Versailles

"Your Majesty, the Minister of the New Holy Roman Empire in Paris has sent us a diplomatic note proposing that our two countries act jointly on the Greek question," said Foreign Secretary Auvergne.

It seems that the Viennese government feared that the British would take advantage of the opportunity to annex the Kingdom of Greece and threaten their interests. ”

At this time, Greece had a population of just over one million, and after this war, Greece suffered serious losses in the country.

If the British were interested in turning the Kingdom of Greece into their colony, it would not be very difficult.

This concern was obviously not unfounded, and the annexation of Greece could strategically bring a lot of benefits to the British, not only blocking the door of the Russians to the Mediterranean, but also increasing their voice in the Near East.

The Paris government is also very worried about this situation. The pie in the Near East is so big, and if the British take too much, they will inevitably squeeze out their local interests.

Napoleon III thought for a moment and said: "The annexation of the Kingdom of Greece by the British is very detrimental to our strategy in the Near East, send people to talk to the Austrians, and as long as there is no serious conflict of interests, we will act jointly with them." ”

Napoleon III was still very cowardly against the British alone, but with Austria he was fearless. In this era, the gap in strength between Britain, France, Russia and Austria has not yet widened, and even if the British have an advantage, they cannot defeat one against two.

Common interests are always the basis of cooperation, and France and the new Holy Roman Empire are in a struggle for continental hegemony, and it stands to reason that the two sides should be full of contradictions.

However, now the hegemon of the European continent is still the Russians, and before the woolly bear falls, both countries are only substitutes, and it is not yet time to turn around.

Affected by the war against France, France's every move on the European continent will be closely watched by everyone.

In this context, any foreign expansion of France on the European continent may be misinterpreted by the outside world and boycotted by everyone, and the Paris government has to keep a low profile at this time.

The new Holy Roman Empire was also in the dark, and although Austria had been in Franz for more than four years, this development only brought Austria up to speed with the times, and did not give it an advantage over other countries.

After the annexation of South Germany, the newly established new Holy Roman Empire entered a period of internal integration, and there was no energy to do things in the short term, and Franz now had no plans to fight for hegemony on the European continent.

The two sides are very peaceful, and the Franco-Austrian conflict has naturally not ignited, which undoubtedly creates favorable conditions for the next cooperation.

Interior Secretary Pesini analyzed: "Your Majesty, the purpose of the Austrians is probably not so simple.

As far as we know, since the failure of the unification of the German regions, there has been a growing cry within the Vienna government for the creation of overseas colonies.

Now that the situation on the European continent has stabilized, the Austrians' road to the unification of the German regions has been cut off, and Russia and Austria in the Balkans should have reached an agreement.

Regardless of the outcome of the war in the Near East, the expansion of the Austrians on the European continent was stretched to the limit. Even the benefits they have gained in the Balkans are a question mark over whether they can eat them in the end.

Against this backdrop, it is likely that the Austrians would abandon the national focus of the Metternich era and restart their overseas colonization strategy.

It is necessary for us to prepare in advance, and there is a new opponent to enter the market in the future. ”

It was not long ago that the Parisian government decided on its next national policy - to temporarily abandon expansion on the European continent and concentrate on the development of overseas colonies.

Now that Austria has joined the overseas colonization activities, the French should naturally be wary.

It is still the era of sails, and the navies of various countries have not yet opened an epoch-making distance in terms of technology, and the difficulty of the big European powers with the foundation to blow up their navies has not yet reached the point of despair.

Of course, this is not to say that Austria joined the overseas colonization and the French were afraid. On the contrary, the French had an absolute advantage over Austria in overseas colonization.

However, there is not only one Austria as a competitor for overseas colonization, but also many opponents, and under normal circumstances, everyone still refrains from competing for colonies.

As long as it is not a competition for core interests, it is basically just a game of power in a certain region, and it is rare to do everything in it to compete.

If you don't agree and start fighting, then it's a winner-takes-all. Obviously, this is impossible, there are so many competitors, suppress the next one, and new countries will emerge.

