Flowers, Swords and France

The Turks present are all experienced and wise people. Of course they can understand that the so-called Caucasus offensive is nothing more than a euphemistic excuse to let the French and Turkish armies act separately. They also just want to choose what they want. Fighting on the battlefield, and unwilling to intervene in all aspects of the Turkish and Russian fronts.

Therefore, in the Caucasus, the Turkish army can only face the Russians alone. With the current strength and morale of the Turkish army, it will be difficult to resist the vigorous Russian front in any case. It is conceivable that this is useless The front line of victory can only delay time at best, and may even lead to a rout.

Fortunately, the Caucasus region is far away from Istanbul. Even if it is defeated in the Caucasus, it will not damage the entire empire, and its vitality can be preserved. Of course, the premise is that the French army can really fulfill their commitments and rely on the strength of themselves and the British. Defeat the Russians.

"We will shoulder our due war responsibilities, and at the same time we will do our best to maintain the front line so that your army can carry out its own plans with the greatest freedom." After the initial depression, Grand Vizier said He reluctantly calmed down and did not want to appear to be at a loss, "However, we also believe that a coordinated diplomatic stance and mutually echoing military actions are necessary conditions to contain the Russians so that they can lose sight of one thing and win the final victory. "

Although he spoke very tough words, he had already made concessions in his position through words such as "response from afar" and tactfully agreed to the French request, and was willing to bear full responsibility for holding back the Russians on the Caucasus battlefield. As part of the army, the only condition is that all countries must coordinate their positions.

And this is what the Turks are most worried about. Now all countries have gathered to help them fight against the Russians, but they know full well that all this is definitely not because Britain, France and other countries have any special affection for the Turks. They are just for It just prevents the Russians from expanding their influence wantonly, and this brings about a very terrible situation-the war between Britain and France The goals of the struggle are definitely different from those of the Turks. For Britain and France, they are fighting for honor and influence, but for Turkey, they are fighting for the life and death of the empire. What they fear most is that Britain and France are fighting. At a certain point in time, they suddenly decided not to fight and then made peace with the Russians alone. At that time, it was naturally a complete disaster for the Turks who were fighting alone.

Therefore, the Turks are willing to make concessions to Britain and France on all issues, but they only need a guarantee that Britain and France will support them and will never abandon them midway.

The French people present were naturally very clear about the Turks' intentions. In this environment, since the Sultan and his ministers were so sensible, they were willing to give them some tranquilizers in order to continue to gain their cooperation.

"Coordination in terms of political stance is of course necessary." The French Minister to Turkey, Baron de Carlini, spoke immediately. He was naturally the one to speak on this diplomatic issue, "We intend to work with the British , signed a secret agreement with your country, stipulating that our allies will never negotiate for peace with the Russians privately, and this war must be ended with the protection of Turkey’s territorial and sovereign integrity.”

"This is great!" Sultan Abdulmecid I, who had been silent on the throne, smiled happily at this time. He finally got what he wanted most, and after spending a lot of money, he smiled happily. It took a lot of energy to regain his composure without losing his composure.

Then, the Sultan looked at his Grand Vizier and ordered, "The relevant treaty must be signed as soon as possible. This is the most urgent matter for the empire now."

"Yes." The Sudanese Prime Minister agreed.

"We still have good news to tell His Majesty..." At this time, Baron De Carlini showed the elegant smile unique to diplomats, "Not only the British, but now the public opinion in the entire Europe is biased towards us and toward Russia. We are deeply indignant at man's insatiable greed and boundless ambition - and some of our friends already intend to support us more than just verbally, such as the Kingdom of Sardinia , they are very enthusiastic about participating in this war and helping us resist the hateful Russians... In addition, the Austrians are also eager to give it a try. Although they do not want to directly send troops to fight against the Russians for the time being, they are also willing to cooperate at the diplomatic level Put pressure on the Russians, so Your Majesty, if we work hard enough, it will be very easy to build an anti-Russian alliance."

Since His Majesty Napoleon III came to power, the Kingdom of Sardinia has always been very close to France. It wants to use the power of France to expand its power in Italy, please France in every possible way, and become one of France's vassals, obeying the French Empire. However, when France and Russia were at odds with each other and were clearly heading towards war, the Kingdom of Sardinia was in trouble and had been unwilling to make a clear stance, fearing that it would also be involved in such a war with an uncertain future.

