Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 211 Russia Joins the War
In April 1877, a piece of news from Tsarist Russia shocked the whole of Europe and made the Balkan Peninsula immediately the focus of world attention.

Tsar Alexander II formally declared war on the Ottoman Empire, and the Russian army also crossed the Romanian territory at lightning speed and launched an attack on the Ottoman Empire along the Danube River.

Due to lack of adequate preparation, when the Ottoman army was attacked by the Russian army, they seemed extremely panicked.

The Ottoman army, which had been fighting against rebels such as Serbia, had never felt the pressure from the Tsarist Russian army.

Although Russia has only a little over 20 troops on the front line after several months of mobilization, the combat effectiveness of these 20 troops is obviously different from that of the armies of Serbia and other nations.

Because there were several months of preparation time, the Russian Empire attacked the Ottoman Empire in two ways. The first way consisted of two armies with a total of 100,000 people, forming the Caucasus Army, with Mikhail Nikolayevich, the younger brother of Tsar Alexander II, as the army commander-in-chief. The militias of Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Osezia also joined the Caucasus Army.

On the European battlefield, the Danube Army Group was expected to have 30 soldiers. Although more than 20 soldiers were on their way, the troops already on the front line plus the Bulgarian militia incorporated into the Danube Army Group were more than enough to counter the Ottoman Empire in a short period of time.

Although the Danube Army was temporarily short of manpower, Russia equipped it with thousands of cannons, which was more than the total number of cannons in the entire Ottoman Empire.

This also caused the Ottoman Empire to suffer a lot as soon as they met. Due to insufficient artillery firepower, the Ottoman Empire's army was suppressed by artillery fire and dared not even show its head when fighting the Russian army head on.

The gap in firepower prevented the Ottoman army from making any progress, which also affected the morale of the Ottoman army.

As the Russian army gained strength, it was able to push the Ottoman army, which had threatened Romania, back more than ten kilometers in just one week.

The news of Tsarist Russia's entry into the war shocked the whole world, including the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the British Empire, which were always paying attention to the Balkan Peninsula.

Neither country expected that the Russians would be so determined. When Britain was likely to join the war, the Russians resolutely chose to join the battle.

Judging from the paper military strength of both Tsarist Russia and the Ottoman Empire, these are two completely disproportionate countries.

Russia's conventional forces have 48 infantry divisions totaling 72 people, equipped with more than 3000 artillery pieces.

The entire Ottoman Empire had only 40 troops and just over 850 artillery pieces.

Although the Ottoman Empire's rifles were of higher quality than those of the Russian infantry, after all, these rifles were provided by Britain and Austria-Hungary. However, in terms of heavy firepower, Russia maintained an absolute lead.

Of the 850 artillery pieces of the Ottoman Empire, Britain and Austria-Hungary provided more than 300 pieces. However, the original industrial foundation of the Ottoman Empire was too weak, and the fact that it could be armed with more than 850 artillery pieces in a short period of time was the result of strong support from the British.

Although Russia's industry is not strong among the five traditional powers, its industry is still very large compared with other non-power countries.

72 troops armed with more than 3000 artillery pieces. This level is beyond the reach of the Ottoman Empire. Even Germany and France, with their powerful armies, do not dare to say that they can surpass Russia on paper.

More importantly, Russia's military strength is definitely more than just the surface. In the case of full mobilization, Russia can arm millions of troops, which is why other European countries are wary of Russia.

The Ottoman Empire had a much smaller population than Russia, and even fewer Turks who truly belonged to the core. This also led to the Ottoman Empire not hesitating at all after learning that Russia had joined the war, and immediately changed its strategic goal from offense to defense, and asked Britain and Austria-Hungary for help.

When the news that Tsarist Russia had declared war on the Ottoman Empire reached Spain, it was already the second day after the war broke out.

Archduke Serrano, then Prime Minister of Spain, found Carlo with a surprised look on his face and brought him the news that Carlo had already expected.

