After returning to continental Europe, Stephen and Gapori went their separate ways. One wants to run for independence, and the other wants to find a place to watch the situation.

Stephen and the others did not return to Hungary immediately, and the experience of exile taught him that he had to be cautious, and any negligence could be fatal.

Although more than ten years have passed, everyone has undergone earth-shaking changes, and no one can guarantee that they will not be recognized by acquaintances.

Once the news leaked out, they were served in one pot. In the Duchy of Montenegro, Stephen and others got off the ship and pretended to be merchants to inspect the market in Montenegro.

Then a few young men who had never met in Austria were sent into the Hungarian region to gather intelligence.

Adversity is the easiest way to grow, and the Hungarian independent organization is not the same as it was a decade ago. Not only did I learn to know myself and my opponent, but my life-saving ability also improved by N grades.

……

When a large wave of chaotic parties swept across the European continent, the Prussian-Danish War was also coming to an end, but fortunately, the tsarist government intervened in time at this time.

This is also not timely, and the tsarist government should have intervened more than two months ago. It's a pity that the Russians wanted to suppress the Polish rebellion first, and then deal with the Prussians.

As a result, the Polish rebels were defeated, but the rebellion continued. There were too many supporters behind this Polish rebellion, and the strength of the rebels exceeded the expectations of the Russians.

It's easy to defeat them, but it's hard to destroy them. The existence of the Polish rebellion bought time for the Prussians.

Until the Danes really couldn't hold out anymore, and the tsarist government had to intervene. Otherwise, the Kingdom of Denmark would fall, and the face of the Russian Empire would have been lost.

On December 28, 1864, the Tsarist government issued an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Prussia, ordering them to withdraw from Denmark within 24 hours.

Berlin, despite its mental preparations, felt repressed when the day came.

This time the enemy was the hegemon of the European continent, the Russian Empire, which was not at all comparable to the Danes.

At this point, there is no room for them to back down. Otherwise, not to mention offending the Russians, they will also offend the British and French who secretly support them.

Wilhelm I didn't care about gambling with the military, and if he lost the war, even if the Russians didn't swallow Prussia in one bite, they would at least bite them hard.

"Are you ready, are you sure of defeating the Russians?"

The Minister of Army and Navy Ron, replied: "We have completed the national mobilization, all the reserves have been demobilized, and the 427,000 Prussian troops are ready to fight."

The most important thing now is to get more loans from Britain and France, as long as the financial problem is solved, we can waste time with the Russians. ”

It is true that the Kingdom of Prussia mobilized 427,000 troops, but this does not mean that all of these troops can be committed to the war against Russia.

It was also a tragedy that the neighbors were too strong, and the Prussian government had to be careful if any of the three neighbors had the strength to shoot them to death.

It is no problem for the main forces to fight the Russians together, but how to ensure that they will not be robbed by the Faus-Austrian is a big problem.

Even if everyone needs them to fight the Russians, for the time being, France and Austria will not do anything against them, but once the war is over?

Whether it is defeat or victory, it is possible to incur a blow from France and Austria.

Needless to say, if the war is defeated, the Russians will eat meat, and France and Austria will follow suit, and the Kingdom of Prussia will not want to get out without paying a heavy price.

Winning this war is not the same as victory, the tsarist government still has the strength to make a comeback, and the days ahead are long!

The European continent was too small to accommodate so many great powers, and neither France nor Austria wanted to see a strong Prussia emerge.

After striking at the Russians, the role of the Kingdom of Prussia was over, and it was too normal to be stabbed in the back.

The Prussian government had to prepare in advance for the necessary precautions. In case something unexpected happens, there must be time to react.

With so many practical problems in front of them, the Prussian military naturally did not dare to take risks. Not only did they have to win, but they had to minimize their losses as much as possible in order to deal with possible looting by France and Austria after the war.

In this era, the international environment of the Kingdom of Prussia was much worse than it was in history, and there were too few options for them.

Historically, Bismarck was able to lead Prussia to unify Germany, and that was based on the premise that the Russians lost the Crimean War and Austria lost the Franco-Austrian War.

