Chapter 728 Weak States and Diplomacy
Francz II squeezed his cane hard and began to pace back and forth anxiously.
Austria's financial situation is already very bad. He originally planned to take advantage of Russia to attract most of the Polish army, and take a big piece of meat from Poland to solve domestic problems.
But now they have been fighting for several months and have only managed to capture Sandomierz, and only the part west of the San River. Only about 80% of the area of a province.
The benefits obtained by Austria are only slightly higher than the military expenditure invested.
If the war between Poland and Russia ceases at this time, Poland's troops on the eastern front will soon be transferred to the western front.
Wilmser couldn't get enough of Krakow in the first place, so there's no need to think about it then.
He stopped and said to Turgut: "I want to send more troops to the front line and capture Krakow as soon as possible!"
Turgut looked down at the toes of his shoes in embarrassment. He coughed lightly and said: "Ahem, Your Majesty, that will evolve into a full-scale war with Poland...and the military expenditure will be at least 8 to 10 times what it is now."
"What? So much!"
Franz hesitated for a moment, and then hesitated: "What is your suggestion?"
Turgut raised his head again: "Your Majesty, we can work together with Prussia and Russia as an alliance. Poland engages in armistice negotiations
“Poland will face joint pressure from the three countries, and only then can we maximize the gains we have made so far. "
Franz II didn't have any other ideas. He pretended to think carefully and nodded: "Then please contact Prussia and Russia as soon as possible. "
"Yes, Your Majesty. ”
…
Potsdam.
Sanssouci Palace.
William II waved his hand and said loudly: "Gdansk, what I want is Gdansk!"
Prince Heinrich sighed secretly and said: "Your Majesty, in this way I estimate that in another month at most, 60,000 to 70,000 Polish troops will return from the Eastern Front to defend Gdansk and other places.
"With the war will that the Poles have shown recently, it may be difficult to deal with them.
"We currently occupy three provinces in Greater Poland, and the gains are already large enough. "
William II glanced at him: "So, you think there should be an immediate ceasefire? "
"Yes, we should unite Russia and Austria to force Poland to make concessions in the armistice negotiations. ”
……
St. Petersburg.
Ekaterina II glared at Zubov, who had just returned from London, and gritted her teeth: "The British have repeatedly said that they support our war against Poland. For this, I do not hesitate to offend France and expand our relationship with them. trade volume, and allowing them to mine in Donbass
“And this is how they repay me?
"500,000 rubles, ha, are they sending beggars away?!"
Zubov lowered his head and did not dare to breathe.
He went to London with confidence for a loan, but he did not expect that Britain was busy preparing for war with France. Coupled with the previous London gas street light incident and the losses of the Caribbean colonies, Congress did not hesitate to veto the loan to Russia.
Right now, for Russia, the only option left is an armistice.
The Tsar looked at Zubov again and said angrily: "You will be responsible for the negotiation of the armistice with Poland. At least you must protect the results of Minsk and Mozyr for me."
"Yes, Your Majesty, I will not let you down."
At this moment, a palace official walked in quickly and saluted Catherine II: "Your Majesty, Prince Heinrich of Prussia will arrive in St. Petersburg tomorrow morning. He hopes that Can get your summons ”
The next day.
The Tsar listened to Prince Heinrich's proposal for the Three Kingdoms Alliance to jointly conduct armistice negotiations with Poland. He immediately nodded with deep understanding and added: "The United Kingdom can also join the negotiations."
The British are unwilling to borrow money from Russia, so they will certainly not refuse to contribute a little in diplomacy. As an ally of Britain, Prussia naturally had no objection to Prince Heinrich: "Your suggestion is very good. I will make a request to London."
"They will agree. "The Tsar smiled.
Even though a small country like Poland performed well on the battlefield, it had no choice but to surrender under the pressure of the four major powers.
Perhaps, Russia can also gain something beyond Minsk and Mozyr.
She appointed Zubov as her plenipotentiary representative that afternoon and went to London with the Prince of Austria.
……
Paris.
Palace of Versailles.
Joseph couldn't help but frown slightly as he looked at the document Sieyès had just submitted regarding the armistice negotiations in Poland.
The document reads: Russia, Prussia, and Austria formed an alliance to jointly conduct armistice negotiations with Poland, and the United Kingdom also participated in "mediation."
Russia, Prussia and Austria demanded that Poland cede the territory they occupied militarily, totaling: two Russian provinces, three Prussian provinces, and one Austrian province.
Poland must control the number of troops to no more than 40,000.
The Port of Gdansk is jointly managed by Poland and Prussia, and no troops are allowed to be stationed.
A large amount of war reparations...
The United Kingdom expressed its full support for the requirements of the three countries and urged Poland to sign as soon as possible.
“It’s really a world where the jungle is the strongest.”
Joseph sighed and looked at Sieyès, who had just returned from Poland: “So, what’s the opinion of Warsaw?”
Sieyès said in a low voice: "Your Highness, the Polish Parliament is ready to accept these conditions.
"You know, the situation in Poland is also very bad.
“According to the current intensity of the war, if there is no external assistance, they can last for 2 to 3 months at most. Under the condition of exhausting all national strength.”
Poland from the beginning of the war to Now, more than 240,000 young and middle-aged men have been recruited. In addition to those who go directly to the front line, there are hundreds of thousands more who are responsible for logistics and transportation.
For a small country with only 10 million people, this is almost the limit.
You know, there are still a lot of Orthodox people in Poland. Parliament would not dare to use these people in this war.
Poland’s fiscal revenue relies almost entirely on agriculture. If it were not supported by the Tarnovsk Mountain silver mine, it would have collapsed two months ago.
Therefore, the weakness of national power forced Poland to accept the armistice, otherwise the entire country would collapse waiting for them.
Joseph picked up the terms of the armistice negotiations again.
To be honest, this is much better than the historical result of the "two melons" that caused Poland to lose 300,000 square kilometers of territory.
Even if all the six provinces requested by Russia, Prussia and Austria were ceded, the total area would only be 50,000 to 60,000 square kilometers, and there would be only one relatively wealthy province, Poznan.
"Three Kingdoms Alliance?" Joseph looked at the top line of the document and suddenly thought of something, "They want to exert pressure together, but alliances that appear to be in harmony but seem to be inseparable often have the opposite effect."
He thought for a moment and gave Sieyès instructions to return to Saxony immediately - that was the location of the armistice negotiations.
March 14, 1793.
Saxony.
Dresden Royal Palace.
Polish Royal Minister Mawachowski looked coldly at the negotiators from the four countries in front of him, and dropped his pen on the table: "Robbers, traitors, traitors, ha! Poland will not accept these conditions! ”
(End of this chapter)