As soon as the news of the outbreak of the plague in Constantinople was confirmed, Pelisier did not dare to slack off and immediately reported it to the government of Paris.

Versailles

Napoleon III was in a very bad mood, and the news of the outbreak of the plague in the Crimean peninsula had just returned, and Constantinople followed by the outbreak of the plague.

Where the virus came from, Napoleon III was not interested in knowing, and now he has a headache for what to do next.

The Crimean peninsula is good to say, there is such a large territory, and the spread of the epidemic can be controlled by dispersing the isolation of the epidemic area.

Constantinople is now left with a big palm, and the population density is so high, and there are street battles with the Russians, how can this epidemic be controlled?

Arnault, the Minister of War, opened his mouth and said: "Your Majesty, there is an outbreak of plague in Constantinople, and the situation at the front is probably worse.

At this time, the increase of troops is to push the boys into the fire pit. The valiant French soldiers could defeat the Russians, but only God could deal with the plague. ”

Since the outbreak of the Battle of Constantinople, the French army has been increasing its troops almost every month, which cannot be regarded as an increase in troops, mainly to replenish the consumption of troops on the front line, and by the way to replace some of the crippled troops.

Napoleon III did a very good job in this regard, not putting a single army to death. Even if it is to eliminate dissidents, most of them are looking for excuses to transfer from their posts, and they do not go on a killing spree.

Now that the war has been fought, the Parisian government has long wanted to stop, but because of political factors, Napoleon III could not compromise.

Now Arnault is vaguely reminding Napoleon III that he should either find an excuse to abandon Constantinople, or organize more troops to fight the Russians, and in short, he cannot continue to drag on with refueling tactics.

Napoleon III, who was extremely politically sensitive, immediately came to his senses, and even thought of more, eagerly saying:

"The Foreign Office immediately negotiated with the Ottomans to give up Constantinople, and we would protect their interests in the rest of the world in return.

You can join the British in pressuring, and at this time, I believe that the London government will make a wise choice.

When the news of the negotiations is released, it is said that we will take back this holy city for Christendom, and contact the Catholic Church to help build momentum.

Order Pelissye at the front, I don't care what method he uses, I must also infect the Russians with the plague! ”

At this time, science has not yet penetrated into the hearts of the people, and if no action is taken, the Russians seize the opportunity to launch a political offensive, and the consequences will be difficult to control.

If the plague had only broken out in the coalition forces and the Russians had been unharmed, the war would not have been fought, and the British and French governments would have been finished by political means alone.

With the phrase "God will punish the traitors who help the infidels", it is estimated that the morale of the troops at the front line collapsed in an instant. Whether Protestant or Catholic, they believe in God.

Constantinople is the holy place of Christendom, which gives the city a strong religious color. Religiously speaking, no one liked to help the Ottoman Empire.

If the people in the country know that the government has been punished by God for helping the infidels, then do you need to consider the consequences?

Napoleon III did not dare to test the piety of the French people, and the importance of the Ottoman Empire as an ally was nothing compared to this terrible consequence.

In order to survive the political storm that may erupt, the interests of the Ottoman Empire can only be sacrificed.

……

It turned out that Napoleon III was completely overwhelmed, and the plague was really not put by God, because it was indiscriminately killed, and the Russians were not spared.

It may be because of the strong physique of the woolly bears, the casualties caused by the plague are not as serious as those of the coalition forces, and the lack of adaptation is also an important reason.

Along with the plague, there was actually dysentery, but the symptoms looked similar, and the coalition forces had not yet discovered the difference between the two diseases.

The command of the Russian army in the Balkans, the top of the expeditionary force, all of them were pale.

Menshkov asked with great concern: "Are you sure it's the plague?" ”

A middle-aged military doctor replied solemnly: "Your Excellency, the news has been confirmed. So far, more than 5,000 of our soldiers have suffered from vomiting and diarrhoea, which is beyond the normal flu epidemic. ”

"Your Excellency, Commander, according to the prisoners we have captured, a large number of French soldiers in the city have also fallen ill." Without waiting for Menshkov to speak, a middle-aged officer added

Without long hesitation, Menshikov made a decision: "Order the troops to do a good job of epidemic prevention, the offensive still cannot be stopped, our situation is bad, and the French troops in the city will only get worse."

For the plague, I will ask St. Petersburg for help, and ask the country to send a lot of medical personnel. This plague is also an opportunity, and I don't believe that the French will be able to hold on! ”

Menshikov, who was nervous on his face, was relieved deep down. Now that the plague broke out, the good days of the French were over.

The reason is very simple, the higher the population density, the more conducive to the spread of the plague. In this case, the loss inside the city is certainly greater than the loss outside the city.

How many people have died in the city of Constantinople, 100,000 or 200,000? Or 300,000, 400,000, or even more?

Were the bodies disposed of in time? Maybe the French dealt with most of them, but the rest even if one percent slipped through the net, it was thousands of corpses, didn't you see that the rats in Constantinople were fat?

The decaying corpses and the breeding of insects and ants are simply the best assistants for the spread of the virus. There was not even a need for a foreign virus, Constantinople itself had the potential for an outbreak of the plague.

……

Vienna

After receiving the news of the outbreak of the plague in Constantinople, Franz immediately convened a meeting and asked the Ministry of Health to preside over the epidemic prevention work.

Although the plague was not widespread in history, mainly in the Crimean peninsula, Austria had only a slight impact.

Now the situation is clearly different, since the plague broke out in Constantinople, will the Balkans still be spared? The Balkans have suffered, but won't Austria be affected?

After the epidemic prevention work was deployed, Franz continued to consider the impact of the plague.

"The plague broke out, the French could not hold Constantinople, how will the international situation develop next, what do you think?"

