Holy Roman Empire

Moreover, those who perform the post-break mission must also be elites with high loyalty.If the newly formed army with a large number of Italians is left behind, maybe they will turn against them as soon as the Austrian army arrives.

Then 100 million French troops disappeared.Killed + wounded + defeated + captured, the French army's total strength was reduced by more than 100 million, including 30 elite.

The loss of troops was heavy, and the loss of materials and equipment was countless.In order to retreat as soon as possible, the French army even had to blow up its own artillery positions.

Supplies can continue to be bought when they are gone, weapons and equipment can be rebuilt when they are gone, and lost troops can also be replenished, but time does not allow it.

This will not be the end of the battle, the offensive and defensive battle of Turin has already started, and the battle of Luxembourg has also followed, and the French army can only passively fight.

Minister of War Luskinia: "Your Majesty, the Spaniards launched an attack on the Roussillon area yesterday morning. After the bloody battle of the frontline soldiers, they finally defeated the enemy in the evening."

The rare good news, but Napoleon IV was not happy.Obviously, affected by the defeat of the French army, the Spaniards could no longer sit still.

Regardless of the strength of the Spaniards, France has added another front anyway, and then the military pressure has become even greater.

Looking at the Minister of War who hesitated to speak, Napoleon IV felt cold, and said with a wry smile: "Go on, I can bear the defeat again. It's all up to this point, how bad can it be? go?"

Despair, this is the truest portrayal of Napoleon IV's heart now.A series of defeats on the battlefield and a crushing defeat in diplomacy all hit Napoleon IV's confidence.

Watching the anti-French alliance grow stronger day by day, but the only ally is vacillating at this time, this kind of despair is incomprehensible to others.

Luskinia said slowly: "Austria and Switzerland have formed a coalition force and launched an attack on us, and Burgundy and Auvergne in the east have become battlefields.

The enemy is coming fiercely, and our troops deployed in the east are seriously insufficient..."

Before Luskinia finished speaking, Napoleon IV interrupted: "Understood, your War Department can figure it out for yourself!"

Napoleon IV has heard too many words such as difficulty and trouble recently, and he has long been tired of them.It's fine if it can be solved, what I fear most is the kind of problem that can't be solved, but he has to solve it again.

Instead of hearing it and getting a headache, it is better not to listen to it at all.Anyway, the ministers will find their own way to solve the problems that can be solved, and what they report is only the solution; the problems that cannot be solved, he is also powerless.

In a sense, Napoleon IV was a good boss. He suffered double failures in military affairs and diplomacy, and he did not push his subordinates to take the blame.

Of course, there is no real meaning in pushing it out.Although it can relieve political pressure in the short term, it will also make everyone sad and cause turmoil within the government.

Prime Minister Terrence Bulkin whispered: "Your Majesty, prepare to negotiate a truce! At this point, we can no longer fight."

The "truce negotiation" also needs to be divided into time. When France had the upper hand earlier, it naturally had the capital to negotiate conditions.

It's different now. France is at a disadvantage overall in terms of military diplomacy. If it proposes "truce negotiations", it will be equivalent to "surrender".

Terrence Bulkin would have absolutely no desire to surrender to the enemy if possible.But there is no way, France really can't fight anymore.

The flames of war have reached the mainland of France, and every day the war lasts will bring a lot of losses to France.

If you don't take advantage of the bargaining chips in your hands to negotiate with the Anti-French Alliance, and wait for them to fight all the way, then negotiate terms, then it will not be the current price.

After hesitating for a while, Napoleon IV sighed and said slowly, "How do we talk?"

"A truce," he had no problem.Napoleon IV did not mind an immediate armistice if possible.The problem is that it is easy to start a war, but difficult to end it.

Other countries may be able to deal with it with some benefits, but the three countries of Germany, Belgium, and Austria will definitely not let it go.Both sides have already shed blood, and it is impossible to negotiate at this time without paying a big price.

