Holy Roman Empire

In the original World War I, the Russians’ more than 7 kilometers of railways could not support the needs of millions of troops on the front line, let alone now.

The Junker nobles dared to challenge the Russians because they saw the limited power of the Russians.If the tsarist government can put millions of troops on the front line, no country in the world can withstand it except Fao.

Foreign Secretary Mike Kate explained: "It will take time, the British are still hesitating, they are worried that blocking the Baltic Sea will..."

Ron interrupted unceremoniously: "No matter what happens, cutting off the Russian sea transportation line one day earlier will increase our chances of winning in next year's war.

The British have been silent for a long time, or are those capitalists trying to make war fortune?What is there to say, we eat all the orders placed by the Russians.

A direct showdown with the London government, blockade the Baltic immediately if they want us to win the war.

If they don't want us to win this war, we can't beat the Russians alone anyway, so we might as well just accept a compromise with the Russians.

The big deal is to sell the Poles, restore the pre-war borders, and surrender to the Russians.Let the British do what they like. "

Ron is confident. The Kingdom of Prussia has already owed the British hundreds of millions of pounds in debt, and they can only pay it off if they win the war.

If the war is lost, the existence of the Kingdom of Prussia will be a problem, who to ask for money?

If the British don't want to spend all their investment in vain, then cutting off the Russians' sea transportation lines is the only option.

The European political system has decided, and they dare to take a gamble.If you win, you will go one step further, if you lose, you will still be rich.

"Just do it!"

William I made a decisive decision, and he was a gambler when he went to the gambling table.If you want to look forward and backward, it is better to give up as soon as possible.War is not a child's play, and every chance of winning is very important.

……

In London, Prime Minister John Russell was embarrassed to find that they were unknowingly tied to the Prussians.

Originally, they were just preparing to fight a proxy war, but as time went by, they invested more and more power.

Especially after the end of the East Prussian War, they sold 3000 million pounds of war bonds for the Berlin government. Now all the debts of Britain and Prussia have exceeded 1 million pounds.

Most of the debt holders are ordinary people. If you don't want to lose the next election, it's better not to let this debt become a bad debt.

Although the Prussians have pledged tariffs, railways, and mines, if the Kingdom of Prussia ceases to exist, can these mortgages be honored?

John Russell did not think that the Russians, the French, the Austrians would recognize these debts.Even if it is for their own benefit, the Prussian chess piece must be kept.

"Sir Edward, is there any difficulty in blocking the Baltic Sea?" asked John Russell

The Secretary of the Navy Edward replied confidently: "No, the Royal Navy has enough strength to complete this task."

Blocking the Baltic Sea is nothing more than letting them rush into the Baltic Sea to kill the Russian Navy. There is really no difficulty for the Royal Navy.

Foreign Secretary Raistling said dissatisfiedly: "Of course you have no problem, the Royal Navy can kill the Russians ten times, but we have a big problem.

As a neutral country, if we recklessly intervene in this war, we will inevitably bear huge diplomatic pressure and pressure from public opinion. "

The interests are touching. Once the Baltic Sea is blocked, the trade of many countries will be affected. Diplomatically, they will inevitably bear pressure from European countries.

The fact that the Prussians can take orders from Britain and Russia does not mean that they still have the strength to take orders from the Russians in other countries.

Not all countries are easy to bully. If you offend someone now, you will definitely be retaliated in the future.This will bring huge troubles to their future diplomatic work, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will naturally become the backer.

Prime Minister John Russell smiled and comforted: "Sir Raistlin, this is just a small problem, I believe you can solve it.

As long as the great strategy of weakening the Russians is accomplished, the price paid now will be worth it.At least compared to the Near East War, the cost we paid this time is much lower. "

Everyone looked at each other and smiled, there is no harm without comparison.In the Near East War, the London government not only spent hundreds of millions of pounds in military expenditures, lost a large number of troops, and most importantly, it also lost the fuck.

A war that hurts both sides is a failure for the British.The situation is much better now. It is the Prussians who are desperately fighting on the front lines, and the money borrowed must be repaid.

As long as they have a record of losing both sides, it is a great victory for the British. If Prussia wins the war, then they will make a lot of money.

Foreign Minister Raistling said with some hesitation: "The envoy to the Ottoman Empire has received news that the Austrians are making small moves there again, and they seem to intend to provoke a war between the Ottomans and the Russians.

We have carried out an in-depth analysis and have not found any benefits for Austria if the war broke out between the two countries.

If it is to weaken the Russians, as long as they delay the delivery of materials a little, it will be enough to cause heavy losses to the Russian army. "

In this era, the Arabian Peninsula is a desert, and there are at most a group of camels, which is not worth peeping at by a big country.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Agarwal speculated: "Maybe it has something to do with the Suez Canal. The Austrians want to take control of the Suez Canal and start planning ahead of time."

Secretary of the Navy Edward questioned: "But this is a bit unreasonable. Many domestic experts believe that the Suez Canal is not navigable.

Even if it is dug through, only some small boats can pass through in the end, and it does not have any strategic value at all. "

It was all the fault of the experts. The British had long organized experts to carry out exploration, and the experts came to the conclusion that the Suez Canal was unnavigable.

