Winter has turned to summer, St. Petersburg has come to an end with biting cold days, and the comfortable sun is scattered in every corner of the city, warming this land of ice and snow.

The news of the war in the Balkans came to the air, and reporting good news and bad news was always a shortcut for bureaucrats to gain a higher level, and the tsarist government was no exception.

In the first leg of this Balkan battle, the Russians won a complete victory. Even if the Russian army suffered too much loss in the Battle of Razgrad, which added a flaw to the battle, it did not damage the officials' desire to report the victory.

In the war report received by Nicholas I, of course, there will be no such thing as a loss for the Russian army. The officers at the front line added up to the losses of the Ottoman army in one stroke, and it looked like a great victory.

After receiving the news, Nicholas I held a celebration banquet in the Winter Palace that night, but unfortunately the heroes were thousands of miles away and missed this glory that belonged to them.

The Russians had reason to rejoice, and in the first round of the Battle of Bulgaria, they achieved a great victory, advancing the front more than a hundred kilometers.

Starting from the capture of Ruse, the Russian army launched an offensive against the Ottoman army with a total strength of 280,000 troops, defeating nearly 500,000 Ottoman troops and 50,000 French troops.

At the cost of more than 45,000 casualties, more than 53,000 enemy troops were annihilated and more than 38,000 enemy troops were captured.

Defeating twice as many enemies with half the force, exchanging 45,000 casualties for the enemy's 91,000 losses, including more than 10,000 French troops, is a big victory no matter how you look at it.

The contribution of the Bulgarian partisans was brushed aside, and their casualties were naturally ignored. Anyway, the battle was won, and the tsarist government didn't care about the specifics. It is useless to care, deception has penetrated into every corner of the Russian Empire.

Since the Ottoman army claimed to be 500,000 troops, they defeated 500,000 troops, and the actual strength of the enemy was naturally decisively ignored by everyone.

……

After the celebration banquet, Nicholas I returned to the main topic. The French sent troops into the war, which is not good news.

Although the tsarist government had been considering the possibility of Britain and France sending troops to war, it was still uncomfortable for them to feel uncomfortable that it had really happened.

Maybe the officers on the front line are still a little disciplined, or maybe they know that this war will continue, and they still have to fight the French, and they are afraid of getting into it.

At the end of the report, they focused on the French threat.

To sum up, if it weren't for the sudden appearance of 50,000 French troops on the battlefield, this Battle of Bulgaria would have been the end of the Ottomans.

Without French reinforcements, it wouldn't be long before His Majesty the Great Tsar could parade in Constantinople. Therefore, His Majesty the Great Tsar must be vigilant against these evil Frenchmen.

Nicholas I smiled and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, the French have really sent troops to war. News came from London, and not long ago, the British Parliament also passed a resolution to send troops to war.

From now on, we have two more enemies. Britain and France were not as easy to deal with as the Ottomans, and the war was not yet over.

How to fight the battle in the future, what do you think, you can speak freely. ”

There was a big victory at the front, and Nicholas I was in a good mood. Even though he knew that Britain and France had entered the war, he was very angry in his heart, but he did not break out, and he was very confident in winning this war.

A strong man always has to maintain his demeanor, especially when the victory roll is in hand.

This is not an exaggeration, judging from the strength of the army on the surface, the Russians really have this strength. At least demographically, the Russians have the strength.

In 1852, the total population of Russia was about 65 million ~ 76 million, which was more than the total population of Britain and France, the total population of the British Isles was about 28 million, and the total population of France was about 36 million.

(There is no way, there are no demographic statistics in the tsarist government in this era, and the data on the data varies greatly)

The Ottoman Empire had already been automatically ignored by Nicholas I, and the Battle of Bulgaria had already exposed the fact that the Ottoman army was not combat-ready.

In the later wars, the Ottoman Empire was about to be reduced from a protagonist to a supporting role, and Britain and France were the new main forces in the war.

"Your Majesty, since Britain and France have jumped in, we will make the Balkans their grave and let them know who is the number one army power in the world.

Now we should immediately increase our troops to the front, destroy the Ottoman Empire in one fell swoop, and regain Constantinople. War Secretary Arse Nicholas said murderously

In the decisive battle with Britain and France in the Near East, the Russians will not take advantage of anything, and they will not suffer too much loss.

The Russians could be supported by Austria and could transport supplies through the Danube, and Britain and France also had supplies by sea, and the logistics were evenly matched.

It is inevitable to increase the number of troops on the front line, and after winning this battle, the losses paid by the Russian army are not small, and reinforcements will definitely be needed if the war continues. The commanders on the front line have already asked for reinforcements from home.

"Your Majesty, due to an error in prior calculation, we did not expect that Britain and France would directly enter the war, and we hoarded a large amount of strategic materials in the ports off the coast of Ukraine.

Now that the sea route is blocked, we can only transport supplies by land. In the present situation, we are only able to supply 30 percent of the supplies of the army at the front, and the rest has to be procured from Austria.

We are under great financial pressure, and although Austria has provided us with a war loan of 100 million guilders, it will not last long. Chancellor of the Exchequer Arry Stanley Rhodes reminded

In order to supply the current army, they had to purchase a large amount of strategic materials from Austria, and if they continued to increase their troops on the Balkan front, military expenses would continue to increase.

It's not that Arry Stanley Rhodes is against the increase in troops, he just raises the problem to avoid blindly making plans, and it will be embarrassing to have no money to fight in the later stages.

