Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 647 - 556 Dark Blending
Chapter 647: Chapter 556 Dark Blending
Potemkin did not mention that, just a few months before, nearly 200 warships of Russia’s Baltic fleet had been ambushed by the Duke of Jutland from Sweden.
The Swedes used a large number of gunboats, only the size of fishing boats—these small boats, although poorly seaworthy, were equipped with 24-pound and even 32-pound cannons—lying in wait in the Svensksund Fjord, they heavily damaged the Russian warships that entered the encirclement.
The Russian fleet was extremely unlucky; originally hoping to rely on their numerical superiority to fight to a mutual destruction, a sudden headwind ultimately resulted in the loss of 64 warships and thousands of soldiers, and they returned in defeat.
This failure directly led to the end of the seventh Russo-Swedish War. Fortunately, at that time, Russia’s ally Denmark took advantage of the chaos to launch a surprise attack from the south on Gothenburg in Sweden, forcing Sweden to abandon their plans to reclaim lost territory and sign the Virela Treaty with Russia.
Although Russia barely managed to maintain its pre-war borders, after this battle, they had to invest significant resources to consolidate their influence in the Baltic Sea.
That is to say, Russia faced the situation of committing troops on three fronts. At this point, even if they squeezed everything they had, they could only muster 50,000 troops to attack Poland.
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Yet even now, with Poland being weak, it still had nearly 70,000 troops, plus the advantage of fighting on home ground, Russia would definitely hit a snag if they acted rashly.
According to the original plan of Catherine II, Russia had signed a secret agreement with Prussia, preparing to seize the opportunity to strike at Poland together—the fertile lands of the Eastern European Plain had always been highly coveted by Russia.
However, heaven does not follow man’s wishes, and just as Russia was preparing to strike at Poland after the Russo-Swedish War was over, Prussia and Austria began fighting first.
At present, the Prussian and Austrian armies, totaling over one hundred thousand, were still confronting each other in Silesia and thus could not deploy troops to Poland.
The Tsar’s Secretary nodded and smiled, “Your Highness Prince, actually, the British have come to Saint Petersburg this time to facilitate a ceasefire between Prussia and Austria. That is also why His Majesty is eager for you to return.”
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On hearing this, Potemkin straightened up but did not show surprise; instead, he cautiously inquired, “What do the British want?”
As a seasoned politician, he knew well there was no such thing as a free lunch.
Herabovitsky said, “They seem to want to help Prussia out of the quagmire of the Silesian War while simultaneously causing some trouble for French trade.
“You know, Prussia’s financial situation is already very dangerous. If they persist in their standoff with Austria for another year or even six months, they could face financial collapse.
“As their allies, the British hope we can have an influence on Austria and facilitate a ceasefire.”
Potemkin furrowed his brow: “But we have an agreement with France not to put pressure on Austria because of the Silesian conflict.”
Herabovitsky nodded, “His Majesty also hinted at this point to the British envoy. However, the British suggested that we could offer Austria some benefits in exchange for their signature on the ceasefire agreement.”
“Benefits? What is he referring to?”
“The British mentioned that we could recognize Austria’s claims on Wallachia…”
“These scoundrels,” Potemkin showed fury, “That is our passage to Constantinople, how could we hand it over to the Austrians?!”
The Tsar of Russia’s ultimate dream was to inherit the legitimacy of the Eastern Roman Empire—their rights derived from the bloodline brought by Princess Sophia, providing a legal basis—if they could “restore” Constantinople, the ancient capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, then no country could deny this claim.
This was also the core reason why Russia tirelessly waged war against the Ottoman Empire.
To advance into Constantinople, the Balkan Peninsula must be used as a stepping stone; otherwise, transporting logistics from Russia’s mainland across thousands of miles to the Anatolia Region would utterly exhaust Russia.
The Romanian region in the eastern Balkans served as the ideal forward base. After the previous Russo-Turkish War, Russia had effectively controlled the northeastern part of Romania, the Duchy of Moldavia.
Potemkin was then engaged in construction and recruitment of the army in Iasi, the capital of Moldavia.
Wallachia was the strategic center of Romania. If it fell, the Russian Army could march south straight into the Bulgarian Plain. The Thrace Region in the eastern part of Bulgaria bordered Constantinople.
However, the Romanian region was also a strategic expansion target for Austria.
Austria still preferred to maintain Poland’s integrity while facing competition from France on the southwestern Italian Peninsula, so expansion toward the southeastern Balkans was their best option.
In fact, Austria once controlled most of the northern Balkans until they withdrew under the joint pressure of Russia and the Ottoman Empire, but they still maintained considerable influence.
Wallachia represented such a status—it nominally belonged to the Ottoman Empire, but most of its inhabitants were Slavic, very close to Russia. Yet, Austria had the strongest control.
So for Austria to truly acquire Wallachia, they needed Russia’s approval. It’s worth noting that Russia inciting Wallachian Slavs to revolt was the biggest obstacle to Austrian rule there.
Herabovitsky quietly said, “The British have indicated that they can persuade Austria to guarantee non-interference in the Silistra Region and to abandon their stance on a complete Poland, guaranteeing this.”
Silistra was the easternmost part of the Balkan Peninsula, adjoining the western coast of the Black Sea, effectively connecting Moldavia and Thrace.
This region, though small, could allow the Russian Army to bypass Wallachia and attack Constantinople.
At these words, Potemkin’s eyes sparkled.
Trading Wallachia, which Russia had never controlled, for a truce between Prussia and Austria, and making Austria abandon harassment of the Silistra corridor, would be a strategically advantageous bargain.
Keep in mind, once the Prussian-Austrian hostilities ceased, tens of thousands of Prussian troops could join forces with the Russian Army from the east and the west to pincer Poland, almost certainly defeating the weakened nation.
Herabovitsky continued, “The British envoy also proposed that over three to five years, Britain would increase their purchases of our timber, fats, wax, and hides by at least 25%.
“And invest no less than 300,000 British Pounds in Crimea to mine coal there, which would be transported by our merchant ships.”
[Note 1] In the mid-15th century, the Ottoman army overthrew the Eastern Roman Empire. The last Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire perished in the conflict, and the ultimate scion, Princess Sophia Paleolog, fled to Russia under the arrangement of the Vatican, marrying Ivan III, the Grand Duke of Moscow.
From then on, Russia assumed the mantle of the Third Rome and claimed to be the legitimate successor of the Eastern Roman Empire.
