Fox of France

The victory of the Russians spread in all directions. In Greece, when the Orthodox Christians walked on the road and greeted each other, they could see the uncontrollable joy in each other's eyes. A legend began to circulate quietly among them: "The orthodox emperor of the Senate and the Roman people, the great Constantine XI, did not die in the siege of Constantinople. He was killed by a An angel was taken away, hid in a cave, and turned into a marble statue. When the descendants of the Roman Empire recovered Constantinople, he would return like lightning. The priests of the Hagia Sophia also hid Walls, and when the Orthodox Church retakes Constantinople, they will come out and continue worshiping."

In the church, during the liturgical service, the Orthodox Christians gathered together with anxiety and anticipation in their hearts.

"Father Stefanos, we are all devout believers here, and there is absolutely no inner ghost. Tell us something about the Roman Empire!" said a young man.

"Okay." Elder Stephanos looked at the crowd. The people who came to listen to his preaching were all children he had watched and grew up with. There would indeed be no ghosts in this place.

"Let me tell you about the time when Constantinople fell. At that time..." Elder Stefanos began to talk, until His Majesty Constantine XI, the The last orthodox Roman emperor, the last Roman, raised his spear, and rushed to the innumerable heathen.

"Holy Mother!" whispered someone below.

"Elder, some people say that His Majesty Constantine XI is not dead, an angel protected him, took him away, and turned him into a marble statue, as long as one day, we regained Constantinople, Having regained the Temple of God, His Majesty Constantine XI will miraculously return. Is this true, Elder?"

"Ah, my child, God has done so many wonderful things, and I am only an ordinary old man, what can I know? But one thing I am sure of, that is, after the fall of Constantinople, The Turks have not found His Majesty's remains."

"It must have been rescued by an angel. Praise God, may your kingdom come soon, Amen!" Another man who looked like a farmer also said.

"Elder, I heard that the Turks just suffered a defeat in the north, is it true?" Someone asked again.

"This thing, this kind of thing, how would I know?" Elder Stefanos shook his head.

Just as everyone was sighing in disappointment, Elder Stefano said again: "However, a friend of mine has just returned from abroad, and he knows some new news..."

...

Ludwig, Austria's new ambassador to France, has just visited French Foreign Minister Talleyrand. Regarding the current situation, especially the war between Turkey and Russia, I tested the French's tone.

Of course, Austria does not want the Russians to kill them all the way, and finally go straight to Huanglong Mansion, ah, go straight to Constantinople, rebuild the Eastern Roman Empire, and bring the Balkans and Peloponnese into their own by the way. sphere of influence. And he believes that the French should also be unwilling to see this situation.

So what he discussed with Talleyrand was how to stop the Russians from moving forward.

In order to win the trust of France, Austria has really loosened its armed forces over the years, so relying solely on the Austrian army? Hehe, the number of troops in the whole country is not as large as that of the Russian front. And the equipment and training are only a little bit better than the Turks, and the level of the Russian army is probably, maybe, not too much different. In short, relying on Austria's little military power alone is enough to suppress the farts in the country, and relying on the Austrians and the Russians to compete for the Balkans? That was a lot to think about.

Therefore, to limit Russia's expansion, France must be pulled in.

For France, it is not a good thing for any country on the European continent to be too powerful except France. So the French are also naturally unwilling to see Russia dominating the Balkans or even seizing Constantinople, the center of the Eurasian continent.

But at this time, what the French can do is also very limited. Although their army was not heavily invested in a certain battlefield, the existence of the French army suppressed the British army. It was precisely in order to guard against possible landings by the French Army that the British had to maintain a large army on the mainland, and even seeing the critical situation in Dublin, they did not dare to send too many troops to reinforce them.

But if the French turn their faces for Turkey and Russia now and throw their army to the east, they will certainly be able to force the Russians back, and even, as long as the French army sets foot on the Balkan Peninsula, the Russians themselves will retreat. But this will harm France's interests in the West. Both Napoleon and Joseph believed that killing Britain was more important than preventing the Russians from controlling the Balkans or even seizing Constantinople.

However, France is the most powerful country after all, and it is still different from a pseudo-powerful country like Austria. Even without using the army, there are ways to influence the situation of the battle.

Joseph and Napoleon asked Lucien to gather information on the purchase of weapons and ammunition by the Russians over the years, as well as the information on self-built military factories, and then they discussed this matter together.

"According to our intelligence, the situation of the Russians is actually not good. Their ammunition consumption is actually far greater than their production capacity. We actually restrained their exports. So although they won a decisive victory, but As long as we stop exporting ammunition to them, the amount of ammunition in the hands of the Russians will not be enough to support the next such battle." Lucien introduced.

"In this case, we will cut off the export of weapons and ammunition to Russia. And provide weapons and ammunition to the Turks in the form of loans." Joseph said.

"But it may not be useful." Napoleon shook his head. "Weapons are important, but what is more important is the person who uses them. Well, Joseph, isn't that what you often like to say? Turkey lost the most in this battle." The elite army, even if we provide them with enough weapons, but if these weapons are in the hands of the Sudanese soldiers today, what is the use? Maybe it helps the Russians solve the problem of insufficient ammunition. "

Joseph fell silent. He knew that what Napoleon said was true. Even if they gave the Turks the best weapons and ammunition, they might not be able to stop the Russians now. It's like the American Association Army with American equipment in later generations is basically the same as the five scum of war.