Foreign Secretary Karel Cadlecs replied: "The British agreed to intervene, and the London government made a commitment to keep France as territorial as possible.

Judging from the current international situation, Austria will be completely enlarged after the European war ends, which is not in the interests of European countries.

At this point, including the Russians are our potential allies.Countries did not respond, mainly because the situation changed too quickly and there was a lack of a reasonable excuse to intervene. "

Well, Karel Kadlec thinks he's running out of ideas.European countries do not want to see Austria dominating alone, but it does not mean that everyone wants La France. These are two different concepts.

In real life, rationality often loses out to sensibility. After all, people are not machines and are influenced by emotions.

At least France's neighbors are affected by feelings. For Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, and several Italian states, regardless of whether Austria will become bigger or not, it is important to kill France first.

The so-called long-term benefits are nonsense. History has told everyone that if you don't take the opportunity to kill France, the great enemy, you will not have a good life in the future.

No matter how great the interests are, it is not as important as the safety of your own home.For a small country, survival is the first priority. Anyway, whoever is the boss is the younger brother.

In this context, as long as Austria does not eat alone, it will not be isolated.With so many enemies, France should not try to escape until she sheds a layer of skin.

Whether it is self-deception or wishful thinking, in short, the French government now needs hope, a hope that can retreat unscathed.

"Tell the British that we agree to negotiate and are willing to pay the price for this war. The colonies can be abandoned, but the mainland must be kept intact.

The government does a good job of appeasing the people. Once the news of the negotiations spreads, it will definitely cause an uproar, and France can't stand the toss.

If necessary, I will abdicate at the right time and take responsibility for this war. "

After finishing speaking, Napoleon IV seemed to have exhausted all his strength and lay down on the seat, ignoring everyone.

According to the rules of the political game in continental Europe, it is normal to pay compensation for defeat in war.Unfortunately, nationalism has risen.Especially in France, which is the stronghold of nationalism, the people have even lower tolerance for failure.

In the general perception of society, colonies are also property, and if they are lost, they will be lost, but the native land must never be ceded.

The double-edged sword of nationalism created by Napoleon himself finally fell back on his own family, and the Bonaparte dynasty ushered in the greatest challenge.

Only when the integrity of the country is preserved, Napoleon IV voluntarily abdicates to take responsibility, and alleviate the anger of the people, can the Bonaparte dynasty have a chance of survival.

……

In St. Petersburg, affected by the changing situation in Europe, the position of the Tsarist government was also affected.

There is no doubt that the tsarist government will definitely not pull the French at this time.Even if someone sees the strategic significance of keeping France, they will not make a move at this time.

Nothing else, only interest.If a sentence of strategic needs is to take millet from the fire for the French, then what is the need for diplomacy?

Marshal Ivanov said enthusiastically: "Your Majesty, the situation of this war has become clear. The French have suffered defeats in the Central and Southern European battlefields, and now they are powerless.

Affected by this, the Spaniards also launched a tentative attack on the border.Coupled with the Swiss battlefield just opened up by the Allies, the French are actually fighting on four fronts.

If nothing else happens, within the next six months, the French will be defeated, and now it's time for us to take action. "

The plan did not change quickly. Originally, the tsarist government planned to declare no war and sit back and watch France and Austria fight for each other.It's a pity that the French are not very useful, and they showed their defeat just at the beginning.

Since the plan to consume Austria's strength could not be completed, the tsarist government naturally had to consider how to maximize its benefits.

Picking peaches is a must, even if you can't get the largest one, you must get the second largest one.

If there were no troops at all, the Russian Empire would lose its right to speak when the benefits were distributed after the war.

Don't look at Austria's promise that the Russian Empire can share 20.00% of the war reparations, but it is not that simple to fulfill the promise.

Just a treaty, do you want the French to pay for it obediently?Don't dream, the tsarist government has experience in bad debts, as long as the fist is big enough, it won't give it.

Without the support of the anti-French alliance, the Russian Empire alone does not have the ability to collect debts from the French.

