1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 352
If we say that Europe in the first half of 1853 was still shrouded in the cloud of war and was in a state of tension.

In the second half of 1853, the parties had actually entered a de facto state of war.

The trash Menshikov failed to bring Nicholas I good news from the Ottomans.

Things seemed to continue to develop against Tsarist Russia.

Nicholas I directed and acted on his own and put forward the condition that the Russian army withdraw from the Danube Principality in exchange for the Russian Empire's privileges in the Ottoman Empire.

Nicholas I wanted the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Mejid to sign the "equal" treaty without modification, claiming that it was the last resort of the Russian Empire to peacefully resolve the dispute between the two countries. effort.

In his letter to Mejid, Nicholas I kept emphasizing that the Russian Empire had made the greatest efforts to resolve the dispute peacefully, and even made the decision to allow the Russian army to withdraw in good faith from the lower reaches of the Danube. De can understand his good intentions, don't be ignorant of flattery.

Mejid also knew that this was an ultimatum issued to him by Nicholas I.

Before Mejid came to the throne, there had been many wars between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire.

Mejid has a relatively clear understanding and understanding of this country and its rulers. The probability of Russians abiding by the treaty is almost as high as the probability that God and Allah believers in the Ottoman Empire can live in peace and be like brothers.

It is false that Nicholas I wants to withdraw the Russian army from Moldova and the United Principality of Wallachia, but it is true to claim the privileges in the Ottoman Empire.

Naturally, Mejid could see such a clumsy trick of retreating into advance.

According to past experience in struggles with Russia, once the Russians cannot get what they want at the negotiating table, Russia will definitely resort to war and resolve disputes by force.

Lord Canning, the ambassador of the British Empire in Constantinople, also reminded Mejid not to fall into the trap of the Russians, and not to imagine that signing a treaty with the Russians would bring peace.

At the same time, Canning also stated that once the war breaks out, the Ottoman Empire will not fight alone. The British Empire and even the French Empire will be the strong backing of the Ottoman Empire.

Although the UK has often been criticized for selling its teammates in the past, this time, the UK did not sell the Ottoman Empire.

Because once the Russians control the Dardanelles, the only passage between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, the privileges of the British Empire in the Mediterranean will be directly threatened by the Russian Navy, which has already threatened Britain's core interests in the Mediterranean.

Britain hopes to use the power of Ottoman to limit the scope of activities of the Russian navy to the Black Sea.

After weighing the pros and cons, on the one hand, he mobilized all the troops that could be mobilized in the empire, and ordered the entire army to prepare for war with the Russians.

On the other hand, Mejid sent troops to the two vassal states of the Ottoman Empire, Moldova and the United Principality of Wallachia in the lower reaches of the Danube, which Russia was most likely to attack.

Moldova and the United Principalities of Wallachia are two highly autonomous client states in the northwestern region of the Ottoman Empire, and the land border of the western part of the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire.

The geographical location of these two principalities is in the later Romania and Moldova.

As for the Georgia region at the land junction between the eastern part of the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire, Mejid and his generals and ministers believed that due to the poor logistics level of the Russian army, they would not go farther and farther, and attack the Ottoman Empire through Georgia through mountains and mountains.

Once a war breaks out, the direction of Moldova and the United Principality of Wallachia must be the main direction of Russian attack.

After completing these deployments, Mejid still had some concerns. He thought Canning expressed his concerns: "If the Austro-Hungarian Empire is on the side of the Russians, the Ottoman army in the Danube region will be attacked by the Russian-Austrian coalition forces on both sides, and it is bound to be difficult to support them alone." .”

"Dear Sultan, I assure you that the Austro-Hungarian Empire will not stand on the side of the Russians." Canning confidently assured Mejid, "The Austro-Hungarian Empire will remain neutral!"

"The weak navy of the Ottoman Empire cannot resist the Russian navy. I hope that your country and France can help." This is Mejid's second concern.

"As long as you open the Dardanelles to us, the fleet of the British Empire will enter the Black Sea and provide maritime protection for the Ottoman Empire. We will join hands to limit the Russian fleet to the Black Sea, or even the Sea of ​​Azov." Canning is still confident Fully assured Mejid.

With the promise of the British, Mejid finally made up his mind to reject Nicholas I's ultimatum, and at the same time opened the Dardanelles, allowing the troops of Britain and France to freely enter and exit the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

Nicholas I did not realize the seriousness of the matter. After the ultimatum was rejected by the Ottoman Sultan Mejid, Nicholas I was furious.

The refusal of the Ottomans made him, the arbiter of Europe, feel ashamed.

