Chapter 238： Terrible disease

Versailles Palace

Foreign Minister Auvergne said: "His Majesty, the Minister of the New Holy Roman Empire in Paris sent us a diplomatic note, and they proposed that our two countries act jointly on the Greek issue.

It seems that the Vienna government is worried that the British will take the opportunity to annex the Greek kingdom and threaten their interests. "

The population of Greece in this era has just exceeded one million. After the war, Greek young people suffered heavy losses.

If the British intended to turn the Greek kingdom into their colony, it would not be difficult.

This worry is obviously not superfluous. The annexation of Greece strategically can bring a lot of benefits to the British, which can not only block the entrance of Russians into the Mediterranean, but also increase their right to speak in the Near East.

In this case, the Paris government is also very worried. The cakes in the Near East are so big. If the British take more, they will inevitably squeeze their local interests.

Napoleon III thought for a while and said, "The British annexation of the Kingdom of Greece is very unfavorable to our strategy in the Near East. Send someone to talk with the Austrians, as long as everyone's conflict of interest is not serious, take action with them."

Against the British alone, Napoleon III was still very encouraging, but he was not afraid to go with Austria. In this era, the power gap between Britain, France, Russia, and Austria has not yet widened. Even if the British have an advantage, they cannot achieve one enemy and two.

Common interests are always the basis of cooperation. France and the New Holy Roman Empire have a struggle for continental hegemony. The two sides should reasonably be in conflict.

However, the current European overlord is still a Russian. Before the fall of the bear, both countries were just substitutes, and it was not time to turn their faces.

Affected by the anti-French war, France's every move on the European continent will be closely watched by everyone.

In this context, any external expansion action of France on the European continent may be misinterpreted by the outside world and met with resistance from everyone. At this time, the Paris government has to keep a low profile.

The new Holy Roman Empire is also hiding its power, although Austria has developed in Franz's hands for more than four years, but this development has only made Austria keep up with the times and has not formed an advantage for countries.

After the annexation of the South German region, the newly established new Holy Roman Empire entered the period of internal integration. In the short term, there was no energy to do things. Franz has no plan to compete for continental hegemony.

Both were very peaceful, and the time when the conflict between France and Austria naturally did not ignite, this undoubtedly created favorable conditions for the next cooperation.

Home Secretary Persini analyzed: "Her Majesty, the purpose of the Austrians may not be so simple.

According to what we know, since the unification of the German region failed, the calls within the Vienna government to open up overseas colonies began to rise.

Now that the situation on the European continent is stable, the Austrians' road to unify the German region has been broken, and the Balkans Russia and Austria should have reached an agreement.

Regardless of the outcome of the Near East War, the Austrians' expansion on the European continent was at its limit. Even the benefits they have gained in the Balkans can be eaten in the end is a question mark.

In this context, the Austrians are likely to abandon the national policy of the Metternich era and restart the overseas colonial strategy.

We need to prepare in advance, and there will be a new opponent in the future. "

It was not long ago that the Paris government decided on the next national policy of temporarily abandoning expansion on the European continent and focusing on developing overseas colonies.

Now that Austria joins overseas colonial activities, the French naturally need to be vigilant.

Now it is the era of sailing. The navies of various countries have not yet reached an epoch-making distance technically. It is not difficult for the big European powers to break the navy to despair.

Of course, this does not mean that Austria joined the overseas colonies, and the French were afraid. On the contrary, the French had an absolute advantage over Austria in colonizing abroad.

However, there is not only one Austrian competitor for overseas colonization. Everyone has many opponents. Usually, everyone fights for colonies.

As long as it is not a battle for core interests, it is basically just a game of power in a certain region, and rarely will it do its best to fight.

If you don't agree with each other and start playing, then the winner takes all. Obviously this is impossible. With so many competitors, one will be suppressed, and new countries will emerge.

If you continue to toss this way, you are busy suppressing your opponents, and you still have the energy to open up a colony. There is also a limit to colonial expansion. Blind expansion is likely to lose ground.

Not all lands have colonial value; even in the same area, the benefits ultimately derived from the rule of different countries are not the same.

Colonies without strategic value and ordinary economic value are usually the ones who have taken possession of them first. If the colonies with high strategic value and rich interests are indispensable, then it will be inevitable for them to compete.

After the middle of the 19th century, various countries had disputes for overseas colonies, but very few wars between the colonial empires were triggered by the struggle for colonies.

The reason is that the most fertile land has been divided up by everyone, and the remaining land is not worth the war. In the final analysis, everyone is for the benefit, and no one is trading at a loss.

After pondering for a moment, Napoleon III confidently said: "For us, this should be a good thing. The Austrians started overseas colonization and it is necessary to increase the development of the navy.

As a result, the military pressure on our homeland will be much less. Compared to the Austrians, our advantage at sea is much greater than on land.

Due to the geographical location, the Austrians were at a natural strategic disadvantage in the overseas colony competition.

Unless they are only developing in the Mediterranean to the African continent, if they are going to develop in other regions, they will have to pass under our eyelids and also under the British eyelids.

The greater the strength they invest overseas, the less they dare not turn their heads at us in diplomacy in the future, otherwise we can jam their necks at any time. "

After that, Napoleon III looked dark. The situation in Austria is indeed, as he said, opening up overseas colonies at a disadvantage, exposing weaknesses to them.

But why didn't the English people who control the straight Putuolu Channel get their necks stuck? In the event of a war between the two countries, the British can split the French navy at any time and keep them from looking at each other.

Why did the Austrian government abandon the opening of colonies overseas? Is it really that they are not interested in the benefits of the colonies?

Obviously impossible, everyone knows that overseas colonization can bring huge benefits. But for the overseas colonies, Austria's geographical position was too bad, and they lost money in the process of overseas colonization.

