After the news of the Russian embassy case spread, European public opinion immediately exploded. This thing is much more serious than any previous lesson plan, and there has been no case of "group annihilation" of embassy staff stationed abroad in modern times.

For a while, the sound of shouting and killing was endless. A series of hats such as "barbaric", "brutal", and "uncivilized" were once again buckled on the heads of the Japanese.

It is not known how many people are behind the scenes, but there are really many people who want to provoke the Russo-Japanese War anyway.

The support of public opinion is important, but excessive support is a bad thing. For the tsarist government, the current public support was not what they wanted.

Sending troops to punish the Japanese is easy to say, but if it were to be implemented, it would be completely different.

The Trans-Siberian Railway has not yet been opened, and to rush into war at this time is to die in a hurry.

Unlike the original time and space, the tsarist government in recent decades has suffered a lot from logistics. No matter how stubborn a person is, he will learn a lesson when he loses a lot, and the tsarist government is no exception.

……

"Public opinion is so bad, what should you do?"

Nicholas II asked, holding back his anger.

After suffering such a big loss, not only could not retaliate, but instead suppressed the anti-Japanese and main war public opinion in the country, which was simply to let the world know the tsar again.

There is no way, and at the moment there are really no conditions for taking military means to retaliate against Japan. For the sake of the strategic situation, Nicholas II could only endure the anger of the moment.

Prime Minister Sergei Witt: "Your Majesty, there are two main reasons why public opinion is so violent now: one is that the people are angry with the tragedy that happened in Tokyo and now need to vent; The second is the instigation of the main fighting faction and international forces.

To quell the anger of the people, it is simple that we can get a satisfactory explanation through diplomatic means.

Now that the international community is supporting us, the Japanese have no confidence to refuse at all, and it should not be difficult to get such conditions.

The real trouble is the provocation of the main war faction and international forces. At present, the anti-Japanese tide among the people is rising wave after wave.

We can still do the work of the main battle faction in the country, although it is a little troublesome, we can still find a way to silence them.

The provocation of international forces will be very difficult to stop.

The British went to great lengths to lead us to the Far East, even at the cost of putting down their positions to form an alliance with the Japanese. After preparing for so long, now that the opportunity has come, there is no reason for them to stop.

In addition to the British, there are also countries such as the Far Eastern Empire, Spain, and the Nordic Confederation that also need to be vigilant. Although their motives differed, they both wanted the empire to go to war with the Japanese.

What we need to do now is to calm down, first use diplomatic means to negotiate with the Japanese government, and use the strength of the international community to suppress the Japanese. ”

Frankly, Nicholas II was not the one who could calm down. There is only one reason why it has been able to endure until now: the top levels of the government are anti-war.

Even the top military officials, who supported the war against Japan, did not want an immediate war. Everyone wants to be the first, and Nicholas II, who has soft ears, is naturally as good as a stream.

After pondering for a moment, Nicholas II said slowly: "Let's take action at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, public opinion has already been created, so it can't be wasted."

Now is the time when European countries are most disgusted with the Japanese, so they should take the opportunity to make a bad name for the Japanese.

Britain, in particular, should focus on public relations. It is better to be able to break up the Anglo-Japanese alliance, and at the very least, to make the London government a mouse, and dare not openly support the Japanese government.

This was followed by the Holy Roman Empire. Whether it is to use the strength of the international community to put pressure on Japan, or to send troops to the Far East in the future, it is indispensable to rely on their strength. ”

It can be seen that Nicholas II made this decision very reluctantly. You must know that one of the most important characteristics of a fighting nation is that it does not allow the government to be "weak".

Ordinary people do not know the difficulty of sending troops to the Far East, and in the eyes of ordinary people, the difficulty of attacking Japan is similar to pinching a bed bug to death.

Now that it has been provoked by a bedbug, the government does not immediately send troops to retaliate, but instead plays the so-called "diplomatic means", which is simply embarrassing.

In fact, the situation will be even more serious, and the civilian military enthusiasts have even helped the tsarist government with the battle plan.

It doesn't matter if the navy is weak, you can pull allies to form a coalition and copy the plan against the Far Eastern Empire a few years ago.

As for whether other countries are willing to send troops to follow, that is the job of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and failure to do so means that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is incompetent.

In particular, after the media published the news that the Shinra South Sea Fleet and Britain's Far East Fleet were heading for the Sea of Japan, everyone strengthened their judgment.

In the context of the popular clamor for war, the choice of temporary forbearance was also a major blow to the prestige of Nicholas II himself as monarch.

For Nicholas II himself, it was a matter of "enduring the moment" and then "the more he thought about it, the more angry he became."

……

In the Vienna Palace, looking at the snowflakes flying in the sky, Franz sighed helplessly, it was another cold winter.

Perhaps because of his age, Franz has become increasingly dissatisfied with the Vienna winter in recent years.

There are many cities in the HRE that are like spring all year round, but unfortunately none of them are close to Vienna. If you want to go out for the winter, it's a trouble.

