Chapter 21

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Chapter 21: Nicholas I Finds Allies

In March 1841, Russia sent a final ultimatum to the Ottoman Empire. They also crossed the Danube River and stationed troops in Moldavia and Wallachia, which are now known as the region of Romania.

Bordering Ukraine to the north, and touching Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, and the Black Sea, the region is located in the northern part of the Balkan Peninsula, seen as a potential hotspot for conflict.

Currently, half of the Balkan Peninsula belongs to the Ottoman Empire, and the other half to Austria. Russia aims to expand its influence through the Russo-Turkish War by seizing control of the Romanian region from the Ottomans.

Backed by mysterious forces, the Ottoman Empire boldly rejected Russia’s ultimatum and began mobilizing troops towards the Danube River.

Despite not officially declaring war, even children knew that the Ninth Russo-Turkish War had begun.

Referred to as the Crimean War, the Ninth Russo-Turkish War was the first major international conflict in over twenty years since the Napoleonic Wars. It involved direct or indirect participation from England, France, Russia, Austria, the Ottoman Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, Sweden, and Greece. This war marked a significant turning point for both land and sea forces, and had a lasting impact on future international relations, especially concerning Germany.

At the onset of the Russo-Turkish War, Russia and the Ottoman Empire were engaged in a mobile conflict along the lower Danube River. Both sides were seeking strategic positions and engaging in tentative attacks.

But during the Russo-Turkish War, the busiest country was Prussia, even though Prussia wasn’t directly involved in the war, they were extremely busy.

Because the Russo-Turkish War was the final training ground for the Prussia army, and it was their last chance to test themselves before they would soon go to war with Denmark, followed by a series of wars to achieve dominance.

Taking this opportunity, the prince regent wanted to thoroughly examine the military reforms, check for any issues with the new army, ensure the railway system was up to standard, assess the reliability of new tactics and weapons, and determine the strength of other countries’ armies.

Minister of National Defense Ron and Chief of General Staff Moltke gathered all senior military officers for a war meeting that lasted two days and nights, eventually finalizing a plan.

General Franziski led the Second Division of the Defense Army and joined forces with the Sultan Osman.

General Zastrow led the Light Cavalry Division of the Imperial Guard and joined forces hired by the Russian Emperor.

General Catherine von Bittenfeld was appointed as the head of the Military Observation Team, leading 95 senior military officers to observe the war. Additionally, each Russia and Turkey sent a military advisory team of 20 personnel, mainly junior officers, to assist in the war efforts.

A secret mission of military academy students was organized to go to Romania to assist the rebel forces and guerrillas in combat.

Prussia’s reactions did not attract much international attention as they were expected to be involved in wars due to their past actions. They even sent mercenaries to earn profits.

During the reign of Regent King Redel, Prussia’s army appeared as mercenaries in South and North America, the Far East, Iberia, Apennine, displaying even greater martial skill than Swiss mercenaries.

Now, Prussia mercenaries have appeared in the Balkans again, countries around the world find it unsurprising. But accepting contracts from both the Tsar and the Ottoman Sultan, isn’t that a bit unusual?

Diplomats from various European countries complained about Prussia’s actions, asking which side Prussia leans towards in the war.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anna said, "Prussia is a neutral country with no bias. Our mercenary services are straightforward, as long as the price is right."

This means that we don’t intend to take sides, we’re just looking to make money through mercenary contracts. Prussia’s regular army will become mercenaries for anyone who pays well. Both sides of a war could even hire Prussia, leading to Prussian mercenaries fighting against each other.

Hmm… Diplomats from various countries think that Prussia is overly focused on money. They soon stopped paying attention to the matter.

Although Prussia’s military has been fighting worldwide with many mercenaries, their reputation is not good compared to Swiss mercenaries.

The mercenaries previously sent by Prussia were second-line border defense forces, inexperienced in battle tactics. As a result, their combat abilities were low and confusion was common on the battlefield.

But this time is different. The units sent to the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire are elite troops with combat experience, marking a new beginning for Prussia’s army.

The military is busy, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is even busier. Anna’s Prussian diplomatic team has been active between various countries, increasing their diplomatic efforts manyfold compared to before. Diplomats from Russia and the Ottoman Empire are not as busy as those from Prussia.

Help Russia by causing trouble between Russia and Austria, hint to Osman that you have powerful backers, coordinate international trade affairs during the war with the English, negotiate for benefits with the French, and provide assistance to Sweden’s industry…

Since the Russo-Turkish War started, Your Highness the Regent hasn’t seen Anna for three months in a row, and the Foreign Ministry is short on staff, with most of them busy abroad.

The Prussian General Staff Department even moved directly to Constantinople, because it is closest to the battlefield, allowing them to understand the war situation first-hand and gather information from lower-level advisory groups and observer teams.

Prince Regent Redel is busy in the capital city, with envoys from various countries visiting him during this time, handling both diplomatic matters and internal affairs.

Tsar Nicholas I sent a special envoy to meet.

Actually, before Anna led the diplomatic mission to Russia and discussed terms with the Tsar, but after the negotiations, the Tsar was dissatisfied and sent a special envoy to negotiate with the Prince Regent of Prussia.

Nicholas I wrote to Leader One:

"The long-standing tradition of friendship between Russia and Prussia, we are sacred allies, we have blood relations, brothers-in-law, help your brother-in-law, let’s fight against the French together."

Leader One naturally ignored the Tsar’s nonsense, thinking how can I help, I can’t help, I’m just a weak and useless little country, how can I participate in such a high-level international war.

The strong Gallic rooster and the mighty Northern bear, both powerful contenders, were fighting fiercely. Prussia couldn’t help and had to leave.

Brother-in-law, since there’s an international embargo on Russian goods, I can help smuggle them for you from Prussia to make some money. That’s the most help Prussia can offer.

The envoy of the Tsar came full of hope and left happily.

When Prussia’s Foreign Minister Bisrmark refused to help during negotiations with the Tsar, it was a huge breakthrough when the Prince Regent was willing to assist Russia in smuggling goods. It seems that the Prince Regent of Prussia is close to Russia.

Hmm… This was Anna’s plan. First, she rejected the Tsar, then she persuaded Leader One to give some benefits to Russia to improve the friendship between Leader One and Nicholas I, and to help Russia smuggle goods, which was Prussia’s plan all along.

With the world imposing an embargo on Russia, Prussia sold goods at a premium through smuggling, part of the agreement between Prussia and England, profiting from the war together.

Russia, "Why are the goods so expensive?"

Prussia, "Oh, the checks are strict. International embargo on you is strong, and the Royal Navy searches daily."

In fact, many goods were transported by the Royal Navy to Königsberg, where Prussia sold them to Russia at high prices, and then England and Prussia shared the profits happily.

Russia hasn’t noticed any smuggling activities yet, and they still don’t understand the international situation, according to Tsar Nicholas I.

My enemies are Osman and France.

My teammates are Prussia and Austria.

England won’t let France get too aggressive, so they will most likely remain neutral.

In reality, everyone is his enemy, he doesn’t have any allies at all. The Crimea War was a war where all of Europe ganged up on Russia.

This was a disastrous failure in Russia’s diplomacy, as well as a complete misunderstanding of their national strategy and the international situation. Even though the war has just started and it looks like Russia has a big advantage with their large army and powerful Black Sea Fleet, the outcome of the war was already decided at the beginning.

What’s even more funny is that this kind of scenario would repeat in the following wars. The King of Denmark, the Osman Emperor, the French Emperor all thought they had many allies and a big advantage, but they ended up failing miserably once the fighting started.