There is no shortage of smart people in this world. The Austrian military's plan was quickly approved by the Russians, and an agreement was reached on the issue of a war against Turkey.

After a fierce battle, the Allied commander fell into the hands of Austria. It was not because Austria contributed a lot, but mainly because the tsarist government was poor.

"The man is short, and the eater is short." The war materials of the Russian army had to be supplied by the Vienna government, and the tsarist government naturally lacked confidence in the negotiations.

It is said that it is a joint operation, but in fact it is still fighting its own fight. Austria was responsible for dealing with the enemy's navy, covering the landing of Russian troops and ensuring the smooth passage of sea transportation.

On land, the Russians were free to play, and it had nothing to do with Austria whether they lived or died. When necessary, both parties should cooperate.

For example, if the enemy is mobilized, he suddenly shifts the battlefield and attacks a new target, which requires Austria to send ships.

Time flew by, and on March 1, 1874, Franz declared war on the Ottoman Empire in the name of "revenge", and the Habsburgs went to war with the Ottoman Empire again.

On the same day, the tsarist government also declared war on the Ottoman Empire on the grounds that "the Ottoman Empire interfered in Russia's internal affairs and conspiracy to plot a Bulgarian rebellion."

The Government of the Sudan has not yet responded, but that is no longer important. The full-scale outbreak of the Second Near Eastern War was a foregone conclusion, and no one could stop it.

Franz's pretext of declaring war on the grounds of "revenge" was still criticized internationally. Compared to the Russians' pretext for war, this excuse is almost like a make-up.

Fortunately, the enemy was the Ottoman Empire, the public enemy of Europe, and everyone was done talking about it for a few words. Except for a few people, most Europeans are happy melon-eaters.

The few who complained on behalf of the Ottoman Empire, before the Vienna government could pay attention to it, someone blew it in the newspapers. Franz admired this zealous crowd very much, but he didn't know if it was the newspaper's trust.

News always needs to be hyped, there is only one voice, how can newspapers have sales? So in general, when it comes to big news, European newspapers like to divide into two waves, and everyone makes a fortune together.

……

In the Balkans, Russian troops are massing. I have to say that the tsarist government is sincere, and the 150,000 people it said are 150,000 people, not to mention weapons and equipment, even the military uniforms they have saved.

Looking at the 150,000 Russian troops with bare hands in front of him, General Arest was speechless for a long time. In any case, as the commander-in-chief of this coalition force, he still has to solve these problems.

The Vienna government's promise to provide half a year's worth of war materiel for 150,000 troops must be fulfilled.

After pondering for a moment, Arest said to the Russian general: "General Ivanov, the weapons and equipment have arrived, and you can send someone to receive it now."

However, the military uniform must wait, Austria does not have the military uniform of the Russian army, and it is currently being prepared, you still need to wait. ”

When he said this, Arest's heart was broken. Catch up with the ghosts, they didn't think of this one at all beforehand, who knew that the tsarist government even saved military uniforms?

Well, the military uniform of one hundred and fifty thousand people is not a small number either. According to Austrian standards, it is standard for recruits to be issued three sets at one time, and three more sets must be issued in case of a change of season, and they can be replaced if they are accidentally damaged during training.

According to preliminary estimates, the issuance of military uniforms to 150,000 Russian troops is also better than hundreds of thousands of Aegis. It's not that military uniforms are expensive, but mainly because there are supporting equipment such as: water bottles, military boots, backpacks, tents......

Don't doubt it, just look at this posture and know that the Russians are not prepared for anything but people. In order to save money, the tsarist government could no longer afford to take care of it.

Arest understood the Russians' approach, and the 150,000 troops came empty-handed, and at least six or seven million Aegis worth equipment could be obtained.

The Russian Empire at its peak probably didn't care, but now this is almost a month's worth of revenue for the tsarist government. What is face compared to actual benefits?

"As soon as the cannon goes off, there are ten thousand taels of gold." There is nothing wrong with this statement, and the cost of war has also increased dramatically since the era of thermal weapons.

For this war in the Near East, the Vienna government prepared 150 million Aegis for the war. This war fund will only last for a year at most.

If the war continues, it will continue to increase the money in the end. This is also the reason why the Vienna government is reluctant to fight, it is too much money.

After listening to Arest's explanation, the commander of the Russian army, Ivanov, turned red. This is an order issued by the government not to wear military uniforms, not only to save this little money, but also to cry poor.

The tsarist government was not sure that it would be able to raise enough money for the war, and Alexander II feared that if the war continued, the government would not be able to afford its finances.

From the very beginning, it was ready to go to Austria. Russia and Austria are allies, and halfway through the war, the tsarist government suddenly ran out of money, what could Austria do?

