The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1425: British Troubles
However, in the end, William IV did not choose to be brave. As the resolution to aid Hesse was passed unanimously, a German coalition army of 7.2 entered Hesse.

There is no suspense in the war. The Hessian troops could choose to betray at the beginning, and they can naturally choose to betray again now.

The coalition forces were well disciplined and did not take the opportunity to harm the people. In fact, even the rebels were not too difficult to deal with as long as they were willing to lay down their weapons.

Of course, these people would no longer be allowed to stay in the German Confederation. Except for a few culprits, most of the others were sentenced to exile in the colonies.

A small rebellion ended just like that.
London, England.

John Russell looked at the battle report in his hand, his face did not show any joy, but rather looked frighteningly gloomy, causing the cabinet members around him to wonder if the news was wrong.

War Secretary William Gladstone finally couldn't help asking.

"Prime Minister, did we suffer a defeat at the front?"

John Russell shook his head.

“No, it’s a big win.”

"Then why?"

"Take a look."

John Russell stuffed the battle report in his hand into William Gladstone's hands.

"The word 'insufficient manpower' was mentioned thirteen times in the entire battle report. What a greedy fellow!
The British Empire Army has only 120,000 soldiers, half of whom are in his command, and he dares to say that there are not enough soldiers!"

John Russell was so angry that he paced back and forth in his office. Half of the British Army is 60,000 people, which is indeed a large number.

However, it was nothing in Europe at that time, especially in the Balkans. The participating countries had hundreds of thousands of troops, and the 60,000 troops of the British Army might not even be a fraction of that.

War Secretary William Gladstone thought for a moment and said.

"Mr. Prime Minister, the British Empire does have too few soldiers. Can we take advantage of this opportunity?"

John Russell said unhappily.

"Mr. Gladstone, do you think the Army is the cattle in your pen? You can keep as many as you want?"

Why is Britain known as the world hegemon but its army is so pitifully small?

In addition to the Blue Ocean Policy's requirement to prioritize the development of the navy and neglect the army, the isolation policy further reduced the army's usefulness.

However, these are just superficial phenomena. The root cause is too much debt and tax issues. If you want to expand the army, you need financial support. Unlike traditional monarchies in Europe, it is difficult for Britain to act arbitrarily in this regard.

It is almost a pipe dream to expect those gentlemen to take money from their own pockets to give to the army through policies.

But now the time has come when they have to pay the money. John Russell knew it would be difficult, so he was very angry, but after being angry he also realized the seriousness of the problem.

If we don't act now, the situation will only get worse.

John Russell took a deep breath and then spoke.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Gladstone. Please forgive my indiscretion. I haven't slept for several days.

This country really needs change. Are you willing to join me in changing this country?"

William Gladstone was still a man with a strong sense of mission, and he said excitedly, "Of course, Prime Minister. We all hope that the British Empire will prosper forever."

"Then how many troops do you think would be appropriate to expand?"

"Excuse me, Prime Minister, but the Europe of Russia and Austria at this moment is more terrifying than Napoleon's Europe."

John Russell nodded. He also felt that this enemy was very difficult to deal with.

"You continue."

“I don’t mean to belittle myself. Our Redwood Army is the best and most efficient army in the world, and the countless victories we have won are the best proof of this.

But facing the current Europe, I think we need at least 350,000 people to effectively ensure that our position is not shaken."

William Gladstone talked eloquently, but John Russell complained bitterly.

"You mean to expand the army by another 230,000? Do you think the congressmen will agree to that?"

"Prime Minister, they have no choice. If Britain is finished, who can guarantee their interests? The barbarians on the European continent will not guarantee the safety of their lives and property."

John Russell just sighed.

"If they weren't so short-sighted, how could we be so tired?"

In fact, expanding the army now has little significance for this war. John Russell and William Gladstone are more considering it for the future.

After all, the purpose of this war was not to win from the beginning, but to make Russia temporarily give up the capture of Istanbul and get its hands on the Black Sea Strait.

The fundamental purpose of the war was to maintain Britain's world hegemony, not to protect the Ottomans from being harmed.

But the members of Congress did not want to hear this. They only agreed to expand the army by 80,000. After all, 60,000 could stop the Russians, and 120,000 could stop the Holy Alliance, which should not be a big deal. The remaining 80,000 would be just enough to deal with the Irish and domestic workers.

John Russell agreed to Baron Raglan's request for additional troops. Both sides knew that it was impossible to win the war with such a small number of people, so Foreign Secretary George Villiers set out again with a mission and "sincerity".

The Russian commander Alexander Prinsky could not remember how many times he had failed. Although reinforcements kept arriving at the front line, the rate of consumption was obviously faster than the rate of reinforcement.

If this continued, the British and the Ottomans would sooner or later discover his true strength. If he lost Dobruja, Nicholas I would surely lose his life.

Plinsky was also trying to find a solution, but he tried several attack locations and always failed.

As for other tactics, he had no idea, he had been using the same tactic all his life.

The generals under Prinsky were all silent and as solid as wooden stakes. Sometimes Prinsky even missed those guys who had gone against him.

It’s a pity that those people will never come back.

Where did those people go? That’s a good question. Of course, they were sent to the front line by the great Marshal Prinsky as cannon fodder.

This is also the reason why all of Prinsky's men are pretending to be dumb. After all, no one wants to die.

Although Prinsky knew that this was not a solution, the war had to go on. He couldn't let the Tsar think that he was afraid of fighting, otherwise he would be the one in trouble.

Baron Raglan on the opposite side became more and more confused. Why were the Russians still attacking frantically? What was the point of continuing to attack like this?

He felt that if he was not an idiot, then the other side must be an idiot. In short, one of the two sides must be a fool, otherwise the war would never have turned out like this.