Refusal is inevitable, and no matter how tempting the Berlin government's offer may be, it is essentially an empty glove white wolf.

Moreover, the Prussian-Russian War was not as simple as it seemed, and it was also full of games between Britain, France and Austria.

Initially, Britain and France supported the Pop-Polish Confederation and Austria supported the Russian Empire, but now the position of Britain and Austria has not changed, but the French have been passive and slack.

It's all determined by interests, and it can hit competitors, so why not do it?

The French did not invest much in this war, and even if the Popo Federation was defeated, their losses would be limited.

These economic losses can also be compensated for in other ways.

For example, British companies are affected by debt, and their operations are in trouble or even bankrupt.

Not to mention the benefits brought by the loss of competitors. Just to see the British unlucky, the French had reason to be happy.

As the French Empire grew stronger, the era of the Anglophiles was over. The growing conflict of interest has brought the two countries further apart.

From the position of France, it is also more in their interests for the Russians to win the war in the long run.

The spheres of influence of the two countries are far apart, and the possibility of a conflict of interest is almost zero. A powerful Russian empire that could also contain Austria from behind.

No matter how good the Russian-Austrian relations are, as soon as the Russian Empire becomes stronger, the two countries will go their separate ways, and national interests cannot be reversed by individual will.

Doing nothing can hit two competitors at the same time, and the French government naturally knows what to choose.

The British have calculations, the French have calculations, and Austria is no exception.

It is true that the Russian Empire is becoming stronger, but it is a potential threat for the future and will not need to be considered for at least twenty or thirty years.

In the short term, Austria's biggest competitors are Britain and France. With the defeat of the Popo Federation, debt default is inevitable, and the British economy will certainly be greatly affected by this.

The French economy is not much better, on the surface they do not invest much, the losses are manageable, and unfortunately the French economy itself has problems.

The market boomed during the war, and the high cost of industrial raw materials was not a problem, but when the Russo-Prussian War was over and there were no international orders, the problem should have erupted.

It just so happens that this period is the peak of industrial overcapacity in the world, and when the market competition is the most intense, cost will become one of the core factors of market competition.

With the cost still high, what will the French business community do to compete with Britain and Austria for the market?

Capital is profit-seeking, and profits will drive them from unprofitable manufacturing to finance, which in turn will change the structure of the French economy.

This is not the first time that Austria has made a layout, and after almost every economic crisis, the share of French manufacturing in the economy will decline.

Fortunately, no one realized the importance of manufacturing these days, otherwise the Paris government would have been in a hurry.

Of course, it's almost time to get to the eye now. In the era when the tertiary industry was not developed, it was the manufacturing industry that could create jobs.

The shrinking of industrial capacity will inevitably lead to a decline in employment, and these people can't all rush to farm, right?

France has long had its own land, and there are many overseas colonies, so the question is whether the French people are willing to go?

Unfortunately, due to the influence of maritime culture, the French people prefer to stay in the city rather than go to the colonies to open up the wasteland.

This has long been proven that neither in the original time nor in the present day, the enthusiasm of immigrants in France is not high.

The economy was not good, everyone spontaneously controlled births, and Condham's invention made a significant contribution to the family planning work in France.

Anyway, the life expectancy of the people at the bottom is short, and there is no need to consider the issue of pension, and it does not matter whether there is a next generation.

The decline in the birth rate is a long-term problem, and the harm will not be reflected in a short period of time. The social crisis brought about by the economy cannot be avoided.

Less than a decade after the Franco-Italian merger, many contradictions were covered up at a time when the economy was developing well. Once the economic crisis erupts, it will erupt.

In a sense, it was also France's weakest moment. In just a few short years, the Italian people had not yet returned to their hearts, and the rule of Napoleon IV was not stable at all.

If they are really allowed to run in for decades and find a set of rules that suit them, Grand France will be a "Mediterranean empire" in the true sense of the word, and the threat will be great.

……

With the battlefield at a disadvantage, diplomacy unable to convince Austria, and the French refusing to increase their investment, the pressure on the Berlin government increased dramatically for a time.

On October 12, 1880, the Berlin government launched an expanded mobilization program, and all men between the ages of 16~50 who were in good health were required to participate in militia training and be ready to be drafted at any time.

It can be seen that the Berlin government is really anxious, and it does not trust Moltke so much. Although there has been no maximum mobilization, preparations have already begun.

"Extreme mobilization" is a great test of a country's organizational ability, not everyone is willing to go to war, and this requires a lot of work.

