Snowflakes are flying, and another winter is coming. Vienna, wrapped in a layer of silver, becomes particularly pleasant this winter.

Schonbrunn Palace

Metternik reported: "Your Majesty, the ministers of Britain and France have submitted the Ottoman armistice negotiations to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It seems that the Sudanese government is preparing for the aftermath."

This did not surprise Franz. The war has fought now, and the Ottomans are the most severely damaged, followed by the Russians. The losses of Britain and France are all drizzling and not worth mentioning.

Without strength, everything is empty. In the future, the Ottomans will inevitably shrink their sphere of influence. Taking advantage of the support of Britain and France, it is more in line with their interests to end the war with Austria in advance. It is more in line with their interests to shrink their troops and beat the Greeks.

Franz thought for a while and said, "According to our original plan, we will talk to the Ottomans slowly, and then we will first understand their bottom line."

"Yes, your majesty!" Metternier replied

Since the Second Battle of Bulgaria, both sides have been exhausted. In recent days of high-intensity combat, the soldiers' war-weariness has increased day by day, and the morale of both sides of the war has inevitably declined.

Except for the Greeks who had just joined the war and the Montenegro who were blinded by victory, the rest were all forcing them.

The Russians had the upper hand on the surface, and Franz knew very well that this was just an appearance, and it was a battle of losing both sides.

Just look at the casualties of the Russians. After more than four months of fierce battle, the casualties of the Russian army have exceeded 170,000.

Among them, less than 60,000 people were killed in battle, and the remaining more than 100,000 wounded people survived less than eight levels due to the lack of timely treatment and lack of medical treatment.

First aid on the battlefield does not exist. There are very few medical soldiers in the Russian army. They can only protect the lives of the officers. As for the soldiers, they are sorry and have no time!

Gray animals are not valuable, and when injured, they can only bandage them simply, and then they rely on the soldiers to slowly endure them.

The Russian army has not conducted battlefield first aid training. It is more appropriate to say that it is trapped and tied up wounds than bandages. There is no professional medical gauze and no disinfection. Just find a piece of cloth to wrap it in and it will be done.

Not to mention the seriously injured, it is impossible for them to survive, and they are directly counted as among the dead.

Many minor wounded people were obviously hit by bullets on the arms, thighs and other important parts. They could survive by proper wound treatment, but they also died because of the disadvantages of treatment.

In the Principality of Wallachia, the battlefield emergency hospital opened by Franz is very busy now. Every day, Russian wounded soldiers retreat and then come to seek medical treatment as soon as possible.

"Try medical treatment" is a gild, it is nothing more than cleaning the wound and disinfecting it, then re-bandaging it, and prescribing some medicines with unknown effects.

What really helps you is to clean the wound and disinfect it to avoid inflammation and infection. The medicines behind it mainly play a psychological role and make money by the way.

From the front line to the rear, I had to hold on for several days but didn't die. That was not a serious injury. As long as the wound was not infected, I could basically survive.

These Russian soldiers didn't know about it. They only saw that after first aid, the mortality rate dropped rapidly, and they thought that everyone in the hospital was a miracle doctor.

In fact, most of these medical staff are soldiers who have only undergone battlefield first aid training. Franz treats Russian wounded as guinea pigs to exercise their professional abilities.

The medicine depends on the situation. You get what you pay for. Sky-high medicines are definitely effective. Franz still has this kind of integrity.

There is no need to look forward to cheap medicines, either they are various experimental medicines or they are made of flour and vegetables.

The most effective cheap medicine is the soup medicine. In short, it is a pot of heat-clearing and detoxifying or traditional Chinese medicine. Unfortunately, this thing is considered by many people to be witchcraft, and most Russian soldiers are unwilling to drink it.

Moreover, this medicine is not a wound treatment, and it has no effective effect, so it has not attracted everyone's attention.

Nicholas I was still a good tsar. At least he also paid the medical expenses of the soldiers. Of course, don’t expect him to spend much money. Package the price of ten rubles per wounded person, and pay if he survives. (Silver rubles are about half a tael of silver)

Of course, it is impossible to expect any good service for this little money. Except for a few people who are capable of paying out of their own pocket, most people enjoy the simplest treatment.

