Franz did not immediately decide on the question of the future development strategy of the Navy, which will have to wait until the end of the war in the Near East.

However, he readily approved the funds for the construction of ironclad ships by the Navy. In any case, buying the honor of the world's first ironclad ship with a few million dong, the political gains alone are enough to pay off.

The new Holy Roman Empire had just been established, and the government needed good news. Buying a wave of national pride for a few million dong warships is much better than engaging in a face-saving project.

Global cruises are not something that can be carried out in a short period of time, at least with an ironclad fleet, which can have a shocking effect.

Franz was not a loser, and it was impossible for him to build a bunch of them at once before the first ironclad came out to prove its superiority.

When the first generation of ironclad ships comes out and the shipyard has accumulated experience, it will be easier to upgrade the technology later.

As for the performance of the early ironclads, Franz was not worried at all, it was a big deal to upgrade them in the future, and sell them to the Americans during the Civil War.

Not only the Americans, but also many big customers in the world, and the Russians are a potential big customer, although they are a little poor.

However, Franz is not worried, it is a big deal to fool the Russians in the future, and on the grounds of saving money, the two countries will work together on naval research and development.

The French did it before World War I, and then they dragged the Russians into the pit with them. Everyone else is blowing up dreadnoughts, but the two countries have not reacted and built a bunch of warships that can be decommissioned before they are in service.

Then it is even more important to fight for the honor of this "first ironclad ship", and the brand effect is the basis for selling at a good price.

Every technological innovation is half a step ahead of others, which will naturally leave the outside world with a concept of very good technology.

Don't think that politicians are very professional, in fact, most of these people can make decisions with a pat on the head. The first thing everyone weighs is the benefits, and the second is the impression.

As with the sale of ordinary goods, products with brand bonuses will always sell at a higher price, while products without brands can only be sold at a stall price.

Obviously, military products cannot be sold at the price of the stalls, and if they do so, they will lose a lot of money.

At present, the weapons sold by Austria to the Russians have not risen at the prices of the international market before the war, but the net profits will not be less than 30 percent, and the windfall profits in the arms market can be seen.

……

In the Balkans, since the agreement between Britain, France and Austria on the Greek issue at the Paris Conference, the allied forces naturally withdrew from the Kingdom of Greece.

There was also a Duchy of Montenegro next door, and they needed to get it done, so Oliver didn't have the time to continue playing with the Greeks. In any case, under the principle of unanimity among the great powers, the Greeks had no choice.

The condition of acceptance was that the Greek kingdom could preserve its territory without worrying about the survival of the country under the mutual control of the great powers; If the demands of the countries are rejected, it will soon become history.

After lying down on the Greeks, the morale of the coalition army finally recovered. Neither the British nor the Sardinian army took the Duchy of Montenegro seriously, but the Ottoman army often fought against Montenegro and knew that it was a hard bone.

Major General Oliver was very dissatisfied with the Ottomans' procrastination. No, now it's Lieutenant General Oliver, he just won a battle, he was naturally promoted, and the position of commander of the expeditionary force was obtained.

I have to sigh once again about the importance of the background, compared with other British generals, Oliver was mixed into the position of lieutenant general before he was forty years old, which is enough to make many people ashamed.

The liaison officer, Amedeo Biavati, said dissatisfiedly: "Your Excellency, the Ottomans have rejected our request to send troops together on the grounds that the reconquest of lost territory requires the settlement of the rebellion. ”

In his opinion, now everyone is helping the Ottomans to fight, and none of their allies have dropped the chain, and the Ottoman army actually retreated first.

However, he had no way to blame the Ottoman government, because in the previous battle, the British and French directly killed the main force of the Ottoman army.

In order to appease the Ottomans, the governments of the two countries made a promise that they would not participate in the later battles.

Oliver thought for a moment and said, "Forget it, a mere Duchy of Montenegro is not worth mentioning at all, and it doesn't matter if the Ottoman ginseng participates in the next battle." ”

Saying this, Oliver was very confident, and there was no loss at all in attacking the British army in Greece, and with the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia, there were now 65,000 men.

On the other hand, how many troops does the enemy have? Even if the Principality of Montenegro was frantically recruiting troops in the newly occupied areas, it was a pity that it was raided by the Ottomans first, and there was not much left of the young and strong.

Even if even the captives were incorporated, the Duchy of Montenegro could barely raise 40,000 troops, and it was unknown how much combat power it could have.

Oliver was full of confidence, and it was a fool's dream to try to block their heavy siege with this rabble that had just been put together.

Without a bunch of Ottoman cannon fodder, Oliver didn't care. As a high-ranking officer, Lieutenant General Oliver still knows how to understand politics.

Now the London government hopes that the Ottoman Empire will retain some strength and continue to help guard the Black Sea gateway after the war.

They had already seen the strength of the Russians, and the government in London did not want another war in the Near East, they had lost faith in defeating the Russians.