Frankly, the Holy Roman Empire has grown to this day, and Vienna is no longer the center of the empire.

If you ignore the proportions, Vienna can be counted as a border city on a map.

Despite all these flaws, it still does not change the fact that Vienna is the capital of the HRE. It was impossible to move the capital.

In fact, after the unification of the HRE, it was not that no one mentioned the matter of moving the capital, and even a big discussion broke out.

It's a pity that everything is afraid of comparison, Vienna is flawed, other cities in HRE are even more flawed, and the best city in all aspects only exists in dreams.

After combining historical, political, cultural, economic, strategic and other factors, Vienna is still the most suitable capital of HRE.

Since there is no better option, Franz naturally does not toss around. In fact, Franz wouldn't have moved out of his nest even if there was a better option.

The Habsburgs operated here for hundreds of years and had a very deep mass base that no other city could match.

As for winter, it's colder. Happiness is all contrasted, and compared to the Russian Empire and the Nordic Confederation next door, every winter in Vienna is a warm winter.

It's a big deal to live outside next winter. Anyway, the son is already older, and as a semi-retired emperor, he has the capital to wander around.

……

Frederick: "Father, the delegation of the tsarist government has already left St. Petersburg, and it seems that the Russians are going to give up their troops to retaliate. ”

I have to admit that the woolly bears of this year are upright, and anyone who knows them a little bit can judge their decisions from their behavior. There is no guarantee of 100% preparation, but it is okay to guess eight or nine without leaving ten.

If it were British, it would be completely impossible to judge. People can talk and laugh with you while sending troops to fight.

Looking at his son with snowflakes on his head, Franz nodded: "I guess I'm waiting for the opening of the Trans-Siberian Railway!" It is almost impossible to send troops to the Far East without railways.

However, the Russians' plan this time is afraid that it will fail. Just because they want to wait doesn't mean that the Japanese are willing to wait.

The embassy case has pushed Japan and Russia to the brink of a cliff at the same time. When the brave meet on a narrow road, war is inevitable.

Judging from the current situation, neither Japan nor Russia is ready for war, and the two countries should not be able to fight in the short term.

The next thing is up to which of them is faster. The side that is the first to complete the preparations for war will have a very large advantage in the following war. ”

Frankly, Franz was also very surprised by the restraint shown by the tsarist government.

When did Nicholas II become so calm?

According to the previous practice of the tsarist government, this kind of thing happened, regardless of the fact that 3721 was fought first.

Not only the tsarist government, but it is estimated that most of the great powers encountered this situation, and the first thing they considered was - to go to war, or how to fight.

Including Shinra is no exception, if the victims of the tragedy are replaced by their own diplomats, Franz will not be able to help but start a war in retaliation.

Of course, the prerequisite is to be able to win. If you really encounter an opponent who can't be handled, you still have to admit it when it's time to admit it.

Frederick asked incredulously, "The Japanese dare to take the initiative to provoke a war, is this impossible?"

This incident was originally their fault. If they take the initiative to provoke a war, once defeated, the Russians can logically colonize Japan.

The gap in strength between Japan and Russia is huge, and even if the Japanese government gains an advantage in the short term, with the opening of the Trans-Siberian Railway, they still have only one way to defeat after the arrival of Russian reinforcements. ”

Not only his thoughts, but few people in all of Europe thought that Japan had the courage to provoke a war.

"Why don't you dare?"

Franz asked rhetorically.

"At this point, everyone knows that the Russo-Japanese War will break out sooner or later, so what else does the Japanese government have to fear?

They still have a few hopes of winning before the Trans-Siberian Railway opens, and the further they go, the lower their chances of winning.

Not to mention the fact that there are also British people cheering on their backs. Didn't the British government prepare for so long just to deplete the strength of the Russians in the Far East and reduce the military pressure on India?

As long as the Japanese government reacts quickly enough, it can seize the Far East before the Trans-Siberian Railway is opened.

Then, the British government will pay for it, the Japanese government will pay for it, and use time and space to slowly consume it with the Russians.

Anyway, Japan has a large population, and the combat effectiveness of the army is okay, as long as the support of the British can keep up, it will be no problem to hold out for ten or eight years.

Regardless of the final victory, the Russians will be demoralized. Even with the Russian-Austrian alliance, there will be problems because of this. ”

It's not that Franz is pessimistic, it's that cracks have long appeared in the Russian-Austrian alliance. It was only thanks to the efforts of the Vienna government that it persisted until now.

The outside world can't see anything, but Franz, as a party concerned, knows very well that the contradictions between Russia and Austria are accumulating rapidly.

Not only is there a political imbalance in power between the two countries, but also an increase in the sense of crisis in the tsarist government; There is also an intensification of economic and trade frictions.

As vested interests in the Russo-Austrian alliance, the old-school aristocracy of the Russian Empire made money from farming and mining, and perhaps did not have much idea; However, the emerging national bourgeoisie and intellectuals in Russia are very dissatisfied with the current situation.