"How did the British react?" Carlo asked with a smile, not panicking or worried about the outbreak of the war.

"The British government has not responded yet, but we cannot rule out the possibility that they will announce their participation in the war." Archduke Serrano replied, "Your Majesty, if the British announce their participation in the war, what should we do?"

This is a good question, but if we think about it in the context of history, this question should not have arisen.

"The British are unlikely to join this war unless the Ottoman Empire collapses faster than expected," Carlo replied with a smile.

Even though Britain is the current world hegemon, the British are also unwilling to face the powerful Tsarist Russia.

Unless Russia were to occupy Constantinople or win a great victory in the Balkan war, the British would most likely not stand up.

The title of Europe’s troublemaker is not for nothing, and this is also what makes people annoyed by the British Empire in this era.

Archduke Serrano nodded, a hint of pity flashing in his eyes.

Carlo smiled and said nothing more. He certainly understood what Archduke Serrano was thinking, which was to recover Gibraltar, a small piece of land in southern Spain.

Ever since the British occupied Gibraltar when Spain was in distress, Gibraltar has become a thorn in the hearts of all Spanish generals, and they have always wanted to remove it.

Unfortunately, after the British occupied Gibraltar, their national strength became stronger and stronger. Since the loss of Gibraltar, Spain has gradually weakened from a powerful country and has been in a rather embarrassing position.

If you say Spain is strong, you can easily find a country in Europe that is stronger than Spain. If you say Spain is weak, compared to those really small countries, Spain seems so strong.

Not as good as the best but better than the worst, this embarrassing position has made Spain have no sense of presence, whether in the later European Union or on the world stage.

As the King of Spain, Carlo certainly wanted to recapture Gibraltar, which is a political achievement that cannot be compared with ordinary territorial expansion.

It is no exaggeration to say that as long as Carlo can recapture Gibraltar, he will become one of the most influential monarchs in Spain, and no family will be able to threaten the ruling position of the Savoy family in Spain.

But unfortunately, the British Empire was too powerful, and Spain alone could not recapture Gibraltar.

It was obviously not a good decision to offend the British at this time, not to mention that the British were unlikely to join the war between the Ottoman Empire and Tsarist Russia. If there was a real chance to retake Gibraltar, apart from the British investing heavily in the Boer War, perhaps they could only wait until World War I or World War II, when Britain was busy dealing with a world war, to retake Gibraltar by exchanging interests.

After Tsarist Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire, European countries were paying attention to the attitude of the British Empire.

If the British also joined in, the Balkan war would immediately turn into a contest between two major powers, and the impact of the war would extend to the whole of Europe.

But if the British did not join the war, Tsarist Russia would defeat the Ottoman Empire in a very short time and expand its influence to the entire Balkan Peninsula.

Would the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was also eyeing the Balkan Peninsula, allow Tsarist Russia to do so? If the British Empire did not join the war, would the Austro-Hungarian Empire join in and stop the expansion of Tsarist Russia?
The Balkan Peninsula is indeed the powder keg of Europe. Although it was still several decades away from World War I, the powder keg of Europe at that time had already become quite powerful.

After several days, the British government has not made a clear statement on this issue and its attitude is quite vague.

Naturally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire could not jump into the fire pit alone, which also led to the Balkan battlefield becoming a lone battlefield for Tsarist Russia.

Although it did not make a clear statement, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was urgently asking the British Empire for its attitude while ensuring the support of its allies the German Empire and the Kingdom of Spain.

For Emperor Franz Joseph I, the Balkan Peninsula was a sphere of influence that the Austro-Hungarian Empire must not lose.

If Russia's influence were allowed to expand to the Balkan Peninsula, the Austro-Hungarian Empire would be completely restricted to its existing territorial scope and would always be a lower-middle power.

It is said that Germany is located in a place surrounded by wars, but in fact the geographical location of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was not much better than that of Germany.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire had a total of five neighbors. Its neighbors to the north and east were the German Empire and Tsarist Russia, which were also among the five traditional powers in Europe.

