Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 386: There Are Pits You Must Jump Into

In London, Prime Minister John Russell is extremely dissatisfied with the current situation in Europe.

The French government has actually provided a loan to the Russians. While for the British, the amount is not too large, just a meager 100 million francs, the political implications behind this are very alarming.

Originally, it was agreed that Britain and France would jointly provide funds and support to the Kingdom of Prussia in a proxy war against the Russians.

Now on the battlefield, just as the Kingdom of Prussia has run into a crisis, the French cant wait to kick them while theyre down.

Perhaps in the eyes of the French government, this is a timely cutting of losses to gain a greater return. From the British standpoint, however, Prime Minister John Russell cannot tolerate it.

The situation in Europe is deteriorating. France and Russia are getting closer, and the French governments position has changed. They intend to join hands with Russia to partition Prussia.

Perhaps Austria will also join in. As long as France and Russia are willing to support Austria in annexing the German Federal Empire, it will become a three-way division of the European continent between Russia, France, and Austria.

This is the worst situation. Each of the three powers of Russia, France, and Austria has the strength to challenge us. If we allow them to carve up Europe, it will become even harder to restrain them.

For the strategic security of Britain, we must prevent all of this from happening.

John Russell possessed a strong sense of crisis, which seems to be a common trait among island nations and a source of their success.

The policy of the British government is to maintain the balance on the continent. While the balance still holds, the growing power of the Russia-France-Austria trio poses a serious threat to their dominance.

Originally, the British government planned to first suppress the Russians and then use the Italian question to provoke conflicts between France and Austria, thus keeping them mutually restrained on the European continent.

But plans couldnt keep up with the ever-changing situation in reality. The conflicts between France and Austria have not been ignited, and the Russian Empire is about to break through the limits and control the Baltic Sea.

Foreign Secretary Raistlin analyzed, Prime Minister, this recent rapprochement between France and Russia began with concessions made by the Russian government.

Supporting the French annexation of the Rhineland, the Russians also have their own agenda. Its important to note that there are agreements in place among Austria, Belgium, Prussia, the German Federal Empire, Spain, and other nations. If any one of them faces a French invasion, they will unite in defense.

Even if the Russians support the French, Austria and Russia are still allies. The Russian government is unlikely to send troops to help the French in battle, right?

Nationalism is a double-edged sword. If we can stir up nationalism in the region of Germany, Austria wont be able to turn a blind eye to the French annexation of the Rhineland.

With the defense treaty in place, although the French are powerful, Austria is equally strong. Along with Spain, Belgium, the German Federal Empire, and other countries, the French have slim chances of success.

Napoleon III is not a fool. He wouldnt embark on such a risky venture without a chance of success.

The possibility of Russia, France, and Austria jointly partitioning the European continent, I believe, is almost zero, primarily due to the unequal distribution of spoils.

What the Russians can get is too little, since Austria cannot give up Germany. After the Russians gain the Prussian-controlled areas of Poland, their path forward would be blocked by Austria.

Of course, if the Russian government is willing, they could expand towards the Nordic regions. But Sweden is no soft persimmon either, success would not come without paying a price.

Moreover, if the Russo-Prussian War is already proving difficult, do the Russians have the capability to attack Sweden?

This was indeed a problem. Although the Russian Empire is powerful, signs of fatigue have already emerged. If it were the pre-Near East War Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia would have been defeated long ago.

The primary reason the Russian government did not rely on the tactic of overwhelming numbers to defeat Prussia was the lack of funds. Increasing the number of troops on the front lines also meant increasing military expenditure.

Fighting on the North German Plain, with rivers available for transporting strategic supplies, theoretically, even if the Russian government deployed a million troops, they could ensure the supply of resources.

In their current state of exhaustion, attempting to partition Europe with France and Austria would clearly result in significant losses for them. Just controlling the Prussian-controlled Polish territories would be sufficient. Theres no need to take such a dangerous gamble.