This erroneous conclusion directly affected the decision-making of the London government. When France and Austria were digging the Suez Canal, the British rushed to the Suez Railway Project.

As in history, until the opening of the Suez Canal, the British did not think the Suez Canal was valuable.

Minister of Finance Agarwal said indifferently: "Who knows what the Vienna government thinks, they dare to invest a lot of money in the canal, and they still worry that it will not be navigable?

Of course, not necessarily for the canal.Franz is the king of Jerusalem, maybe they want to regain the Holy Land. "

The latter explanation is obviously more reliable than the former one. Austria has already acquired the Sinai Peninsula, and half of the control of the Suez Canal has been obtained. Even if it controls the Red Sea, it is impossible to continue to increase.

In contrast, it is more convincing to use the opportunity of the war between the Ottomans and the Russians to retake the Jerusalem area.

Colonial Secretary Steve suggested: "In recent years, France and Austria have expanded very rapidly on the African continent, and it is necessary for us to curb their actions.

In the African strategy of the Colonial Department, there is also a plan to occupy Ethiopia, and it happens that the Mandeb Strait, the gateway to the Red Sea, is also there.

We can take the first step, occupy Ethiopia, and interrupt the Austrian East Africa strategy by the way. "

The "East African Strategy" is a smoke bomb released by Vienna. In order to cause trouble for Austria, in recent years, the British have sold weapons to the indigenous countries of East Africa.

However, the plan could not keep up with the rapid changes, and the progress of Austrian colonization slowed down. Instead of rushing into East Africa, it was consolidating the existing achievements.

The world has almost been divided up, and the British colonial department naturally does not want to be idle, and the African colonization plan is released.

Foreign Secretary Raistling objected: "Blocking the Mandeb Strait is easy, but if we do it, we will be ready for the alliance of Vienna and Paris!

They dig the Suez Canal at any cost, just to get rid of our control over the Strait of Gibraltar, and their reckless intervention will inevitably trigger Fao's fierce backlash.

Before determining whether the Suez Canal has strategic value, it is not in our interest to confront France and Austria in advance. "

The butterfly effect is powerful. In the original time and space, France was the only naval power in the Mediterranean Sea. The Royal Navy did not gain control of the Suez Canal until after the Franco-Prussian War.

The situation is different now. The French and Austrian navies together have the strength to challenge the Royal Navy. At least the Royal Navy has lost its advantage in the Mediterranean.

Moreover, straits and canals are different, and the difficulty of control is not the same level.Anyway, it is tens of kilometers wide, and if you want to block the door, the navy will do it.

It seems very tempting to lock France and Austria in the big bathtub of the Mediterranean Sea. If it is not done well in practice, it will ruin Britain's maritime hegemony.

Colonial Secretary Steve retorted: "This kind of situation is indeed possible, but as long as the operation is good, it may not be the same as France and Austria.

We are just planning in advance and planning for a rainy day, and we can compromise when necessary. "

……

Chapter 87 False and False, True and False

After careful consideration, the London government still made a decision to block the Baltic Sea.In fact, since the Berlin government agreed to take over the orders placed by the Russians in Britain, the opposition to the blockade of the Baltic Sea in Congress disappeared.

Anti-Russia has always been the national policy of the British. Without harming everyone's interests, no one will object to attacking the Russians.

On January 1866, 1, the Royal Navy blocked the gates of the Baltic Sea on the grounds of suppressing pirates.

The blockade of the Baltic Sea does not exist, but considering the safety of passing ships, the Royal Navy recommends that everyone suspend entering and exiting the Baltic Sea.

Opinions have been given, and whether to listen or not is entirely voluntary.If you are robbed by pirates, just don't regret it.

The threat of "pirates" is terrifying. After the accidents of two Russian merchant ships, everyone wisely chose to suspend this maritime trade route.

For a while, the British Foreign Office was filled with protest letters from various countries.Sir Raistling, the Foreign Secretary, ordered a cold deal, and there was no more.

The continuation of the Russo-Prussian War is in the interests of France and Austria.Without a big country standing out, all a small country can do is protest.

In Franz's view, the refueling tactic is the most power-consuming style of play.The Russian Empire was unable to take advantage of its military strength and directly crush Prussia, which has already failed strategically.

Politicians see things differently from ordinary people. Winning a war does not necessarily mean victory, and losing a war does not necessarily mean failure.

There are too many classic cases in history. Ordinary people think that the protagonist is drifting and the horse stumbles. However, after careful analysis of the gains and losses behind it, it will be found that the final winner is actually the loser.

It's just that in modern times, with the awakening of the people, the ruling class has higher requirements, and the cost of this game has gradually increased, and it was finally abandoned.

The most direct benefit of the British blockade is that the trade volume between Russia and Austria has increased again.Now the tsarist government has no choice but to be such a seller.

Franz didn't care how much the price had risen. Anyway, the tsarist government now placed orders directly with the capitalists, and whatever price was negotiated was the price.

