I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 557: Dark Collusion

What Potemkin did not say was that just a few months earlier, the Russian Baltic Fleet, with nearly 200 warships of various sizes, had been ambushed by the Swedish Duke of Zudemania.

The Swedes used a large number of gunboats the size of fishing boats - although these small boats had poor seaworthiness, they were equipped with 24-pound and even 32-pound guns - to wait for the opportunity and severely damage the Russian warships that had entered the encirclement in the Svensksundfjord.

The Russian fleet had very bad luck. It had originally hoped to rely on the advantage in the number of warships to fight to a mutual defeat, but a headwind suddenly blew and it eventually lost 64 warships and thousands of soldiers, returning in defeat.

This failure directly led to the end of the Seventh Russo-Swedish War. Fortunately, Russia's ally Denmark took advantage of the chaos to launch a sneak attack on Gothenburg, Sweden from the south, forcing Sweden to abandon its plan to regain lost territory and sign the Treaty of Vilera with Russia.

Although Russia managed to retain its pre-war borders, after this war it would inevitably have to invest a lot of resources to consolidate its sphere of influence in the Baltic Sea.

In other words, Russia was faced with the situation of deploying troops in three directions. Even if it was the bottom line at this time, it could only withdraw 5 troops to attack Poland at most.

Even if Poland is weak now, it still has nearly 7 troops, plus the advantage of fighting at home. If Russia acts rashly, it will definitely fail.

According to Catherine II's original plan, Russia and Prussia signed a secret agreement, preparing to take action against Poland together when the time is right - the fertile land of the Great Plains of East Europe has always been extremely coveted by Russia.

However, things never go as planned. Russia was preparing to attack Poland after the Russo-Swedish War, but unexpectedly Prussia and Austria started fighting first.

Right now, more than 100,000 Prussian and Austrian troops are still confronting each other in Silesia, and it is impossible for them to send troops to Poland.

The Tsar's secretary nodded and smiled:

"Your Excellency, in fact, the British came to Petersburg this time to promote a ceasefire between Prussia and Austria. This is also the reason why His Majesty is eager to let you go back."

Upon hearing this, Potemkin sat up straight, but did not show any surprise. Instead, he asked cautiously:
“What do the British want?”

As a veteran in politics, he knows that there is no free lunch in the world.

Hrapovitzki said: "They seem to want to help Prussia get out of the quagmire of the Silesian War and seek some trade benefits.

"As you know, Prussia's financial situation is already very dangerous. If the stalemate with Austria lasts another year or even half a year, it may face financial collapse.

"The British, as their ally, hope that we can play a role on the Austrian side and bring about an armistice."

Potemkin frowned: "But we have an agreement with France that we will not put pressure on Austria because of the war in Silesia."

Hrapovitzki nodded. "Your Majesty also hinted this to the British envoy. The British suggested that we could deliver some benefits to Austria in exchange for their signing of the armistice agreement."

"Benefits? What does he mean?"

"The British mentioned that we could recognize Austria's claim to Wallachia..."

"These bastards!" Potemkin was immediately furious. "That is our passage to Constantinople. How can we hand it over to the Austrians?!"

The ultimate dream of the Russian Tsar was to inherit the orthodoxy of the Eastern Roman Empire - they had the legal basis for the bloodline brought by Princess Sophia [Note 1] - if they could "recover" the former capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople, then any country would have to recognize this. This was also the core reason why Russia spared no effort to go to war with the Ottoman Empire.

If they wanted to march into Constantinople, they would have to use the Balkan Peninsula as a springboard. Otherwise, transporting logistical supplies all the way from Russia to Anatolia would definitely bring Russia down.

The Romanian region in the eastern Balkans was the best forward base. After the previous Russo-Turkish War, Russia had basically controlled the Principality of Moldavia in northeastern Romania.

Potemkin's focus was on construction and recruiting troops in Iasi, the capital of Moldavia.

Wallachia is a key point in central Romania. If it is captured, Russia can march southward into the Bulgarian plain. The Thrace region in eastern Bulgaria borders Constantinople.

However, the Romanian region is also a strategic expansion target for Austria.

Austria is currently still inclined to protect the integrity of Poland, and the Italian peninsula on the southwest side has to face competition from France, so expanding towards the Balkans in the southeast has become their best option.

In fact, Austria once controlled most of the northern Balkans, but later withdrew from here under the joint pressure of Russia and the Ottoman Empire, but still maintained considerable influence.

Wallachia was such a state - it still belonged to the Ottoman Empire in name, but most of its residents were Slavs and were very close to Russia, but Austria had the strongest control over it.

Therefore, if Austria wanted to truly acquire Wallachia, it had to get Russia's approval. You know, Russia's incitement of the Slavic riots in Wallachia was the biggest obstacle for Austria to rule here.

Hrapovitsky whispered:
"The British said they could persuade Austria to guarantee non-interference in the Silesian region and to give up its demand for the integrity of Poland, and to guarantee it."

Silesirat is the easternmost part of the Balkan Peninsula, close to the western coast of the Black Sea, connecting Moldavia and Thrace like a corridor.

Although this area is not large, it allows the Russian army to bypass Wallachia and attack Constantinople.

Potemkin's eyes lit up when he heard this.

It would be a strategically very worthwhile move to exchange Wallachia, which Russia had never controlled, for a ceasefire between Prussia and Austria, and for Austria to give up its harassment of the Silesian Corridor.

You know, once the confrontation between Prussia and Austria ended, Prussia's tens of thousands of troops would be able to join the Russian army to attack Poland from the east and west, and the weak Poland would almost certainly be defeated.

Hrapovitzky continued: “The British envoy also proposed to increase the amount of wood, oil, wax and hides purchased by Britain from us by at least 3% within three to five years.

"At the same time, an investment of not less than £20 will be made in Crimea to mine the coal there and transport it by our merchant ships."

【Note 1】In the mid-15th century, the Ottoman army destroyed the Eastern Roman Empire. The last Eastern Roman emperor died in the war, and his last descendant, Princess Sophia Paleologus, fled to Russia with the help of the Roman Catholic Church and married Grand Duke Ivan III of Moscow.

From then on, Russia regarded itself as the Third Rome and claimed to be the orthodox Eastern Roman Empire.

(End of this chapter)