No, Raistlin. These are all theories, you must understand that the Russian Empire is a dictatorship. As long as the Tsar deems it feasible, it could become a reality.

We cannot treat rational deductions the same as the Tsars decision-making process. In fact, most Russian Tsars are irrational.

Russia, France, and Austria are all autocracies, as long as the emperors make the decision, they can ally immediately. We cannot give them any opportunity to draw closer.

This isnt pessimism from Prime Minister John Russell, but rather something that leaders of a country must consider. For Great Britain, theres no need for any risks right now; stability is the most important thing.

No matter what stage the Franco-Russian relationship has reached, disrupting their relationship is never wrong.

Being the troublemaker in Europe, half of the continents conflicts over the past century have been stirred up by them, and now its time for another performance.

The Prussian government is obstructing, and the British are also causing trouble, so Franz naturally cant remain idle.

He had been schemed against, so he certainly had to retaliate. However, since the loan contracts have been signed, they naturally cannot be torn up. The real issue now is where to strike back.

Alexander II also knew to use civilized means to scheme within the rules. Of course, Franz could not violate the rules either.

Supporting the conservatives in the Russian Empire?

Not appropriate!

That would be interfering too deeply in Russias internal affairs, which would only worsen relations between the two countries without any benefit. Franz did not think those people could prevail against Alexander II.

Secretly support the revolutionaries?

This was even more impossible. As an emperor, Franz naturally stands in opposition to the revolutionaries, and supporting the enemy is out of the question.

Moreover, the Russian Empire is in a terrible state. What if it gets overthrown?

The decadent Russian government is Austrias best ally, while a new Russia is Austrias biggest threat. Franz cannot afford to take such a risk.

Sow discord between the Russians and various European countries?

It seemed there was no use in doing that, as the Russian government was already isolated even without Franzs intervention.

After much contemplation, Franz finally concluded with resignation: under the Austro-Russian alliance, there was no way to undermine Russia in the short term.

Foreign Minister Wessenberg said, Your Majesty, the Russian government has requested our help in modifying a batch of rifles into breech-loading rifles.

In times of war, even the Russian government placed great importance on weapons and equipment. Having personally experienced the power of breach-loading rifles, they had no choice but to abandon muzzle-loading rifles.

Modifying muzzle-loaders into breech-loaders was naturally to save costs. In this sense, the Russo-Prussian War also contributed by making the Russian government learn to economize carefully.

Converting hundreds of thousands of rifles was just a small business deal. If it werent for the political significance of the arms trade, there would have been no need for intervention by the foreign ministries of the two countries.

Franz pondered for a moment and said, Hmm, let them negotiate with the capitalists, we wont interfere with free trade.

Send people to promote breech-loading rifle production lines to the Russians, and take the opportunity to sell them the refurbished old stock from our warehouses.

Remember to tell the Russians that breech-loading artillery also has superior power, and recommend they purchase a batch for trial.

Converting muzzle-loading rifles takes time, so the troops at the front certainly cannot wait. In such circumstances, they could only purchase from Austria.

This was the benefit of promoting Austrian equipment to the Russian government during the Near East War. Not only would they earn service fees, but when purchasing equipment from abroad, the Russians would also have to choose Austria.

After the Russo-Prussian War broke out, the Russian government immediately placed orders with Austria to purchase strategic materials, mainly because their standards system was the same.

With the path already paved, Franz naturally couldnt allow the Russians to escape the influence of Austrian equipment in this arms revolution, as it was related to future strategies.

In peacetime, the Russians could slowly upgrade their weapons themselves. The breech-loading technology was not that advanced so it would just take them a few more years.

No major power was willing to be dependent on others for long in terms of weaponry. Alexander II was also no slacker. If not for lack of funds, he would have probably overhauled the military-industrial complex long ago.

Unfortunately for the Russians, the last time they upgraded weapons was during the Near East War. To save time, Austrian equipment became the mainstream in the military.

