War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Nicholas I went out and slammed the door of the conference room. He was almost mad with rage now. The conditions that the British man had discussed with him in private were not at all like this.

George Villiers claimed that he was willing to cede Little Bulgaria to Russia, so Nicholas I accepted the peace talks and hurried back to St. Petersburg to host the event.

However, the secret talks only resulted in a verbal agreement, mainly because Nicholas I felt that the Holy Alliance had already won.

Victory should have been certain, but after the peace talks were announced, all the members of the Holy Alliance except Russia began to split up, and there were even multiple armed conflicts within the Kingdom of Greece for the struggle for power.

After the Austrian Empire handed over the land to the Russians, it basically put its weapons into storage and let its horses go to the mountains. Many people retired on the spot and went to the two Danube principalities to support development.

Only the Russians were still sending troops to seize territory, but their forces were also dispersed for defense. The land the Russians had obtained this time was sandwiched between Austria, the Ottoman Empire, and Greece, so the pressure on national defense was enormous.

However, the Holy Alliance countries, including the Russians themselves, felt that the war was over, so they were not in a hurry to send more troops to the Balkans.

On the other hand, due to the huge national defense pressure, the Ottoman Empire had to mobilize a large amount of manpower and material resources from Anatolia to build fortifications, and also retained a powerful mobile force just in case.

The British also helped guide the construction of fortifications and sent a large number of officers to help train the Ottomans.

The Redwood Army that came from Britain did not evacuate immediately, but chose to stay in Thrace.

In addition, the distance to St. Petersburg was too far and the communication was too poor. As a result, the strength of the British-Turkish Allied Forces and the Holy Alliance was reversed. This was the confidence of George Villiers.

Apart from this, Tsar Nicholas I was indeed a bit too much. If he had really driven the Ottoman Empire out of Europe, wouldn't all of Britain's efforts have been in vain?

George Villiers' tough attitude was not for the sake of war or because he really wanted to overturn the table. He just hoped that Russia would accept Britain's conditions.

Of course, if Austria and Greece can really accept the conditions of Britain and the Ottoman Empire and withdraw from the war, then the battle plan will be slightly modified.

In fact, theoretically speaking, the best solution for the Austrian Empire would be to abandon the Russo-Austrian alliance and stand idly by. After all, the Austrian Empire has already got what it wanted.

A war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire would directly weaken its two rivals in the Balkans, and George Villiers could not think of any reason for Austria to continue supporting the Russians.

As for the Greeks, these ungrateful guys are insignificant at all, but given the personal relationship between Otto I and Franz, they will most likely stand on the side of the Austrian Empire.

When only Russia, Britain and Turkey were left on the scene, the Russians would be more likely to follow his reasonable advice.

This will also be a foreshadowing. In the future, it will be difficult for Russia and Austria to trust each other. Things will become easy as long as the conflict between the Ottoman Empire and Russia is turned into a conflict between Russia and Austria through the two Danube principalities.

By that time, Britain would have returned to its area of ​​expertise, taking on enemies one by one, and after defeating them one by one, it would have been able to stabilize its world hegemony.

Compared to the British, the Russians were much more hasty in their preparations, and they had not even completed the occupation of the main areas of the Balkans.

There were less than 200,000 troops on the front line, and they were scattered throughout the Balkans. In fact, this was the problem Franz mentioned earlier.

First of all, the land carrying capacity of the Balkans is extremely limited, and it is impossible to station too many soldiers in the same area.

Secondly, the people in the Balkans are tough, have a weak sense of law, local forces are intertwined, ethnic, religious, social and class issues are complicated, and the cost of maintaining stability is huge.

Generally speaking, there are two methods to maintain stability. One is to invest massive amounts of manpower and material resources to create a relatively high-welfare environment while strengthening the legal system and education.

The other is harsh laws and severe punishments combined with the use of force to suppress.

Given Russia's economic situation, the latter option is obviously more in line with Russia's national conditions.

Although the latter is cheap, it has many hidden dangers, the biggest of which is that it is prone to rebound.

Franz never expected that the negotiations would break down directly. If Nicholas I had been less greedy and the British had been less cunning, the war would have been over.

The sudden breakdown of negotiations left the high-ranking officials of the Austrian Empire confused. Among them, Count Latour was the most depressed. After all, the military system of the Austrian Empire was already chaotic, and it became even more chaotic after this turmoil.

Of the 350,000 troops, except for 80,000 who stayed in the two Danube principalities to maintain law and order, the rest had long been sent back to the country, and some had even been assigned new tasks.

"Are the Russians crazy? They also want Constantinople, which is part of our Austrian Empire.

The Russians have evil ambitions. Otherwise, we should just join the Anglo-Turkish Alliance.

If we take Dobruja, all the Ottoman heritage in the Balkans will be ours."

Foreign Secretary Count Pilesdorff agreed with Count Latour's proposal.

"Count Latour is right. Nicholas I is a madman! We must consider the crazy bloodline of the Romanov family. The Austrian Empire cannot afford another Majesty Ferdinand."

“Ahem.”

Prime Minister Prince Schwarzenberg coughed twice.

"Count Pilesdorff, be careful about your words and actions. Do not make irresponsible remarks about the royal family. This is not the past."

"Sorry, that was a slip of the tongue."

Count Pilesdorf also immediately realized the problem.

"I think we should maintain incomplete neutrality. After all, we have already taken over the two Danube principalities and achieved our strategic goals. There is no need to continue this meaningless war.

But in order to maximize our country's profits, we can sell logistical supplies, weapons, and even provide mercenary services to Russia.

At the same time, we must continue to abide by the Maritime Non-Aggression Treaty with the United Kingdom.

Let Russia and Britain continue to fight like this. The longer they fight, the better it will be for us.

That is our view at the Treasury.”

Baron Brook said.

"You businessmen are just evil-minded! I agree with Baron Brooke. We don't need to offend the Russians, let alone please the British."

Count Giovanni Battista admired Baron Brooke's approach.

"Does anyone have anything to add?"

asked Prince Schwarzenberg.

No one answered.

"Well, I will convey your thoughts to His Majesty.

Now, the meeting is adjourned.”