I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 550 Sacrifice to Poland

Marquis Wellesley nodded slowly: "You are right. As long as Prussia and Austria are unable to expand eastward, they will have no choice but to compete for control of the German region."

If a country in this era wants to survive in the jungle of the world, it must continue to strengthen itself. This is the unanimous recognition of everyone. If you don't become strong, you will be swallowed up by the strong.

Expansion is undoubtedly the most effective way to enhance strength.

Lord Grenville continued: "As long as Prussia and Austria continue to fight, no country on the European continent will have the power to threaten France.

"So if we want to re-establish the balance of power on the continent, we must first end the hostility between Prussia and Austria."

Marquis Wellesley frowned: "I'm afraid this will not be an easy task. They were fighting for Silesia a few months ago, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers from both sides are still facing each other on the front line in Breslau."

“It’s indeed not easy.” Grenville nodded, “But it’s not impossible.

"After the war between Prussia and Austria last year, the domestic financial situation has been very bad. You know, the drought in recent years has severely damaged the economy of almost all countries. As far as I know, both Prussia and Austria actually want to end it as soon as possible. Stalemate in Silesia.

"So at this time, they need another target to divert their attention - a target that is more attractive and easier to win than Silesia."

"You mean, Poland?"

"It's so easy to discuss issues with you." Grenville smiled, "Pu and Austria have been fighting in Silesia for so long, and there have been countless casualties, but in fact they have not gained much.

“If they put their hundreds of thousands of troops into Poland, they would be able to obtain land several times larger than Silesia with little effort.

"If the time is right, I believe they will not be able to refuse this temptation."

"No, no, Prussia and Poland are still allies, this should..."

"Believe me, Prussia's desire for the port of Gdansk will make them break any alliance without hesitation."

Gdańsk is the Danze of later generations. This is the outlet of the Vistula River, which flows through the fertile Eastern European plains from Warsaw to Hungary, and is connected to the Baltic Sea in the north. It is an important node for Eastern Europe to participate in Atlantic maritime trade.

At the same time, it is also the closest seaport to Prussia, which has unparalleled appeal to Prussia, which lacks a good port.

Later, the core factor in Germany's blitzkrieg against Poland in World War II was to seize Danze Port. The Allied fleet's naval blockade of Germany was mainly launched here. This shows how important its strategic location is.

The Marquis of Wellesley swung his glass and said: "Then we are back to the original problem. First, we must have a ceasefire between Prussia and Austria."

"This requires us to do something and even pay some necessary prices." Grenville has obviously been planning this for a long time and said confidently, "Fortunately, we can still rely on the power of Russia.

“You know, Russia wants Minsk and Podolia more than anyone else. Those are the forward camps that give them greater access to the heart of Europe.

"I believe that Russia should be willing to give up some benefits and make necessary threats for this purpose.

"If we continue to mediate with this, Prussia and Austria will definitely sign an armistice agreement."

Wellesley's eyes also lit up, and he asked the Russians to contribute to serve the British strategic goals. His successor was really a genius in strategic planning.

Anyone else would probably have complimented the Foreign Secretary at this time, but Wellesley thought for a moment and asked again very cautiously: "One last question.

“Even if we succeed in carving up the interests of Poland and other means to make Prussia and Austria give up their mutual hostility and even form a certain degree of military alliance, how can you guarantee that they will become enemies of France?

"Especially Austria is currently an ally with France."

"Frankly speaking, I don't have a solid plan for this either." The Foreign Minister spread his hands, "At least we have built a force outside France that is strong enough to counter it.

"Oh, there is one thing we can use. I heard that Queen Maria Ludovica of Shinra hates the French. She should be willing to help us."

"Oh? I've really been away from Europe for too long, and this happened."

"It seems that the woman her dear cousin liked was snatched away by the French Dauphin." Grenville showed a playful smile, "Later, the French were probably still worried, so they sent assassins to assassinate Baron Walter. Fortunately, He was lucky enough to escape, but he also lost his left hand.”

Well, yes, after Walter had three fingers amputated from his hand, he followed the advice of a well-known British doctor and soaked it in soup made from more than a dozen kinds of things, including mallow leaves, violets, beetroot, cinnamon, cardamom, etc. The wound, as a result, the pickled left hand became infected without any accident, and was completely amputated.

Even though he was physically strong, he miraculously resisted the high fever for five days and barely managed to survive.

However, this brush with hell made him hate the leader who sent the assassins, the French Crown Prince, even more.

So he began to speak ill of the French in Ludovica's ears. In fact, Empress Shinra had previously been resentful of the French royal family because of the humiliation of her daughter's rejection of marriage - at least she firmly believed this - and this, coupled with her cousin's new hatred, has become the target of the anti-French faction in Vienna. central figure.

The Marquis of Wellesley shook his head slightly: "These are far from enough. After all, the pro-French forces in Vienna are also very large.

"We must find the differences in interests between France and Austria and try to expand them, so that it is possible to change Vienna's attitude as a whole."

Grenville shrugged and said helplessly: "But there is no conflict of interest between France and Austria for the time being. There are some common interests, such as the Southern Netherlands..."

Before he finished speaking, Wellesley suddenly thought of something and said excitedly: "You are really a strategic genius! That's right, the Southern Netherlands, that's it!"

The music of the ball lingered in the hall, and the two best young politicians in Britain soon smiled during the conversation, and then nodded to each other.

In fact, many major decisions that have affected countless countries and killed tens of millions of people did not come from serious discussions in the conference room, but were more likely to be born in such occasions as balls and salons.

Five days later.

In the office at 10 Downing Street, Pitt Jr. looked around at the cabinet ministers sitting there and nodded: "I think Lord Grenville's diplomatic plan is very excellent. This will give us a reliable military alliance on the European continent that can effectively counterbalance France."