Holy Roman Empire

Looking at the aggregated battle losses between Prussia and Russia, Franz came to the conclusion of "a draw".

The Russian soldiers suffered more casualties, and the Pubo Federation suffered more civilian casualties, and no one took advantage of it.

Chapter 245 Headache

The winter wind is blowing, blowing away the drifting clouds, mixed with the smell of soil, it is intoxicating.

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

As night fell, Joseph Han, the militiaman in charge of security, breathed a sigh of relief. Today was finally safe.Having never read a book, Joseph Han didn't know how to feel, so he could only sigh helplessly.

Since the outbreak of the Russo-Prussian War, the atmosphere in the border area has become tense, especially after the Cossack cavalry plundered the atmosphere to a climax.

Budasiqi Village is located in Lubsen, less than [-] kilometers away from the front line, so it is naturally a key alert area.

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

The border between Prussia and Russia is too long. With the main force of the Prussian army being restrained, even if the rear is well prepared, it cannot fully defend against the enemy's invasion.

Fortunately, the big cities are garrisoned by troops, and the Cossack cavalry will not gnaw hard bones. Small towns and villages scattered all over the country have reached the blood mold and become the favorite of "robbers".

Joseph Han personally visited a village that was baptized by "bandits", and it was a hell on earth.

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

Forced by reality, the honest and honest Joseph Han took up arms and joined the militia to defend the tranquility of the small village.

It is said to be a defense, but in fact they do not have the strength to fight the enemy.The main task of the militia is to send out signals in time after discovering the enemy, cover the people entering the castle, defend the castle, and wait for the regular army to come.

Not every place has castles, and not every castle has the ability to defend. Only a small number of castles of great nobles can resist the looting of "robbers".

In the past hundred years, the Polish region has suffered repeated wars, and many local nobles have disappeared.The families of the emerging nobles are not well-off, and many people have given up building castles under the influence of new ideas.

There are no castles and fortresses in the plain area, and it is almost impossible to resist the looting of cavalry.

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

The European people are very talented in this regard. Every war is accompanied by robbery. After thousands of years, everyone has already developed a unique life-saving ability.

This time it was nothing more than the fact that the enemy was a little more brutal, and life still had to go on as usual.

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

Relieving their nervousness, the militiamen returned home in twos and threes, and Joseph Han was among them.Perhaps because of physical and mental exhaustion, everyone tacitly did not speak.

Back home, my wife has already prepared dinner. The food is very simple, baked potatoes and vegetables, all grown by myself.

For a family of five, there were only six baked potatoes the size of a fist, which was obviously not enough, not even enough for Joseph Han alone.

There is 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, and they don't need to work in the evening, so they don't have dinner.

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

It was too dark tonight, without even a ray of moonlight, so my thrifty wife had no choice but to light a candle cruelly.

Maybe it was because he was too hungry, or maybe he couldn't bear it, so Joseph Han stuffed it into his mouth without even peeling the potato skin.

"Han, I heard that Fick Town, twenty miles away, was ransacked by the Russians, and all the militiamen were killed. Be careful when you go out!"

The uneasy voice of his wife made Joseph Han's heart tremble.He also heard about the situation in Fick Town. Not only were all the militiamen killed, but even the elderly, weak, women and children suffered heavy casualties.

The enemy killed all who resisted, and the survivors were either wounded or maimed.It is obvious that the Russians are deliberately creating casualties and increasing the burden on the Berlin government.

Either because there were too many wounded, the government was unable to resettle them; or in order to stimulate the people's will to resist, the small village also resettled several wounded.

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 will not stay long."

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

It's not that everyone doesn't want to make it stronger. Castles are being built everywhere. There is a shortage of steel, cement, and stone materials, so we can only build earth walls.

The Berlin government has increased imports, but the cost is high, and they can only be used in strategically important areas. The city defense projects are not enough, and it is simply not enough for ordinary villages.

Some people have proposed to evacuate villages and concentrate people in cities to reduce civilian casualties.

Unfortunately, this can only be thought about.

Because of the war, the food production of the Pubo Federation has dropped significantly. It was a great victory to keep 1880% of the production capacity in 80.

