What the two sides are competing for now is their will. Whoever fails to hold on first will be unlucky first.
However, the Prussians had one advantage over the French, that is, they could still count on reinforcements.
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On October 13, 1793, an urgent letter from the Prussian ambassador in London arrived at the Prussian government. After receiving the letter, Locks did not stay, but immediately rushed to the Royal Palace in Brandenburg.
among.
When William saw this letter, one can imagine the anger in his heart.
"What a blind man, the Duke of York, who would marry Charlotte to such a man! Immediately send someone to tell the British that we are strongly dissatisfied with the misfortune that has befallen Princess Charlotte. At the same time, our country is in the process of
Consider withdrawing troops from France. In addition, according to the original agreement, except for Paris, most of northern France has been captured. In this case, the British must fulfill their original commitment as soon as possible and cede Hannover to our country!
"
After William finished what he said, Locks showed a little worry on his face.
"Your Majesty the King, is this a bit radical? And if the troops are withdrawn from France because of this incident, then to the outside world, it will definitely be a sign that Prussia is preparing to tear up its alliance with Britain, isn't this?"
As soon as Rocks finished speaking, William smiled and said:
"Lokes, if we don't put some pressure on the British, how can the British meet our demands? In addition, even if we withdraw our troops from France now, it is impossible for the British to take any drastic action against us.
Don't forget, the French are centipede insects that will never die. If we withdraw our troops, the British, who are at a disadvantage in terms of military strength, will definitely not be able to hold on for long, so the British will definitely compromise.
Furthermore, even if the British don't compromise, the losses in France will be enough for the British to take a long time to recover. By then, even if the British want to cause trouble for us, they may be unable to do so!"
From a factual point of view, what William said was not wrong.
Among the coalition forces, the Prussian army undoubtedly accounts for the majority. If the Prussians really withdraw their troops, let alone the siege of Paris, I am afraid that whether the British can hold on to the territories they currently occupy is a huge problem.
Even though Britain has already started peace talks with Spain, even if Spain turns to the British side, it is impossible for them to provide troops for Britain to fight France.
Although the British can control the lifeline of Prussia and its overseas colonies, Prussia can also defeat all the British troops on the European continent.
Either both sides will suffer losses, or they will linger for consequences, and William believes that the British will definitely choose the latter.
In fact, if he hadn't been concerned about Britain's world's largest navy, William would have been eager to fall out with the British. But unfortunately, the importance of Prussia's overseas colonies to Prussia need not be said. In this case, it depends on who the two sides are.
Compromise first.
But compared to Britain, at least Prussia got a good card because Princess Charlotte was attacked. Although some people may think that such behavior is simply despicable and worse than an animal, but it has to be said that politics has always been so dirty.
Although when Rocks handed over the additional communication note prepared by the Prussian government to Fox, even this British politician who knew nothing about military affairs couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.
Fox had previously thought about how this incident would react to the Prussians. He had also thought about what would happen if this incident affected the relationship between the two countries, but when the facts actually came, Fox still became panicked.
.
Even a military idiot like him knows that the British cannot rely on their own strength to win the French war, and this has been fully verified in previous wars.
The current total strength of the British army is only more than 60,000 people, and these more than 60,000 people are still used to defend colonies around the world.
If the Prussians really withdraw from France, then in order to preserve the results of the previous battle, Britain will have to send at least another 40,000 troops to France.
As mentioned above, the UK itself only has a total army of 60,000 people, but the UK currently has about 30,000 troops in France, accounting for half of the UK's total military strength.
In this case, if Britain continued to send troops to France after the collapse of the Prussian-British alliance, there would be no other way to gather troops except to recruit new troops and mobilize those colonial troops.
And this involves an issue of military spending!
The annihilation of the more than 50,000 British reinforcements sent by the British with all the strength of the country had already caused great pain to the British. The subsequent expansion of the army consumed a large amount of the national treasury budget and misappropriated the money of the year.
The Royal Navy's shipbuilding budget.
Britain is an island country, and its navy is undoubtedly more powerful than its army. And this is vividly reflected in the British army.
Army soldiers' pay is only half that of navy soldiers, and the treatment of officers can be described as worlds apart.
The British Royal Navy, which has always been strong for a long time, is very dissatisfied with the army. There are even many people in the navy who say that they can conquer the world without developing on the mainland. The British can conquer the world by relying only on the navy.
