Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 187
Chapter 187: Chapter 74: The Pig Teammates Assemble
Translator: 549690339
London
Upon receiving news of the Kingdom of Sardinia’s decision to enter the war, Prime Minister John Russell was very pleased. A perceptive little brother like this is liked by everyone.
After the outbreak of the Near East War, their support for the Ottomans made many unhappy, placing them on the opposite side of European public opinion. Even within the United Kingdom, many people and media took the opportunity to scold the government.
Reality once again proved the importance of a good reputation; the Ottoman Empire’s reputation was indeed too foul, so much so that even the joint efforts of England and France couldn’t whitewash it.
Public opinion was but a minor issue. Standing on the opposite side of international opinion wasn’t a first for the British. Those merely good at spouting words could only curse without causing them the slightest harm, and John Russell didn’t care.
However, it wasn’t just Montenegro Duchy joining the Russians; even their minor ally Greece started making moves, as if to express how unpopular the alliance with the Ottomans was.
Under pressure from the Opposition Party, John Russell urgently needed to demonstrate the correctness of their actions.
In terms of military breakthroughs, John Russell no longer held out hope; the chances were too slim. With only twenty thousand British Army soldiers on the frontline in a war involving over a million combatants, it was indeed questionable what kind of achievements they could garner.
Unable to make strides militarily, they could turn to diplomacy. This was their strong suit—wasn’t pulling in allies what the Great Britain Empire was good at?
Even Napoleon, formidable as he was, had been brought down by the Anti-French Alliance they formed. The current threat from Russia, although severe, wasn’t as dire as during the Anti-French wars.
Unfortunately, European nations had all become savvy, unwavering in face of their threats and inducements, with countries one after
another declaring neutrality.
This gave Prime Minister John Russell a headache, as he no longer hoped for strong allies’ support. With only a few powerful countries in Europe, and everyone wise to the costs, no one was willing to take chestnuts out of the fire for them.
John Russell lowered his standards, considering just a few who would wave the flag and shout, enough to account for to his people back home.
“What are the conditions of the Sardinians?” John Russell asked happily.
He had made up his mind—so long as the Sardinian Kingdom’s demands were not too excessive, he would agree. To build world hegemony, recruiting subordinates was essential, even buying their loyalty at a high price.
They had no shortage of subordinates, such as Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, and others. Unfortunately, these subordinates were not cooperative; seeing no benefit in it for themselves, they each became turtles retracting their heads, unwilling to offend the Russians.
The stance of the Sardinian Kingdom was therefore especially significant as the first to come forth, and while militarily their contribution was virtually nil, politically, having one more country to wave the flag and shout was very important.
Originally, the Greek people also had the potential to play this role, but unfortunately, their contradictions with the Ottoman Empire were too significant, with no chance of reconciliation.
“The Sardinians’ demands are not excessive. They are asking the Allied Forces to purchase a batch of goods from the Sardinian Kingdom and to postpone loan repayments until the end of the war,” replied Palmerston, nonchalantly.
There was no doubt that the defeat in the Ausa war had shaken their confidence, leading them to a sober understanding of their own strength; at this time, they dared not make outlandish demands.
John Russell continued to ask, “How many troops can the Sardinian Kingdom contribute?”
Palmerston disdainfully said, “Two infantry regiments, which is better than nothing. Prime Minister Cavour has stated that if we can provide weapons and equipment and cover the cost of war, they can deploy twenty thousand soldiers.”
John Russell said cheerfully, “We can agree to their terms, but we will take command.
Our army has been slow in reaching the battlefield, causing great dissatisfaction among our allies. Now let’s make do with the Sardinian Kingdom’s army for the time being.”
He had already guessed seven or eight out of ten regarding the Sardinian Kingdom’s plans—they probably wanted to secure support from England and France and then unify the Italian Area.
John Russell found the confidence of the Sardinians somewhat perplexing; he didn’t even think the Italian Area could be unified. After the Ausa war, the economy of the Sardinian Kingdom had been set back by twenty years, and they hadn’t recovered yet.
Under normal circumstances, they should recuperate and ease relations with Austria, to change the diplomatic dilemma.
After all, during this period, Austria held significant influence over the Italian countries, having even set up the Holy Roman Economic Alliance to push them out of the Italian Area.
To unify the Italian Area, Austria was an obstacle they couldn’t circumvent. Without defeating Austria, their efforts would be in vain.
The London Government supports the Kingdom of Sardinia in unifying the Italian Area, indeed, but this support is merely verbal, at most extending a loan; personal engagement is out of the question.
The French want to drive Austria out of the Italian Area, but they also oppose the unification of the region. Had it not been for an unexpected turn of events, France and Austria would have partitioned the Kingdom of Sardinia three years ago.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand, since the People of Sardinian are willing to be cannon fodder, how could he refuse?
Vienna
Franz wrote in his diary, a habit he had developed since crossing over. He had a mess of memories from his previous life and, to prevent forgetting them, Franz recorded everything.
For secrecy, he presented these contents as a novel. He even set the world background in a magical realm, with the messy contents jumbled together, making it incomprehensible to anyone but himself.
“Your Majesty, Mr. Metternich requests an audience!” called the familiar voice of Maid Jenny.
“Let him in,” Franz said indifferently.
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Metternich said, “Your Majesty, the Sardinian Government is testing our attitude; they are preparing to declare war on Russia.”
To be honest, when Metternich first heard this news, he simply couldn’t believe it; the Kingdom of Sardinia must be full to bursting to go and start a war with the Russians, especially when they were already deep in debt.
After multiple confirmations, Metternich finally accepted the news.
Panic was an overstatement; Austria knew best about the military strength of the Kingdom of Sardinia. Such a weakling was not worth serious attention.
However, the political implications behind it had to be considered. If just maybe England and France promised some benefits to the Kingdom of Sardinia, and that was the reason behind their troop deployment, then it warranted attention.
After some thought, Franz replied, “Since the Kingdom of Sardinia wishes to join the war, let’s be generous! Hint to the Sardinian Government that Austria has no objections.”
Would the Kingdom of Sardinia’s participation affect the Russo-Turkish War? It definitely would, but the impact would be political; militarily, as long as they didn’t cause trouble for the Allied Forces, it would be fine.
At this moment, Franz suddenly realized that the Russians had a not so small chance of winning. Don’t be fooled by the strength of the Allied Forces; among these four countries, three were apt to backstab their allies. Could they rely solely on the French to take the lead?
There’s no need to explain the Ottoman Empire; their land force’s combat effectiveness can be judged by how they were getting pushed around by the Russians on the battlefield.
The core of the Sardinian Army was gone, what remained was a group of demoralized and defeated soldiers. Don’t hold any expectations for the fighting power of the troops they assembled.
The combat effectiveness of the British Army, relatively speaking, was decent. Unfortunately, they were few in number and their command abilities were not great; crucially, they had a tendency to malfunction at critical moments and to sabotage their allies.
In contrast, the Russians didn’t need to worry about so much. Among their few allies, aside from Austria’s strength, the rest could hardly be counted on.
And in the alliance, Austria’s role was, of all things, akin to a medic. Unless the front lines of the Russian Army were defeated, the Austrian Army wouldn’t even need to join the battle; logistics were the decisive factor.
Greece, Montenegro, were completely cut off from the Russians, so there was no need to consider their cooperation or worry about being betrayed by them.
Theoretically, if the Russians could seize the opportunity and crush the French, they might be able to defeat the enemy one by one.
Upon receiving Austria’s tacit approval of their actions, on July 1, 1852, the Sardinian Government declared war on the Russian
Empire, further expanding the scope of the Near Eastern War.
