Welcome to 19th-century Europe, where strength reigns supreme

With the end of Christmas, the new year has arrived. This year is 1861, which can be regarded as an insignificant year in the whole of Europe.

It's just that a big event may happen in the United States, but it has nothing to do with August for the time being.

It's rare that there aren't so many worries during the Chinese New Year. I can stay at home and live a decadent life for a few days, bonding with Valentina. Two people live in a villa, which is very spacious. It's much more enjoyable than the crowded and old apartment before.

Because of his fame, so many people bought "Downfall of an Empire" that it almost became a Prussian Bible. Almost everyone has a copy. If you haven't read it, you would be embarrassed to say that you are a Prussian.

Adolf's trilogy not only sells well domestically, but also sells well abroad, such as Hanover-Württemberg and other North German regions. Because of the customs union, trade goods can be exempted from tariffs, so sales are naturally very good.

Sales in other places such as Baden, Bavaria, Austria and other countries are also not low, and everyone is very interested in the content, while Austria's attitude seems a bit ambiguous.

First of all, as a member of the German Confederation, it certainly aspires to establish a unified Greater Germany. However, the Austrian Empire is a multi-ethnic country. Although Austria is the core, Germans do not occupy this country. The majority of the ethnic groups include many Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Slovenes, and Serbs.

There are actually more ethnic minorities than the majority ethnic group, which has led to domestic political instability. It is difficult to satisfy the interests and demands of all ethnic groups. Everyone wants to be the boss, and party struggles are extremely fierce.

Under this circumstance, the Austrians naturally have a great yearning for a unified, racially homogeneous Greater Germany.

For example, the Greater Germany, including Austria, established by Adolf in the book. Although it was a Germany built with Prussia as the core, to be honest, the people of Austria did not reject it. They were originally Germans, and Germany was founded by Germans. How can the empire be said to be Prussia or Austria?

In short, no matter what, I have made a lot of money from the royalties alone, and the Rheinische Zeitung has become famous because of it. In Brandenburg, it is even more famous than the "Brandenburg" and more popular than the local newspapers. This is really not true. Often seen.

Auguste didn't expect her novels to be so popular. She even suspected that more than half of the people who bought these books didn't read them at all and only paid for them because they were the works of the Prussian Regent.

……

On January 1861, 1, in Buckingham Palace, British Prime Minister John looked at the battle report from the front line and couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. Today they only advanced the front line one kilometer.

Although the Ming Empire lagged behind the British and French in military equipment and tactics, its perseverance was indeed very strong. The British and French allied forces landed in Suzhou, and in nearly a year, the battle line advanced to Nanjing. In addition, they also successively captured He visited Ningguo Mansion, Huizhou Mansion, and Hangzhou Mansion.

But what's the use? They only conquered less than one province of Ming Dynasty. How much territory does Ming Dynasty have? It covers an area of ​​more than [-] million square kilometers and has a population of [-] million.

According to the intelligence provided by the British Combat Intelligence Bureau, to completely conquer the Ming Dynasty, Britain and France will have to invest another three million troops. Previously, Britain and France had already dispatched [-] troops. Although the casualties were not large, if this continues, Britain and France It would be difficult for the coalition to win.

Unless Britain and France are willing to continue to engage in war, Britain's attitude towards Ming Dynasty has changed from the only country in the world that can resist Britain to a very difficult country.

They overestimated the Ming's combat power before the war began and invested a large amount of troops at the beginning. However, in fact, the Ming's weapons were outdated and their military thinking was backward, making it difficult for them to cause large casualties to the coalition forces.

At the same time, they also underestimated Ming's will to resist. They invested a large number of troops almost regardless of the cost, which seriously slowed down the pace of the attack. Even the British and French forces felt a little exhausted physically and mentally.

France did not invest much in this war. After all, it was just here to help. It did not suffer much losses, but it did not want to spend too much energy in this regard. It joined the United Kingdom with opportunistic thinking. Can it fight? Winning is not important to it. Britain needs to bring in another ally to help.

John reported these things to Victoria as usual. Originally, the war had little to do with Victoria, but Victoria asked the Prime Minister to tell her about the war, so John had no choice but to do so.

Victoria seems to be very interested in the war, because it can be a topic of conversation for her to exchange letters with August. August is also very interested in the war, and Victoria is happy to share these interesting things with her.

She felt that this sister who was far away in Prussia spoke smoothly and without any red tape. Her letters were written very naturally. Unlike other nobles who exchanged letters, August made you feel that the two were friends and you could let down your guard. , chat openly.

John said to Victoria, "Your Majesty, the battle on the frontline is very urgent. It took our army a long time to break through before finally breaking through the Yangtze River defense line of the Ming Dynasty. It is expected that we can invade Hefei of the Ming Dynasty before March."

This is a very conservative estimate. They chose to land in Suzhou Prefecture not on a whim. Most of them are plains, and the British and French allied forces can exert their greatest combat effectiveness on the plains.

Victoria wrote about this matter to August in the afternoon, "Sister August, today I brought the latest news from the front line. Our outstanding British soldiers have crossed the Yangtze River and will soon be If we can attack the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty, it seems that this war will be over soon. However, I heard that the Ming Dynasty has an extremely strong will to resist. If we want to defeat them, we in the UK will have to pay a heavy price. I really hope that the war will end. It can end as soon as possible.”

August wrote back the next day, "Really? If Britain can defeat the Ming Dynasty, then Britain's international status will definitely reach an unprecedented level... I'm so envious, if Prussia can be like the British Empire It’s good to be strong. If there is anything else that needs help, just tell me. Prussia will definitely do its best to help our British friends.”

August was being polite. Victoria probably knew very little about this war, but August was different. She knew where the British and French forces landed, just across the Yangtze River, and beyond that there was the Huaihe River. , Yellow River and so on.

In this world, the Ming Dynasty is indeed much tougher than the Qing Dynasty, and its fighting spirit is also very high, but it is a pity that its military strength is not enough, and it relies purely on the number of people to suppress the British and French attacks.

This method did put a lot of pressure on Britain and France. Britain and France did have no reason to completely destroy the Ming Dynasty. Mutual compromise was inevitable.

August looked at the world map drawn on parchment placed in the office. This is the most detailed map currently. It has drawn all the areas discovered by humans, and the level of detail is also very high.

Britain and France had a great chance of winning this war, but they were still in a stalemate. Auguste's eyes moved from Asia to Oceania, and suddenly a bold idea appeared in her mind.

Why not help our British friends, of course there is a fee.