Its neighbor to the southwest was the newly powerful Kingdom of Italy, and to the south were Romania and the Ottoman Empire.

Among all the neighbors, only the Ottoman Empire and Romania in the Balkans were easier to bully.

Even small Italy was not so easy to bully for the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Before Italy was unified, the Austro-Hungarian Empire occupied a large area of ​​Italy. But after Italy was unified, it became extremely difficult for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to expand towards Italy.

Although Italy was only a minor power, minor powers were still powers. Although Italy was far less powerful than the Austro-Hungarian Empire, other countries were clearly unwilling to allow the Austro-Hungarian Empire to annex the Kingdom of Italy.

Expansion in the direction of Germany and Russia was even more impossible, as the comprehensive strength of these two countries was not weaker than that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Faced with the only direction of expansion on this continent, the Austro-Hungarian Empire would never allow itself to lose control of the Balkan Peninsula, even if the enemy was the more powerful Tsarist Russia.

Even Emperor Franz Joseph I was ready to intervene in the war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire without British support.

If the British really did not participate, the Austro-Hungarian Empire would have no choice but to face the challenge and at least ensure that it could gain enough benefits from this war.

That’s right, the idea of ​​the Austro-Hungarian Empire was not to help the Ottoman Empire defeat Russia, but to take advantage of the opportunity when the main forces of the Ottoman Empire and the main forces of the Russian army were fighting to send troops to invade Serbia and Bosnia, or at least occupy these two places.

Of course, this would only be done if it was certain that the British would not interfere in the war at all.

If it had the support of the British, perhaps the Austro-Hungarian Empire would not have to start a war and could have snatched a large piece of fat from the Russians.

As an ally of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Spain was naturally also on the Austro-Hungarian Empire's contact list.

Austria-Hungary did not reveal its plan of action, but only asked Spain to support Austria-Hungary in the situation in the Balkans.

In return, Austria-Hungary would convert all previous Spanish loans into interest-free loans and provide Spain with a new round of industrial and financial assistance.

These industrial and financial assistance were still very useful to Spain, and Carlo certainly did not mind supporting the Austro-Hungarian Empire diplomatically.

Although the British are troublemakers, their stance on major issues like Constantinople is still firm.

No matter how the situation in the Balkans develops, it is impossible for Russia to monopolize the Balkans. There is no harm in supporting Austria-Hungary for Spain, and some of the benefits provided by Austria-Hungary are also relatively scarce in Spain now.

No matter what preparations the Austro-Hungarian Empire made secretly, on the surface, neither Britain nor the Austro-Hungarian Empire reacted too violently.

This also led to the Balkan peoples' growing confidence in defeating the Ottoman Empire. Countries and regions such as Romania, Serbia and Montenegro announced that they would join Russia a few days after Russia declared war to jointly deal with the enemy, the Ottoman Empire.

It can also be seen from the expectations of the Balkan peoples for this war that the Ottoman Empire was indeed unwelcome in the Balkans.

The main reason was that the Ottoman Empire's policy of ruling the Balkan ethnic groups was too cruel. With the changes of the times, blind suppression was no longer feasible.

The long history of resisting the Ottoman Empire also made the Balkan peoples have a brave and warlike bloodline. This also made the fighting power of the Balkan peoples very strong, and the military strength of the Balkan countries that later became independent should not be underestimated.

After the Balkan peoples joined the Russian side, the Russian army on the European battlefield quickly exceeded 20.

In comparison, the Ottoman Empire had only a little over 20 troops concentrated in Europe, which also meant that the Ottoman Empire had lost its advantage in numbers.

On the Caucasus battlefield, the Ottoman Empire also did not have a numerical advantage. The Asian army commanded by Mehmed Mukhtar Pasha had only 12 soldiers, while the Russian Caucasus Army and the militias of various ethnic groups also had more than 12 soldiers. The two sides were on the same level in terms of the number of soldiers.

(End of this chapter)