Chapter 239 What on earth will Franz do again?

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 but sonorous words.

His sharp eyes revealed a strong desire to win. Moltke was the most aware of the development of the Prussian army in recent years. He had the urge to create a career when his son grew up.

"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 we must also recognize the reality. France It 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 unhurriedly.

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 war between Germany and France. Germany had appeared, and now As long as France sends the certification, 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."

The last time, Prussia conducted diplomatic isolation against the Austrian Empire, promising to cede part of the territory of the Rhineland to France (the famous Ruhr industrial area is here), acquiescing to France's annexation of part of the territory of Belgium and Luxembourg between Prussia and France; to the United Kingdom Large loans with very high interest rates allowed British capital to make money while taking advantage of Prussia's rapid economic development; 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 the north and south of Italy. Attack Austria from both sides. After some operations, Bismarck's diplomatic ability can be seen clearly.

"It's okay for Britain and Tsarist Russia. 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 it would also send troops to help Austria if it joined the Franco-Prussian War. 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, as the saying goes, everyone who owes money is the uncle. 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 can be said to be the strongest in French history. Its national power is infinitely close to that of the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest colonial empire in the world. Its army and navy are unprecedentedly powerful, threatening the British. Dominance.

Therefore, Tsarist Russia and Britain both supported Prussia, and the only ally France could win over was Austria-Hungary.

However, 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 knock on the door.

"Come in!" Although he was unhappy that someone interrupted his speech, he knew that the conversation between the Imperial Prime Minister and the Imperial Chief of General Staff must be very important at this time.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, General Moltke! This is important information sent by the intelligence agency."

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 1, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's army made some changes. Elite troops from the Slovak region were transferred away. Their whereabouts are temporarily unknown. The new troops stationed can be temporarily determined to be from southern Austria. - Slovak Intelligence Service"

"What else is Franz thinking about?" Moltke asked 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 possible attacks by Prussia and Russia at the same time. To the west it can support the Czech Republic, and to the east it can support the Galicia region.

"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 our defenses, we won't secretly transfer the 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 pondered.

First of all, exclude Italy. Not to mention Italy’s ally Prussia, 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 dying. If the Austro-Hungarian Empire wants to take action against the Ottoman Empire, ordinary troops can solve it.

Moreover, 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, I can be sure 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 of the 'idiots' around him."

Although he 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, but 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 Isn’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 good Prince of Prussia doesn't do anything, what is the purpose of going to that cursed continent of 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 the Austro-Hungarian Empire 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 and is completely at peace, because if Germany pays attention to it, Hungary will definitely object and will make small moves behind the scenes. But if it attacks a novice like Italy, Austria can handle it on its own, and Hungary will catch up. Join in, after all, the benefits cannot be taken by the Austrians alone.