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

"understood."

Their tired bodies and minds made them not interested in chatting.After eating dinner in the shortest possible time, the wife hastily extinguished the candles.

……

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

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

The secretary whispered: "Your Excellency, Count Kovacevic, the Minister of the Popo Federation in Vienna, is visiting."

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

As Minister of Foreign Affairs, Weisenberg has a lot of work, and his schedule is full almost every day. Unless there are special circumstances, general diplomatic activities need to be booked in advance.

The secretary replied: "No. However, Kovacevic's face was very ugly, and he repeatedly emphasized that there is something urgent and must see you immediately."

"There is something urgent." Weissenberg, who was about to refuse, was taken aback. He immediately thought of the Russo-Prussian War, and said slowly, "Please come in. Remember to tell him that I only have half an hour to spare."

……

After exchanging pleasantries, Minister Kovacevic handed over the thick document to Wesenberg, and said, "Your Excellency, these photos and information are provided by enthusiastic people, and they show the atrocities committed by the Russians."

After taking the file and flipping through it, Weissenberg saw corpses everywhere, burning houses, and hanging human heads in the photos, all of which spoke of brutal crimes.

The well-informed Wesenberg was also shocked.Without reading any further, he closed the file directly and turned his attention to Kovacevic.

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

The Berlin government was struggling to deal with the Russians' indiscriminate means, and had no choice but to turn to the international community for help.

No matter how cruel the nature of the world is, countries on the European continent still know how to restrain themselves. The Russian style of play has long been outdated.

Ignoring Kovacevic's flattery, Weisenberg slowly replied: "This question involves a lot, and we must investigate and confirm it before we can give your country an answer.

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

There is no doubt that this is a procrastination decision.The atrocities committed by the Russians were no secret at all. Austria sent a military observer team, and what happened on the front line was clear.

If you know what you know, the Vienna government will not intervene without sufficient interests.

Similar things are not only done by the Russians, but also by the Prussian army who slaughtered villages and towns, and the major colonial empires did it even more overseas.

It's just that the lid 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 Pubo Federation have reached hundreds of thousands.

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

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

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

Every day, tens of thousands of people die under the butcher knife of the Russians..."

Weisenberg waved his hand: "Don't worry, Your Excellency the Minister. The truth cannot be false, and the false cannot be true.

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

After sending Kovacevic away, Wesenberg had another headache.To interfere or not to interfere, this is a vexing question.

2Chapter 16 Stirring the Water

To win international support, the Berlin government will naturally not only look for Austria. Almost at the same time, all European countries received invitations from the Berlin government.

No one knows what everyone is thinking, anyway, they are condemning the "robbers" with righteous words.

If the saliva star can kill people, the Russian Cossack cavalry is probably, probably dead by now.

Diplomacy is in action, and non-governmental campaigns are not idle.The Berlin government bought pages from many newspapers, which published photos of the atrocities committed by the Russian army and the heart-piercing complaints of the survivors.

These performances were not in vain. The Berlin government won the sympathy of the European people, and the public opinion overwhelmingly blamed the Russians. Even the pro-Russian media stopped talking.

Many media accepted the invitation of the Berlin government and sent war reporters to collect first-hand information on the spot.

Not only that, the Berlin government also choreographed the stage play "Rampant Bandits", which toured around the European continent with the troupe.

The plot is roughly as follows: In a small happy village, a group of Russian bandits suddenly came. They burned, killed, looted, and committed all kinds of crimes.

There are too few entertainment activities in this era. The Vienna Opera House has been performing continuously for a week, and it still attracts a large audience.

Tragedy is always easy to move people. The performance on the stage has more impact than the words. After each performance, the ladies in the audience are crying.

If fundraising can be organized, the Berlin government will definitely reap a lot this time.Public opinion was mobilized, calls for intervention became stronger, and pressure on the Austrian government increased.

Vienna Palace

Franz casually threw away a petition letter from the people, and asked dejectedly: "Did the Russians not react? Such a big thing happened, didn't the Tsarist government know to stand up and explain it?"

In just one month, Franz received 286 joint petition letters one after another, all asking the Austrian government to stop the massacre.

