Holy Roman Empire

Once the war continues, within half a year, they will be in trouble.

The French are not stupid, and naturally considered the consequences of the continuation of the war.After all, besides Bede, the enemy this time also has a giant Austria.

Wars between major powers cannot be ended in one battle. If they fail, there is still a chance to make a comeback.As long as the enemy refuses to compromise, the war will continue.

Once the materials are bought, it does not mean that they can be used immediately, and they have to be shipped back to the country for processing, which will take several months or even longer.

Chapter 153 The Forced Palace and the Fuse

On September 1890, 9, the five countries of Germany, Belgium, Austria, Greece, and Black simultaneously closed the trade channel with France, and the material embargo officially began.

All of a sudden, there was turmoil in the European continent, and everyone knew that this was a harbinger of storms to come, and a war in Europe might be unavoidable.

Persuade the French to make concessions?

The anti-French coalition's material embargo directly pushed the Paris government into a corner.Taking a step back is not the sea and the sky, but the abyss and hell.

To persuade the Anti-French Alliance to calm down?

This is even worse.The anti-French alliance is the victim. If the French were not ambitious and wanted to invade Central Europe, such a thing would never have happened.

The worries of the melon-eaters are just that the European war will harm Chiyu, not how much they love peace, and true pacifists will not be able to take power.

In the Palace of Versailles, Napoleon IV once again held a political meeting with dark circles under his eyes.There is no way, waiting is the most anxiety-provoking.

With the development of the situation, originally they only wanted to gain benefits from the two countries, but now it has evolved into a decisive battle to determine the future fate of France.

Foreign Minister Karel Kadlec: "Austria has already started to form an anti-French alliance, and now it has attracted the four countries of Belgium, North Germany, Greece, and Montenegro to join.

Switzerland and the Netherlands have begun to waver, and anti-French voices in the Spanish government are also rising. The mainstream public opinion in Europe is mostly inclined to the anti-French alliance.

Recently, Austria has strengthened its ties with the Nordic Federation and Portugal.If it continues to drag on, the situation will only become more unfavorable to us. "

Brain supplements are the scariest thing. The Austrian government has been in frequent contact with dignitaries from various countries and announced that this is to strengthen business cooperation.

It’s fine if the Austrian government doesn’t explain it. It’s hard for Karel Kadlecs to doubt this explanation.

In the era of free trade, the government mostly does not interfere with economic operations, and there is no cooperation at all.

The same is true in fact. Although Austria has a high frequency of contacts with various countries, it has not signed a treaty, at least not on the surface.

Karel Kadlec didn't know the details of the negotiations, but he still received the news that the representatives had a happy conversation.

Whether it is deliberately disgusting France, or really intends to join the anti-French alliance, this is not a good thing for the French government.

Prime Minister Terence Bulkin: "Now we are not only in trouble diplomatically, but also in the procurement of strategic materials.

In just a few months, the prices of the strategic materials we plan to purchase have almost doubled, and the prices of some commodities have even doubled directly.

In the name of calming domestic prices, many countries have raised tariffs with us, which has greatly increased the procurement costs of enterprises.

Affected by the insufficient supply of raw materials, some domestic enterprises have begun to cut production capacity, which is very unfavorable for the upcoming war.

There are indications that all of this is controlled by Austria, and they are trying to use these methods to defeat us outside the battlefield! "

Wars between great powers are not only on the battlefield, but also full of swords and swords outside the battlefield.

In this regard, France is undoubtedly at a disadvantage. Austria's foreign trade volume is several times that of France, and its domestic market far exceeds that of France.

The political and economic influence of the two parties has long been out of the same level.Coupled with the impact of historical issues, it is almost inevitable that the French government will be at a disadvantage.

Napoleon IV frowned: "It's not that serious, if European countries really supported the anti-French alliance, they would have joined the blockade against us long ago.

As long as they all join in, it is impossible for us to fight against all countries, and abandoning the China-EU strategy is an inevitable result.

The current situation is more like Austria's single-handed control, pulling the big drama prepared by other countries for us, trying to make us mess up. "

Having been emperor for so many years, Napoleon IV is no longer a newcomer.There are no secrets in politics, and national politics and diplomacy revolve around interests.

Starting from the perspective of interests and analyzing what is most beneficial to a country, one can roughly guess what countries want to do.

There is no doubt that it is in everyone's interest that Fao suffers both sides.Under this background, except for the two foreign parties who cannot be avoided, everyone is the one who does not think it is a big deal to watch the excitement.

Except for countries like Greece and Montenegro who have no choice but to support Austria, the remaining countries have no reason to join the anti-French alliance.

