Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 390

Chapter 390: Chapter 77: The Great Decisive Battle
Entering the 19th century, connections within the global village tightened, and the international situation became one where pulling a single hair could move the entire body.

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With the end of the American Civil War, the attention of the United Kingdom, France, Austria, and Spain was focused on Europe, and the pressure on the Tsarist Government greatly increased.

The London Government had already begun to plan interference in the Prusso-Russian War, attempting to force the Tsarist Government to concede through diplomatic means and to strike at Russian prestige.

One must admit that John Bull’s diplomatic tactics were formidable; the Paris Government, which the Russians had just won over, began to waver again, and the French-Russian loan was withheld.

It couldn’t all be blamed on the French; the performance of the Russian Army on the battlefield was deeply disappointing.

It was originally believed that, with naval superiority, the Tsarist Government would deploy troops to land and stab the Prussians in the back, yet due to issues with strategic materials, the Tsarist Government was unable to organize any significant attacks.

International military observers are now roundly criticizing the Tsarist Government’s strategy, rendering it practically worthless.

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Alexander II felt extremely wronged; the war had erupted so suddenly that they had no time to prepare.

In St. Petersburg, faced with an increasingly severe international situation, Alexander II made a decision—swift action was needed.

The confidentiality capability of the Tsarist Government was limited to ten people or fewer; once informed exceeded this number, it was as good as a sieve.

Upon receiving this news, Franz’s first reaction was concern. Based on the current situation, a steady approach would definitely result in a Russian victory.

Despite the Prussians having a better exchange ratio, the past half a year of war still cost them 82,000 men, with 43,000 killed in action and 39,000 either disabled by injury or captured.

The Allied Polish suffered even heavier losses—at least 150,000. Due to the internal chaos of the Polish Provisional Government, they had no clear idea of their exact losses, so naturally, Franz couldn’t know either.

The losses of the Russians and the Danish people combined were roughly equivalent to the total of the Prusso-Polish forces.

If the war continued, the Polish Revolutionary Army would collapse in at most half a year, and by then the Kingdom of Prussia would be fighting a lonely battle.

If it were Franz commanding this war, he would seize the moment to harshly strike the Polish Revolutionary Army and use the navy to hit the Kingdom of Prussia, weakening their war potential.

A decisive battle? After reclaiming the Warsaw region and controlling several rivers within Poland, securing the water transportation lines to Austria, wouldn’t it then be a matter of how to fight, rather than if?

As long as supply lines were well-maintained, the Russian Army’s combat strength was not at all deficient. With their numerical superiority, they could easily defeat the enemy.

Taking on a decisive battle now was militarily very unwise. Of course, Alexander II’s decision was mainly for political reasons.

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Pressure from domestic conservatives, rampant international anti-Russian sentiment, coupled with financial strain, all bore heavily on the Tsarist Government.

Foreign Minister Wessenberg suggested, “Your Majesty, the Russians are seeking our help, hoping we can complete their orders as soon as possible.

If nothing goes wrong, after this batch of arms and equipment is delivered, it will be time for their decisive battle with the Prussians.

The Foreign Ministry believes we can allocate some of our active equipment to deliver it to the Russians ahead of schedule and facilitate the decisive battle erupting before the Polish winter arrives.”

Franz’s eyes lit up; this “winter” was coming at just the right time. No matter who won or lost the war, come wintertime both sides would lose the ability to continue their offensives.

Waiting until next year to continue the fight, everyone would more or less be back at full strength. No, that’s not quite right; it should be said that the Russians could reorganize, while the Prussians would be finished if they lost a decisive battle.

Allocating active duty equipment was merely for appearances; reserve equipment also counted as active duty without any issues.

Franz asked with some doubt, “Will there be enough time? It’s already September, and by the time it reaches the Russians it will be October. Will they still have time for a decisive battle?”

Foreign Minister Wessenberg answered, “Time is indeed a bit tight, but it should just barely suffice.

The Russian forces near our border can be the first to re-equip and start a counter-offensive. The re-equipment of the Russian forces in the East Prussia region will be a bit later, but as long as they are willing to suffer casualties, this shouldn’t be an issue.

The pressure on the Russian front-line commanders is immense; they can’t withstand the pressure from within the country. A decisive battle will surely erupt before the end of the year.”

