Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 384: Prussia's Counterattack

Europe was in turmoil, and the first to become restless was not Austria or John Bull, but rather the Prussian government caught in the whirlpool.

There was no way around it. No matter how many people the Russians had schemed against, once their plan succeeded, they would definitely be the ones most affected.

No matter what, we must disrupt the Russians borrowing plan, William I said gravely.

He did not want to be ousted just yet. The Kingdom of Prussia has already staked its national destiny, and the people cannot tolerate failure.

Once the Russians obtain loans from France and Austria, this war will truly be unwinnable. Even if victory is achieved in the impending decisive battle, the Kingdom of Prussia will still be unable to change its inevitable defeat.

The Russian government lacked not soldiers, but money! No matter how devastating the losses, it was nothing to Russia.

This was a matter of historical record. Centuries ago, Russia waged wars year after year until eventually, they ran out of male soldiers, yet they went on to organize female soldiers to continue fighting.

Times have changed, and now the Russian Empire has a truly large population, numbering as much as eighty to ninety million. William I did not believe they could be bled to the point of the Russian government being unable to bear it.

Foreign Minister Mackeit suggested, Your Majesty, I suggest adopting different measures against France and Austria to obstruct their issuance of loans to the Russians.

To deal with the French, we can start with the joint defense plan. Utilize the fear of various European countries towards the French and apply diplomatic pressure.

Austrias ambition to unify Germany has never been extinguished. If the French aim to seize the Rhineland, they are automatically placed in opposition.

The British are also very apprehensive of the French. If the French attempt to annex the Rhineland, the British government is likely to intervene.

What we need to do is make Napoleon III believe that if they annex the Rhineland, they will face joint resistance from Britain and Austria.

Austria and Britain will cooperate with us in this diplomatic performance. They just need a strongly worded diplomatic statement, and the French will hesitate.

To deal with the Austrians, I suggest using nationalists to create public pressure by accusing the Austrian government of colluding with foreign enemies and betraying the interests of the German people.

Originally, this loan was the result of Russian schemes, and the Austrian government agreed under public pressure. Now, we will similarly utilize nationalism to give the anti-Russian faction an excuse to sabotage this loan.

The stances of politicians have always shifted as needed. Initially, for the sake of expansion, the Kingdom of Prussia embraced German nationalism, advocating for the unification of the German territories to establish a grand empire.

With the resurgence of Austria, they realized that the unification of the German territories was no longer feasible and, in fact, there was a significant possibility of becoming the target of unification. To safeguard their interests, they once again embraced Prussian separatism.

Now, to sabotage the Russian loan from Austria, Mackeit did not hesitate to resurrect German nationalism, intending to utilize its influence to affect the decisions of the Austrian government.

Prime Minister Christian pondered for a moment before saying, These plans can only delay the inevitable. Unless we achieve a major victory on the battlefield to dispel the notion that the Russians are destined to win, their schemes will ultimately succeed. In the face of interests, all contradictions are insignificant.

There is no room for compromise between France and Austria. All it takes is one pretext, and the three parties can partition Prussia.

Nationalism may influence the decisions of the Austrian government to some extent, but it cannot dictate their actions. Their opposition to the French occupation of the Rhineland is not solely driven by nationalism. It is more about preventing French expansion and avoiding losses in the proposed division of spoils.

This was the crux of the issue. The unification of Germany was merely Franzs political slogan. Its called upon when needed and set aside when not.

This was different from when Austria annexed Southern Germany previously. Now Austrias ethnic issues were no longer as severe, with integration efforts progressing steadily. Unifying Northern Germany was no longer the only choice.

Ultimately, the core issue goes back to the battlefield. If they lose this war, the Kingdom of Prussia will naturally meet its end, unable to escape the fate of being partitioned.

What they were actually considering now were the issues after winning the war. The Russians were formidable if they lost one battle, the Russian government could organize another.

The only thing that can restrain the Russian government is its finances. They are currently considering how to cut off the Russian governments sources of funding.

After hesitating for a moment, William I made up his mind and said, Foreign Ministry, move forward bravely! Weve already come this far, it couldnt possibly get any worse.

If necessary, we can issue blank checks to both France and Austria. If the Russians can promise, so can we.

As long as we can get more from the Russian Empire, then selling these lands to them is not out of the question!

This is William I comforting himself. Even if they win the war, how much they can gain from the Russians remains uncertain.

Regarding the promises to France and Austria, since they are blank checks, he has no intention of honoring them.

Unless absolutely necessary, William I would not trade away the well-governed Prussian lands for Russian lands.

Looking at the map, it was clear that the areas bordering Prussia and Russia were largely Russian territories. While the geographical conditions are favorable and resources are abundant, the issue lies in governance!

There are many Poles in the Kingdom of Prussia. Once they annexed Russian Poland, Prussia would transition from a German nation to a Polish one.

If not for the Vienna Congress of 1815, where Prussia relinquished Warsaw in exchange for the Rhineland and parts of Saxony, the Germanization movement wouldnt have easily succeeded.

Its worth noting that after the partition of Poland by Prussia, Russia, and Austria, out of the 10 million Polish people, 4.5 million ended up in Prussia, 1.5 million in Austria, and 4 million remained in the Russian Empire.

It can be said that the first Vienna System saved the Kingdom of Prussia, freeing them from the awkward situation of being dominated by Poles.

Continuing to involve themselves in Poland is clearly not the best choice. Unfortunately, William I doesnt have the luxury of choice. The Junker nobility could not tolerate Prussia becoming a second-rate country.

Of course, the Kingdom of Prussia has experience in assimilating Polish people. William I was not prepared to annex the core Polish territories. Their goal was to capture Lithuania, and if possible, also capture the Baltic States.

Given the ambitious nature of their objectives, whether they can achieve them remains uncertain. But goals must still exist, how else will they know the outcome without attempting?

This is also part of the strategic plan of the British: Polish independence, Prussian occupation of most of the Baltic Sea, and weakening the power of the Russians.

Political actions require military cooperation. While the Prussian government was taking diplomatic actions, the Prussian army also began its counterattack.

Moltke abandoned his previous strategy of staying still to bleed the Russian government, instead taking the offensive to seek opportunities for a decisive battle with the Russians.

This change caught the Russians off guard. Unprepared, the Russian troops suffered heavy losses upon entering East Prussia, losing 30,000 soldiers in just one week.

In terms of the overall situation, with both sides having a total manpower of over a million, the loss of 30,000 troops might seem insignificant, but it had a significant impact.

The power of the breech-loading rifles in the field battles was astonishing, with the exchange ratio between the two sides reaching an astounding 1:2.7.

This was not a siege. Such a disparate exchange ratio in a field battle undoubtedly indicated that the combat capabilities of the two armies were not on the same level.

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