Chapter 667

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

On November 27, 1879, the Russian army reinforcing Brest was ambushed by the Prussian army halfway, and the southwest battlefield turned a corner.

On the surface, the Vienna government of the Prussian-Russian War only needed the final result of the relationship, and the changes on the local battlefield were not enough to make everyone so prepared.

However, the Southwest battlefield is an exception. On the one hand, it is because the tsarist government mortgaged the land west of the Dnieper River to Austria. If these areas fall into the hands of the Popo Federation, it will be very troublesome for the Vienna government to collect debts in the future. (limited to Ukraine)

On the other hand, it is for export trade. Since the outbreak of the war, the Tsarist government has been buying and selling in Austria.

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

In order to make money from the war, the Vienna government has also made full preparations. Many state-owned enterprises have added production lines. If the volume of Russian-Austrian trade decreases, these enterprises will suffer heavy losses.

It is about vital interests, and the government should naturally pay attention to it. As for the year-end meeting, it's important to say it's important, and it's the same thing to say it's not important.

The year-end meeting includes: a summary of the current year's political, economic, diplomatic, and military developments, as well as government plans for the coming year.

All departments have already done their homework, and now reporting to Franz is also preparing for the budget competition for the coming year.

Most of these plans revolved around national policies. The core was originally led by Franz. When it came to specific plans, he rarely intervened. The cabinet government was in charge.

...

Franz: "Chief of Staff, tell me about the current situation on the front line!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" replied Chief of Staff Albrecht.

"Yesterday afternoon, the Russian troops who had set out from the Warren area for reinforcements in Brest were ambushed by the Prussians as soon as they crossed the Pripyat River.

Because these Russian troops were temporarily mixed from various places, and the organizational relationship had not been straightened out, 30,000 Russian troops were defeated by a Prussian army division, and the loss of troops was at least more than 8,000.

The remaining troops have become frightened and fled, a large number of weapons and equipment have been abandoned, and they have lost the ability to fight again in a short period of time.

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

If I were Mao Qi, I would give up Brest and focus on Koveli. If you win here, you can either take Kyiv in the east or go to Brest in the north.

However, the Prussian army only occupied the advantage in the southwest battlefield. The Russians to the north had come to Riga, and the defenses of the Vizeme heights were in jeopardy; the central battlefield, Smolinsk, had been turned into a meat grinder.

Judging from the current situation, the Russians may take land and sea. Relying on the advantages of the Russian navy, it is very possible to have an advantage on the Baltic coast. "

Franz: "So, Mao Qi must be under a lot of pressure now?"

Albrecht replied affirmatively: "That's right!"

If the Prussian army is delayed in making a substantial breakthrough on the battlefield, the homeland is seriously threatened after the Russians took action in the Baltic Sea, and the naval faction within the Berlin government rises, it will be lively.

Involved in vital interests, the people in the coastal areas made trouble, and the naval faction took the opportunity to exert force, even if Mao Qi was highly respected, he could not withstand the pressure from all parties.

Franz sighed secretly, any famous general is always so powerless when faced with an internal crisis. Mao Qi is eager to open up the situation in the Southwest battlefield, I am afraid it is also based on this.

From a purely military point of view, in fact, if the Russian army is allowed to enter the Polish area, and then find a way to encircle and destroy it, the odds of winning will be even greater.

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

A military strategy, a political failure. If the Russians were really let in, the Poles would be alienated from them.

Foreign Minister Wesenberg reminded: "According to the intelligence we have received, Russian diplomacy has also made breakthroughs.

They seem to have secretly promised the Danes that just a week earlier, the Danish government had submitted plans for naval exercises to the Nordic federal parliament in the Denmark Strait.

If the plan passes, the sea transportation channel of the Pubo Federation will be cut off. The Russian bid should be high, the Swedes have already moved, and the odds of passing are high. "

The sea blockade will not kill the Pope Federation, and they can also borrow from the German Federal Empire to transport supplies by the Elbe River.

However, in this way, the logistical pressure will be greatly increased. The most important thing is the standing of the Nordic Federation, and the diplomatic situation is very unfavorable for the Berlin government.

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

The Danes have always wanted to get the duchies back, and as long as the Russians are willing to pay for the Swedes, everything is possible.

The confusing situation gave Franz a headache. I originally thought that the combination of William I + Mao Qi was already very good, but I didn't expect Alexander II to be easy to mess with.

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

Franz has not found any sign of an uprising in Russia since the start of the war, which is a remarkable achievement.

You know, in modern times the tsarist government is a

A strange thing, every time there is a foreign war, there will be an uprising at home.

There were no problems, meaning that the reforms of Alexander II were successful. A stable Russian Empire, absolutely terrifying.

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

The staff closely followed the direction of the war and found that either side might gain an overwhelming advantage, and they had to report to me as soon as possible.

Judging from the current situation, the Russians seem to have a better chance of winning, so we will not move and wait for the British and French to give blood to the Commonwealth of Popo.

Once the balance of power between the two sides is out of balance, they secretly sell the Mark-core machine gun technology to the weaker side, teach them to use trench tactics, and prolong the war 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, the balance of power on the battlefield was broken. If the Pope Federation was weak, Britain and France would be responsible for blood transfusions; if the Russians were weak, Austria would be responsible for blood transfusions.

Anyway, whoever is weaker supports whoever is weaker, and it is everyone's pursuit to make both Prussia and Russia suffer. Not letting the fourth pole rise is the common will of the three old empires.

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

Low-tech weapons, Franz never felt the need for secrecy. I didn't take it out in advance because it wasn't necessary.

In order to achieve strategic goals, throwing a few technologies out is nothing at all. If it weren't for performance issues, Franz was ready to throw out the tank technology.

It's a pity that it's hard to play its due role when this thing is thrown out.

The steam engine tank with a big brain hole is too big, slow, and very inflexible, and it is easy to become the target of artillery.

The internal combustion engine powered tank has insufficient performance, the cost is too expensive, and the cost performance is too low to be used at all.

Austria can't afford it, and Franz doesn't think Prussia can afford it. Besides, they can't produce the engine either.

Despite the fact that the internal combustion engine has been around for a few years, it's actually still high-tech.

Except for Austria, which has gone far in this regard because of Franz, other countries have not invested much research and development funds at all.

Technology is made of money. Without capital investment, it is naturally difficult to achieve results.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Albrecht replied

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

The London government pretended to be an ostrich and handed over the seized ship to the Chileans, so Austria naturally sought the unlucky of the Chilean government.

Bullying the soft and fearing the hard has always been the true nature of the foreign powers. To demand compensation from the British and to demand compensation from the Chilean government are completely two concepts.

Foreign Minister Wesenberg said with a smile: "The three children in South America are still fighting, and there should be no winner in the short term.

Since the British handed over the seized ship to the Chilean government, things have gone much better. The only problem now is that the supplies on the seized ship are gone and we are talking to the Chileans about compensation.

We would now have an agreement with the Chilean government, had it not been for the sudden intervention of the British.

Perhaps the British were too greedy, which aroused the dissatisfaction of 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 saltpeter is not the only one, and Austria has also discovered some saltpeter mines in the colonies, in terms of cost, it is still the cheapest to import Chilean ores.

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

Selling well to France and Austria seems to be betraying national interests, but in fact it lays the foundation for winning this war.

If the two big hooligans are not dealt with in advance, even if they defeat Peru and Bolivia, they will never be able to eat the benefits.

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

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

Franz can't help but sigh: No country can stand out by chance.