Chapter 675

The winter wind blew away the scattered clouds, mixed with the scent of the earth, which was addicting.

In the quiet small village, wisps of cooking smoke rose, and it was blown up and down, as if telling how difficult life was.

As night gradually fell, Joseph Han, the militiaman in charge of vigilance, breathed a sigh of relief. Today is finally safe. Without spending the book, Joseph Han didn't know how to feel his emotions, so he could only sigh helplessly.

Since the outbreak of the Prussian-Russian War, the atmosphere in the border area has been tense, especially after the Cossack cavalry swept the atmosphere to a climax.

Budasqi Village is located in Lubsen, less than 100 kilometers from the front line, and is naturally a key warning area.

In order to combat the arrogance of the enemy, the Berlin government formed a militia on the spot and issued weapons.

The border line between Prussia and Russia is really too long. Under the background that the main force of the Prussian army is contained, even if the rear is on guard, it cannot fully defend against the enemy's invasion.

The big cities are okay, there are troops stationed there, and the Cossack cavalry will not bite the hard bones. The small towns and villages scattered all over the place have blood mold and become the favorite of "robbers".

Joseph Han went to a village that was baptized by "robbers", and it was a complete hell on earth.

Burning houses, heads hanging at the entrance of the village, wreckage all over the ground, survivors with short arms and short legs... are all telling the atrocities of the "robbers".

Under the pressure of reality, the honest Joseph Han took up arms and joined the militia to defend the peace of the small village.

Said to be defense, in fact, they do not have the strength to fight the enemy. The main task of the militia is to send a signal in time after finding the enemy, to cover the people to enter the castle, defend the castle, and wait for the regular army to come.

Not every place has a castle, and not every castle has the ability to defend, as long as the castles of some big nobles can resist the robbery of "robbers".

In the past 100 years, Poland has suffered repeated wars, and many local nobles have lost their lives. The wealth of emerging aristocrats is not strong, and many people have given up building castles due to the influence of new ideas.

There is no castle fortress in the plain area, and it is almost impossible to resist the robbery of the cavalry.

For the sake of safety, the local people have already taken action, under the organization of the government, to repair or rebuild the castle to resist the invasion of "robbers".

European people are very talented in this regard. Every war is accompanied by robbery. After thousands of years, everyone has long practiced unique life-saving skills.

This time it was nothing more than the fact that the enemy was a little more ruthless, and life would still be the same.

Under the crisis of being robbed by robbers at any time, the night has become everyone's favorite, and the enemy will not act at this time.

Letting go of their nervousness, the militiamen went home in twos and threes, including Joseph Han. Perhaps because of physical and mental exhaustion, everyone tacitly did not speak.

When I got home, my wife had prepared dinner. The food was very simple. Baked potatoes and vegetables were all grown at home.

A family of five, with only six fist-sized baked potatoes, is obviously not enough to eat, not even enough for Joseph Han alone.

No way, people's livelihood is so difficult. In normal times, they only have two meals, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. They don't need to work at night, so they don't have dinner.

Joseph Han joined the militia and had to train every day, so he had to keep up with nutrition; his wife and children were going to build the fort, and they also needed to increase nutrition, so he added a dinner.

It was really dark tonight, and there was no moonlight. The always frugal wife had to light the candle cruelly.

Maybe it was because he was too hungry, or maybe he was reluctant to even peel the potato skins, so Joseph Han stuffed it into his mouth.

"Han, I heard that the town of Fick, twenty miles away, was sacked by the Russians, and all the militiamen were killed. You must be careful when you go out!"

His wife's uneasy voice made Joseph Han's heart tremble. He had also heard about the situation in Fick Town. Not only were all the militiamen killed, but even the elderly and the weak were killed and injured.

The enemy killed all the resisters, and the survivors were either wounded or maimed. It is clear that the Russians are deliberately causing casualties and increasing the burden on the Berlin government.

Either because there were too many wounded, the government was unable to resettle them;

Joseph Han: "Don't worry, I will be careful. You should also be careful. Once you find the enemy coming, hide in the cellar. The Russians won't stay for long."

Obviously, Joseph-Han has no confidence in the castle under construction. Now is the age of hot weapons, but the castles built are stuck in the last century.