Either it was the primitive feudal era, where the area of rule was limited, and at the sound of the lord's order, all the serfs took up arms and went to war.

Either they have been severely humiliated, nationalist and willing to fight for their country; Either you have encountered difficulties in survival, and you must use the weapons in your hands to obtain living space for yourself.

These Pubo federations cannot be relied on, so they can only rely on the organizational ability of the government. After all, war is not just about gathering people together, it is also about military training, and at the same time, it is necessary to ensure the supply of logistical materials.

Vienna Palace

Putting down the intelligence in his hand, Franz asked: "If the Pubo Federation carries out extreme mobilization, how many troops can it mobilize at most?" ”

After pondering for a moment, Chief of Staff Albrecht replied slowly: "According to the analysis of the data we have gathered, the Pop-Po Federation can mobilize up to six million people. ”

"Six million people" is not a six million army, people and the army are two different concepts, and not everyone can become a qualified soldier.

This "six million" simply excludes physical disabilities and sickness numbers, proving that there are six million school-age men in the Pubo Federation.

It's impossible to train all these people into an army. The reason is very simple, there are still many jobs in society that need people, and they are still indispensable.

Government agencies, hospitals, schools, military enterprises, scientific research institutions......

In addition to these posts, there are a large number of special classes. If it is not the aristocracy, the European nobles will go to the battlefield, and the glory of the nobility will not allow them to retreat at this time.

Those who are unwilling to serve in the military are mainly capitalists, middle class, small businessmen, experts and scholars, ...... who have money and social status, and are unwilling to go to war to work hard.

If the Berlin government had included them in the service, it would have been able to turn the country upside down.

After deducting all of this, the Berlin government can really mobilize. After mobilization, it is necessary to screen out some people who are not suitable for joining the army.

In the end, how many people are left depends on the selection criteria of the Berlin government. Maybe three million, maybe four million, no one knows how many troops the Poppo Federation can mobilize before there is no maximum mobilization.

However, whether it is three million or four million, this number is going to shock the world.

The area in which Prussia and Russia are at war is also limited, and when the number of troops invested reaches a certain level, it will reach the limit of battlefield bearing, and it is impossible to increase it indefinitely.

After reaching the limit of the battlefield capacity, the Russian army can no longer maintain the superiority of forces on the battlefield, and Ivanov's conservative tactics will be difficult to play a role.

Theoretically, as long as the Prussian army had three million troops, not only two million could be committed to the front line, Moltke would be able to defeat the Russians.

Franz asked suspiciously: "Why, you are not optimistic about the extreme mobilization of the Pubo Federation?" ”

Chief of Staff Albrecht nodded and explained: "The combat effectiveness of the army of the same country is also different. Once the Pop-Polish Federation has carried out maximum mobilization, the combat effectiveness of the Prussian army will drop sharply.

There are not enough officers, there is a lack of training among soldiers, and the quality of the soldiers is declining, and all these factors add up, and the combat effectiveness of the Prussian army may be pulled to the same level as the Russian army.

What the elite army can do, the ordinary army simply can't do.

The combat effectiveness of the troops has dropped sharply, and the commanders also need time to adapt to it, and the most lacking thing on the battlefield is time.

The tsarist government is able to negotiate with the Pupo Confederation now, and it can do the same in the future. It is not even necessary to win the battle, as long as it can inflict heavy casualties on the Prussian army, the war can also be won by defeating the battle.

Unless Moltke can come up with an amazing exchange ratio, they will be killed sooner or later by the Russians' crowd tactics.

On this issue, I agree with Moltke that the advantage of the Prussian army lies in mobility, and blind expansion is tantamount to giving up this advantage. ”

This is also a warning to Austria, if you want to play crowd tactics, you should learn from the Russians who value quantity over quality, and if you want to take care of both, you should wash and sleep!

Perhaps two or three million army officers, Austria can reserve in advance, once this number rises to five million, six million, or even tens of millions, it is a dream to reserve in advance!

Train all active duty soldiers to become officers? It's a beautiful idea, but in fact, there is a gap between people, and not everyone can become a qualified officer.

A good soldier does not mean that you can also become a good officer, and many people are only suitable for being soldiers.

Even if you spend resources to cultivate, at most, you can even cap the ranking. It won't take a few years to retire and go home, and I will be beaten back to the prototype again.

This distress did not bother Franz for long, and he was relieved to think of his rivals. The advantages and disadvantages are all compared, and you don't need to do the best, as long as you are better than your competitors.

