At a critical moment, the bureaucrats of the tsarist government were rarely efficient.

Everyone is a smart person who knows the gravity of the consequences, and if they didn't have the slightest eyesight, they would have been eliminated in the internal struggle of the bureaucracy.

With such a large demand for weapons and ammunition, it is obvious that it cannot be taken out all at once, and orders must be placed for production. Even if Franz had been prepared, it would not have been possible to hoard hundreds of huge cannons and tens of thousands of tons of shells and put them there.

If the Russians don't buy it, who will he be able to sell these arms to?

The Austrian Army does not need these big guys who are inconvenient to move, the Navy is a poor ghost, and it simply does not have the money to purchase so many artillery, and the coastal defense does not need so many artillery.

Immediately after the decision was made, the tsarist government sent people to place an order with Austria, but unfortunately the production capacity of the giant cannon was insufficient.

Since the Austrian Army procured a maximum of 6-pounder and 12-pounder guns in normal times, these were the most commonly used active equipment, and 24-pounder field artillery was rarely equipped. In this era, most of the navy's cruisers were equipped with 24-pounder guns, and the capital ships were also armed with 48-pounder guns.

Now also attacking the fortifications of Constantinople, the power of these guns is clearly not enough. The Russians needed all of them heavy guns of 68 pounds or more, and apparently most of them were used as shore guns, and the actual demand was very small.

(Note: In this era, the caliber error of artillery is relatively large, and it is common for the same type and batch of artillery to have an error of a few millimeters; The same type of artillery, produced in different arsenals, may have a caliber error of more than ten millimeters. It would be anachronistic to measure the size of artillery by caliber. ）

These heavy artillery pieces were not only a siege weapon, but also a lethal threat to British and French warships, and it was obvious that the Russians wanted to change the current embarrassing situation of being passively beaten.

The market demand is small, and the production lines set up by military enterprises will naturally be few, and many arsenals only have the ability to produce large artillery, and the production line will only be opened after the order is obtained, which will take time.

Not enough capacity? It doesn't matter, aren't Russia and Austria allies? Franz was a warm-hearted person, and the equipment in active service could also be sold, as long as the Austrian army had it, he could pick it up at will.

The era of breech guns is coming soon, and these guns are about to be phased out, and now it is time to replace them in advance.

Thrift? You don't have to buy it, and you'll have a new one in a few months.

Obviously, the tsarist government could not afford to wait, and the Russian army at the front could not afford to wait. It doesn't matter what old goods are not used anymore, as long as they can be used normally, it is a big deal to let the Austrians provide after-sales maintenance services.

Even the artillery ordered by the Austrian Navy was cut off by the Russians, anyway, the navy did not fight in a short time, for the sake of Russian-Austrian friendship, it is better to give priority to meeting allies!

It turns out that any plan is ideal. It took more than two months for Austria to come up with more than 150 huge guns, and the rest could only be made up with 24-pounder guns and 48-pounder guns.

The artillery is in hand, and it means that the attack is ready immediately. It was easy to transport from Austria to Bulgaria via the Danube, but it was more troublesome to transport it to the front later.

Dozens of tons or hundreds of tons of big guys are quite troublesome to transport. Originally, these guns were used as shore guns, as long as the power was large enough, it didn't matter if they were heavier or larger, but now they are naturally troublesome to transport.

The artillery was not in place, Menshikov slowed down the offensive on the front line, he didn't want the Russian army to die in vain, the gray cattle were worthless, but if there were too many deaths, it would also be distressing!

……

Athens

The War Minister said in fear: "Your Majesty, the British, under the pretext of pursuing the enemy, have crossed the border line and entered our borders. This is a document from the front, please tell me what to do. ”

Otto I casually flew the documents, what to do? Do you need to ask such a simple question? Of course, nothing was done.

Hold off the British, they don't have that strength. Helping the British pursue the rout, that is even more impossible, no matter how good the Greek government is, it is impossible to be shameless to this point.