The clamor of these people has not affected the sanity of the British top brass. Everyone knows that if you want to become the strongest country in the world, it is obviously unrealistic to rely solely on the navy. Without the army, how can you bring those warships to land?
Come up to defend the city?
The territorial expansion of the European continent can actually be seen as a game between the British high-level army faction and the naval faction. In addition, the two countries had a deep hatred during the Hundred Years' War. When they saw France's weakness, the British
There will be absolutely no mercy.
Because of the alliance between Prussia and the British, Prussia did receive a large number of interest-free and low-interest loans from the British during the war to support the progress of the war.
The total amount of these loans can be said to be huge, but the dividends Prussia received during the war were enough to cover these loans. This was also the confidence that William dared to threaten the British.
Previously, Prussia sent troops to capture the Main River Basin, which was very profitable. You must know that the various princes in the Main River Basin are very rich, especially Frankfurt. As the largest free city in the empire, Frankfurt has always been economically prosperous.
It is like a pearl in Central Europe.
And after occupying these areas, the assets of the princes who originally sided with the Imperial Parliament were naturally confiscated by Prussia. As a result, Prussia basically did not suffer much losses in the Mainz Basin.
What really made Prussia feel like it was getting rich was Bavaria. Bavaria was an old prince with a history much older than Prussia, and Bavaria was also recognized as a wealthy country within the empire.
War is always the best choice to quickly accumulate profits. For Prussia, the war in the Holy Roman Empire not only greatly expanded Prussia's territorial area. After annexing a series of princes, the net worth of these princes increased.
It brought considerable gains to Prussia.
Moreover, William was not a money-grubbing person. For William, who came from later generations, he did not care about the wealth he possessed, which was similar to all the great emperors in history.
If a superior is greedy for petty profits, then he is not a qualified superior at all. Therefore, William did not include the property captured in the war into his own treasury, but allocated it to the national treasury.
used for the entire country.
If coupled with the income after defeating Napoleon and looting the Austrian Netherlands, the Prussian treasury even made some profits during this war.
It was precisely this situation that gave William sufficient confidence.
In addition to submitting one copy of the Prussian government's official decision to Fox, another copy was also sent to Brenods in London through the fastest route.
Outside Wagram, the Hungarian army commanded by Alexander and the army of Archduke Karl who came to attack him had fought several times. However, even though the Hungarian army had made some preparations, because the strength of Karl's side far exceeded Alexander's,
Alexander's troops retreated steadily.
"Daniel, if this continues, I'm afraid Wagram won't be able to hold on at all. I think we should make preparations to return to Hungary as soon as possible!"
Standing on the wall of Wagram, Alexander said to Daniel next to him with a somewhat decadent face.
But after hearing what Alexander said, Daniel quickly said:
"Your Highness, no! If we return to Hungary now, then Karl will easily gain the allegiance of the entire Austria. At that time, we may only need Karl's leader, and we will be able to capture them. The leaders on the Hungarian grasslands are all there.
As cunning as a wolf!"
Daniel's dissuasion sounded in Alexander's ears, but it made him even more distracted.
Yes, just as Daniel said, if he returns to Hungary now, who can guarantee that the nobles in Hungary will be of the same mind as him.
If Karl was willing to forgive these Hungarian nobles as a condition, then it is impossible to say that Alexander would really be betrayed by these nobles and sold to Karl in exchange for his own peace.
"But if we continue fighting like this, it will obviously be detrimental to us! Karl has now gained the allegiance of many cities, and my rule in Austria is about to collapse. And in Wagram, we are at a disadvantage everywhere. If this situation continues,
If we go down, I’m afraid the only way out is defeat!”
"Your Highness, you are too pessimistic! I have a suggestion here, but I don't know if you are willing to listen to it?"
"If you have any other wishes or good ideas at this time, just tell me!"
Hearing that Daniel had an idea, Alexander quickly urged him. But when he heard Alexander's urging, Daniel seemed a little hesitant and said:
"Your Highness, have you forgotten Her Royal Highness Anna? Her Royal Highness Anna is now the Queen of Prussia. If Her Royal Highness Anna can persuade the King of Prussia to mediate, then I think even Karl will have to worry about it!"
Strictly speaking, Daniel's idea was completely bad. Who was Prussia? The answer to this question was already extremely clear in Alexander's mind.
The Prussians are nothing but white-eyed wolves who have not been raised well enough. Asking the Prussians to mediate at this time is simply seeking the skin of a tiger.
