Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 652 - 225: The War That Can’t Stop

After briefly flipping through the documents, Dumbledore put them down and scoffed, "Count, such blatant attempts at driving a wedge are quite low-end indeed."

"Everyone knows that we are allies with Austria, so why should we worry about Austria’s threat? Is it because of this data?"

The threat of Austria to the French government was naturally not unknown; this was not the first time Dumbledore had seen the information provided by Geoffrey Friedman.

It was only a matter of discrepancies in the data. This was the same for all nations due to political motives and personal wishes. When collecting data about rivals, it often goes through an artistic process of embellishment.

In Dumbledore’s view, it was nothing more than the Prusso Federation wanting to highlight the "Austrian Threat Theory" and deliberately exaggerating Austria’s strength.

These documents compared various data points between France and Austria, with Austria occupying an advantage in all aspects. After roughly looking at a few sets of data, Dumbledore lost interest.

Out of French pride, he did not believe in their veracity. The Paris Government also had collected intelligence on Austria, and their conclusion was that the overall strength of France and Austria was not much different, France even having a slight edge.

A sinking feeling settled in Geoffrey Friedman’s heart, as he wondered if the data was too exaggerated and revealed the problem to Dumbledore.

After all, in a world without satellites or the internet, even collecting data about one’s own country was very difficult, requiring a considerable amount of manpower and resources.

Not to mention the data on other countries. If one genuinely attempted to collect statistics, they would likely be treated as a spy before even getting started.

Typically, it was through estimating the number of ships entering and exiting ports or through economic newspapers and large companies’ annual reports, these public channels, that information was gathered.

Then economists would take these figures and "roughly + possibly" equate to an answer. Errors were inevitable, and different economists would come up with different results.

Whether it was out of national pride or political necessity, the French government did not permit conclusions that placed them below Austria.

Dumbledore, the Foreign Minister, not the Economic Minister, just needed to look over the reports with all their pomp and circumstance, not concerning himself with the finer details.

Taking a pause, Geoffrey Friedman said helplessly, "Well then, leaving aside this data. There can only be one overlord on the European Continent, and Austria is your country’s biggest competitor in the quest for dominance in Europe."

Dumbledore nodded in agreement.

Geoffrey Friedman: "In recent years, the Austrians have developed the Balkan Peninsula, and their strength has increased rapidly. Their population on the European mainland alone nearly reaches eighty million, and their total economic output has even surpassed that of the British, becoming number one in the world.

These figures are well known, and I’m sure Your Excellency has no objections."

"From 1870 to the present, the Vienna Government has expanded its military three times, with total land and naval forces reaching 714,000 men, of which the army alone accounts for 608,000 men."

This number for a standing army, apart from the Russian Empire, no other country in Europe can match them. As far as I know, the standing land forces of your country also amount only to 476,000.

Besides the standing army, Austria also has a huge reserve force. The exact number is unknown, but every year more than a million receive reserve force training.

Such a vast military force, who is it targeting?"

I can think of no other country that needs such serious preparation by Austria, other than your country.

If we are not prepared, once the Austrians are ready, I fear your country will have to face an assault by millions of enemy troops."

Dumbledore shook his head, "Your Excellency, let’s not equivocate. Can a bunch of civilian husbands even be considered an army? Should a war break out, France has enough strength to defeat all enemies.

Modern warfare is not about winning by sheer numbers. If we are to speak of numbers, Russia’s army is the largest; does your country intend to capitulate?

As for the threat posed by Austria, that is France’s own domestic affair, and it doesn’t require your worry. With that energy, you might as well consider how to deal with the Russians!"

Taking a pause, Dumbledore added, "A reminder to Your Excellency, if we’re talking about threats, your country is also a potential competitor to France, and even ahead of Austria.

The world has been fully carved up, and the reason the British-French-Austrian tripartite alliance can exist is because we are all vested interests, and maintaining the status quo is enough.

Without a doubt, Dumbledore was very dissatisfied with Geoffrey Friedman’s overreach, hence the direct warning.

