Chapter 239 What on earth will Franz do again?
"Your Excellency Prime Minister! The French have humiliated Prussia. This time it is time to let the French know the results of the Prussian army's reforms over the years." Moltke looked seriously at Bismarck's slow speech. But he said it loudly and forcefully.
His sharp eyes reveal a strong desire to win. Moltke is the one who knows the development of the Prussian army in recent years. He has a feeling that when his son grows up, it is time to create a career. impulse.
"General Moltke, don't be anxious now. War will come sooner or later. This is also the attitude of Your Majesty and I. But victory in war is never just a matter of the battlefield. Now we are indeed developing very fast, but also We need to recognize the reality. France is a top power and its strength cannot be underestimated. I will also ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to do more work to prevent other countries from intervening in this war and create conditions for our victory on the battlefield." Bismarck said, "No worries. Said slowly.
Earlier, under Bismarck's operation, he had secretly signed an offensive and defensive alliance treaty with the South German states, so this time it looked like a Franco-Prussian war, but it was actually a German-French war. , Germany has appeared, and now France only needs to send the certification, and the so-called offensive and defensive alliance can become a real Germany. This shows that France is capable and can be called the founding father of the United States, Italy and Germany, and all three countries are later great powers.
"There are only three countries now, which are the uncertain factors in our war with France. You must also know that if we cannot convince them, our work will probably be in vain in the end."
Last time, Prussia It diplomatically isolated the Austrian Empire, promised to cede part of the territory of the Rhineland to France (the famous Ruhr industrial area is here), acquiesced to France's annexation of part of the territory of Belgium and Luxembourg between Prussia and France; borrowed large sums from the United Kingdom, The interest rate was very high, allowing British capital to make money by taking advantage of the rapid development of Prussia's economy; it signed a preferential trade agreement with Tsarist Russia and a private alliance treaty; and finally, it took advantage of the territorial disputes between Italy and Austria to unite Italy from the north and the south to attack Austria. After some operations, Bismarck's diplomatic ability can be seen clearly.
"It's okay to say that Britain and Tsarist Russia are fine. The most important thing now is the attitude of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, the possibility of the Austro-Hungarian Empire sending troops is very small, but in the end it still depends on the personal thoughts of Emperor Franz..."
In order to break the restrictions imposed on Russia by the 1856 Treaty of Paris, Russia chose to maintain "well-intentioned neutrality" in the Franco-Prussian War and deployed 100,000 troops on the Russian-Austrian border. At the same time, it promised Prussia that if Austria joined the Franco-Prussian War , it would also send troops to help Prussia.
The subsequent development was as Russia hoped. The Prussian army won a complete victory in the Franco-Prussian War, and finally unified Germany and established the German Empire. In return for Russia's neutrality, at the London Conference held in March 1871, Bismarck helped Russia break away from the shackles of the Black Sea neutrality clauses stipulated in the Treaty of Paris, reaffirmed the principle of closing the straits and prohibiting the passage of foreign warships, and ensured Russian interests.
As for Britain, there is a saying that all the people who owe money are uncles. Prussia borrowed a lot of money from Britain in the previous wars. If Prussia lost...
Of course, the most important thing is that France is too powerful. Under the rule of Napoleon III, France could be said to be the most powerful period in French history. Its national power was infinitely close to that of Britain. It was also the second largest colonial empire in the world. Its army and navy were unprecedentedly powerful, threatening Britain's hegemony.
So Tsarist Russia and Britain both support Prussia, and the only ally France can win over is the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
But Napoleon III’s foreign policy has always been stupid. Otherwise, he would not have allowed Italy to unify. Forget it, France sent troops to protect the Papal States in the last step of Italy’s unification, which led to the breakdown of French-Italian relations. .
At this time, Napoleon III still did not realize the seriousness of the problem. If he could win over the Austro-Hungarian Empire, success or failure was still uncertain.
"Dong dong dong..."
Just as Bismarck continued to say something, there was a sudden knock on the door.