For example, if you want to perform surgery, remove the shrapnel from the wound, and there is no need to think about it without a hundred rubles. There are too few people who are capable of doing this kind of surgery, so the price is naturally high.

Originally, Franz was planning to outsource first aid on the battlefield, but considering that the risks on the battlefield were too great and the Tsarist government refused to spend a lot of money, so naturally he couldn't reach an agreement.

Such a terrible casualty rate, even if the rear is constantly replenishing, the combat effectiveness of the army will inevitably be affected.

Theoretically, after the wounded are cured and re-armed on the battlefield, all veterans will have stronger combat effectiveness.

Unfortunately, the Russian bureaucrats were serious and did not do a good job in the ideological work of soldiers. Most of the wounded soldiers were unwilling to go back to the battlefield, and some even bought medical staff to delay recovery time.

This is true for the Russians, and the coalition forces opposite were even worse. The Ottoman Empire did not have the ability to provide medical assistance, even if it was local warfare.

The British army's casualties were not large and did not attract domestic attention. The angel who set the first aid in the battlefield had not yet arrived at the front line.

If there is no first aid on the battlefield, you can only leave it to fate, rely on God or blessing.

This is also why the British and French commanders forced the Ottomans to be cannon fodder. In order to reduce the casualty rate, they could only die with fellow Taoists and not with me.

We should never forget the past and the next one. Franz will naturally learn from the lessons learned from the Near East War.

Franz had already summed up these messy things by the General Staff, and the cases on the battlefield were distributed to every officer and fighter.

The experience and lessons learned in logistics are all provided by all government departments and have organized relevant professional knowledge training and learning. In short, the same thing cannot happen in Austria.

In order to better implement these problems, the Austrian government has implemented a dual responsibility system for leaders and direct persons in the logistics department. If there is any problem in any link, the relevant responsible persons will go to the military court together.

Franz said cautiously: "His Marshal, the General Staff will determine the final westward combat plan as soon as possible. This time we are racing against time.

The army must take Munich within one week, control the entire Bavaria within one month, and sweep the Southern German region within two months.

If time is too late, we will also extend our tentacles to the central German region, occupy favorable terrain, and lay the foundation for the future."

The terrain of the German region is very complex: the North German region is a plain with an average altitude of less than 100 meters; the Central German region is a mountainous land, a highland that runs from east to west; the southwest Rhine Fault Valley region is lined with mountains and steep valley walls; the South German region is the Bavarian Plateau and the Alps.

This has caused inconvenience to Austrian military operations. The best choice for quick battles is to attack along the Danube River, and all problems are not a problem.

If the enemy blocks the river, challenges will come. Challenges are indispensable to sweep the land by land attack and sweep the land more than 100,000 square kilometers.

Fortunately, these areas have been developed and improved, and the South German region is a plateau and not a mountainous area, otherwise this task would not be completed at all.

(Note: Plateau refers to a vast enemy area with an altitude of more than 500 meters and a flat terrain, and can have certain ups and downs)

"Yes, your majesty!" Marshal Radsky replied with confidence.

...

While Austria was making its final preparations, Napoleon III also made a decision to increase its troops.

There was no way Napoleon III participated in this war, not only because of France's interests in the Near East, but also to gain political reputation.

If the Russians win, their throne will be unstable. The French people are not patient masters. If they cannot show their satisfactory achievements, it is not impossible to have another revolution.

If it weren't for the sudden political crisis of the London government, the British and French coalition forces would have marched into the Crimean Peninsula at this time.

Although the army did not move, the navy had already taken action. Since the end of November 1852, the British and French Ottoman navies continuously bombarded the Russians' port cities along the Black Sea coast, causing thousands of casualties to the Russians.

Faced with the unscrupulous bombardment of Britain and France, those who dared to stay were all warriors. Obviously, there were very few such warriors, and a large number of Russians fled to the inland areas.

St. Petersburg

When Nicholas I was really angry when he received the bombardment of the coastal areas in Britain and France. It was simply outrageous. Britain and France were so shameless and fired directly at the civilians.

Civilian casualties are nothing, but there are now hundreds of thousands of refugees waiting for relief from the Tsarist government.