In the eyes of Napoleon IV, the current actions of various countries are to fuel the flames, cheer up the Austrians, and strengthen their determination to go to war with France.

Minister of Economy Elsa: "Your Majesty, we can't delay any longer. When we have completed our war preparations, the enemy has also completed their war preparations.

We are not a member of the free trade system. We are at a disadvantage in terms of purchasing strategic materials, and our domestic economy is also slightly inferior to Austria, so we are not suitable for a protracted war with Austria. "

Napoleon IV figured it out, it was not the ministers who were in a hurry, but the domestic capitalists who were in a hurry.

After confirming that the French government would implement the Central Europe strategy, the capitalists started production at full capacity.

As time goes by, the commodities in everyone's hands are increasing day by day, and the working capital is decreasing day by day. The war still hasn't broken out, and everyone can't wait to think about it.

In case of a major change in the middle, it is suddenly said that the war will not be fought, or it will be delayed for three to five years, and everyone will be finished.

The goods that are sold are the money, and the goods that are backlogged in the hands are not assets, but liabilities, because storage also requires costs.

The government can just think about purchasing in advance, but it is impossible to realize it. The reason is very simple: the French government does not have so many warehouses for storing materials.

In this context, capitalists want to digest the inventory in their hands, they can only let the war break out in advance.

The ministers clamored to launch the war in advance, not everyone was bribed, mainly because they knew that it could not be stopped.

Either the government initiates the war and takes the initiative; or the capitalists initiate the war, and no one knows how the situation will develop.

Before Napoleon IV could make a decision, the attendants hurriedly shouted outside the door: "Your Majesty, there is an urgent military situation at the front."

The situation in Europe is already very tense. At this time, even if the Anti-French Alliance fights first, no one will be surprised.

Hearing the urgent military situation, Napoleon IV naturally did not dare to neglect: "Hurry up and bring it in!"

……

After a moment, Napoleon IV said slowly: "News came from the front line. While patrolling the border between us and Belgium, three soldiers were suddenly attacked by the enemy. Two died and one disappeared."

This is not the first time border friction has occurred, but the situation of dead people has never happened before.

Because the key to the tense situation, the border has long been strengthened, and soldiers go out to patrol in groups, and the distance between neighbors is not too far.

Under normal circumstances, when an accident occurs, the surrounding troops will arrive immediately.The dead are understandable, but the disappearance is intriguing.

As long as the two countries are not out of their minds, they will not do such weird things.But at this juncture, no one cares that much.

Whether it is reasonable or not, the French government wants to go to war, and this is a ready-made excuse for war.

Even if he knew there was something wrong with it, Napoleon IV couldn't get to the bottom of it.Otherwise, if something is found out, the French government will lose face in the end.

But feeling upset is inevitable, the deceased was a French soldier.He didn't die on the battlefield, but because some people wanted to start a war in advance, they suffered an indiscriminate disaster.

Everyone bowed their heads in silence, they were also very embarrassed when this happened!

Earlier, later, it doesn't matter, but not at this time.

Just now everyone lobbied the emperor to go to war, and an excuse for war appeared immediately. No matter how you look at it, it looks like they are forcing the palace.

This kind of misunderstanding is very fatal politically.If it had been changed to a strong emperor, they could go home now.

Under the sharp eyes of Napoleon IV, Prime Minister Terrence Bulkin bit the bullet and said: "Your Majesty, this kind of thing happened, we should immediately hold Belgium accountable.

Order the Kingdom of Belgium to hand over the murderer within 48 hours, release the captured soldiers, and compensate us for our losses.

Either... or else..."

Seeing the increasingly ugly face of Napoleon IV, at the end, Prime Minister Terrence Burkin could not continue, and his voice became intermittent.

As if feeling that it was almost done, Napoleon IV withdrew his murderous gaze, and said coldly: "Just do as the Prime Minister wants, but it's best not to make any more trouble."

Chapter 154 The Confused Belgium

After leaving the palace, Prime Minister Terrence Bulkin's back was soaked, and he knew that he had been fucked.

coincidence?

There are no coincidences in politics, even if it is really a coincidence, the emperor must believe it.

There is no problem in lobbying the emperor to go to war. This is also the job of the prime minister, and it is not overstepped.

But it just happened to catch up with the attack on the soldiers, and the emperor mistakenly thought it was forcing the palace, then there was a big problem.

After a little thought, Terrence Bulkin locked the suspicion on the Undersecretary of Agriculture "Raphael", but he really didn't understand why his cronies wanted to cheat him.

You must know that Raphael was able to win the fat job of managing the farm, or he pushed it up with one hand, and it is also a kindness of knowledge.