Franz was not prepared to be Napoleon's second, Austria did not need to fight the entire European continent alone, and in the face of a single enemy, it would not need so many troops at all.

After a little thought, Franz made a decision: "The Pubo Federation has not yet reached its limit, this war still has to be fought, and the weapons and technology originally planned to be sold have been put on hold for the time being." ”

Although the new weapons could make the war even more miserable, Franz did not dare to let it go, and Austria wanted both Prussia and Russia to lose, not to turn the Pok-Polish Federation around.

The same weapons and equipment, placed in the hands of different people, can exert completely different combat effectiveness.

Just look at Ivanov's use of troops, and you can see that he is a proper conservative. What kind of leadership there is, what kind of subordinates there are, and the Russian army is definitely not as good as the Prussian army in the use of new weapons.

Whether it is a "machine gun" or a "mortar", these seemingly small weapons can burst out with amazing lethality. If Moltke had found a chance, he might have been able to turn a major battle around.

The Russians have a thick family background, and it is not terrible to lose once at the front, but what is terrible is that the defeat of the war led to a change of generals in the tsarist government.

Don't look at Marshal Ivanov, there are not many bright spots, but he is still the most suitable commander in chief to command the Russian army, if there is a different person, who knows what the hell will come out.

It was not that Franz underestimated the Russians, but that the quality of their officers was slightly lower on the whole, which was reflected in the level of education.

Most of the high-ranking officers are still good, and most of them have received a sound education, while many middle- and lower-ranking officers have only received a family military education, and the proportion of officers who have been trained by military schools is very low.

Otherwise, an Austrian military academy student like Arden would not have become a general in just a few years. (Previously mentioned, Commander of the Garrison of Kovelli)

It's not that a foreign monk is good at chanting sutras, the key is that compared with others, his ability is indeed very good, at least in terms of theoretical knowledge.

When conservative tactics are adopted, they are all dumb battles anyway, and the space for officers to display their personal abilities is limited, and this disadvantage is not obvious.

If there is a new commander, a change in the mode of operation, and the officers on the front line are required to freely exert their personal command ability, the Russians will have to suffer.

There may be genius commanders who will emerge, but more often than not, stupid.

In a war of millions of people, the power of the individual is insignificant, and it is often not a very few geniuses who decide the outcome of the war, but more countless fools.

If there is no fool's backing, where is the genius? Miracles in military history are often created by these two types of people.

……

Foreign Secretary Wessenberg: "Your Majesty, when I met with the British Minister yesterday, he brought news.

As soon as we stopped supporting the Russians, the British government recognized our post-war annexation of the Russian Balkans, including Constantinople. ”

Franz rolled his eyes directly, what is this? Does Austria's annexation of the Russian Balkans still need to be recognized by the British?

Franz was not arrogant, since the opening of the Suez Canal, the influence of the British in the Mediterranean has gradually declined, and the Balkans have not been able to intervene.

If Austria really wants to annex these regions, the only real obstacle is the Russians, and the "recognition or not" of the British will not affect the final result at all.

For the French, it's pretty much the same, at least they have the ability to interfere. As for the British, when will the main forces of the Royal Navy dare to go deep into the Adriatic Sea.

However, this can also prove that the London government is in a hurry. The French, who had high hopes from them, now chose to stand by and watch, and the British did not have enough chips in their hands.

Franz: "There are no Ukrainian regions? ”

"Nope!" Wessenberg replied

Franz shook his head: "It seems that the consciousness of the London government is still stuck in thirty years ago, and it wants to point fingers everywhere.

Tell the British that Russian-Austrian relations have a long history and that we have no interest in Constantinople, and let them not sow discord. ”

Whether there is interest or not, now Austria must have no interest. Constantinople is not easy to take, and taking it means that you will have to fight to the death with the Russians, sharing the hatred for the Popo Federation.

Austria occupied the Dardanelles, and Constantinople was the icing on the cake. What else is there in the Russian Balkans besides Constantinople?

Bulgaria?

It was already 1880, not 1850, and Bulgarian nationalism was already on the rise.

The Bulgarian regional culture and customs were very close to those of Russia, and the language was more interoperable, and the tsarist government did not digest them, and Franz did not think that Austria could assimilate the locals so easily.

To put it bluntly, in addition to rose essential oil, Bulgaria has no shortage of other resources in Austria. The input and output are not proportional, and it is naturally difficult to arouse interest.