Even if the threat from Austria was significant, it was up to the French government to discover it themselves. The reminder from Geoffrey Friedman was clearly meant to provoke a conflict between France and Austria.

As the Foreign Minister of France, how could Dumbledore accept being used by others?

...

On the way back to the embassy, upon seeing Geoffrey Friedman’s persistent worry, Major General McPhee reassured him, "Geoffrey, don’t be sad. You’ve already done very well. The failure of this mission is mainly because we misjudged the French."

Geoffrey Friedman shook his head, "The mission hasn’t failed, Dumbledore has accepted our viewpoint."

Seeing Major General McPhee’s puzzled look, Geoffrey Friedman explained, "Don’t be surprised. If it weren’t for hitting a sore spot for the French, Dumbledore would not have lost his composure.

His final warning, although true, was something that has never been uncovered before. Since he put it out there directly, it seems that the relationship between England, France, and Austria is worse than we anticipated."

The more confused McPhee asked directly, "Geoffrey, if our plan succeeded, why do you still need to..."

Geoffrey Friedman replied with a wry smile, "Because what Dumbledore said is true. England, France, and Austria don’t want to see a new major power rising to share the cake with them. It’s the same for both the Russians and us.

Now we’ve almost reached our peak of development, even if we defeat the Russians, it’s hard for us to gain much.

To advance further, we’d face the unified suppression of England, France, and Austria; our future is worrying indeed!"

Geoffrey Friedman had sobered up, realizing that despite the significant discord among the three countries, their interests were aligned when it came to suppressing newcomers.

The Prusso Federation was no longer a small country; if it defeated Russia again, it would replace Russia’s position in Europe.

The British-French-Austrian tripartite alliance did not want to see the rise of a new Russia, so the good days of the Prusso Federation would end after this war.

If the international situation doesn’t change, if the British-French-Austrian tripartite alliance doesn’t collapse, the Prusso Federation would always exist in the shadow of the three great powers.

If it weren’t for the fact that insiders are blind, the Berlin Government would have already seen this clearly. However, everyone has been focused on how to defeat Russia, without considering what will happen after the war.

Deep inside, a voice kept telling Geoffrey Friedman that ending the dispute with Prussia was the best choice; that a war would only benefit the fishermen.

But as much as he thought this, it was impossible to say it out loud. How could the Prusso Federation, with its territory now exceeding eighty thousand square kilometers, much of which was taken from the Russians, simply stop?

Even if the Berlin Government were willing to reconcile, the Tsarist Government would not agree! How could the Russians continue to consider themselves a great power if they don’t suppress the Prusso Federation?

Even knowing that continuing the war would be disadvantageous to both countries, neither side could stop.

The Junker nobility wanted to gain more, the Russians wanted to avenge their humiliation; a clash of interests that was simply irreconcilable.

Major General McPhee smiled faintly, "Geoffrey, you’re thinking too much. Even if we face suppression, it would only be after we defeat Russia. Who knows what the future holds?

I don’t believe the British-French-Austrian tripartite alliance could maintain itself forever. As long as there is discord among the three, we will have our chance. Your next journey awaits at NovelBin.Côm

The world has been carved up, we have no share in the colonies, then we might as well give it up. If the British-French-Austrian alliance worries about us taking over Russia’s place, let’s do it and show them."

In this era, overseas colonies symbolized wealth, naturally coveted by all, but the Berlin Government’s attempts ultimately ended in failure.

It was proven that a navy can’t be developed overnight, and the Junker aristocracy, being landlubbers, really couldn’t manage at sea.

Since the navy was beaten by the Danish people in the Baltic Sea, the Berlin Government extinguished its unrealistic dream of the seas.

The firmly land-focused Major General McPhee wasn’t dreaming about acquiring colonies anymore; seizing the opportunity to give the Russians a good beating was the best option.

Land expansion on the European Continent was never smooth sailing. The strategy formulated by the Junker aristocracy was to gradually devour Russian land, but they lacked the aggressive stance to dominate Europe as in the original timeframe.