This time, with another weapons upgrade coinciding with the Russo-Prussian War. War waits for no one and Franz was again preparing to forcibly sell Austrian equipment to the Russians.

They want to avoid being dependent on other countries, but doesnt Russia have a million-strong army? Outfitting so many troops and changing weapon production lines, how much money would that require?

If they had no money, then they would just have to keep using the old equipment. From a cost perspective, directly purchasing the Austrian system would not be much more expensive than independent research and development.

As for whether this approach might lead to the loss of independent research and development capability, thats not something the Russian bureaucrats care about. Instead of considering all that, theyd rather think about how to make money.

With two to three generations consecutively adopting the Austrian military-industrial system, the Russian weapons research and development personnel are almost obsolete. To break free from this situation in the future, they will have to retrain talent.

Franz could understand why Alexander II had always been unhappy with Austria. In a situation like this, no one would be pleased.

Unfortunately, this was a trap, just like his schemes against Austria. Despite knowing it was a trap, Franz would still pour real money into it, and now the Russian government was doing the same.

It couldnt be that they would ignore the frontline war needs just to ensure military-industrial independence, letting soldiers carry outdated muzzle-loading rifles and offering themselves as targets to the enemy, could it?

That would truly be sending troops to their deaths. Breech-loading rifles could fire from a prone position, while muzzle-loading rifles could only be used for volley-firing tactics.

Just imagining it made it clear how brutal the slaughter would be on the battlefield if they encountered each other.

Foreign Minister Wessenberg explained, Your Majesty, we actually dont need to actively promote it. Just delaying the pace of modification would be sufficient.

Recently, the Prussians have been performing remarkably well, exploiting their superiority in weapons and equipment to repeatedly inflict heavy casualties on the Russian army in field battles.

While the Russians have naval superiority and continuously strike the coastal areas of the Kingdom of Prussia, their preparations are inadequate to capitalize on their gains.

This is the crux of the problem. In theory, as long as the Russian navy covers the landing of the army and launches attacks from all sides within the Kingdom of Prussia, the kingdom would collapse in a matter of months.

However, the Russian government was not prepared. While the navys attacks on the coastal areas of the Kingdom of Prussia were successful, unfortunately, the army did not follow up to take advantage of this.

The distance between Prussia and Russia is not far, so it cannot be considered a distant expedition, but necessary logistical support is still required.

There was no doubt the Russian government currently lacked sufficient strategic materials, or rather, no way to transport so many strategic materials.

To supply the troops at the front, the Russian government had to keep buying and buying. This was not just because the Russian Empires production capacity was insufficient, but more critically, the transportation was too poor.

The Russian-controlled Polish territory is one of their granaries. Most of the food supply in St. Petersburg comes from there. Now that this land is lost, the Russian government naturally has to draw grain from other areas.

With the railways not functioning smoothly, transportation via horse-drawn carts or ox carts from regions like Ukraine and Moscow to the front lines would take at least a couple of months.

And that was with favorable weather. This situation worsens during winter, where transportation could take 2-3 months or more. Such poor transportation not only increases costs but also limits the amount of material that can be transported.

While the troops at the front could import strategic materials from neighboring Austria for operations, it would not work for cross-sea operations. Even if supplies are imported from Austria, they must be transported in a roundabout manner.

This was Russias own doing. If they had deployed the navy to attack Prussian coastal areas from the start of the war, then they could have used Polands rivers to transport materials imported from Austria.

Now there was no point thinking about it, as most of Russian Poland had fallen into enemy hands. To transport materials now, they would either have to go overland through Belarus or make a huge sea detour along the European continent.

Either route limited the transport volume.

The Russians could have purchased strategic materials from other European countries, but no one was selling what they were buying. Unless they paid in hard currency, no one would do business with them.

Due to financial constraints, the Russian government could not massively procure materials from various countries, which was why Alexander II was in such a hurry to borrow money.

Only by resolving the financial issues could they gather enough strategic materials to fully utilize their naval advantage.