Metternich reminded: "Your Majesty, judging from the current situation, the mortality rate of this plague is not too high, and if the epidemic is controlled, the French will still be able to hold Constantinople." ”

Franz laughed, and then asked: "Marshal, how long have the Russians cut off the water supply to Constantinople?" ”

Marshal Radesky replied: "Your Majesty, it's been almost sixteen months. However, Constantinople was connected by a port, and they still had enough fresh water to replenish it, and there was no shortage of fresh water in the city now. ”

Constantinople had no groundwater due to geological reasons, and although there were water storage facilities in the city, this could not supply so many people.

Franz shook his head and said, "There are so many people in the city of Constantinople, and the daily water supply is not a small number.

Having been cut off by the Russians for so long, we can boldly judge that the reserve water in the city has been depleted.

Now they rely entirely on ships to transport fresh water to meet the water needs of hundreds of thousands of people in the city.

With so many people, the amount of fresh water to be consumed every day is not a small number, which requires a lot of ship transportation.

How many transports were active in Constantinople? After the transportation of various materials is completed, how much fresh water can be supplied?

The British and French bureaucrats will at most ensure that these people have basic water for their survival, and the supply of domestic water is probably limited.

If in normal times, the supply of fresh water is insufficient, you can also stick to it, the big deal is not to take a bath, not wash your face, and not wash your hands for a period of time.

Now the situation is different, there is not enough fresh water supply, how can the French army carry out epidemic prevention? If basic sanitation cannot be improved, how can the spread of the virus be contained? ”

Because of the epidemic prevention meeting, everyone made up for a while of epidemic prevention knowledge. Some were proposed by officials of the Austrian Ministry of Health, and some were added by Franz from memory.

Now everyone knows the importance of hygiene, at the critical moment of this plague outbreak, the French army in the city because there is not enough fresh water, the virus does not look for them, who to look for?

Even if the Russians outside are equally unhygienic, they are not short of water, and they always take a shower once in a while, right?

The French soldiers in the city did not know how long it would take to have such an opportunity, or at all.

This problem, whether the French noticed it or not, they could not do anything about it.

Because this gap is not a little bit, but only to meet the needs of survival, a small basin of water a day is enough, and if the sanitary conditions are improved, this consumption will increase many times.

In a short period of time, where did they go to find so many water carriers?

Tens of thousands of tons of fresh water are consumed every day, and it is estimated that all the British and French ships in the Mediterranean can be transferred to meet their logistical supply.

Felix thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, if the French can't solve the plague problem, we can prepare to mediate this war.

Once the Russians take Constantinople, the war will not be able to continue.

The Russians were already in crisis in their finances, and if it weren't for the fact that Constantinople's political position was too special, I'm afraid they would have compromised long ago.

Now that the Russians have occupied the Bulgarian region, and let them occupy Constantinople, it will be even more difficult to control in the future, and it is better to contain it. ”

Metternich objected: "Prime Minister, it is too late to contain the Russians at this time, unless we can tear up the Russian-Austrian Secret Treaty, we must support them in future negotiations."

Diplomatically, with our support, as long as Constantinople is occupied by the Russians, I don't think Britain and France have the ability to force the tsarist government to spit it out.

Do not forget that for us at this time, it is much more important to maintain the Russo-Austrian alliance than to contain the Russians, and it is impossible for us to oppose the annexation of Constantinople by the Russians.

If you can't stop it, then why bother to be this wicked person?

It is better to simply push it again, so that the Russians can continue to attract the firepower of Britain and France in front and deepen the contradictions between them. ”

"Push", this proposal Franz was very interested in. To control the Black Sea Fleet, it was not enough to have just one Constantinople, but also to control both the Balkans and Asia Minor.

Are the Russians still capable of fighting? Apparently there is no such thing, even if it is the desperate liver explosion of the tsarist government, it must stop at Constantinople.

In case Britain and France were forced in a hurry, there might be a possibility that they would be pushed back, and the transportation of the Russian Empire would restrict their power projection.

On the Balkan Peninsula, even with the support of Austria, the Russians can only exert seven or eight points of national strength at most, so what can they fight with Britain and France?

Now the Russians have the upper hand, but the British and French did not react and pit each other on the battlefield.

Once the Russians put too much pressure on them, so that the two countries put aside their contradictions and cooperate sincerely, it will be a different situation on the battlefield.

It didn't matter if the Russians couldn't fight, and Franz didn't want the tsarist government to really take control of the Black Sea Fleet.

The Mediterranean Sea is too small, and the four countries of Britain, France, and Austria are not enough to divide it, and there is absolutely no superfluous interest for the Russians.

But this does not prevent the Russians from having ambitions, after all, Constantinople has been taken, and the Mediterranean Sea is one step closer.

As long as the Russians were still ambitious, then they could not compromise with Britain and France. Britain, France, and Russia confronted each other, and Austria was safe.

Historically, Bismarck designed it this way, and as a result, Wilhelm II's diplomatic game collapsed, and he actually let France and Russia form an alliance, which was a natural tragedy for sandwich biscuits.

"The Russian-Austrian alliance cannot be destroyed, the matter of containing the Russians can be done by Britain and France, and as allies, we must not be treacherous!"

Franz was straightforward. He did not want to send the wrong political signal that the top of the government would mistakenly believe that Austria had already obtained the benefits it wanted and would abandon the Russians.

From the point of view of national interests, this kind of betrayal is very normal, and it seems to be more in line with the national interest to move closer to Britain and France now in favor of Austria's overseas colonization.

However, given the strategic security, the situation is different. Compared with the unstable French government and the ambitious Kingdom of Prussia, Franz felt that it was more reliable to ally with the Russians.