In the opinion of these "people of insight", if the current position of the origin of raw materials and the market for the sale of goods is not broken, sooner or later the Russian Empire will be reduced to an economic colony.

If you want to change all this, you must first break the economic dependence on the HRE. Including withdrawal from the free trade system, the implementation of tariff barriers, etc.

If possible, it's best to wipe out even the debt. So as not to impose a heavy burden of repayment and hinder the modernization of the Russian Empire.

Although this part of the population did not have a high voice in the tsarist government, it was easier to do bad things than to get things done.

As for the consequences of doing so, Franz did not think that a group of middle and second idealists would be afraid, let alone a group of mercenary capitalists.

In fact, it's much worse than that. The voices within HRE against the Russian-Austrian alliance are also growing day by day.

The military aristocrats and farms attached to the agricultural industry chain were also very dissatisfied with the large import of Russian agricultural products.

In the past, the Russian Empire was strong enough, and the Empire had to deal with France in the west, and it needed this ally. For the sake of the overall situation, everyone can still reluctantly accept it.

With the end of the European War, the Holy Roman Empire soared straight into the sky, and the strategic need for the Russian Empire was already infinitely reduced.

Against this background, everyone is naturally not interested in taking care of the economic policy of the Russian Empire economically.

The continuation of the Russian-Austrian alliance to the present day is also inseparable from the Vienna government's policy of economic care.

The export of grain and ore accounted for 94.6% of the total foreign exchange earnings of the Russian Empire every year, and most of these raw materials were exported to the HRE.

With this income cut off, it was only a matter of time before the tsarist government went bankrupt, and there was no room for struggle. Naturally, the alliance could not be maintained.

These people are not without the right to speak, if it weren't for Franz to fight for world hegemony and need to hang, it is estimated that the following would have been turned upside down.

According to the current situation, once Britain declines, the Russian-Austrian alliance will almost come to an end.

In the final analysis, it is the interests that are to blame. The existence of the Russian-Austrian alliance has harmed their interests, so it is natural to find a way to kick them out.

To be able to endure for a few years for the sake of the empire is already a very big picture. After that, even God can't stop it.

Of course, at that point, the mission of the Russian-Austrian alliance has been accomplished, and it is indeed time to kick it out.

Obviously, this is just the best state scenario. The Russians are not fools, the tsarist government has long been aware of the danger, otherwise Nicholas II would not have wanted to get rid of dependence on the HRE.

Since it was destined to be abandoned in the future, the tsarist government was naturally also making preparations. For example, the strategy of going south and the strategy of moving east are the response plans of the Russians.

To sum it up, it can be summed up in one sentence: let the pocket have money.

The Russian Empire, which has money in its pocket, has nothing to fear, even if it can't help the Shinra, it is appropriate to protect itself.

The calculation of the British now is to increase the sense of crisis of the tsarist government and force the Russians to jump ship and join them.

This is not impossible, although the British market cannot be compared with the HRE, but there is still hope that it will eat half of the Russians' share of grain and ore exports.

Lend another sum of money to the tsarist government, and you will be able to survive the short-term shocks. As for the sequelae, it is estimated that the British government will not think about it so much as the Russians.

As if in deep thought, after a long time, Frederick said indifferently: "Once the English fall, the Russians will be our greatest rivals.

After all, the Russian-Austrian alliance has lasted for so many years, there is not enough reason, and it is not good for us to attack them.

If the tsarist government insisted on maintaining the Covenant, we would not be able to carry out even the overt suppression.

For the sake of the reputation of the empire, it can only lead to the early decline of the Russians. Anyway, they are not needed in the next hegemony struggle. ”

"Ruthless" is not just "mature".

In Franz's view, Frederick's ability to make such a decision was a sign of maturity. If you are a monarch, if you are not ruthless, you will not be able to stand firmly.

The Russian-Austrian alliance has lasted for so many years, and although there are many opponents in both countries, the people-to-people friendship is really deep.

If nothing else, there are countless marriages alone. In the past cultural exchanges, commercial trade, Russia and Austria from the upper class of the aristocracy to the common people have no shortage of in-laws.

If you really do it to your allies for no reason, the people at home will not have a good time, let alone damage your international reputation.

If it's inconvenient to do it yourself, you can only borrow a knife to kill people.

The British wanted to pull the Russians over, provided that the Russian Empire still had some strength. If the Russians are scrapped, it is useless to be pulled over.

"The Trans-Siberian Railway has not yet been opened, and the Russians have limited forces to commit to the Far East, even if they are defeated.

When the railway was opened, the Russians could go all out, and the Japanese were seriously underwhelmed. Even with the support of the British, it will not bridge the gap in strength between the two countries.

After all, we and the Russians are still allies, and we still need to have support. At the very least, it is necessary to issue loans and sell weapons and equipment and strategic goods. ”

The prerequisite for killing people with a knife is that the knife is sharp enough, and it is obvious that Japan is still short of fire. It may be possible to inflict a heavy blow on the Russians, and to cripple the Russian Empire is to dream.