War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Franz's flattery was very beneficial to Nicholas I, who was particularly impressed by the fact that Franz finally recognized his idea of ​​dividing the Roman Empire into the East and the West.

Nicholas I also approved of Franz's proposal. It was in line with his wishes to exchange Constantinople for the independence of the two Danube principalities and Greece.

Nicholas I even repeatedly outlined the dividing line between the East and the West on the map. After finishing all this, he sat in the reclining chair and breathed a sigh of relief.

The dream of the Romanov family seemed to be realized in his hands, but this was the only good news Nicholas I had received recently.

Although Russia is big, it is full of things that make him upset.

It has been almost a month since Nicholas I announced that he would personally lead the army, but the army and supplies are not ready yet.

It is said that a lean camel is bigger than a horse. Doesn't Russia even have 300,000 troops and supplies for them?

This is obviously impossible, but having them does not mean that they can be used.

Russia is too big, and troops and supplies have to be transported from all directions. This is a long journey, and it will take longer because it is a war.

However, Nicholas I did not understand, and he did not want to understand. In the eyes of the Tsar, those who hindered him from personally leading the army to recover Constantinople were all traitors and should be sentenced!

So there were another group of Russian officials in the Siberian wilderness.

In addition, Russian Poland finally couldn't hold on under Paskevich's oppression strategy, and some cities began to choose to surrender.

However, there were assassins among the surrendered people. Paskevich was not a rash person. On the contrary, he was very experienced in accepting surrenders and arranged what he thought was enough defense.

It was just that the explosives used by the assassin this time were surprisingly terrible. Even though the two sides were still quite far away and there were several soldiers blocking him, Paskevich was still seriously injured.

The serious injury of the commander is a big problem for any army. Although modern armies will not be leaderless, the command system will be chaotic for at least a period of time.

However, the bigger problem is whether to accept surrender and how to accept it?

Should we retaliate after such a thing? How to identify whether the surrender is sincere?

The Russians have never been good at doing this kind of thing, so the commander who temporarily replaced Paskevich ordered all the Poles who "fake surrender" to be executed.

Although the Russians claimed that the Poles were pretending to surrender, the Poles did not think so. They just felt that the Russians were untrustworthy and had no intention of letting anyone go from the beginning.

This made the Poles' already shaken determination firm again, and the hardship of the battle was constantly wearing away the fighting will of the Russian army.

In addition, the news that Nicholas I was going to lead the expedition in person came out, and many young or well-connected officers were eager to try, and a lot of supplies and troops were temporarily transferred, which made the army in Russian Poland even more difficult.

There were no large-scale battles on the battlefield of Russian Poland. Most of the time, the Russians attacked the city while the Poles defended, and the Russians fought guerrilla warfare against the Poles.

The strength of the two sides was very different, but it did not prevent this from being an extremely bloody and tragic war. Massacres, looting, and behaviors that broke the bottom line of humanity were everywhere on the battlefield.

On the other hand, Duke Uvarov had no good way to deal with Imam Shamil in the Caucasus.

If Paskevich's method was used before, it would take at least two or three years, and the manpower and material resources consumed would be difficult to calculate.

This method was obviously not suitable for Russia at this time, and it was simply a pipe dream to want to complete a precise strike in the Caucasus at this time.

In a previous battle, the Russian cavalry received a secret report that Imam Shamil's army appeared in a mountain village. The cavalry colonel led his elite troops to the location on the secret report without hesitation.

After searching for a day and a night, nothing was found. But as soon as the cavalry left, Imam Shamil led his men out of the village and captured a half-built bunker by the Russians.

Imam Shamil killed all the Russian soldiers, and then selected a group of people from the slaves and laborers who built the bunker in a bloody way.

When Duke Uvarov arrived, there was only a mess. He searched the village repeatedly several times and finally found the tunnel.

However, it was too late at this time. Duke Uvarov could only order the mountain village to be razed. This was not because he was cruel, but because he had to respect Paskevich's strategy and implement it to the end.

However, Duke Uvarov still gained something. He captured some of Imam Shamil's men. He found that some of them were not Chechens, and they could not even adapt to the climate of the Caucasus.

Under torture, Duke Uvarov got some information he wanted. These people came from the Ottomans and Persians, and they didn't even know each other's identities.

It's just that these people don't know more inside information. They are just sent to die. Some people even think they are going to be merchants.

But none of this is important. What's important is that these people are from the Ottoman Empire and Persia, so Russia can take action against them after it gets a break.

Of course, even without these reasons, Russia will take action against them sooner or later. It's just a matter of time.

The most important thing at this time is to solve the Chechen problem. Now that the source of Imam Shamil's military strength has been found, it is necessary to give him a warning regardless of whether the Ottoman Empire and Persia are supporting him behind the scenes.

Duke Uvarov wrote tens of thousands of words, but Nicholas I only had four words: "No progress".

In the palace, the Russian ministers looked worried.

"Your Majesty, the Austrians have exposed their ambitions. They want Wallachia and Moldavia.

Once the two principalities fall into the hands of Austria, they will use the Danube to continue their southward invasion and even block our way to the Balkans!

The Austrians have evil intentions! Your Majesty, you have to be on guard!"

"What to guard against? Franz said that he only wants the two principalities on the Danube. The remaining heritage of the Ottoman Empire is mine, and it is all land belonging to the Eastern Roman Empire!"

Nicholas I roared.

"The words of the Austrians are not trustworthy"

"Then can your words be trusted? Is there anything in the world more trustworthy than the promise of a noble emperor! Do you think I am blind!"

Nicholas I's question made the ministers who spoke before speechless, after all, this pot is too big.

Nicholas I is like this. Compared with those treaties written in black and white, he believes more in the private promises made between monarchs.

But this time he made the right bet. For Franz, there are really not many places in the Balkans that he is interested in except the two Danube principalities.

"Reply to my most trusted son-in-law and the Western Roman Emperor:

I accept your proposal. No one can shake the bond between us."