Even if the Balkans win, the Crimean will win, it will not be possible to kill the Russians. Continuing to attack the Russian mainland, they could not afford to lose.

Against this backdrop, it is natural to find ways to use diplomacy. Although the Ottoman Empire was rotten, it was precisely because of the decay that the London government was relieved to let them guard the golden waterway.

This requires the Sudanese government to regain its strength as soon as possible, which is obviously not easy. A war in the Near East was fought, and the entire Balkan Peninsula was shattered.

Since the Ottomans were unwilling to participate in the later battles, and Lieutenant General Oliver could not force them, didn't they see that the French were defending Constantinople alone?

Now that the losses are so heavy, they don't say anything to ask their allies for help. Of course, this does not rule out the factor that the Frenchman is afraid of being cheated by his teammates.

Great powers still need credibility, and since they have made commitments, they must fulfill them. If you break the contract repeatedly, everyone won't play with you, even the British Empire can't stand it!

Without any hesitation, Lieutenant General Oliver led the LinkedIn coalition army to kill the Albanian region, and a big war was about to break out.

……

Looking at the menacing coalition army, the Duchy of Montenegro panicked. Unlike the Ottomans, they often fought each other, and without reverence, they were still very afraid of the British Duchy of Montenegro.

Although the sparrow is small, it has all kinds of organs.

The various departments of the Montenegrin government are still well-established, which fully proves that they are a country, not a copycat.

Danilo I said solemnly: "Ladies and gentlemen, the war in the Near East has been going on so far, and the development on the battlefield has completely exceeded our control.

After a lot of hard fighting, we managed to take the fortress of Skadra, take half of Albania, and gain our coveted access to the sea.

In the wake of this glorious victory, we also paid a heavy price, with nearly 4,000 warriors falling on the battlefield, the war emptied our treasury, and now we owe Austria a huge foreign debt.

Strategically, we have got everything we want, and the Principality of Montenegro is tired and does not have the strength to continue fighting.

Now we have to think about how we can eat the land that we already control. ”

Clearly, Danilo I's desire to fight was exhausted and he wanted to settle down.

There is no way, the capital of the Principality of Montenegro is too small, and it has already exceeded their limit by conquering several times the land of the mainland at one time.

For other countries, the loss of 4,000 people may be a number, but for the Principality of Montenegro, this is a great loss of vitality, almost to the point of wearing filial piety.

Even if they knew that the enemy was coming, now they could only defend passively. I played too much in the early stage, and I put a lot of money into it, and now Danilo I doesn't dare to continue playing.

Claude Drerich, the Prime Minister's part-time foreign secretary, analyzed: "The Grand Duke, if we want to swallow up the territory we occupy, it will not be possible until the Russians can win this war."

However, judging from the current situation, the outcome of this war is still uncertain.

Britain and France had the upper hand on the Crimean peninsula, but they could not defeat Russia for a short time; The Russians had the advantage in the Balkans, but they were slow to conquer Constantinople.

If the Russians lose the war, then we will be in big trouble, and after the war we will definitely have to suffer from the enemy's retaliation.

With our own strength, we may not be able to withstand the enemy's counterattack. ”

Commander-in-Chief of the Principality of Montenegro and Minister of War Mirkov said: "There is no need to wait, according to the information we have received, the enemy is already on the way, or a big war will break out in a week."

The Greek bunch of rubbish had been boasting about dividing Albania with us, but they didn't expect it to be so vulnerable that they didn't even have the ability to consume the enemy's forces.

We are about to face an attack by 65,000 Anglo-Sapine troops, and the gap between the strength of the enemy and us is too great, and this war has to be fought. ”

Although there was a sense of revenge, when he said this, Mirkov was still a little eager to try. Fearful of the British, but not intimidated by the British.

In order to get access to the sea and change the impoverished situation of the Principality of Montenegro, they have struggled for several generations, and naturally it is impossible for them to give up the benefits they have obtained because they are afraid of the strength of the enemy.

Danilo I asked: "Is it possible to solve the problem diplomatically?" ”

As a pacifist, he really didn't want to fight. The Principality of Montenegro can't fight anymore, as a small country, they can only be reckless, and now that this wave is over, they will naturally have to rest.

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid this won't work. Although Britain and France sent people to contact us, they did not have much sincerity.

Not only will we be asked to join the coalition and declare war on the Russians, but after the war we will spit out most of the gains we have now. Claude Drerich, the Prime Minister's part-time foreign secretary, replied

No matter how brilliant the Montenegrin army is on the battlefield, it cannot hide the fact that it lacks strength. Without strength, Britain and France naturally could not afford to pay a lot of money.

Moreover, there is a price to be paid for jumping back. The Russians are not soft persimmons either, the situation on the battlefield is only a stalemate now, and the winner has not yet been decided, and if he stands on the wrong team, it will really be over.