It was the third day since the news of the outbreak of the Near East War reached London. Even though I was prepared for it, the senior British government officials still had a headache after receiving the news.

Even Queen Victoria, who rarely interferes in politics, couldn't sit still and held a high-level meeting at Buckingham Palace.

Queen Victoria asked, "The Near East War broke out, the Russians and Austria got involved. The Ottomans are in trouble this time. What will the government do if we want to protect our interests in the Near East?"

The Ottoman Empire has been in power for a long time, and even in this era, it is still somewhat powerful. In addition, the Ottoman government has just completed institutional reforms, and on the surface they are already a modern empire.

In Queen Victoria's view, even if the Ottoman Empire is not a rival to Russia and Austria, they have such a large area of ​​land and a million troops there, at most they can only cut some meat and will not die for a while.

This is also the mainstream view in Europe. No one knows how weak the Ottoman Empire was.

Prime Minister John Russell, who was prepared, replied: "Her Majesty, we have joined forces with France and are ready to interfere in this war together."

Prince Albert questioned: "Prime Minister, this time the Russian-Turkish war is different from the past, and the Austrians have also participated in the war.

Even if we join forces with the French, we may not be able to compromise, right? Otherwise, this war will not be able to fight at all!"

Queen Victoria does not like to participate in politics, so Prince Albert is different. He is in many major decisions in Britain.

John Russell explained: "The alliance between the Russians and Austria is only temporary, because the interests will sooner or later part ways.

Our current enemy is Russia, and Austria can put it aside first, and their appetite is just that. Even if they give the Balkans, they can't eat them.

The government is ready to join forces with the French to support the Ottoman Empire and the Russians to continue to fight, and the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs can handle it."

Sending troops to intervene in the Near East War? Whether in history or now, the British were not ready to take the stage in person at the beginning.

Historically, the British sent troops to participate in the Crimean War. It was built when the Ottoman Empire could no longer stand it and the French were willing to act as the main force, so they sent troops to participate in the war.

Now the millions of lions of the Ottoman Empire are still there. Before the battle begins, who knows that these troops are all good things?

Many people within the British government believe that it is enough to provide loans to the Ottomans and sell some weapons and equipment to them.

Of course, it is okay to send naval help, and it is also in the interests of the British to push the tentacles deep into the Black Sea Strait.

The army faced the Russians, but they had no confidence. The navy suppressed the Russians' Black Sea Fleet, so they were not afraid.

...

Paris

Compared to the British, Napoleon III was much more active. In his opinion, the Near East War was completely the best opportunity to divert domestic conflicts.

If he could defeat the Russians and avenge his uncle's revenge for Waterloo back then, he would have gained infinite political capital.

It doesn't matter if you lose. Anyway, the battle was fought in the Ottoman Empire, so you can also blame the allies. As long as the French army can win several victories, it will be enough to take it back for publicity.

Napoleon III asked with concern: "Luer, what do the British say, are you ready to send troops with us?"

Rue replied: "Your Majesty, the London government is still hesitating, and initially judged that they are preparing to support the Ottoman Empire behind the scenes and are not going to send troops to the war in person.

However, if we send troops to support the Ottomans, the British will also support it. They also want to teach the Russians a lesson on the battlefield."

This conclusion was quite hasty. The Ottoman Empire had not yet been defeated, so the British could certainly not play. If the Ottoman army was defeated, could the British still sit there?

If the Ottoman Empire is in a state of decline, not only will their early investment be wasted, but their interests in the Mediterranean will be lost.

Napoleon III's courage to send troops to intervene in the Near East War was also based on the fact that the Ottoman Empire had certain strength. Otherwise, if they were asked to fight against the Russians alone, the French would actually be very cowardly.

There is no other reason, the number of gray animals is too large. Quantitative changes cause qualitative changes. Napoleon was piled up by the Russians in numbers, and there was an Austrian empire, so they had no choice but to ignore it.

"snort!"

Napoleon III shouted coldly and expressed his dissatisfaction. The British clearly asked them to make their first birds.

"Tell the British, don't forget that there is another Austria. If we don't send troops to support the Ottoman Empire, we may not be able to hear the news of their defeat." Napoleon III thought about it and said

It is very important for the British to use diplomatic means to split the Russian-Austrian alliance, and it is not impossible to pay some price for it.

But for Napoleon III, it was different. The stage had been set up, and the audience was waiting in the audience to watch the show. We couldn't suddenly say that we wouldn't act anymore.

Since Napoleon III was the heir of Napoleon, it was natural to avenge his uncle. The French people were watching him and could not allow him to retreat.

There is no way, the French people of this era are so willful. Since Napoleon III made a promise to everyone before he succeeded to the throne, it must be fulfilled.

This was what Napoleon III did in history. The Crimean War ended the Russians' European hegemony and won the support of the people.

"Your Majesty, if the Russians and Austria really join forces, we may not be able to defeat them in the Near East." Rue reminded

The deputy emperor is not a waste of time. If he loses a battle, he will be the scapegoat. It is necessary to prepare for the prevention of problems.

"Don't worry, they can't really join forces. With the appetite of the Russians, Austria would not dare to let them obtain the Black Sea Strait." Napoleon III judged with affirmative judgment.

A Russian Empire that was too powerful was not in the interests of Austria. The Russians annexed the Ottoman Empire and Austria was under great pressure.

...

Balkans

On April 11, 1852, after some consultations between the Austrian and the Russian government, the two sides signed the Balkan Treaty.

The treaty stipulates that the Russian army handed over the two principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia to Austria; the Russian army gained the right to pass freely; Austria provides logistical support for the Russian army in the Balkans.

Both sides took their own needs. Austria got the territory agreed in advance, successfully covering up the westward strategy; the Russians got the opportunity to continue to fight from the Balkans, increasing the chances of winning the war.

Take a look at the map and you will know that without Austrian material support, after occupying the two principalities of the Danube, logistics supplies would make the Russian army lose the ability to continue attacking.

The Russians' sudden letting go made the Sudanese government, who was preparing to watch the Russian-Austrian conflict, stunned.

Without hesitation, 250,000 Russian troops were heading along the lower Danube River and heading straight for Bulgaria.

Anyone with some military knowledge knows that once Bulgaria falls, the capital of the Ottoman Empire will be in danger.

In fact, if the Sudanese government had not invited the British and French navies into the Black Sea in time, the Russians' offensive would have been smoother. Transporting supplies from sea would be much easier than transporting supplies from land.

With the Russians' troops, if they had not lost their maritime power, they could have chosen to land more points, which would have made the Ottoman Empire run wild.

One wave has not yet settled, and another wave has started again.

The Russians also came prepared. Through the connection of the Orthodox Church, the Bulgarians are now ready to welcome the king's army with a pot of food and a pot of soybeans.

Not only the Bulgarians, but other ethnic groups within the Ottoman Empire were also ready to move. However, at this time, they still lacked effective organization, nationalism had not spread yet, and the combat effectiveness of the outbreak was limited.

In short, the Ottoman Empire is now filled with storms. After the addition of Austria, they face even greater trouble.
Chapter completed!