It is okay not to grow and develop. With the strength of Austria, colonies of average strategic value and average economic value can be maintained. Once encountering fat, it will certainly not be able to rob Britain and France.

For the sake of a few colonies of low strategic value and low economic value, a large amount of financial resources were invested in the development of the navy. According to the previous Austrian government, such payments and returns are not proportional.

But times are changing. With the development of industrialization, the overseas colonies that seemed to be chicken ribs in the past have once again revealed their value.

Don't look at Austria's geographical location, but it seems that Franz knows that with the development of naval technology, this weakness will become smaller and smaller in the future.

In the era of sailing warships, Austrian overseas colonies traveled thousands of miles longer than Britain and France. This was very fatal, which meant a double increase in cost and risk.

However, with the advent of the ironclad ship era, the use of steam engines on warships has gradually solved the problem of distance.

Especially after the Suez Canal is opened, Austria's voyage out of the Mediterranean into the Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean will be greatly reduced, and safety will be greatly improved.

This is also one of the reasons why the Vienna government eased French relations. The excavation of a canal connecting the Mediterranean and the Red Sea has been raised by Franz.

This can only be done in cooperation with the French. Austria's right to speak in Egypt is still too low. Even if Franz strengthens his penetration of the region after his succession, it will not be possible to catch up in a short time.

...

Crimea, Britain, France and Russia fought fiercely. Casualties on the battlefield are still within the tolerance of all parties.

However, the humid climate, the large number of small insects, and the fierce schistosomiasis attack have brought the spread of the disease and caused a large number of non-combat attritions, which is unbearable.

By the spring of 1854, the number of non-combatant attritions in the coalition had exceeded the number of casualties on the battlefield for the first time. Of course, the Russians were not immune, but they were more able to adapt to the local climate than the coalition forces, and the number of non-combat reductions was relatively small.

The commander of the Russian army, Fitzroy Somerset, never dreamed that it would not be the arrival of new equipment that caused the casualties of the enemy and us to be flattened, but that illness helped a lot.

Of course, he hasn't paid attention to this yet. Now Fitzroy Somerset is also suffering from the illness of a large number of soldiers in the Russian army, and the cruel reality of lack of medicine and medicine makes it impossible.

If you know the tragedy of the coalition forces, it is estimated that Fitzroy Somerset will be in a better mood. If possible, he does not mind letting the Russian troops and enemies on the island die together.

This war has related to the national movement of the Russian Empire. Now that the war has progressed, more than 300,000 Russian soldiers have fallen. In the Crimea alone, the casualties of the Russian army exceeded 70,000.

A middle-aged officer reported: "His Commander, the enemy has recently slowed down the offensive intensity. According to the captives we have captured, a large number of soldiers over the enemy have fallen ill. syphilis."

"Syphilis?" Fitzroy Somerset wondered.

"Yes, Your Excellency Commander, it is syphilis!" The middle-aged officer replied affirmatively.

After receiving this answer, Fitzroy Somerset didn't know whether to cry or laugh. Apart from war, there is very little entertainment on the Crimean Peninsula.

Gambling money, tobacco and women are women's favorite.

Russian soldiers rarely participate in these activities. There is no way. Who makes Russian soldiers all poor? If you do n’t have money, you ca n’t afford to play, and if you play less, you are less likely to get sick.

The British and French coalition forces on the opposite side are much better. Everyone is armed, and market demand naturally generates a market, and the service industry is hot in the coalition.

They all spend their lives on the battlefield. After today, I do n’t know if there is tomorrow ’s Lord, so I must play in time!

Due to not paying attention to personal hygiene, I don't know which unlucky eggs are infected with syphilis, and then spread quickly throughout the army through the service industry.

(Note: In the Crimean War, over 10,000 people died as a result of syphilis infection)

There was no effective treatment for syphilis in this era. The most reliable is to take antibiotics just after the infection, but unfortunately penicillin is still lying in Franz's laboratory, and commercial operation is still far away.

Since there is no drug, just let it go! Anyway, the normal death rate of syphilis is about 20%, and most people with good luck can fight it.

Considering the terrible conditions in the barracks and the lack of personal hygiene among soldiers, this mortality rate is likely to increase again.

This is a small problem. Wind chills and dysentery can also kill people, and the mortality rate is not low. Anyway, they are all dead. What disease is not the same?

It is not just the Russians who lack medical treatment and medicine, but the situation of the coalition forces is similar. Among them, the situation of the British army is even worse. The chaotic logistics system, most soldiers do not know where the battlefield hospital is.

It is not necessarily useful to be at the hospital, the number of doctors is too small to satisfy everyone. Unless an officer, ordinary soldiers don't want to get good treatment if they don't plug red envelopes.

Many medicines for treatment require soldiers to bribe the quartermaster to get them, otherwise you won't even know where to put the medicine.

If you find that the medicine is separated from the hospital, don't be surprised, don't panic, this is just normal operation, even if it is more than ten kilometers apart, it is not an accident.

The bureaucrats of the machinery acted in full compliance with the regulations. Many times the battlefield hospital was relocated with the army, and the drug warehouse was left behind. All programs must be completed before they can be moved.

Tell a joke: A transporter named "Pioneer" transported more than 150 tons of vegetables to Balaklava, but the quartermaster suddenly found that the ship had incomplete procedures, so it was forbidden to disembark the ship.

According to regulations, these materials must be returned to London before completing the registration procedures. Finally, the procedures were completed, and more than 150 tons of vegetables were rotten.

Reasonably should be scrapped? As a result, the bureaucrats of the machinery directly collected these materials into the warehouse and distributed them to the army.

The consequences can be imagined. In post-war statistics in history, the losses caused by the British Logistics Department to the expeditionary forces far exceeded the Russians.

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