Anyway, now that the tsarist government has money, the bureaucrats will find a way to spend it.The price of goods rose, the profits of capitalists increased, the kickbacks of bureaucrats also increased, and even the tax revenue of the Vienna government increased accordingly.

This is a win-win situation, hello, hello, hello everyone.

Intelligence leader Taylor handed over a document and said, "Your Majesty, this is the latest French European strategy."

Without winning the Crimean War, Napoleon III was still very enlightened. When formulating strategies, he always brainstormed.

The advantage of brainstorming is that it reduces the error rate and also increases the chance of exposure.Anything is no longer a secret once more people know about it.

Although the strategic plan of the French is not widely known, there are dozens of people who participated in the formulation, so it is not surprising that it was leaked.

Of course, this may also be a smoke bomb deliberately released by the French.True or false strategies, almost every country has a dozen plans.

Before things happen, no one knows which strategy is true. They can only collect as much information as possible and then make a judgment.

Even Napoleon III himself could not guarantee which plan would be their real strategy in the future.

Usually there are several alternatives, and the strategy that is most suitable for the moment will generally be selected according to changes in the international situation.

This choice is subject to change at any time, unless it is a long-term national policy, the possibility of change is small, and any other strategy is just one of the options.

After reading it carefully, Franz had to admit that the French were ambitious enough.

It not only wanted to use the Prussian War to pull the Russians from the position of world hegemony, but also plotted against the Prussian Rhineland region.

This is only the first step of the strategy, and there are plans to annex Belgium, the German Federation west of the Rhine, and even prepare to annex Italy.

In his heart, Franz had already crossed this grand strategic plan.It is only a ghost that such a strategy can be implemented. It would be the same if it was the Napoleon era.

Except that it is more reliable to use the Russo-Prussian War to pull the Russians down from the European hegemony, there is nothing that can be implemented in the remaining strategies.

The division of Prussia among the three countries of "Russia, France and Austria" was a fallacy from the very beginning.

The tsarist government invested so much in this war, and Poland alone could not recover the cost of the war.If the French were allowed to get the biggest cake, would Alexander II be able to balance his mind?

Even if he is open-minded, he can't do things for the enemy!Dividing the spoils is never an easy job, especially when sharing the spoils with your enemies.

The French acquired the Rhineland region, and their industrial development potential has at least doubled, while the Russian Empire, which belongs to Poland, can only be regarded as better than nothing, and it does not increase much strength at all.

Not to mention Austria, the benefits brought by the partition of Prussia are directly negative.Let Franz choose, he would rather go to war with France than accept such cheating terms of partition.

From the point of view of income: a mere [-] square kilometers of land directly put Austria in a strategically desperate situation.The value brought by this part of the territory is not as much as the increased defense expenditure.

Politically: Participating in the partition of Prussia means that Franz has given up his political status as the republic of Germany, and the legitimacy of the new Holy Roman Empire will be seriously challenged.

This is different from the German Second Empire in the original time and space. They did not have the title of co-lord.Therefore, Wilhelm I did not become the German emperor, but the next best thing to become the German emperor.

In jurisprudence, the German Empire is a republic, and the emperor is only a hereditary president.Even though William I obtained the title of emperor through the "Emperor Declaration", his actual status is still only the chairman of the Federation.

This is also the main reason why William II lost the throne after the failure of the First World War.We must know that the Habsburg dynasty has struggled a bit. If the last emperor Karl did not do stupid things one after another, he could still keep a few crowns.

The jurisprudence is different from others. Once lost, it cannot be retrieved again.Franz's co-ownership stems from the unification of the German region. Once the German region is divided with other countries, will the people still accept him as emperor?

Even if it was for his own benefit, Franz could not let this happen.

"Transfer the information to the cabinet and ask them to arrange someone to analyze the French's previous strategy to see what the French are hiding." Franz ordered

These messy strategies are actually valuable, and no one can guarantee that these strategies will not become a reality.

At least compared with the German unification plan of the original space-time Bismarck, the success rate of this strategy of the French is much higher, and the whimsical plan of the original space-time Bismarck succeeded.

There is also the Italian strategy fiddled with by Cavour, and the Japanese strategy formulated by Ito Hirobumi, both of which have a lower probability of success than the French plan.

With so many successful cases, Franz naturally dare not take it lightly.After all, the strength of the French is strong, as long as Napoleon III doesn't convulse and goes to the front to command blindly, they will be one of the most powerful empires in the world.

In theory, with so many plans, except for the Rhineland region where Austria cannot compromise, it is possible to exchange interests in other regions.

The minerals in the Rhineland region are very important to the French, and in fact they are not irreplaceable. Belgium is one of the substitutes.

As long as the coal supply is guaranteed for decades, with the development of maritime transportation, shipping costs will continue to decrease, and the cost of transporting mineral resources from overseas colonies back to the mainland is within the acceptable range of the industry.

Even the French simply took an opportunity to strike first, caught Austria by surprise, and seized the Rhineland region from the battlefield.

Franz never doubted this possibility. The Austrian General Staff has hundreds of combat plans to attack France, and the number is still increasing. It is not surprising that the French have the same idea.

Chapter 88 Times Make Heroes