Now the situation is completely different, the Franco-Austrian war was not fought at all. The Kingdom of Sardinia wanted to lure the French into attacking Austria by ceding land, but the Vienna government directly threw out the entire Kingdom of Sardinia.

France, which ate the Kingdom of Sardinia, ostensibly made a lot of money, has actually fallen into a state of strategic passivity and has been isolated by the countries of Europe.

In a way, this was also a good thing for the Kingdom of Prussia. The French, who were in a diplomatic predicament, did not dare to fight the idea of the Rhineland in a short time, and their pressure on national defense was greatly reduced.

The bullish Russians are different, although their losses in the Near East war are greater than in the historical Crimean War, the problem is that they won!

The Russian people were not afraid of heavy losses, the tsarist government occupied Constantinople, and all sectors of society were very satisfied, and the losses were directly ignored.

The combat effectiveness of the tsarist army, which had gone through the baptism of war, was not comparable in history, not only did its weapons and equipment exceed that of the same period in history, but the morale of the army was even more incomparable.

It is not surprising that the Prussian military chose a conservative style of play. After all, the last thing the tsarist government lacked was soldiers, and there was a Russian-Austrian alliance, even if Austria did not support the Russians, it would not prevent them from selling arms.

In this context, it is obviously unwise to fight hard with the Russians. It didn't hurt for the tsarist government to lose three or five times, and the Prussians were finished if they lost once.

War is not child's play, whether it is Ron or Moltke, they are the best military strategists of this era. Naturally, their pattern is not just to win a battle, but to win the war.

The biggest weakness of the tsarist government was poverty, and there were financiers behind Prussia, and the first ones who could not hold on to it must be the Russians.

Prime Minister Frank asked: "How can you guarantee that the Russians will be stopped?" Proceeding from the actual situation, we must keep the enemy out of the country.

You all know exactly what the Cossack cavalry is, and once they are allowed to go deep into the country to wreak havoc, the consequences will be unimaginable. ”

This is the most troublesome problem, the border between Prussia and Russia is too long, and the Bode Plain is flat, these areas are still the foundation of the Junker aristocracy, and there is no room for error.

Not to mention that a large number of Russian troops went deep, even if the cavalry of thousands of people rushed in to sabotage, the Berlin government could not afford to lose.

Moltke said with a serious face: "Annexe Qingye and move all the people within 50 kilometers of the Prussian-Russian border to the rear."

The second mobilization will be carried out again, the service period of the soldiers will be increased to five years, and the service age will be adjusted to 16~55 years old, and we will be able to increase the number of troops by 300,000 to come out and use them for simple training to deal with the Russian army that has broken through. ”

Everyone's faces changed drastically, and the annexation of Kiyono was simple to say. If you do, you will have to pay a heavy price.

The Kingdom of Prussia was not large, and it was easy to retreat 50 kilometers, but in practice it would mean the displacement of millions of people, and a fifth of the country's land would be wasted.

William I said solemnly: "This is impossible, your plan to annex the Clearing Fields has exceeded our capacity. If we do, we will be the first to collapse, not the Russians. ”

Moltke sighed and said, "If this is the case, we can only take the risk and put the battlefield on the territory of Poland as much as possible." ”

At this time, trenches and barbed wire fences had not yet appeared, there were no such cheap defense facilities, and the border between Prussia and Russia was so long that fortifications could only be built in key areas.

The enemy's large forces did not dare to bypass these fortifications and attack deeply, so it was different with small troops.

Of course, the rear was not without fortifications, and the castles of the nobles were the best fortresses, and it was not a big problem to deal with small forces without heavy firepower.

The main reason for the merger of Qingye is to reduce personnel losses. After all, it is impossible for people to stay in the castle all the time, and everyone needs to live.

The cavalry came and went like the wind, and even if it was notified, it would take time to prepare. Retreat 50 kilometers to buy this time.

William I hesitated, the greatest risk of risking a sortie was not military. Now the Polish Independence Organization is an ally of Prussia, and even if the war is fought in Poland, they still have popular support.

The trouble was to provoke the Russians and turn the local war into a full-scale war between the two countries. The biggest problem is that after completing the reform of the military system, they did not experience a major war and had no confidence in their hearts.