Fortunately, Ukraine is a grain-producing area, otherwise human tragedy will happen again. No, it has already happened.

The inefficiency of the Russian bureaucrats was fully revealed at this time. Faced with the refugee wave, local officials did not take effective measures and were waiting very mechanically for the orders from St. Petersburg.

The consequences are naturally serious. St. Petersburg is so far away that the Tsar's orders have not yet come down, and the hungry rebellion has already erupted.

It cannot be considered a rebellion. These people did not rebel, but just robbed food everywhere and did not attack the city.

In suppressing the rebellion, the bureaucrats rarely had high efficiency. There were still many Russian troops in Ukraine waiting to reinforce the Balkan battlefield. It is naturally not a problem to suppress the rebellion now.

The unorganized hungry riot was extinguished at the beginning.

Of course, Nicholas I didn't know about these things, and it might even never know them. No official would idiotically use these little things to trouble the great Tsar His Majesty.

Nicholas I asked: "The enemy has attacked our coastal cities for so long, so don't you have any way to do it? What does the Black Sea Fleet do to eat, and how can it not be used at all!"

The Navy Minister whispered: "Your Majesty, the Black Sea Fleet was seriously injured in the battle with the enemy, and only a few small boats were left, and they were unable to fight again."

The statement that the energy is severely damaged is very conservative, and it may be more appropriate to use military annihilation. Faced with the siege of the British and French Ottoman navies, the Black Sea Fleet was powerless at all.

Originally, the Navy thought that it was hidden in the port and covered by fortress cannons, so the enemy did not dare to kill them. Unexpectedly, these "advanced" fortress cannons could not be used normally.

Since the Ottoman Empire fell behind, there has been no threat of foreign enemies along the Black Sea coast. The corrupt bureaucrats of the Tsarist government naturally saved as much as possible, and the shore artillery has become a product. Either products from the last century or products from the last century, and there are more counterfeit and inferior products.

After some tests, the British and French navy launched an attack without hesitation. After struggling for a while, the Black Sea Fleet died heroically.

There is nothing to be ashamed of this. The British and French navies joined forces with no country in the world to resist. The failure of the Black Sea Fleet to surrender to the enemy is enough to show their bravery.

The main reason is that he has no chance to surrender and is completely ruined. Since Minshkov entered the navy, the Russian navy has been on the spot for decades and is now two eras behind the enemy.

(The ruthless man who dares to use the army's teachings and trains the navy)

"snort!"

Nicholas I shouted coldly, expressing his dissatisfaction.

Foreign Minister Carl Wolsel persuaded: "Your Majesty, we can only give up these cities first. As long as we can conquer Constantinople and block the Bosphorus, this kind of thing will never happen again."

At this moment, the Tsarist government's desire for Constantinople increased again, and they felt the terrible consequences of losing their maritime rights for one person.

Nicholas I nodded. He wasn't really angry about the end of the Black Sea Fleet. He had expected this result since the day when Britain and France joined the war.

What really angered him was that the defense lines in the coastal areas were vulnerable and did not cause any trouble to the enemy, and the corruption of the government bureaucracy had reached such a point.

The problem is the problem. Now is the war period, and domestic stability overwhelms everything, and Nicholas I cannot cleanse the bureaucratic ranks at this time.

"Have the losses been counted?" Nicholas I asked with concern.

"Your Majesty, just a brief statistics. We have not stored one in ten strategic materials we stockpiled in the coastal areas. About 300,000 people have been displaced, with direct economic losses of more than 200 million rubles." The Chancellor of Finance Arestanley Rhodes replied in a trembling voice.

Obviously, Arestanley Rhodes did not expect that the people below would dare to act so boldly. Even if their warehouse where they hoarded strategic materials was exposed, the enemy would not be able to hit it so accurately?

Even if it is a fixed target shooting, the navy's hit rate is not high. It is not possible to blow up their material warehouse department in a short time.

Do you really think the enemy's shells are worthless?

Nicholas I sneered and said, "Check, send someone to investigate me strictly!"

Even if they can't be touched now, isn't there another word called "Fall in the Autumn Period"? The Tsar is very revenge and remembers these issues first. There is time to settle them in the future.
Chapter completed!