Chapter 239 What on earth is Franz doing?

"Your Excellency Prime Minister! This is a humiliation of Prussia by the French. This time it is time to let the French know the results of the Prussian army's reforms over the years." Moltke looked at Bismarck seriously and spoke slowly but forcefully.

His sharp eyes revealed a strong desire to win. Moltke knew best the development of the Prussian army over the years, and he felt like his son had grown up and should start a career.

"General Moltke, don't be anxious now. War will come sooner or later. This is also the attitude of His Majesty and I. However, victory in war is never just a matter of battlefield. We are indeed developing rapidly now, but we must also face the reality. France is a top power and its strength should not be underestimated. I will also ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to do more work to prevent other countries from interfering in this war and create conditions for our victory on the battlefield." Bismarck said slowly.

Earlier, under Bismarck's operation, he had secretly signed an offensive and defensive alliance treaty with the southern German states. So this seemingly Franco-Prussian War was actually a Franco-German War. Germany had already emerged, and now it only needed France to send the certification letter, and the so-called offensive and defensive alliance would become the real Germany. This shows that France is capable and can be called the founding father of the United States, Italy and Germany, and all three countries were later great powers.

"There are only three countries now, which are the uncertain factors in our war with France. I believe you also know that if we cannot convince them, it is very likely that our efforts will be in vain in the end."

Last time, Prussia isolated the Austrian Empire diplomatically, promised to cede part of the Rhineland to France (the famous Ruhr Industrial Zone is here), acquiesced to France's annexation of part of Belgium and Luxembourg between Prussia and France; borrowed a large sum of money from Britain at very high interest rates, allowing British capital to make money by taking advantage of the rapid development of the Prussian economy; signed a preferential trade agreement with Tsarist Russia and a private alliance agreement; and finally took advantage of the territorial dispute between Italy and Austria to join forces with Italy to attack Austria from the north and south. All these operations are enough to show Bismarck's diplomatic ability.

"Britain and Tsarist Russia are still easy to deal with. The most important thing now is the attitude of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, the possibility of the Austro-Hungarian Empire sending troops is very small. But in the end, it still depends on Emperor Franz's personal opinion..."

In order to break the restrictions imposed on Russia by the Treaty of Paris in 1856, Russia chose to maintain "benign neutrality" in the Franco-Prussian War, and deployed 100,000 troops on the Russian-Austrian border. At the same time, it promised Prussia that if Austria joined the Franco-Prussian War, it would also send troops to help Prussia.

The subsequent development was just as Russia had hoped. The Prussian army won a great victory in the Franco-Prussian War and eventually unified Germany to establish the German Empire. In return for Russia's neutrality, at the London Conference held in March 1871, Bismarck helped Russia break free from the constraints of the Black Sea neutrality clause stipulated in the Treaty of Paris, and reaffirmed the principle of closing the strait and prohibiting foreign warships from passing through, thus safeguarding Russia's interests.

As for Britain, there is a saying that those who owe money are the bosses. Prussia borrowed a lot of money from Britain in the previous wars. If Prussia loses...

Of course, the most important reason is that France was too powerful. France under the rule of Napoleon III can be said to be the strongest in French history. Its national strength was infinitely close to that of Britain. It was also the second largest colonial empire in the world. Its army and navy were unprecedentedly powerful, threatening Britain's dominant position.

So both Tsarist Russia and Britain supported Prussia, and the only ally France could win was the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

However, Napoleon III's foreign policy has always been stupid, otherwise he would not have allowed Italy to unify. Not only that, but France also sent troops to protect the Papal States in the last step before Italy's unification, leading to a breakdown in Franco-Italian relations.

At this time, Napoleon III still did not realize the seriousness of the problem. If he could win over the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the success or failure was still uncertain.

“Boom boom boom…”

Just as Bismarck was about to say something, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Although he was very unhappy about being interrupted, he knew that the conversation between the Prime Minister of the Empire and the Chief of the Imperial General Staff must be about something very important.

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister, General Moltke! This is important information sent by the intelligence department."

Bismarck took the document and began to read it.

moment.

"Okay, okay! You should also take a look at this information." Bismarck handed the document to Moltke.

Document text: "July 1, the Austro-Hungarian army has made some changes. The elite troops in the Slovak region have been transferred and their whereabouts are currently unknown. The new troops can be temporarily confirmed to be from southern Austria. - Slovak Intelligence Office"

"What is Franz thinking about?" Moltke said puzzledly.

You must know that Russia had just deployed 100,000 troops in the border area, but at this time Austria secretly transferred its elite troops from Slovakia. This is a military stronghold not far from Prussia and Tsarist Russia. It can deal with possible attacks from Prussia and Russia at the same time, support Czechoslovakia to the west, and support Galicia to the east.

"The only regions that Austria can pay attention to and benefit from are the Balkans and Italy. However, this is obviously not the time for Austria-Hungary to start a war. Franz's decision is really puzzling. Do you think it is possible that this is just an ordinary change of defense for Austria-Hungary?" Bismarck said to Moltke.

"Even if there is a rotation of defense, they wouldn't secretly transfer the elite troops from Slovakia during this period! I don't believe Franz dares to bet that we and Tsarist Russia won't take action against the Austro-Hungarian Empire."

"Could it be that Hungary is causing trouble again? But I haven't heard of any recent actions by Hungary." Bismarck said strangely.

"Hungary is indeed a destabilizing factor within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but there is no need for elite troops to deal with Hungary."

"So what is Franz's real intention?" Both of them began to ponder.

First, Italy should be ruled out. Not only does Italy have Prussia as an ally, but if the Austro-Hungarian Empire dares to take action against Italy, the French will not agree.

The second option is the Balkan Peninsula. This is possible, but the Ottoman Empire on the Balkan Peninsula is already on its death strait. If the Austro-Hungarian Empire wants to take action against the Ottoman Empire, ordinary troops can solve the problem.

Moreover, the Russian Empire would not allow the Austro-Hungarian Empire to expand in the Balkans. So if the Austro-Hungarian Empire really wanted to attack the Balkans, it should deploy more troops on the border between Austria and Russia to deal with the pressure from the Russian Empire. So what exactly did Franz want to do? Was it just a normal rotation of defense?

"Forget it. Anyway, we can be sure that Austria-Hungary has no plans to interfere with Prussia recently. Anyway, there are many people who make wrong decisions. Maybe Franz was fooled by some 'idiot' around him."

While saying this, Bismarck still went over the recent major events in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in his mind, and found that nothing major had happened.

When the Kingdom of East Africa was established a few days ago, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was the first to speak out, which should be considered a relatively big move, but there is nothing noteworthy about the Kingdom of East Africa. The overseas entrepreneurship of the Hechingen royal family is indeed eye-catching, but going to Africa at this time is just seeking death. At that time, Bismarck also commented that Prince Constantine was as adventurous as his son Ernst.

Why would he go to Africa, the cursed continent, instead of being a good Prussian prince? Now the whole of Germany knows that the Hechingen royal family is very rich, but Africa and some areas of South America are paradises for explorers. There is no point in opening up a colony there and becoming a king. At most, you can be an African chieftain. Europe is the center of the world. Only Prince Constantine has a high status, so everyone gives him face.

"Well, at least this move shows that the Austro-Hungarian Empire is not interested in Germany. I think our military can focus more on France." Moltke said.

Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire had no intention of attacking Germany and was completely defeated, Hungary would definitely oppose it and would even make some small moves behind the scenes. However, Austria could handle a weakling like Italy on its own, and Hungary would rush to join in. After all, the benefits could not be monopolized by the Austrians.

(End of this chapter)