Prime Minister Frank said, "Your Majesty, you have come to this point, why bother looking ahead?

Having won this war, the independent Kingdom of Poland will be the buffer between Prussia and Prussia in the future; Losing this war, the Kingdom of Prussia will lose its future. ”

As the prime minister of the Junker aristocracy, he still stood on the side of the Junker aristocracy at the critical moment. In any case, class interests must be preserved.

The retreat of the Kingdom of Prussia was blocked, and the retreat of the Junker nobility remained. These aristocrats who can fight are still very popular in this era, and they don't have to worry about a way out at all.

William I nodded fiercely and said, "Don't worry, go and do it boldly!" ”

At this point, he decided to take a big gamble. Placing the battlefield in Russian Poland will not only reduce the losses on the mainland, but also give you the opportunity to bite off the Russians after the war.

The British supported their expansion in the Baltic region, and the Germans had no chance of expansion, so expansion to the east became the only option.

The countries of Europe would not mind seeing the birth of a Prussian Empire that was stumbling with Russia, and took over the heavy task of encircling the Russian Empire, and John Bull would not have watched Prussia finish.

Chancellor Frank proposed: "Your Majesty, we must seek more supporters, at least to keep the Austrians neutral.

The Russian Empire, supported by Austria, was completely different from Russia without Austrian support, and it was impossible for us to be enemies of both empires at the same time. ”

Since it is a war of attrition, it is natural to consider the comparison of the strength of the two sides. Austria may not have as much money as Britain and France, but Austria's industrial strength is no weaker than that of France.

Support doesn't have to be money, but supplies can also be useful. As long as there is enough food, weapons and ammunition, and necessary military supplies, the Russians can stay afloat.

At this time, most of the conscripts in Europe were not paid, and the salaries of the noble officers could also be owed first, and they would not strike because the king could not afford to pay them.

Wilhelm I thought for a moment and said, "Well, send someone to talk to the Vienna government, as long as it is not a core issue, you can discuss it." ”

……

Vienna, Franz did not know that Austria had once again become the focus of contention, and at this time both Prussia and Russia needed Austria's support.

Geopolitics is always an unavoidable topic. Austria, which is close at hand, can play a role that cannot be compared with Britain and France, which are thousands of miles away.

He was still worried about the letter in his hand, and Massimiliano, who had encountered a difficult situation, finally knew that he was asking for help, and then Franz was embarrassed.

The Russo-Prussian War was about to begin, and the Vienna government had to take care of it; The American Civil War was about to be decided, and Austria's forces in the Americas had to be involved in the intervention that followed.

To meddle in Mexico's internal affairs again would be to kill people.

Direct refusal is a bit impersonal, after all, simple Massimiliano thought that diplomatic support would be enough, but he didn't know that behind every diplomatic support was a game of power.

Diplomacy without the support of strength is not worth mentioning at all. After much hesitation, Franz decided to pour a wave of chicken soup for the soul on Massimiliano and let him fight on his own.

As a good brother, Franz still gave dry goods.

He made a profound analysis of the internal contradictions of the Mexican Empire, and suggested that Massimiliano should first win over the constitutionalists and establish a stable government, and that the question of reform would be discussed later.

It's easier to have no money, and you can ask the French for a loan with confidence. Guanshuo, Right of Way, Fiscal Revenue, Mineral ...... As long as the price is right, all of them can be mortgaged.

Listen or not, Franz can't be left or right. Anyway, the advice was given, and according to the above statement, although it could not make the Mexican Empire strong, at least it could ensure that Massimiliano's throne was stabilized.

It increased the difficulty of future reforms, which was directly ignored by Franz. In the face of survival, anything else can be discarded.

It is the uncle who owes money, although it may not be applicable in this era, at least it can guarantee that Napoleon III will not dare to give up his support for him easily.

The question of repaying debts must also wait until the throne is secured. If someone is ousted halfway through, these debts have nothing to do with Massimiliano.

It was the Mexican government that borrowed the money, not Massimiliano himself. In case they are ousted by the enemy, then leaving them with a mess can be regarded as a small revenge.