Winter had arrived, and at worst, the decisive battle would end inconclusively. Regardless, they had to fight a battle to explain themselves to the Conservative faction at home.”

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Franz began to mourn for the Russian Army at the front. Even if they won the war, their losses would be tremendous; and if they lost, naturally, the losses would be even more devastating.

Alexander II chose this time to fight a decisive battle, probably out of sheer necessity. If he had chosen to fight two months earlier and lost, the enemy could have made a straight drive into their territory, inflicting heavy losses.

Now it didn’t matter, for many regions of the Russian Empire had already entered winter. By the time this battle was over, it would probably be November or December. Attacking Russia in this season would be nothing short of insane.

Since the Tsarist Government was not in danger, the losses of the Russian Army were no longer within Franz’s considerations. He made his decision immediately.

“Deliver at the fastest speed, and add a gift of one million bullets to the Russians to make our stance clear.”

There were also benefits to the Russians using Austrian equipment because Austria had long standardized ammunition calibers. Now even if the Russian Army changed their equipment, their ammunition would still be interchangeable without worrying about the embarrassment of delivering the wrong bullets.

…

The efficiency of the Vienna Government remained extremely high; in just two days, they were able to pull 300,000 rifles from reserve stocks and send them to the Russian-Austrian border at top speed.

Such a large movement could not be hidden. After receiving the news, the commander-in-chief of the Prussian Army, Maoqi, made a decisive decision—to strike first.

On October 2, 1865, the Prusso-Polish Coalition Forces launched a comprehensive counter-offensive against the Russian Army across the frontlines of East Prussia, Belarus, and Ukraine, before the Russians could complete their rearmament.

The great decisive battle erupted prematurely, drawing the attention of all European countries to this campaign.

If the Russians secured a victory, there was no doubt that the Kingdom of Prussia would be finished; and if the Prusso-Polish Coalition Forces won, the European geopolitical landscape would be reshuffled once again.

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In Sweden, Charles XV unhesitatingly rejected the Kingdom of Prussia’s proposal to unite against Russia.

Although Sweden was also anti-Russian and had stood against Russia in the Near East War, supporting the English-French-Ottoman Alliance, that did not mean they fancied Prussia.

During the outbreak of the Prussia-Denmark War, Charles XV was ready to send troops to assist Denmark in defending Schleswig to contain the expansionist ambitions of the Kingdom of Prussia.

Beyond concerns of a domino effect, this sentiment was related to the prevailing Scandinavianism of the era.

(Scandinavianism advocated for the unification of the Nordic countries. The movement began in Scania in the 1840s and peaked in the mid-19th century. Sweden and Norway had already formed the Sweden-Norway union under the Kiel Treaty, with only Denmark remaining.)

Charles XV was one of the supporters of this plan, always wishing to merge Denmark, Sweden, and Norway into one country. If possible, he would not mind including Finland as well.

In the First Schleswig War, Sweden had sent troops to aid the Kingdom of Denmark, but they reacted too slowly; by the time they arrived, Russia had already intervened, and they did not participate in the war.

In this Schleswig War, Charles XV had also intended to send troops to intervene, but unfortunately, Denmark was defeated so quickly and many in Sweden opposed intervention, leading the interference to fizzle out and inflicting a severe blow to Scandinavianism.

The Prussians had their reasons to coax Sweden into the war. Sweden and the Russian Empire had a long-standing enmity, and their relations had always been very poor.

Moreover, the Finnish people were already seeking to break free from Russian rule. They had suggested that if Sweden were to assist them in gaining independence, they would be willing to join Sweden.

Internationally, the British were working hard to facilitate a Prussia-Sweden alliance. The London Government had already made promises, supporting Sweden’s annexation of Finland.

The Paris Government also hoped to see Sweden annex Finland, which would stab Russia in the back, and were willing to offer their support.

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From the standpoint of weakening Russia, even the Vienna Government was willing to offer loans to Sweden; one could say the entire European Continent wanted to see Russia’s demise.

Now that the Tsarist Government was showing signs of exhaustion and the main force of the Russian Army was tied up at the front, with the Finnish people ready to coordinate, Sweden’s chances of successfully taking Finland were very high.

Both Finland and Sweden were easy to defend but difficult to attack. Even if Russia wanted to counter-attack in the future, it would be challenging to achieve success.

All these favorable reports could not cover one fact—the Russians were simply too powerful.