Dozens of organizations, including the German Folk Culture Exchange Association, the German Unification Committee, the German National Cultural Exchange Association, and the Holy Roman Empire Cultural and Economic Promotion Association, all hope that the Austrian government can intervene.

The reason is very simple. The victims are not only Poles, but also many Germans. In the eyes of nationalists, these are their own people, and the Russians cannot be allowed to harm them wantonly.

"Your Majesty, the tsarist government has also taken action. The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly refuted rumors, claiming that the Russian army did not participate in the massacre, and that it was all done by bandits in the Pubo Federation.

The Russians acted too late, the tide of public opinion has already formed, and the Berlin government has sufficient evidence, it is too difficult to reverse. ’ replied Prime Minister Felix

One step at a time, one step at a time, the communication has not changed these days, and the transmission of news is slow. The main channel for people to receive news is newspapers.

Once preconceived ideas have been formed, it is difficult to reverse them.Moreover, the Berlin government did not slander the Russians, they really did.

"The tsarist government is a bunch of idiots!" Franz blurted out directly

It can be seen that he is sincere.The reality is right in front of us, washing is definitely not whitewashing, but guiding public opinion does not have to be whitewashing, as long as the competitors are pulled to the same level.

"Not recognizing" is indeed a solution, the problem is out of place!

If you change to a country with good reputation, it is estimated that some people can be fooled. With the credibility of the tsarist government, who will believe what they say?

Instead of Franz, directly imitating the Berlin government, collecting the atrocities of the Prussian army, performing artistic processing, magnifying the matter a hundred times, and spending money to buy newspapers to publish it.

No matter how many people believe it, let's build up momentum first.Anyway, European armies have a tradition of looting, which is a well-known secret.

If you can't wash your own reputation, you will drag the other party into the water together.Everyone goes black, and the matter is settled.

"Your Majesty, not only domestic public opinion, but also public opinion in other countries are very unfavorable to the Russians, especially in France.

Just three days ago, 5 Parisians gathered in the square of the Palace of Versailles to demonstrate, demanding that the government intervene in the war.

This is not the first time. According to news from the embassy, ​​there have been 48 large and small demonstrations in France this month, half of which requested the Paris government to intervene.

Five days ago, a demonstration broke out in London, but the number of participants was not as large as in France.

Judging from the current situation, if the tsarist government cannot break the situation, it is estimated that it will not be long before the governments of various countries will intervene. " Weisenberg analyzed

The French people are still so enthusiastic, it is estimated that Napoleon IV wants to cry now.Taking the initiative to intervene and being forced to intervene by public opinion are two completely different concepts.

An emperor cannot control the government's diplomacy, but has to be swayed by public opinion. No one can bear such a thing.

If there is one, there are two. Once it is found that public opinion can influence government decision-making, I am afraid that similar things will continue in the future.

The governments of various countries did not jump out to intervene immediately, and I am afraid that they do not want the outside world to think that they are influenced by public opinion.

To some extent, the Berlin government's plan succeeded, but it also failed.

While gaining the support of various countries, it also offended the high-level governments of various countries.There will definitely be interference, but it's hard to say when it gets to that point.

"If possible, I suggest delaying the intervention of various countries as much as possible. Recently, the Migration Agency has obtained nearly [-] immigrants from the Russians.

Although most of these people are old and weak, women and children, they are still a big supplement to colonies that lack labor. said Colonial Secretary Stephen

Fifty thousand immigrants are worthless, but if they are [-] immigrants from the main ethnic group, it will be different.

Austrian Africa is the lifeblood of the Vienna government, and the government has been deliberately controlling the proportion of ethnic groups.[-] immigrants may seem like a small number, but they have actually increased the proportion of the main population by two thousandths.

This is just a purely numerical calculation, and the real influence will be even greater.In order to speed up national integration, Austria has always distributed resettlement of immigrants, and there are countless cross-ethnic marriages.

The colonial department is naturally unwilling to give up the visible benefits.

After hesitating for a moment, Franz put away his conscience: "Tell the Tsarist government that international intervention is coming.

If they don't want to be sanctioned, they should quickly expose the atrocities of the Prussian army and muddy the water first. "