The furious Nicholas I decided to increase his troops to the Danube area and continue to put pressure on Mejid, forcing Mejid to make concessions.

If Mejid does not make concessions, he will unite with the Austro-Hungarian Empire to attack Domoldova and the United Duchy of Wallachia together, and take these two vassal states of the Ottoman Empire into the pocket and become the territory of the Russian Empire.

At the same time, you can also recognize and support the independence of the Principality of Serbia by the way, bring Serbia into the sphere of influence of the Russian Empire, and then map the entire Balkan Peninsula.

In this way, Russia will not have to worry about the problem of not having an outlet to the sea. There are many excellent outlets in the Balkans.

When Nicholas I proudly proposed this crazy plan, Nesselrod, the foreign minister of the three dynasties, felt that Nicholas I was crazy.

Nicholas I had two prerequisites for realizing this plan.

One was that Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary sided with the Russian Empire.

Nicholas I felt that he was indebted to Franz Joseph. In 1848, a revolution broke out in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Nicholas I sent troops to help Franz Joseph suppress the revolution and kept Franz Joseph's throne. Lanz Joseph will definitely stand on the side of the Russian Empire and become a reliable ally of the Russian Empire.

But Nesserrod, an old fritter on the diplomatic field, doesn't think so. The personal friendship and favor between emperors are not worth mentioning in front of national interests.

It is true that Russia sent troops to suppress the revolutionary movement in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but after the Russian army entered, almost all the villages and cities it passed were looted by the Russian army.

The citizens of the Austro-Hungarian Empire had a bad impression of the Russian Empire, especially the Russian army. In their eyes, the Russians were no different from bandits.

It was impossible for Franz Joseph to disregard domestic civil justice and stand on Nicholas I's side without hesitation in order to return Nicholas I's popularity.

What's more, the United Principalities of Moldova and Wallachia and the Principality of Serbia also border the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The Russian Empire wants to carve up Ottoman, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire wants to.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire is definitely not happy about the Russian Empire getting involved in the United Principalities of Moldova and Wallachia and the Principality of Serbia.

Therefore, Nesselrod believes that the alliance with the Austro-Hungarian Empire is purely wishful thinking of Nicholas I and is not realistic at all.

The second is that if the plan of Nicholas I is to be realized, the Russian army must quickly take down Moldova and the United Principality of Wallachia before Britain and France send troops to intervene, go through the Balkan Mountains, and approach Constantinople. Forced the Ottoman Sultan Mejid to submit quickly.

Create established facts and not give Britain and France a chance to intervene.

However, in order to realize such a combat plan, the Russian army needs to make a quick decision to defeat the Ottoman army in a very short period of time and drive straight to Constantinople.

Although Nesselrod has retreated to the second line, he still understands the situation of the Russian army. He is very clear that with the mediocre capabilities of the current Russian generals and the poor logistics of the Russian army, this plan cannot be realized anyway. .

To put it bluntly, after the Great Patriotic War in 1812, the Russian army did not improve its armaments. The equipment level of Russian soldiers still remained at 1812, and the combat thinking of Russian generals also stayed at 1812.

"Your Majesty, the Austro-Hungarian Empire may not stand by us if we send troops to Moldova, the United Principality of Wallachia and the Balkans. Please think twice," Nesselrod advised.

Nesserrod's untimely words made Nicholas I very unhappy. Nicholas I said coldly: "Even without the Austro-Hungarian Empire, our powerful Russian army can defeat the weak Ottoman army!"

Nicholas I unceremoniously ordered Nesserrod to go out, and then discussed with his generals how the Russian army should defeat the Ottoman army if Russia had to use force to solve the Near East issue .

Nicholas I believed in the weakness of the Ottoman Empire. He believed that as long as the Russian giant moved his fingers lightly, he could beat the weak and sick man of West Asia to the ground.

At this time, Nicholas I still did not take Nesserrod's advice seriously. He not only believed that once the war with Ottoman Turkey broke out, not only Austria-Hungary, a reliable ally, would stand on his side.

Britain will also stand on this side, and even after Britain joins Russia, France will follow Britain and join its own camp in order to eat some leftovers.

After all, we are all Europeans, and Europeans carve up an Asian country together, so there is no reason not to unite.This is the logic of Nicholas I.

After the Ottoman Sultan Mejid rejected his ultimatum, and after the Ottomans allowed British and French ships to freely enter and exit the Dardanelles.

Nicholas I announced the severance of diplomatic relations between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire.And on July 1853, 7, troops were stationed in the two Danube principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia.

Nicholas I was very satisfied with his operation, and thought that what he had to do next was to wait for Mejid's surrender.

(End of this chapter)