The Sun Never Sets In Spain

On January 20, a small twist suddenly appeared in the extremely stable Franco-Prussian battlefield.

This twists and turns did not come from both sides of the war, but Spain, who had been watching the play beside.

The Eastern Army led by Prim had as many as 110,000 troops. It was originally 200,000 two weeks ago, but after the real battle between the north and the south, Prim was unwilling to continue to attack Paris, and 90,000 French soldiers were transferred. to other battlefields.

This army of 110,000 completely composed of Spaniards had only one task left, and that was to take good care of the eastern defense line of the republican government.

And Prussia is also very interesting, and has never tried to attack here.

They suddenly violently wounded and took Strasbourg, which no one expected.

...and not everyone. Since it was an action under the instigation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, France and Austria must have passed the gas in advance. At least Gan Bida knew the purpose, but he was afraid of leaking the news and did not say it to the public.

The whole of France, knowing in advance that Spain will capture Strasbourg, no more than three people.

Strict secrecy measures brought good results. It only took less than two days for Spain to successfully capture this place and drive the 40,000 defenders in the city to other places.

To this end, Spain paid nearly 7,000 casualties. It can only be said that the combat effectiveness of the Prussian army was indeed much stronger than that of Spain.

Strasbourg, the transportation hub linking the surrounding areas and the capital of Alsace, fell into the hands of Spain, making the whole of Prussia nervous.

Although Prim didn't seem to have any intention of going north, Prussia, who had suffered a loss, would no longer believe in this, and continuously transferred troops to Alsace to prevent Spain from cutting off its own back road.

If the Franco-Prussian border is cut off, Prussia will almost be able to declare its surrender, and it cannot invade Belgium or Switzerland, two neutral countries.

On the other hand, the republican government thought that Spain had changed its strategic policy, but it did not think that Prim would shrink back after taking Strasbourg. If it wasn't for Gambetta's persuasion, many people would definitely want to take over Strasbourg. Defense of Trasbourg.

However, even without the cooperation of the east route, the situation in France was much better than before, because the Prussian force was already stretched.

The French front is more than 700 kilometers and the Prussian border is more than 1,000 kilometers. How many people does Prussia need to maintain such a long line of defense?

The 50,000 troops newly dispatched to Alsace were the last straw that broke the camel's back.

The reality is in front of Prussia, they will either reduce the border garrison with Austria-Hungary, or conduct a new round of mobilization.

Bismarck's choice is a combination of two strategies.

Most of the young men in Prussia had served in the military and were ready to mobilize when needed.

Of course, if you continue to mobilize now, it will have an impact on the domestic economy, but the impact of losing the war is obviously much larger than this, so you don't care.

In addition, Prussia also sent envoys to the Tsar to support Russia's claims to the Balkans, in order to deter Austria-Hungary.

Berlin to St. Petersburg was much faster than Istanbul to St. Petersburg, and Alexander II received the Prussian message almost the next day through the Baltic Sea.

"Your Majesty, a cavalry battalion has been prepared in Sevastopol. As long as you give an order, you can leave for Istanbul immediately!" Gorchakov had been living a very happy time during this time, and the support of Prussia came. There is joy all over the body.

The Winter Palace had received a secret letter from Aziz four days ago, and the other party invited them to station in Istanbul, but this matter may involve the bottom line of the United Kingdom, so the tsar is still hesitating.

In fact, in terms of the current international situation, they can recover South Bessarabia calmly, and they can even get Romania and Serbia if they are bolder.

However, it is human nature to have such an excellent diplomatic environment in Russia. If you don’t take this opportunity to invade the Ottomans and turn the Black Sea into an inland sea, you will always feel blood loss.

"No, no." Alexander II was not so optimistic. It has only been ten years since Russia liberated the serfs, and the bourgeois reforms are in progress. They will definitely not be able to compete with the United Kingdom.

After being bitten by a snake for ten years, he was afraid of a rope, and the former Tsar Nicholas I died on the eve of the end of the Crimean War. It is difficult to say whether there was a reason for the rush to attack. Alexander was really afraid to follow his father's old path.

"The British will not sit idly by." Alexander pondered for a while:

"Once in Constantinople, they definitely don't mind slapping themselves in the face.

The United Kingdom plus any country in Theo is enough to have another Crimean war. Although Russia is not afraid, there is no need to take this risk.

What's more, it's hard to say who Osman will help at that time.

Spain should not care about this, mainly because of the attitude of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Did they really give up the Balkans? Default alone is not enough..."

"In that case, go and sign a short-term non-aggression pact with Austria-Hungary." Gorchakov said: "Let Prussia make a statement in support of our protection of the Balkan Slavs."

Alexander frowned and felt that this operation was not very safe. If he was replaced by Franz, he would not have too many scruples in tearing up the peace treaty.

But that's all it can do, and now I agree with Gorchakov's solution.

Bismarck acted resolutely, and the envoy to Vienna was still on his way, and he directly announced his support for Russia according to the Tsar's wishes.

Although it is difficult for Prussia to provide practical help to Russia, after all, it was a country that surrendered Napoleon. Now that Prussia and France are regarded as powers of the same level in the world, his statement is still very effective.

The United Kingdom was the first country to receive the news. Prime Minister Gladstone immediately summoned the Earl of Granville, the foreign minister. He always felt that something was wrong.

It happened that Granville had the same idea, and after a conversation, the two agreed: "The interests that Russia is seeking must go beyond South Bessarabia and the Treaty of Paris."

"If nothing else, Russia should have sent envoys to Austria-Hungary." Granville speculated: "Are the two countries in Roselle?"

"Maybe more than that." Gladstone's face was ugly. In order to support Russia's overthrow of the Paris Treaty, they had already suffered a lot of domestic pressure.

Now that Russia is taking an inch, the heart is naturally disgusted.

"If it's just the two countries of Rose, we would have acquiesced when we made the statement. At most, they asked Austria-Hungary for their opinions, so there is no need to be so cautious." Gladstone thought for a while:

"Maybe Bulgaria and the Caucasus."

The two of them couldn't come to a conclusion after guessing for a while. They could only put aside what Russia wanted, because they wouldn't allow it anyway.

"Go and contact the Sultan and Zeid (a Ghazi of the Ottomans) respectively, let them understand what we mean, and arrange for the Royal Navy exercises in the past two days. The scale should not be too large, mainly to warn the Russians. "

Gladstone ordered that now we can only hope that a tough stance will make Russia take back its undeserved ambitions.