The bureaucracy is also concerned with interpersonal relationships. Traitors will be despised wherever they go. Even if they change jobs, it will be after Prime Minister Terrence Bulkin is gone.

Stabbing the back at this time is completely looking for death. With the power of Prime Minister Terrence Bulkin, he is fully capable of knocking Raphael into the dust before his downfall.

Things have happened, there is no need to dwell on this issue now.

Maybe that idiot Rafael was also used by others, at least Prime Minister Terrence Bulkin didn't think Rafael had the guts to plan this incident.

Seemingly calm, let the Belgians take the blame, but it does not mean that the matter is over.

This time, it was the French government and the emperor who were cheated. How could it be possible to not deal with such an obvious attempt to provoke the relationship between the monarch and his ministers?

Prime Minister Terrence Bulkin has decided to investigate to the end. No matter who did it, he must be prepared to face the revenge of the most powerful people in France, provided that he can be found out.

After calming down, Prime Minister Terrence Bulkin quickly put aside these distracting thoughts. There are a lot of things waiting for him to deal with when the war is about to break out. At this time, he has no time to worry about so much.

……

On September 1890, 9, the French government issued a notice to Billy, ordering the Belgian government to hand over the kidnapped soldiers and the murderer who attacked the French soldiers within 24 hours, and pay one billion francs in compensation.

Leopold II, who was still celebrating the remarkable results of the joint blockade after receiving this bad news, was dumbfounded.

Don't wait to play like this.According to the usual practice, after the French encounter a blockade, they should first fight with the anti-French alliance, and then negotiate. It is really impossible to go to war.

However, the French made an excuse for war as soon as they came up, issued a war plan, and did not follow the routine at all.

The French made excuses to start a war. The problem is that they did not go to fight Germany and Austria, but chose Belgium as the rafters. Leopold II was really bitter.

You know, in order to avoid this war, the Belgian government has made a lot of efforts, including active diplomatic mediation.

Originally, they hoped to mediate between Britain and Austria, but the British boss was unreliable, so they sold them; Austria didn't think it was a big deal to watch the excitement. After intervening in the mediation, not only did it fail to find a way to ease the conflict, but it further pushed the French into a corner.

Even though he was forced to join the anti-French alliance, Leopold II began to work hard to reduce his sense of existence, and all the limelight was pushed to Germany and Austria.

It's a pity that those who should come still have to come. Belgium's geographical location determines their characteristics of being beaten, and they can't escape at all.

After regaining his senses, Leopold II asked, "What did the German and Austrian ministers say?"

Concession is impossible, not to mention the huge compensation, the murderer and missing soldiers who do not exist at all, the Belgian government will not be able to pay.

Foreign Minister Juhl replied bitterly: "The German minister did not give a clear answer and has to wait for the domestic decision.

The Austrian envoy said that no matter what decision we make, we will support it, including going to war with France. "

It is easy to say that it is a war, but if there is a war, Belgium will be the biggest victim.

Anyone with a little military knowledge knows that unless the anti-French alliance takes the initiative to attack, Belgium will be the main battlefield for the alliance and the French army to fight.

It is impossible to take the initiative to attack. The anti-French alliance, including Belgium, is not ready for war.

The Austrian army is still in the country, even if they arrive at the fastest speed, it will be half a month later.

In fact, the Austrian army can be put on the battlefield within a month, even if it is going all out.

Perhaps it only takes two days for ordinary people to travel from Vienna to Brussels by train, but the actions of the army are different.

It takes time to assemble troops, it takes time to mobilize, and it takes time to transport equipment and logistical materials.

The transportation capacity of the railway is not unlimited. Ordinary trains can transport at most one battalion of troops at a time. After adding weapons, equipment and logistics supplies, many times a company of troops cannot be transported.

Belgium does not have the ability to solve the logistical problems of reinforcements by itself, and the Austrian army must carry them by itself.

Because the track standards are different, multiple transfers are required midway.Every time you transfer, you need to unload materials, and a lot of time will be wasted along the way.

The most optimistic estimate is that it will take four to five days to arrive in Belgium from Austria.

Including the preparation time in the early stage and the rest time after arrival, it will take ten days at the earliest before they can go into battle.

It seems that the time is not much, but the problem is that the reinforcements are not one or two companies, but thousands of companies.

One train transports one company, and every half an hour, the railway transports at most 48 times a day, which is equivalent to transporting 48 companies, which is almost the strength of two regiments.

It can't be too fast. These days, cross-border railway transportation can be dispatched every half an hour. It is not easy.

There are only a few railways from Austria to Belgium, and if all of them are counted, it is enough to transport two divisions in one day.

In fact, it is a miracle that one division can be guaranteed to be transported every day.