If they wanted to continue contributing to the war, the Vienna government had to borrow money. Otherwise, they would have made a reasonable paddling and followed Austria to the final victory.

As one of the specific executors, Admiral Ivanov's face was clearly not thick enough. After listening to what Arester said, I was a little embarrassed.

"There is no problem, Your Excellency Commander, there is no military uniform and it does not affect the operation, and there is no problem in making up for it after a while."

Ivanov did not see a problem, Admiral Arest did not see it that way. If the Russian soldiers were really allowed to go to the battlefield like this, he, the commander-in-chief, would probably be laughed at for hundreds of years.

"Don't worry, the uniforms will definitely be issued before the landing operation, now you have to rest first. When the Navy is done, we will let you play. ”

Arest was an admiral and was able to serve as commander-in-chief of the Allied forces, mainly because Austria was mainly responsible for the sea in this joint operation.

Franz did not like remote command thousands of miles away, the headquarters of the coalition forces was in Constantinople, and there were still thousands of miles away from the Middle East, and if the Middle East region was classified under the name of the coalition command, it would be no different from remote command in Vienna.

So in this war, the General Command of the coalition forces is really just a coordinating body. The main task is to ensure the smooth passage of sea transportation and cooperate with the Russian army's attack on the Asia Minor Peninsula.

Combat? The Russians will command the battle on land, and whatever the result will be, Arest will not be responsible.

The only thing under his command was naval warfare, and if the Ottoman shipwrecks were also enemies, the Austrian navy had to fight a naval battle.

……

The Vienna Palace, receiving a telegram from Arest, Franz was instantly bad. The invincible Russian Empire ceased to exist, and now only a calculating tsarist government remained.

This change undoubtedly shows that the tsarist government has become more rational. Face is sometimes very important, and sometimes it is worthless.

There is no doubt that for the current tsarist government, "money" is the most important thing, and the face thing cannot be eaten.

From the moment of defeat in the Russo-Prussian War, the face of the tsarist government was worthless. Being able to change his mindset undoubtedly proves that Alexander II has grown.

"Just do what Arester wants, there's no need to affect our plans for this little thing."

A set of military uniforms, standing on the standpoint of the Vienna government, is indeed a trivial matter, and naturally no one will object.

War Secretary Albrecht: "Your Majesty, according to the plan, we will attack in the Middle East only after the war on the Asia Minor Peninsula has begun.

Affected by the Bulgarian rebellion, the troops initially prepared by the Russians were sent to suppress the rebellion, resulting in some underpreparation.

At present, this group of soldiers has not been trained in transitional naval operations at all, and they have only only received new equipment, so they still need to run in for a period of time, and they may not be able to launch an offensive in the short term. ”

Franz retracted his previous ideas, and the tsarist government was as unreliable as ever. The war had begun, and he was suddenly told that the Russian soldiers had not been trained in transitional naval operations.

Why did you go earlier? You must know that this war has been prepared for more than half a year, and Austria is responsible for equipment and logistics, and the tsarist government only sends people.

If it weren't for the sake of leaving time for the Russian army to conduct sea-crossing training, why wait for more than half a year? Could it be that the Russian Empire could not even take out 150,000 active army troops and needed to recruit new soldiers?

It was not for nothing that the battle of Asia Minor was first launched. For the Ottoman Empire, Asia Minor was the central territory.

Once war broke out, the Sudanese government was bound to concentrate its forces on defending the peninsula of Asia Minor. The number of troops deployed in the Middle East is unlikely to increase, if not decreased. This is very advantageous for Austria, which wants to grab turf.

"Don't worry about it so much, just go according to the original plan. The Russians were not trained to cross the sea, that was their own business. We will send them ashore according to the prior agreement.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed all countries to evacuate their overseas Chinese as soon as possible, and in half a month we will launch a full-scale attack. ”

War is declared and the war begins, and that is a special case. In this war in the Near East, Austria will definitely bombard the coastal cities of the Ottoman Empire, and civilian casualties are inevitable.

In such a situation, it is necessary to allow time for countries to evacuate. Otherwise, a large number of foreign casualties would have been caused, and the Viennese government would have found it difficult.

Franz doesn't want to be pointed at by a thousand people, and Spit Xingzi can sometimes kill. There is no hurry to attack the Ottomans, they can't run away anyway.

Don't look at what Franz said lightly, if the Russian soldiers really suffered heavy casualties and did not complete the set combat mission, then Austria would have to send troops to help deal with the aftermath.

Allies are used to pit, and there is nothing wrong with this statement. The war had just begun, and Franz had a feeling that he had been pitted.