take timely remedial measures.

Franz couldn't help but sigh: There is no fluke for any country to stand out.