"Let the local governments find ways to hide the soldiers who have fled. If it doesn't work, send it to the rear, and care must be taken not to let the British grasp the handle. Otto I ordered

At this point, it is not possible to pay the price. Politically speaking, the British actually gave him a chance to get out.

The British Empire was the hegemon of the seas, the top power, and it was better for the people to lose to them than to lose to the Ottomans.

It's not that the government doesn't work hard, it's that the enemy is too strong.

If Otto I was a little shameless, he could still boast about how powerful they were in fighting the Ottoman Empire, and did not expect to be attacked by the British vile, so they lost, which is completely a crime of non-war.

As for whether it will cause a wave of anti-British among the people, it is not so much to care about now. Relations between the two countries have not been good since the last Anglo-Greek conflict, and it would probably not hurt to add more.

The Foreign Minister reminded: "Your Majesty, judging by the current situation, the outcome of this war in the Near East has nothing to do with us.

The British army has entered the Greek peninsula, and now we have lost the option to deal with the aftermath. ”

Although they had faith in the Russians, the British had already arrived, and if they did not find a way, they would first become a government in exile before the Russians could win.

Otto I had a headache when he thought of this, his family had just been expelled from the Kingdom of Bavaria, and if Austria hadn't paid attention to the exchange of the throne of the Lombard Kingdom, he would now be in exile.

Now that the family's resources are invested in the Lombard Kingdom, they don't have the energy to support him anymore. After so many years of pure investment, there is no return on it, and many people in the family are dissatisfied.

Historically, after the abdication of Otto I, the Bavarian royal family sent someone to take over the throne, but his brothers and nephews were unwilling to take over the mess, and it was George I's turn.

Without external support, he faced more troublesome problems than in history, and if he did not do well, he would be ousted by the British.

After wandering for a few steps, Otto I spoke: "Let the Ministry of Foreign Affairs send people to negotiate secretly with the British, and the current situation can only stop the loss."

At the same time, send people to reach out to the Russians, the French, and the Austrians, who presumably do not want to see the British dominant, and now we need their diplomatic support. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The Foreign Secretary replied

This is the era of the great powers, and without the support of the great powers, it will be difficult for them to get out of this crisis this time.

……

As it turned out, Otto I's judgment was accurate. Although the Greek kingdom was weak, economically underdeveloped, not rich in resources, and did not have much interest in itself, they had a good geographical location.

The Russians could not tolerate the British dominating the place, blocking their way to the Mediterranean; The French also did not want to see the British expand their influence in the Near East to the detriment of their interests.

Not to mention Austria, which is Greece beyond the Adriatic Sea, making the British big here also threatens Austria's maritime security.

……

Vienna

After receiving a request for help from the Greek government, Franz decided to intervene in the actions of the British in Greece, and how to intervene became a problem.

It is impossible to intervene by force, unless he sends the Austrian Army over, and the Navy will be counted, and the Austrian Navy is not qualified.

Metternich proposed: "Your Majesty, this time we can join forces with the French, and Napoleon III will not be willing to watch the British seize power for their interests."

In the Mediterranean, as long as our two countries come to an agreement, the British cannot and cannot ignore it. ”

True, the Franco-Austrian navy tied together could not be an opponent of the British, but the British had more colonies, and naturally the navy was stationed in more areas.

In contrast, the Austrian navy was all nested in the Mediterranean, and it was the second largest naval force in the Mediterranean after Britain and France. Combined, the naval power of France and Austria in the Mediterranean surpassed that of the British.

Strength is the right to speak, even if the British are the hegemon of the seas, they cannot ignore the common will of Austria and France.

Historically, the Kingdom of Greece existed to take advantage of the contradictions between the nations, and now Otto I has made the same choice.

It can be said that in international politics, in the morning everyone is an ally on this issue, and in the afternoon everyone becomes an enemy on another issue at home.

Allies, completely free of conflicts of interest, are almost non-existent in this day and age. The core factor that determines the relationship between allies is mainly based on whether there are major interests or contradictions between them.

