After careful consideration, the London government nevertheless made a decision to blockade the Baltic Sea. In fact, from the moment the Berlin government agreed to take over the orders placed by the Russians in Britain, the voices in Congress against the blockade of the Baltic Sea disappeared.

Anti-Russia has always been the national policy of the British, and without harming everyone's interests, no one will oppose attacking the Russians.

On January 11, 1866, the Royal Navy blocked the gates of the Baltic Sea under the pretext of exterminating pirates.

The blockade of the Baltic Sea does not exist, but in consideration of the safety of passing ships, the Royal Navy recommends that everyone suspend access to the Baltic Sea.

Opinions have been given, and it is all voluntary to listen to them or not. If you're robbed by pirates, don't regret it.

The threat of "pirates" was terrifying, and after an encounter with two Russian merchant ships, everyone wisely chose to suspend this maritime trade route.

For a time, the British Foreign Office was full of protest letters from various countries. The Foreign Secretary, Sir Reslin, ordered the cold treatment, and then there was no then.

It is in the interests of France and Austria that the Russo-Russian war continues. Without a big country coming forward, all a small country can do is protest.

In Franz's view, the refueling tactic is the most consuming way of play. The Russian Empire, unable to give full play to its superiority in forces and directly crush Prussia, was already a strategic defeat.

Politicians see things differently from ordinary people, and winning a war is not necessarily a victory, and losing a war is not necessarily a defeat.

There are too many classic cases in history, ordinary people seem to be the protagonist who floats and the horse stumbles, but if you carefully analyze the gains and losses behind it, you will find that the final winner is actually the previous loser.

It's just that in modern times, with the awakening of the people, the requirements for the ruling class are higher, and the cost of this kind of play has gradually increased, and it has finally been abandoned.

The most direct benefit of the British blockade is that the trade volume between Russia and Austria has increased again. Now the tsarist government has no choice, just such a seller.

Franz didn't care how much the price had risen, anyway, now the tsarist government placed orders directly with the capitalists, and whatever price was negotiated.

Anyway, now that the tsarist government has money, the bureaucrats will find a way to spend it. The price of material increased, the profits of the capitalists increased, the bureaucrats rebates increased, and even the taxes of the Viennese government increased.

It's a win-win-win situation, hello, me, everyone.

The intelligence chief, Tyron, handed over a document and said, "Your Majesty, this is the latest European strategy of the French. ”

Without victory in the Crimean War, Napoleon III was still very enlightened and always brainstormed when developing strategies.

The benefit of brainstorming is that it reduces the error rate and likewise increases the chance of exposure. Anything, once more people know it, it's not a secret.

Although the French did not make this strategic plan known to everyone, there were dozens of people involved in its formulation, so it is not surprising that it was leaked.

Of course, it is also possible that the French deliberately released smoke bombs. True and false strategies, almost every country has a dozen plans.

Before it happens, no one knows if the strategy is true, so they can only gather as much information as possible and then make a judgment.

Even Napoleon III himself could not guarantee which plan would be their true strategy for the future.

There are usually several options, and the most suitable strategy for the moment is usually chosen according to the changes in the international situation.

This choice is subject to change at any time, except in the case of a long-term national policy, where the likelihood of change is small, and any other strategy is only one of the alternatives.

After a closer look, Franz had to admit that the French were ambitious enough.

He wanted to use the Russo-Prussian War to pull the Russians from the position of world hegemon, and he was plotting against the Prussians in the Rhineland.

This was only the first step in the strategy, which was followed by plans to annex Belgium, the German Confederation west of the Rhine, and even the annexation of Italy.

In his mind, Franz had already crossed the ground for this grand strategic plan. Only if such a strategy can be implemented can there be ghosts, if it was in Napoleonic times, it would be about the same.

Except for the fact that it is more reliable to use the Russo-Prussian War to pull the Russians down from the hegemon of the European continent, there is nothing left of the strategy that can be implemented.

The partition of Prussia by the three countries of "Russia, France and Austria" was a fallacy from the very beginning.

The tsarist government invested so much in this war that Prussian Poland alone could not recover the cost of the war. If the French get the biggest cake, Alexander II will be able to balance his heart?

Even if he is open-minded, he can't do the things of the enemy! Splitting spoils is never an easy job, especially when it comes to splitting spoils with enemies.

The French gained the Rhineland, and the potential for industrial development was at least doubled, while the Russian Empire, which acquired Prussian Poland, could only be regarded as better than nothing, and did not increase much strength at all.

Not to mention Austria, the benefits from the partition of Prussia were directly negative. Let Franz choose, he would rather fight with France than accept this kind of cheating dad's carve-up conditions.

From the point of view of income: only 100,000 square kilometers of land directly put Austria in a strategic desperate situation. The value that this part of the territory brings is not as much as the increased defense spending.

Politically: Participation in the partition of Prussia would mean that Franz would give up his political position as a German republic, and the legitimacy of the throne of the new Holy Roman Empire would be seriously challenged.

This is different from the German Second Empire of the original time and space, they did not have the title of co-master. Therefore, Wilhelm I did not become Emperor of Germany, but retreated to become Emperor of Germany.

De jure, the German Empire was a republic, and the emperor was only a hereditary president. Even though William I received the title of Emperor through the Emperor's Declaration, his actual status was still that of the President of the Confederation.

This is also the main reason why Wilhelm II lost the throne after losing World War I. You must know that the Habsburgs have struggled a little, and if it weren't for the stupid things that the last emperor Karl did one after another, he would have been able to keep a few crowns.

Jurisprudence is different from others, once lost, it cannot be recovered. Franz's co-dominance stemmed from the unification of the German regions, and once the German regions were divided with other countries, the people would still be able to accept him as emperor?

Franz could not have allowed this to happen, even if it was in his own self-interest.

"Pass the information to the cabinet and let them arrange for someone to analyze the previous strategy of the French and see what the French are hiding." Franz commanded

These chaotic strategies are actually valuable, and no one can guarantee that they will not become a reality.

At least compared to Bismarck's plan for the unification of Germany, the success rate of this strategy was much higher, and Bismarck's whimsical plan succeeded.

In addition, Cavour's Italian strategy and Ito's Japanese strategy are less likely to succeed than the French's plan.

With so many successful cases, Franz naturally did not dare to take it lightly. After all, the French are strong, and as long as Napoleon III does not go to the front line to command, they are one of the most powerful empires in the world.

Theoretically, with the exception of Austria in the Rhineland, where Austria could not compromise, it was possible to exchange interests in other regions.

The minerals of the Rhineland region are important to the French, and in fact they are not irreplaceable, and Belgium is one of the alternatives.

As long as the supply of coal is guaranteed for decades, with the development of maritime transportation, the cost of shipping continues to decrease, and the cost of mining mineral resources from overseas colonies to be shipped back to the mainland is also within the acceptable range of industry.

Even the French simply found an opportunity to strike first, to take Austria by surprise and seize the Rhineland region from the battlefield.

Franz never doubted this possibility, and it was not surprising that the French had the same idea as the Austrian staff had hundreds of plans for attacking France, and the number was still growing.