"Maybe we can help the Turks contact some mercenaries? For example, those Italians?" Lucien said suddenly.

Over the years, because of the long-term peace, the business of mercenaries has decreased. Now most of the mercenaries have changed their careers. Even in places like southern Italy where there are many states, there are much fewer mercenaries than before.

"Italian mercenaries? How many people can there be now? One or two thousand would be enough. With such a small number of people, what's the point?" Napoleon shook his head and said.

"Italy? Ah, isn't there an army of 20,000 under the Pope's crown? Although it is not comparable to our army or the army of the Northern Italian Republic, it is better than the Sultan's soldiers anyway. Pull them over. , plus guaranteed logistical supplies, it should be enough." Joseph suddenly slapped his thigh and said.

"I said Joseph, you don't have a fever, do you? Do you think the Pope is us French? No matter how you say it, the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church still believe in one God. You asked the Pope to send troops to support the Xingyue Sect. This... Zong can he agree? Although the people in the Holy See are the most shameless in the world behind their backs, they are still very shameless on the surface, okay?"

"Lucien, don't interrupt if you don't understand politics!" Napoleon said, "Compared with interests, what is face? In this world, apart from the Turkish Sultan, who is the least willing to see Russia People, to be more precise, the Orthodox Christians regained Constantinople, then it must be the Holy See. If the Russians really regained Constantinople and established the Universal Church again, it would not be good for the Holy See What a good thing. So as long as our sultan can show some sincerity and enough things to show his sincerity, the Holy See can fully support him."

"The Sudan probably has no money now." Lucien said.

"We can lend him money, but money alone is not enough. As you said, the Holy See still has face on the surface. Sudan needs to come up with something more sincere." Joseph said.

"With sincerity, Joseph, what do you mean?" Lucien asked.

"Jerusalem, or at least some important holy places in Jerusalem." Joseph said, "Think about it, if the Turkish Sultan handed over the sovereignty and management of the Cathedral of the Holy Sepulchre and other holy places to the Holy See, then With the addition of another sum of money, will the Holy See not be tempted?" Joseph replied.

This is indeed a quite feasible plan, so Napoleon handed over this matter to Talleyrand and asked him to contact the Turks and the Holy See to promote the implementation of this matter as soon as possible.

At this time, Sultan Selim III was in a state of panic. The biggest problem brought about by this big failure is not just who can stop those Russians. Although this problem is important, it is not the most important. The most important problem is: what should be done domestically.

The reason why Sultan Selim III was able to resist the dissatisfaction of the conservatives in the country and forcibly promote the reform of Ottoman Turkey was that he had a new army that was loyal to him and supported him. Although the number of this army is far less than that of the Sudanese soldiers, its combat effectiveness far exceeds them.

Those conservatives who opposed his reforms also knew this, so although they were very dissatisfied with his reforms, they did not dare to openly oppose his rule. Just add trouble.

But after this battle, the situation is completely different. His new-style army, which he originally relied on to suppress these opponents in the country, was completely annihilated in this battle, and now the balance of power in the country has been completely reversed. This means that if the problem cannot be resolved quickly, not to mention his reforms, or even his own life, may not be able to be preserved. In the history of Turkey, not too many sultans died of various abnormal reasons.

So when the Turkish ambassador to France provided him with the French proposal through the telegraph line, he agreed almost without hesitation, as long as he could quickly obtain an army that could support his position, and borrow a debt , and send out a few more churches, and they are pagan churches, so what is it?

He immediately called back to the ambassador in France to push forward this matter with all his strength and implement it as soon as possible.

Soon, under the arrangement of Talleyrand, the Turkish ambassador to France held secret talks with representatives of the Holy See. Because both parties were very sincere, they quickly reached an agreement. And initialed the agreement.

Then the Holy See organized the 20,000 troops on hand. Of course, out of face considerations, they couldn't say that this was the Papal State's army to rescue the heretics. It is publicized that Turkey has obtained permission to recruit mercenaries in southern Italy by using the "Cathedral of the Holy Sepulchre" and the conditions of freedom of pilgrimage for Catholics.

Then the entire Papal State army, a total of 20,000 people, became mercenaries and began to prepare to go to Turkey to help the heretics fight the heresy of the Orthodox Church. Of course, this army also changed its name to "South Italian Volunteer Army".

Naturally, his enemies in the country would not be unaware of the actions of Sultan Selim III. They knew that if His Majesty Sultan Selim III were to obtain such an army, the balance of power that had been leaning towards them after so much difficulty would change again...

At this time, in the Greek region, a group of people began to use the cover of the Orthodox Church to contact each other, preparing to launch an uprising in pursuit of independence and freedom. The uprising first broke out in Beniponnese, and within a few days, there were multiple uprisings in the Greek region. The rebel army attacked the Turkish garrison and government institutions, and quickly took control of nearly half of Greece.

In order to suppress the uprising of the Greeks, Sultan Selim III had to send out the new army of thousands of people remaining around him. After all, Greece is too close to Constantinople. If the Greek uprising cannot be suppressed as soon as possible and they are allowed to be active there, the Turks will fall into a state of being attacked from both sides, and it is almost impossible to stop Russia. Live in Constantinople.

But the transfer also gave his opponents a golden opportunity. Shortly after the new reinforcements went to suppress the Greek uprising, there was a coup in Constantinople, the Sultan's soldiers stormed the palace, and Selim III became the first emperor.