"Come in!" Although he was unhappy that someone interrupted his speech, at this time he knew that the conversation between the Imperial Prime Minister and the Imperial Chief of General Staff must be very important.
"Your Excellency Prime Minister, General Moltke! This is important information sent by the intelligence department."
Bismarck took the document and read it.
moment. "Okay, okay! You should also take a look at this information." Bismarck handed the document to Moltke.
Text of the document: "On July 1st, there were changes in the Austro-Hungarian Army. Elite troops from Slovakia were transferred away. Their whereabouts are temporarily unknown. The new troops stationed are temporarily confirmed to be from Austria. Southern Region. ——Slovak Intelligence Service"
"What else is Franz thinking about?" Moltke said in confusion.
You must know that Russia has just deployed 100,000 troops in the border area. At this time, Austria secretly transferred its elite troops from Slovakia. This is a military powerhouse not far from Prussia and Tsarist Russia. It can deal with both Prussia and Russia at the same time. For possible attacks by China, the Czech Republic can be supported to the west, and the Galician region can be supported to the east.
"The only areas that Austria can pay attention to and benefit from are the Balkans and Italy, but this is obviously not the time for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to launch a war. Franz's decision is indeed unpredictable. Do you think it is possible that this is really the case? It was just an ordinary change of defense by the Austro-Hungarian Empire!" Bismarck said to Moltke.
"Even if we change defenses, we won't secretly transfer elites from Slovakia during this period! I don't believe that Franz dares to bet that we and Tsarist Russia will not take action against the Austro-Hungarian Empire."
"Could it be that Hungary is causing trouble again! But I haven't heard of any recent actions in Hungary." Bismarck said strangely.
“Hungary is indeed a destabilizing factor within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but there are no elite troops needed to deal with Hungary.”
“Then what is Franz’s true intention?” Both of them thought about it.
First of all, exclude Italy. Not to mention that Italy has Prussia as an ally, if the Austro-Hungarian Empire dared to attack Italy, the French would not agree.
The second is the Balkan Peninsula. This is possible, but the Ottoman Empire on the Balkan Peninsula is already struggling. If the Austro-Hungarian Empire wants to attack the Ottoman Empire, ordinary troops can solve it.
And Tsarist Russia would not let the Austro-Hungarian Empire expand in the Balkans. Therefore, if the Austro-Hungarian Empire really wanted to take action on the Balkans, it should deploy more troops on the Austrian-Russian border to deal with the pressure from Tsarist Russia. So what does Franz want to do? Is it really an ordinary defense change?
"Forget it, in short, it is certain that the Austro-Hungarian Empire has no plans to intervene in Prussia recently. Anyway, there are many people who make mistakes in decision-making. Maybe Franz was deceived by some 'idiot' around him. ”
Having said this, Bismarck still went through the recent major events in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in his mind. Nothing major happened.
When the East African Kingdom was established a few days ago, it should be considered a relatively big move for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to be the first to speak out. However, there is nothing noteworthy about the East African Kingdom. Did the Hechingen royal family start a business overseas? It is indeed eye-catching, but this Wasn't going to Africa just looking for death? At that time, Bismarck also commented that Prince Constantine had the same adventurous spirit as his son Ernst.
If the Prince of Prussia doesn’t do anything good, why would he go to that cursed continent in Africa? Now the whole of Germany knows that the royal family of Hechingen is very rich, but Africa and some areas in South America are a paradise for explorers. It is meaningless to open up a colony there and dominate it. At most, you can be an African chief. Europe is the world's leader. center. In other words, Prince Constantine's status is not low, so everyone gives him face.
"Well, at least this move can show that Austria-Hungary does not care about Germany. I think our army can also focus more on France." Moltke said.
Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire does not care about Germany, it is completely at peace, because if Germany pays attention to it, Hungary will definitely object and will make small moves behind the scenes, but Austria itself can defeat a novice like Italy. If the solution is solved, Hungary will also rush to join in. After all, the benefits cannot be left to the Austrians alone.
(End of this chapter)