If you continue to toss like this, you are busy suppressing your opponents, where is the energy to open up colonies. There is also a limit to colonial expansion, and blind expansion is likely to lose the bottom line.

Not all land has colonial value; Even in the same region, the benefits of being ruled by different countries are not the same.

Colonies with no strategic value and average economic value are usually occupied by whoever occupies them first; If it is a colony with high strategic value and lucrative interests, then a dragon fight is naturally indispensable.

Since the mid-19th century, countries have quarreled over overseas colonies, but very few wars between colonial empires have been caused by the struggle for colonies.

The reason is that the most fertile land has been divided up by everyone, and the remaining land is not worth waging war on. In the final analysis, everyone is for profit, and no one does the business of losing money.

After pondering for a moment, Napoleon III confidently said: "This should be a good thing for us, because the Austrians began to colonize overseas, and it was necessary to increase the development of the navy.

In this way, there will be much less military pressure on our homeland. Compared with the Austrians, our advantage at sea is much greater than on land.

Due to their geographical location, the Austrians were at a natural strategic disadvantage in the struggle for overseas colonies.

Unless they are only developing in the Mediterranean to the African continent, and if they want to develop in other regions, they will have to pass under our noses, and they will have to pass under the noses of the British.

The more power they invest overseas, the less they will dare to turn against us diplomatically in the future, otherwise we can jam them by the neck at any time. ”

After speaking, Napoleon III's expression darkened. It was true that the situation of Austria was at a disadvantage in opening up overseas colonies, as he said, and the weakness was exposed to them.

But didn't the British, who controlled the Strait of Gibraltar, jam their necks? In the event of a war between the two countries, the British could at any time split the French navy in two, leaving them unable to deal with each other.

Why did the Austrian government abandon the creation of colonies abroad, was it really that they were not interested in the benefits of the colonies?

Obviously, it is impossible, and everyone knows that overseas colonization can bring huge benefits. However, for overseas colonization, Austria's geographical location was too pitiful, and they suffered in the process of overseas colonization.

It is good that it has not developed and grown, with the strength of Austria, the colonization with average strategic value and average economic value can still be preserved, once it encounters fat, it will definitely not be able to rob Britain and France.

For the sake of a few colonies of low strategic value and low economic value, a large amount of financial resources were invested in the development of the navy, which in the eyes of the previous Austrian government was not proportional to the return.

However, times are changing, and with the development of industrialization, overseas colonies, which used to be chickens, have once again shown their value.

Don't look at Austria's geographical disadvantage, but Franz knew that with the development of naval technology, this weakness would become smaller and smaller in the future.

In the era of sail warships, Austria's overseas colonization had to travel thousands of nautical miles longer than Britain and France, which was very fatal, which meant an increase in both cost and risk.

However, with the advent of the era of ironclads and the use of steam engines on warships, the problem of distance is gradually being solved.

In particular, after the opening of the Suez Canal, Austria's voyage out of the Mediterranean Sea into the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans will be greatly reduced, and the safety will also be greatly improved.

This is one of the reasons why the Viennese government has eased relations with France, and the construction of a canal connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea has been proposed by Franz.

This can only be done in cooperation with the French, and Austria's voice in Egypt is still too low, even if Franz strengthens his penetration into the region after succeeding to the throne, it is impossible to catch up in a short time.

……

On the Crimean Peninsula, Britain, France and Russia fought a terrible war. The casualties on the battlefield are still within the tolerance of all parties.

However, the humid climate, the wide variety of small insects, and the ferocious schistosomiasis infestation brought about the spread of diseases and caused a large number of non-combat attrition, which was unbearable.

By the spring of 1854, for the first time, the number of non-combat attrition of the Allied forces exceeded the number of casualties on the battlefield. Of course, the Russians were not spared, but they were more able to adapt to the local climate than the coalition forces, and their non-combat attrition was relatively small.

Fitzroy Somerse, the commander of the Russian army, could never have dreamed that it was not the arrival of new equipment that leveled the casualties of both sides of the enemy and us, but the disease helped a lot.