Franz thought for a moment and said, "Let's talk to France first and see what they want." The interests of Greece are not worth mentioning, and we don't have to ask for anything, as long as we don't give the British complete control of Greece. ”

Desireless, desireless, this is Franz's attitude towards Greece. The reason is very simple, strategic factors aside, all the countries that have historically invested in Greece have lost money.

If nothing else, the Kingdom of Greece was about to be unable to pay the loans of the countries because of financial difficulties, and then they were held in trust of their finances for a while.

This is not once or twice, whoever collects this little brother will have to provide them with a loan to keep them afloat.

In countries like Britain and France, where finance dominates, they can still do this kind of business, and the capitalists can use all kinds of means to raise funds and seek benefits from them, and in the end, even if the loans and bonds cannot be repaid, it is only the ordinary people who are unlucky, and they get enough benefits in advance.

Austria could not play such a game, and there was not enough idle money in the country to participate in such speculation. If the financial group dared to play such a game, the Vienna government was the first to refuse.

These funds are much more cost-effective for domestic development than for the Greeks. Under the concept of self-development, Austrian financial capital is very low-key in the international capital market.

It is not good to be low-key, and compared with the British and French consortiums, the financial resources of Austria's domestic financial groups are still too weak. If you are too active, you will fall into the trap and be swallowed by others.

Since the end of the westward expansion strategy, the Vienna government has been easing relations with the European countries.

When there is no conflict of interest, diplomatic relations are restored quickly. Especially in small countries, relations between them were immediately eased as soon as the Vienna government threw an olive branch.

If you hold a grudge in international diplomacy, then congratulations, the whole world will be your enemy in the near future.

The question of dominance of the German Federal Empire was in fact the result of a compromise between Britain and Austria, and it would not have been possible to elect an emperor so quickly if the two countries were at loggerheads.

Now that Franco-Austrian relations have become the focus of the Foreign Ministry, it is expected that the Paris government will make a similar decision. Without him, Interest!

Do not look at Napoleon III's always pro-British policy, and think that Britain and France were allies, when in fact they were allies only when dealing with the Russians.

For the most part, Britain and France were on opposite sides. The British are the world's first naval power, the French are the world's second naval power, and the gap in strength between the two sides is not as big as that of later generations, the French Navy has the strength of the Royal Navy six or seven layers.

This number is enough for the boss to suppress the second, plus the conflict between the two overseas colonies, the conflict between Britain and France is not a star. It's just that Mao Xiong's ability to pull hatred is too strong, and he directly covers up the contradictions between Britain and France.

Against this backdrop, Napoleon III negotiated with the Russians as soon as he took advantage of the Crimean battlefield, without taking into account the feelings of the British allies, because the French needed the Russians to contain John Bull.

Complicated international relations were a headache for Franz. Before going out to open up overseas colonies, Austria and other countries basically did not have much conflict of interest.

Once you take this step, the situation will be different immediately. Conflicts with colonial countries are a matter of time, and how to deal with these relations is the biggest problem facing the Austrian Foreign Ministry.

On the other hand, the British did a good thing. Although they feared missing the opportunity to contain the Russians in order to avoid the outbreak of war on the European continent, the establishment of the Federal German Empire also avoided a direct conflict between France and Austria.

Regardless of the strength of this buffer and the existence of this buffer, neither the Franco-Austrian government has to face military pressure from the other side.

Franz was afraid of the French, and why was Napoleon III afraid of Austria? On the surface, the strength of the two great powers is evenly matched, and Western Europe and Central and Southern Europe have formed a balance.

Balance means stability, and neither Paris nor Vienna will venture to break this balance until there are enough interests.

If the French wanted to expand their colonies outside, they would inevitably increase their naval investment, and for the sake of homeland security, easing relations with Austria was an inevitable choice.

The Viennese government, which also wants to join the feast, must also ease relations between the two countries for its own security.

In this context, it is inevitable that relations between France and Austria will warm. The joint mediation of the Greek issue has created another opportunity for relations between the two countries.