This is still an ideal state. In case Austria disregarded its taste and took a few younger brothers to carve up France directly, and there was no last penny of compensation, the tsarist government would be a tragedy.

In a sense, sending troops to join the war at this time is not only to attack France, but also to protect France.

Strength is the right to speak. Only when the Russian army appeared on the mainland of France and dealt with France after the war, did the tsarist government have enough right to speak.

Whether it was due to strategic needs or to obtain sufficient war reparations, the Tsarist government needed to preserve the vitality of France.After all, only big countries can afford the money.

Alexander III hesitated, the situation changed too quickly, which was a bit unacceptable.I only decided to watch the show last month, but I didn't expect to send troops again now.

He asked uncertainly, "Are the French really unable to hold on?"

"Yes, Your Majesty! The actual situation may be worse than we expected. After all, two more fronts have been added. In addition, the Italian region is now unstable, and the French government no longer has enough troops to deal with the next war."

Ivanov replied in the affirmative.This has been carefully studied by the Russian military. Even the most optimistic people do not think that the French can turn the tables.

Foreign Minister Oscar Jimenez suggested: "Your Majesty, if we are worried about the loss of participating in the war, we can actually adopt a roundabout strategy.

The British also want to keep France, and we are on the same page on this issue.It is entirely possible to use them to bridge the gap, directly contact the French, and then land in France from the sea.

For Austria, the next most important thing is to unify the German region and digest the newly occupied French Africa. They will not make extra troubles at this time.

As long as we occupy France first, the empire's right to speak will naturally increase during post-war negotiations. "

This is a fact. The strategic plan of the Vienna government has already been put on the surface. As long as the German region is unified and French Africa is digested, Austria will become the world's most powerful country.

Compared with this, other things are trivial, including weakening France.After all, France in its heyday was able to lie down, let alone a semi-crippled France.

After a long silence, Alexander III slowly asked: "How can you guarantee that the French can trust us?

Moreover, even if the British can persuade the French government to agree, how can they guarantee that this is not a trap? "

Trust is flawed. Now France and Russia are enemies. With just one promise, they send their lifeline to the enemy. Normal people can't do it.

In case the Russian army entered France, the tsarist government suddenly turned its face, and the French government would have no chance to cry.

The same problem existed in the tsarist government.No matter how good the talk is, it is useless if the British turn their backs halfway and the Royal Navy directly sends the Russian army into the sea to feed the fish, and the Tsarist government will become the laughing stock of the century.

Given the conflict between Britain and Russia, the London government has every incentive to do so.

No matter what others think, Alexander III can't trust the British anyway.Before he could not ensure the safety of the Russian army, he did not dare to risk hundreds of thousands of Russian troops.

……

Chapter 2: Cannon Fodder

Frantz just laughed off the Russians' fairy brains.In fact, such whimsical plans have been emerging endlessly in real life.

Politicians are human beings too, and since they are human beings, they sometimes get confused.Especially when interests are involved, the probability of being confused is even greater.

On the surface, the Russians took the lead in occupying France under the guise of their allies. Austria is indeed powerless, but the Vienna government can delay it!

There is no way to forcibly divide France, and there is no way to delay the negotiation time.If it doesn't work for one year, it will be two years, and if it doesn't work for two years, it will be three years or five years. After a long time, can the Russian army live in peace with the French people?

Austria can watch the excitement and wait for the Russians to withdraw their troops in despair before considering how to deal with France.

If it weren't for the trouble of coordinating the relationship between Britain, France and Russia, there was almost no possibility of success. Franz really wanted to give it a push, and then slowly appreciate the game between the Tsar's iron fist and French nationalism.

"Give electricity to the troops on the front line, let them end the war as soon as possible, and the soldiers are still waiting to come back for Christmas!"

It is only July now, and there are still about five months before Christmas. It is not difficult to simply defeat the French, but the time is very tight to sign a treaty before Christmas and withdraw the troops.

Under normal circumstances, this kind of post-war meeting involving the interests of many countries is usually noisy, and it may drag on for two or three years.