Of course, he hadn't had the time to pay attention to that yet. Now Fitzroy Summersey is also suffering from the fact that a large number of soldiers in the Russian army are sick, and the cruel reality of lack of medical care makes it powerless.

If he had known the tragic situation of the coalition forces, Fitzroy Summerer would have been in a much better mood, and if possible, he would not mind letting the Russian army on the island and the enemy die together.

This war has already related to the national fortunes of the Russian Empire. The war has gone on so far, and more than 300,000 Russian soldiers have fallen. On the Crimean Peninsula alone, the number of Russian casualties exceeded 70,000.

A middle-aged officer replied: "Your Excellency, Commander, the enemy has recently slowed down the intensity of the attack. According to the captives we captured, a large number of soldiers on the enemy side fell ill, reportedly suffering from cold, dysentery, and syphilis. ”

"Syphilis?" Fitzroy Somersee wondered

"Yes, Your Excellency, Commander, it's syphilis!" The middle-aged officer replied affirmatively

Receiving this answer, Fitzroy Somerset did not know whether to cry or laugh. There is very little entertainment on the Crimean peninsula, except for the war.

Gambling, alcohol, tobacco and women, were the soldiers' favorites.

Russian soldiers rarely participate in these activities, there is no way, who makes the Russian soldiers all poor ghosts? If you don't have money, you can't afford to play, and if you play less, the chance of getting sick will naturally be smaller.

The Anglo-French coalition on the opposite side is much better, everyone has a military salary, and if there is market demand, there will naturally be a market, and the service industry is doing a booming business in the coalition army.

They are all messing around on the battlefield, and after today, I don't know if there will be a tomorrow's Lord, so naturally I have to have fun in time!

Due to the lack of attention to personal hygiene, I don't know which unlucky person contracted syphilis, and then it quickly spread throughout the army through the service industry.

(Note: Historically, more than 10,000 people died from syphilis in the Crimean War)

In this era, there is no effective treatment for syphilis. The most reliable thing is to take antibiotics at the time of infection, but unfortunately penicillin is still lying in Franz's laboratory, and it is still far from being commercialized.

Since there is no medicine, then let it be fate! Anyway, the normal mortality rate of syphilis is only about 20 percent, and most people who are lucky will be able to resist it.

Given the poor conditions in the barracks and the lack of attention to personal hygiene among the soldiers, this mortality rate is likely to rise even more.

These are all minor problems, cold and dysentery can also kill people, and the mortality rate is not much lower. Anyway, it's all death, what disease is not the same?

It is not only the Russians who are short of medical care, but the situation of the coalition forces is similar. Among them, the situation of the British army is even worse, the logistics system is chaotic, and most of the soldiers do not know where the field hospital is.

Arriving at the hospital is not necessarily useful, and the number of doctors is too small to satisfy everyone. Unless it is an officer, ordinary soldiers should not want to get good treatment if they do not stuff red envelopes.

A lot of treatment drugs need to be bribed by the soldiers to get them, otherwise you won't even know where to put them.

Don't be surprised, don't panic if you find that the medicine and the hospital are miles apart, this is just a normal operation, even if it is more than ten kilometers away, it is not an accident.

The mechanical bureaucrats did exactly what they did, and many times the field hospitals were relocated with the army, and the drug warehouses were stranded in the rear. You have to go through all the procedures before you can move.

To tell a joke: a transport ship named "Pioneer" transported more than 150 tons of vegetables to Balaclava, but the quartermaster department suddenly discovered that the ship was not in order, so it was strictly forbidden to disembark the supplies it carried.

According to the regulations, these materials can only be registered in the warehouse after returning to London to complete the formalities. In the end, the formalities were completed, and the more than 150 tons of vegetables were also rotten and spoiled.

It stands to reason that it should be scrapped, right? As a result, the mechanical bureaucrats directly put these materials into the warehouses and then distributed them to the troops.

The consequences can be imagined, in the post-war statistics in history, the losses caused by the British logistics department to the expeditionary force far exceeded those of the Russians.