It wasn't until the British clearly expressed their support for France's actions and claimed that they would also participate in such an expedition that the Kingdom of Sardinia no longer had trouble. They found that this was a business that was sure to make a profit without losing any money. The price was paid to win the favor of Britain and France - anyway, they were thousands of miles away from Russia, and there was no way the Russians could do anything to them.

So they immediately changed their hesitant attitude and actively requested to join this military operation. Of course, France was happy to have another country in its camp, so it also took a positive attitude towards it.

The Austrians were already very dissatisfied with the Russians' actions. After receiving the support of Britain and France, they were more confident and felt that they could become tougher on the Russians. However, under the current circumstances, Austria was destined to be at odds with the Russians, and even more so. This strengthened their determination to continue the stalemate with the Russians.

As a result, the original actions of Britain and France against the Russians gradually turned into an anti-Russian chorus in most of Europe, which was quite similar to the anti-French alliance of the past.

This news naturally made the Sultan overjoyed. The Ottoman Empire has always been regarded as an evil pagan country by European countries, despised and hated, and has always been the target of violent beatings by European countries. Who could have imagined that today, it would be Countries unite to support? The complexity of diplomacy and politics is exacerbated by this.

Such an opportunity is naturally not to be missed for Sudan. He has always wanted to clear his country's barbaric brand in the eyes of Europeans, and this will be an excellent opportunity for him.

He signaled to his ministers to start negotiations with European countries as soon as possible and conclude an agreement, and at the same time he was willing to assume his own responsibilities for this. At the moment, Britain and France were nothing more than saviors for him.

"Your Majesty, you are right just now. We should coordinate politically and militarily." After the ambassador finished, Marshal Treville continued to take over, "And judging from the situation we have received so far, The British will immediately gather troops and transport them here to coordinate the operations of our two countries. Therefore, we suggest that the three countries establish a joint headquarters as soon as possible to coordinate each other's military mobilization. After all, the most important thing for military operations is to coordinate... "

"I very much agree with your opinion, Your Excellency Marshal." Before the Sudan could reply, Grand Vizier spoke immediately, "So I think that after the British army arrives, the generals of our three countries need to gather together. Then work together to discuss a suitable command structure, and only in this way can we work together and conduct the battlefield war in the most concerted manner."

The Grand Vizier Muhammad Ali Pasha had already seen that these French generals did not pay attention to the Turks at all. The only ones who were slightly afraid were the British, but they had no choice. After all, they were now They are in a position of asking for help from others, and the Ottoman Empire's army has indeed been retreating steadily in front of European powers in the past century, so they can only endure this kind of contempt.

And he could also see that the French just wanted to seize a favorable position before the British officially arrived, so that they could be in a superior position to command the war. Therefore, in line with his long-standing pro-British stance, he was unwilling to let Sudan be overly influenced by the French at this time - so much so that from a different standpoint than the British, Turkey essentially relied more on the British to preserve itself. .

This polite and unhesitating answer made the French look at each other, and they could see from the attitude of the Sultan and his ministers that the Turks were determined not to do anything to displease the British.

"In that case, I think you are right. We will coordinate after the British arrive." Although Marshal Treville's attitude is still polite, he is a bit colder than before. "However, before that, we must repair our camp so that we can provide enough accommodation for the French army that will arrive next. In addition, we also need to set up a telegraph line between Turkey and France so that we can reach the border as soon as possible. Make contact locally.”

"As your Majesty promised before, we will do our best to facilitate your army, and you can do whatever you feel is necessary." Grand Vizier replied immediately.

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Of course they can see that the French are not very happy because of their rejection, so now in order to appease the French, they can only agree to all the conditions they put forward. There is no doubt that the French will dominate, but this is The price necessary to save the empire.

"Thank you, sir." Marshal Treville's face finally looked a little better.

In this way, after the initial negotiations, the French and the Sultan completed the negotiation work. Although each was somewhat dissatisfied, they finally reached a compromise acceptable to both parties.

After the audience, the Sultan enthusiastically invited the French generals to attend a grand banquet at the palace, and the French generals naturally did not refuse. They accompanied the Sultan and his ministers to toast to the friendship between the two countries and the victory of the war.

"The British will be grateful to these Turks, they did not let us skin them alive." When the banquet reached the most lively part, the Duke of Elchingen said in the marshal's ear, "As a token of gratitude, the British will These people were skinned alive.”

"As expected." The old Marquis replied calmly.