There was no doubt that Franz did not want to drag on any longer.There are various signs that the Hannover government has become active again, and there are British shadows behind it.

You must know that internal enemies are far more terrifying than external enemies. Once these guys are allowed to persuade the interest groups of various states, the troubles in the future will be serious.

Franz doesn't want to test human nature, which is the most unreliable in the face of interests.The most important thing is to create established facts as soon as possible and establish the status of monarch and minister.

With this title, Franz is not afraid of these guys making trouble.Can't move the king below, can't you change the government of the country?Whoever dares to jump out and make troubles will collect black information to get him down.

As long as the armies, tariffs, diplomacy, and money-issuing rights of all states are gathered together, and the judiciary, culture and education are unified, no matter how much trouble there is below, there will be no big waves.

Today is different from the past. In order to gather these powers, the governments of several states under Franz fought wits and courage for more than ten years before they got them bit by bit.

As for the conflict of the state government, it can be resolved through negotiation.As long as the interests are right, there is nothing that cannot be agreed upon.

Fudge, bribery, coercion and temptation, these routines Franz has long been familiar with.Anyway, the core is to win over allies and at the same time kill enemies.

Compared to killing chickens to warn monkeys, sometimes killing monkeys is more effective.The more you dance now, the sooner you will die in the future.

Franz wasn't worried about people having a good time, but what worried him most was that these guys would do nothing.After all, the more you do, the more problems will be exposed.

If there were such a pure and flawless politician, in fact Franz would be powerless, after all, the emperor also wanted to talk about the rules of the game.

However, this kind of people who are dedicated to the public will not become an obstacle to unification.After all, after this war, the idea of ​​great unification has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

……

Following Franz's order, the flames of war ignited again, and smoke was everywhere from central Europe to southern Europe, and there was no longer a single inch of pure land.

The headquarters of the Allied Forces on the Southern Front and representatives from various Italian states have gathered together to participate in this conference of great political and military significance.

Since ancient times, the Italian region has been a gathering of princes, and the chaos of the situation is second only to the German region.Now that the unification of the German region is imminent, the Italian region also needs to be sorted out.

Previously, in order to unite all forces that could be united, and for the purpose of wooing Italian nationalists, the Vienna government has never publicly stated its position on the disposal of the Italian region.

Now that the overall situation has been decided, there is no need to procrastinate any longer.Whether to form a partnership to form the Kingdom of Italy, or to directly divide into several states, requires a clear conclusion at this time.

In a sense, this meeting was a passing scene.The dignitaries who are eligible to attend the meeting are aware of the intentions of the Vienna government.

Everyone has no objection. Apart from the fact that the arms cannot hold back the thighs, the more important thing is the distribution of interests.It is easy to establish a unified Italian kingdom, but the question is who should lead it?

Leaving aside the specific distribution of benefits, ownership of the crown alone is a difficult problem.

In the past, the Italian independent organization was dominant. Although the organization was torn apart, at least there was a titular leader, Vittorio Emanuele III.

It's different now, the royal families of various states are involved, and no one is more noble than the other, and there are a bunch of interest groups behind these people, and no one can give in.

Since they can't agree, they can only fly solo.It's never been unified anyway, and it's no big deal to play separately.

It is easy to divide the family, but it is difficult to divide the family property.Originally, there were territorial disputes among the Italian states, but because of the French occupation, it has now become a mess.

The parties were still in dispute, so it was the turn of Austria, the boss, to come forward for arbitration.And because the states did not really restore their political power, it was inconvenient for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to intervene directly, so the heavy responsibility of mediating the conflicts between the parties fell to General Morkes.

"The purpose of inviting everyone here today must be clear to everyone. The French are about to be defeated. In order to avoid some unnecessary troubles, the pattern of post-war Italy needs to be clarified now.

First of all, the states will regain their independence, and the series of tasks of forming a government and resuming production are all tasks of the new government.What to do specifically will be handled by the governments of the various states in the future.