100 million Austrian guilders seems like a lot, but in fact it is a drop in the bucket on the battlefield, and now the total number of Russian troops in the Balkans has exceeded 300,000.

In a battle of Bulgaria, the Russian army lost 45,000 people, and even if the gray cattle are worthless, they will have to spend a pension to go out.

If the battle is won, rewards for meritorious deeds are also indispensable, and these still require money.

Weapons and ammunition consumed on the battlefield, damaged weapons and equipment need to be replaced, these are all money.

Even if there is no war, the expenditure of these 300,000 troops on eating, drinking, and sleeping every month exceeds 4 million guilders. It's not that the standards of the Russian army are high, but that the cost of material transportation is high during the war, and once the war starts, it costs money like water.

In a battle of Bulgaria, the Russian army knocked out thousands of tons of ammunition, and on average, nearly 100 tons of ammunition were consumed every day, and this alone was tens of millions of guilders.

With so many messy expenditures, a Bulgarian general battle that lasted more than a month would not have cost less than 40 million dong in military spending, and this is not counting salary expenditures.

The main expenses of the war still had to be solved by the Russians themselves, and Austria's loans could only be used to make up for it, so the pressure on the Ministry of Finance was naturally greater.

Nicholas I nodded, it was still effective to prepare for war in advance. At least in 1852, the tsarist government did not have to worry about finances.

If the war drags on, it won't have to be. The cost of war in the era of hot weapons has far exceeded that of the era of cold weapons.

"Then find a way to fight quickly, try to defeat the enemy within the year, and leave no chance for Britain and France!

My Minister of War, how many more troops are needed to end the war within the year? Nicholas I asked with concern

After pondering for a while, Arsai-Nicholas replied slowly: "Your Majesty, at least 300,000 troops are needed, and it is best to increase 400,000 troops for the sake of insurance. ”

In fact, Ace-Nicholas has no bottom in his heart, the battlefield is ever-changing, the strength of Britain and France is not weak, and there is a liver-bursting Ottoman Empire, who knows how many troops will be able to end the war in a short time?

But since His Majesty the Tsar asked, he had to answer, otherwise he would be incompetent.

Arse Nicholas is still a bit level, he is not optimistic that the Russian army will be able to end the war within the year, and directly said an impossible figure.

Having previously invested 300,000 troops in the Balkans, the Russian Empire had already done its best. If this number were doubled, there would be no shortage of soldiers Russians, but the logistical supply would be over.

Even with Austria, the combined forces of the two countries could not guarantee an army of six or seven hundred thousand to fight in the Balkans.

It's not a lack of supplies, it's that transportation can't support it. If you fight in the Danube Valley, you can still have logistical supplies.

However, with the passage of the war, the supply lines of the Russian army are getting longer and longer, and the distance from the Danube is getting farther and farther, and the distance that needs to be carried by animal transportation and manpower on the shoulders has also increased, and the pressure on logistics and supply has naturally increased greatly.

Nicholas I was not a military novice, and as soon as the words of the Minister of War came out, he knew that it was impossible to end the war within the year.

Britain and France have sea power, even if the Russian army occupies the Balkan Peninsula, they can land at any time as long as they want, and it is so easy to end the war?

Moreover, although the Ottoman Empire is decayed, there are still three catties of nails in the rotten ship, and the combat effectiveness that erupts at the moment of life and death should not be underestimated.

Foreign Secretary Karl Vorsail said with great discernment: "Mr. Asse, the reality does not allow us to commit so many troops in the Balkans, and this plan seems feasible, but in fact it is not operational.

If we can't win the war in the Balkans, can we make a breakthrough in the Caucasus?

Victory in either direction could strike a blow to the confidence of the Ottoman Empire. As long as this decaying empire collapses, we will win this war. ”

A breakthrough in the Caucasus, no problem! It's just that one hill has been conquered, and the next one is still there.

If they continue to work hard, it will take three or five years at the fastest, or ten or eight years at the slower, as long as they persevere, they will be able to grind the Ottoman Empire to death sooner or later.

The premise was that the tsarist government could hold on, and not put itself in it before the end of the war.

Although the reality is cruel, there is still an ideal.

At the same time as the Battle of Bulgaria, the Russians did not ignore the Caucasus, but because of the geographical constraints, they invested less energy there.

As the situation in the Balkans continued to deteriorate against the Ottoman Empire, the Sultan government would certainly have to send a large number of reinforcements from the Asia Minor peninsula, and the number of troops that could be reinforced in the Caucasus would be reduced.

This is also an opportunity for the Russians to start. It is difficult to fight all the way from the Caucasus to the Bosphorus, but it is not necessarily impossible to hit the peninsula of Asia Minor.

Successive defeats on the front lines of any country will affect the stability of the country, let alone the decaying Ottoman Empire.

With the influence of the Russians among the Orthodox Christians, coupled with the unpopularity of the Ottoman Empire, it did not seem too difficult to plan a few national uprisings in the face of constant defeats at the front.

If the national uprising succeeded, the Ottoman Empire would be doomed. Without the support of this local snake, Britain and France want to defeat Russia in the Near East, which is simply a dream.

Since it is idealistic, it is natural that it cannot pursue perfection. As long as it was theoretically feasible, it was enough that Nicholas I approved Carl Wossel's proposal.

If it succeeds, it is of course that His Majesty the Tsar is wise, but if it fails, it is a big deal to lose a batch of gray livestock, and the tsarist government is not lacking.

There is no reason why Nicholas I should not do low-risk investment.