It's not that people don't want to build more solid buildings. Castles are being built everywhere. Steel, cement, and stone materials are scarce, so they can only build earth walls.

The Berlin government has increased imports, but the cost is high, and it can only be used on strategically important sites. The city defense projects are not enough, and ordinary villages are not at all.

Some people have proposed evacuating villages and concentrating people in cities to reduce civilian casualties.

Too bad it's just a thought.

Because of the war, the grain output of the Commonwealth has dropped significantly, and it was a great victory to be able to maintain 80% of its production capacity in 1880.

If the border areas are abandoned, these main grain-producing areas, the grain production capacity of the Pubo Federation will further decline. The annual food gap of millions of tons is not so easy to make up.

"understood."

Tired body and mind, so they have no interest in chatting. After finishing dinner in the shortest time possible, the wife hurriedly extinguished the candles.

...

Under the sunlight, the signboard of the "Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs" is particularly dazzling.

A special diplomatic carriage was parked at the entrance of the building, and a middle-aged man in a suit stepped out of the carriage, holding a stack of thick documents, and strode into the building.

The secretary whispered: "Your Excellency Minister, Count Kovacevich, Minister of Popo Federal in Vienna, is visiting."

Wesenberg put down the coffee in his hand and asked, "Did he have an appointment in advance?"

As Foreign Minister Wesenberg, there is a lot of work, and the schedule is full almost every day. Unless it is a special situation, general diplomatic activities need to be booked in advance.

The secretary replied: "No. But Kovacevic's face is very ugly, and he has repeatedly stressed that there is an urgent matter, and he must see you immediately."

"I'm in a hurry." Wesenberg, who was about to refuse, was startled. He immediately thought of the Russian-Prussian War and said slowly, "Please come in. Remember to tell him that I only have half an hour to spare."

...

After a few chats, Minister Kovacevich handed the thick document to Wesenberg and said, "Your Excellency, these photos and information are provided by enthusiastic people, and they show the atrocities of the Russians."

After taking the document and flipping through it, Wesenberg saw the corpses, burning houses, and hanging human heads everywhere in the photo, all telling the barbaric crimes.

Around was the well-informed Wesenberg, who was also shocked. He didn't read any further, just closed the file and surrendered his gaze to Kovacevich.

"Your Excellency Minister, your country has always been the main force in maintaining world peace and international order. For God's sake, we hope that your country can intervene and stop the atrocities of the Russians."

The Berlin government was exhausted to deal with the indiscriminate tactics of the Russians, and had no choice but to turn to the international community for help.

No matter how cruel the nature of the world is, countries in the European continent still know how to restrain themselves. The Russians' way of playing has long been outdated.

Ignoring Kovacevic's flattery, Wesenberg replied slowly: "This question is very involved, and we must investigate and confirm it before we can give you an answer.

However, Your Excellency the Minister can rest assured that as long as the above content is proved to be true, the righteous people around the world will not allow such atrocities to exist. "

There is no doubt that this is a procrastination decision. The atrocities of the Russians are no secret at all, but Austria has sent a military observation team, and what happened on the front line is clear.

Knowing is knowing, in the absence of sufficient interests, the Vienna government will not intervene.

Similar things are not only done by the Russians, but also by the Prussian army in the slaughter of villages and towns, and the major colonial empires have done even more overseas.

It's just that the cover was not lifted, and everyone tacitly chose to ignore it. The tsarist government has done too much this time, and the civilian casualties of the Popo Federation have reached hundreds of thousands.

In war years, small-scale killings are inevitable, and large-scale killings break the rules.

The Russian army did not massacre, and it was almost the same as massacre. Except for the dead, the rest were all wounded, and most of them were permanently disabled.

Minister Kovacevich said with a bitter expression: "Your Excellency, these photos were taken by enthusiastic people who risked their lives, and I can guarantee that they are all real.

Now every day thousands of people die under the knife of the Russians..."

Wesenberg waved his hand: "Don't worry, Your Excellency Minister. The real thing can't be fake, and the fake can't be real.

As long as you are a member of the civilization camp, you will not let this happen. I will arrange someone to investigate now, you go back first and wait for the news! "

Kovacevic was sent away, and Wesenberg had another headache. To intervene or not to intervene, this is a vexing question.