"No, Your Highness, letting the Prussians mediate us will inevitably pay a huge price. And these costs are simply unbearable for us now!"
A new face appeared beside Alexander, and this new face was Nuhad, his favored minister who had just been favored by Alexander recently.
Nuhad was an Austrian. After Alexander entered Vienna, he began to emerge beside Alexander. Although his status in Alexander's heart was not as high as that of Daniel, he was also one of Alexander's most trusted ministers.
"Your Excellency Nuhad, is there any other way now besides asking the Prussians to mediate?"
Seeing Nuhad coming out to oppose his proposal, Daniel shouted with some dissatisfaction on his face.
Regarding Daniel's words, Nuhad did not respond but continued to say to Alexander:
"Your Highness the Regent, the current situation is indeed not good for our letter, but we must not ask the Prussians to mediate! Your Highness, although many people have already gone to Karl's side, Karl has not obtained all of Austria.
People's support. There are still many people supporting you.
If you ask the Prussians to mediate, it is possible that His Royal Highness Karl will give us a chance to breathe under the pressure of the Prussians, but have you ever thought that as a result, we will be abandoned by the entire Austria and hostile to all Austrians!
Let’s not talk about asking the Prussians to mediate. Will those Prussians open their mouths? If the Prussians really intervene at that time, then all the Austrians will only regard you as a puppet of the Prussians and a traitor to their country.
If the existence of Rong reaches that point, and the sea is boiling, what else can you use to compete with His Highness Karl, and how can you rule Austria!"
What Nuhad said was so emotional that even after he finished speaking, the Excellency even shed a few tears.
After hearing what Nuhad said, Alexander suddenly became speechless, just as Nuhad said. If he really asked Prussia to mediate, then as long as someone with a heart spreads the word, then Alexander will be among the Austrians.
In my heart, I just wanted to peel off his skin.
The defeat of the two Austro-Prussian wars created an almost irresolvable hatred between Austria and Prussia. Although the two countries have now negotiated peace, the Prussians are still the most hated object in the minds of ordinary Austrians.
.
Didn't you see that the door of the Prussian Embassy in Vienna is locked tightly every day? But even so, the embassy has to be baptized with rotten vegetable leaves and rotten eggs every morning, which also makes the embassy's cleaners miserable.
Even those Prussians who went abroad did not dare to go out alone.
Of course, the lives of the Prussians will not be threatened, but as for those small things, the Austrian officials also turn a blind eye.
In the two Austro-Prussian wars, more than 60,000 to 70,000 Austrians were killed. Under these circumstances, someone died in the hands of the Prussians in almost every Austrian city.
"Your Highness, although what Mr. Nuhad said makes sense, Mr. Nuhad also admitted that as long as the Prussians intervene, they can give us a chance to breathe!
Your Highness, Karl's army is not far from Bagram, but our army is completely unable to stop the enemy's attack. Can a Wagram with no reinforcements be able to withstand Karl's rebels?
Your Highness, enduring humiliation and surviving is a kind of training. As long as we get a chance to breathe, even if we are just hanging on, there is still hope, and now there is no hope whether we stick to Wagram or retreat from Hungary!"
Like Nuhad, he half-knelt in front of Alexander after Daniel finished speaking.
Seeing his two favorites holding their own opinions, Alexander suddenly became very embarrassed when he was caught between them.
At this moment, a messenger hurriedly ran up to the city and handed a document into Alexander's hands.
This document came from Hungary. When Alexander was forced to retreat to Wagram, he immediately sent people back to Hungary to ask the Hungarian nobles to gather an army to serve the king. Now it is obvious that the reply from Hungary has arrived.
After taking the letter and reading it, Alexander's face became increasingly ugly, and in the end he threw the document to the ground angrily.
"Okay, I didn't expect that those Hungarians actually betrayed me. Look, look, these are the people who said they would swear allegiance to me. Now when I need them, they are pretending to me.
grandson!"
Seeing Alexander's uncontrollable anger, Daniel quickly picked up the letter on the ground and read it without caring about it.
In this letter, the great nobles of Hungary responded to Alexander's previous order asking them to raise troops. They claimed that Hungary is now being hit by a drought, and they are all doing their best to provide disaster relief. And if they only have a small army, they can send
came out, but now Alexander suddenly needs tens of thousands of troops. It is too difficult. They need time to recruit, and the definition of time for these Hungarian nobles is actually five months!
Five months! No wonder Alexander was so angry, these Hungarians were so irritating that the day lilies were cold in five months!