Chapter 42: Johanna surrenders, Russia-Switzerland military training friendship agreement
Theresa then began to write a letter to Peter, which will be given to Count Bernis, who will find a way to deliver it to Peter.
Ten days passed in the blink of an eye, and Peter received letters from various monarchs one after another. Frederick's words were plain, but there was a sense of cordiality and friendliness. The King of Sweden was flattering throughout, while the Queen of Austria spoke sincerely, focusing on peace and harmony.
Empress Elizabeth expressed her willingness to deepen diplomatic relations between Russia and Austria.
Panin, the ambassador to Sweden, also returned to Russia, and Peter met him.
This was a courtier in his 40s, with wise eyes and calm demeanor. Peter called Johanna again. In a small conference room, Peter showed Johanna the credentials of the King of Sweden.
Johanna's hands trembled with excitement, she threw herself on Peter's lap, raised her charming face, and cried:
"Your Majesty, my Majesty, from now on I will be your servant. Please let me kiss your boots."
Panin was also here, but Peter did not stop him. He watched Johanna kiss his boots and caress her head. Johanna showed a surrender gesture.
After letting Johanna leave first, Peter asked Panin what he thought of Sweden.
"Your Majesty, the Swedish Parliament is deeply afraid of our country and worried that we will march straight into it, so it has been compromising. If it directly covets Swedish territory, it will provoke the Swedish people to launch a civil uprising. I wonder, Your Majesty, do you want Swedish territory or a stable rear area?
?”
Panin observed the new emperor's expression and said.
Peter said:
"There is already an outlet to the Baltic Sea. It is meaningless to ask for Swedish territory. Instead, it will arouse the vigilance of other countries. You sign an agreement with Sweden. We will send 30,000 troops to protect Sweden from invasion by Norway and Denmark, and let them help us train our troops.
The training cost is 3 million rubles per year."
"In addition, under the Russia-Switzerland Friendship Agreement, Swedish vegetables and fruits are permanently tax-free for Russian imports. This is a symbol of friendship between the two countries."
Sweden's natural resources are mainly iron ore, forests and water power. It is basically self-sufficient in meat and milk, but it lacks vegetables and fruits. This overlaps greatly with Russia.
Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources, forest reserves and lakes containing about a quarter of the world's fresh water.
Mineral resources include a large amount of iron ore, which does not need to be imported from Sweden, but there is also a shortage of vegetables and fruits.
These two things are particularly important during wartime, because without vegetables soldiers will suffer from malnutrition, and the disease that most affects combat effectiveness is septicemia.
During the fighting between Russia and Turkey, Turkey invited Britain and France to help.
The consequence of this battle was that Russia lost more than 500,000 troops and the Tsar himself committed suicide.
At the beginning of the war, Russia violently beat Turkey, which was already the sick man of West Asia. Turkey brought in British and French forces to violently beat Russia. Britain and France gained control of the Black Sea.
This resulted in Russia being able to transport supplies only through the inland, but at that time there was no railway built in southern Ulan, so supplies could only be transported by ox-drawn carts.
When a winter hurricane occurred, a large number of cattle and horses died. In the end, the Russian army only had 2,000 carts left. It was very difficult to transport cotton clothes, so they began to deliver alcohol, not only traditional vodka, but also expensive imported whiskey from Britain. But the Russian army
The meat and vegetables needed by the army were not given.
Because of the death of cows and horses, the Russian army cut the meat of cows and horses to make bacon. There was no shortage of meat, but there was no vegetable to supplement vitamins. Even though Captain Tolstoy wrote this situation in his work and showed it to the Tsar, in the Tsar
Despite the angry orders, vegetables and cotton-padded clothes were not sent to the front line.
With no vegetables to eat, septicemia became common, and morale fell to rock bottom.
The British were not much better. While they laughed at the Russian cattle for eating grass boiled in plain water, they distributed to the soldiers biscuits that could penetrate a warship and bacon pickled decades ago to satisfy their hunger.
Because the documents lacked a stamp, the logistics department withheld 150 tons of vegetables and nearly 20,000 pounds of limes, leaving them to become spoiled food in the warehouse.
There were mountains of rice, peas and barley in the warehouse. Logistics officials refused to distribute these to the soldiers because they were not on the military ration supply catalog. The British logistics department also played the trick of sending green coffee beans to the front line and forgot about 27,000 pounds of tea.
In the early days of the war, the vegetable supply for British soldiers for a month was two potatoes and one onion, which also caused a large number of soldiers to fall ill due to septicemia.
But the British army has a good teammate in France.
Although France's meat supply is only one-third that of Britain, it still has enough vegetables and fruits.
France has also deployed a large number of cooks, bakers and professional chefs in the army. French soldiers can eat freshly baked bread and drink meat and vegetable soup every day.
Chocolate and hot coffee are also standard fare for the French army.
Their lunch menu is:
"Tapioca soup, lamb bones with vegetables, roast chicken, roast potatoes, Bordeaux wine, fresh grapes and biscuits."
Under this circumstance, the Russian army was first defeated in terms of food, and then collapsed across the board, losing more than 500,000 people.
In this regard, France is the one that Peter wants to learn from.
It is not easy to keep vegetables and fruits fresh. Although there is no need to import vegetables and fruits from Sweden now, we must be prepared and sign the agreement first.
Panin was a little stunned. Fruits and vegetables didn't seem that important to him. It was just His Majesty's order, so he followed it.
Peter didn't explain that much to him. To become stronger, Russia must defeat the Ottomans and take over the Black Sea, but the road must be taken step by step.
To fight a war is to fight logistics, economy, numbers, military equipment and commander-in-chief.
At present, several Russian war gods still need to grow up, and the Austrian Succession War has not yet reached its end. Peter will look forward to changes in Rumyantsev and the others after the Battle of the Rhine.
In this way, there will be no shortage of commanders, the population plan is also being implemented, and military equipment is not ready to be produced now, so the economy and logistics are very important, and it would be nice to do more.
The two talked for a while, and then Peter said:
"Go find Bestudev and tell him what happened just now."
"yes!"
Having also signed a confidentiality agreement, Panin left with mixed feelings.
He was shocked when he heard in Sweden that the crown prince became emperor.
After all, Peter's reputation was heard even in Sweden, but now that they were talking, Panin suddenly felt disgusted.
This rumor cannot be more false.
He is full of energy.
After sending Panin away, Peter did not leave the conference room. He pondered, and his plans could not keep up with the changes. He not only received letters from Frederick and Theresa, but also letters from Prussian and Austrian emissaries.
It is not uncommon for countries to place spies between countries and pass information to each other. If the information is not particularly confidential, each monarch will basically know something about each other's court.
Peter learned that his "Peter Love" had been adapted.