(There is still only one chapter today, but starting tomorrow, updates will resume)
"Dear Charles, what do you think of the current situation? Can we still block the French attack?" Francis I said to Grand Duke Charles with a worried expression.
"Your Majesty, the current situation is indeed very bad, but we still have hundreds of thousands of troops, so it is not hopeless." Grand Duke Charles replied. He knew that after the defeat of the Russian army in Prussia, Francis I's confidence had begun to waver.
"Don't forget that we are facing an attack of nearly 500,000 French troops." Francis I's face was a little displeased, and he knew that Grand Duke Charles was deliberately pretending to be stupid with him.
"Yes, the French army is very strong. But we are not weak. On the front line, we still have nearly 400,000 troops. After two months at most, we will increase another 400,000 troops. Even if we have not defeated the French army strength, but it is enough to defend Austria. Besides, our defense line this time is all based on the Danube, Enns and Sava Rivers, and we can completely resist the attack of the French army." Grand Duke Charles said confidently.
"But the war has only been going on for one month now, and we have already suffered heavy losses. Do you think we can persist for two months?" Francis I said a little angrily. He believes that Grand Duke Charles is fighting against France without considering his own strength. Taking advantage of the huge strength in his hands, it may not pay much to have peace talks with France, but wait until he is defeated by France before seeking peace. Then only at the mercy of others. Although he does not want to bow his head to France again, this is almost the best way now.
"Your Majesty, don't you want to ask France for peace at this time? In that case, wouldn't the soldiers who died in the previous battle die in vain? I don't think the soldiers will agree. Besides, if we take the initiative to ask France If France seeks peace, they will definitely offer unacceptable conditions." Grand Duke Charles said in a threatening tone. Now the military power of the whole country is under his control. If he refuses to stop the war, Francis I will not be able to implement the truce.
"Charlie, I want you to see clearly that although we have lost many soldiers in the war, we have many more soldiers and officers in French prison camps. If we do not negotiate peace with France If they do, then he will probably never be able to return home, and will be separated from their relatives forever. Although it would be a great loss to ask for peace talks in France, if we don’t do this, what awaits us will be the perish of the country!” Francis I patiently persuaded.
"Your Majesty, we haven't lost yet, and we may not necessarily lose. The great Austria will not perish." Grand Duke Charles said a little excitedly.
"Really? Do you really think so? Do you really think that the army you have now can fight against France?" Francis I refused to give in.
"But we still have two allies fighting. They both have great strength. As long as we all work hard, we will definitely defeat France again." Grand Duke Charlie said with a guilty conscience.
"Russia is very powerful, but wasn't it defeated in Prussia this time? It lost more than 200,000 troops. What about Britain? The navy they claim to be the most powerful in the world has been wiped out by France, and even the mainland Facing the crisis of being landed soon, how can we still have the energy to support us in the alliance treaty signed at the beginning?" Francis I still tried to persuade. He didn't want to get into a stalemate with Charlie. Although Charlie was now the commander-in-chief of the entire army, the powerful Guards were directly under the orders of Francis I. Also, after all, Charlie is the brother of Francis I, which is also a very important reason.
Grand Duke Charles was silent. He knew that Francis I was telling the truth. It would be a dream for Austria to confront France now.
"Don't worry, Charlie. I think even if we take the initiative to negotiate peace with France, the price the snail will have to pay will not be very high." Seeing that Charlie was a little shaken, Francis I continued to persuade.
"Why?" Charlie looked at Francis I with some surprise. Every time before being defeated by France, Austria would pay a huge price to get the chance to survive.
"My God! Your Majesty. Are you planning to leave your allies and negotiate peace with France alone? In that case, after France kills the other two countries, our end will not be far away." Charlie said sadly.
"Of course not, how could I do such a stupid thing?" Francis I gave Charlie a white look, and then continued: "Looking at the current situation, it is certain that Andresi wants to destroy Britain. As for us and Russia, my appetite for Andresi is not so great. As long as we unite with Russia and propose peace talks with France, I believe Andresi will agree, and then he can devote all his energy Focus on dealing with Britain. Even if Andresi intends to deal with us again in the future, our strength will recover a lot by then, and it will not be so easy for France to defeat us again." Francis I had a full face Said hopefully.
"In that case, we must form an alliance with Russia, otherwise our two countries will face the crisis of being defeated by France one by one again." Charlie added after thinking for a while.
"Of course, I think Alexander will be very interested in our proposal." Francis I laughed.
Afterwards, Vienna and Moscow were quickly connected. Of course, Alexander agreed to Francis I's proposal after discussing it with the ministers. Although they clamored that they could defeat Andresi's army like they defeated Napoleon back then, if the French army were allowed to occupy Moscow again, Russia would suffer huge losses again and its reputation would also decline greatly.
"For Francis I's proposal, what do you two think?" Alexander asked the Minister of State Marquis Froskov and Foreign Minister Makovsky standing in front of him.
Floskov and Makovsky looked at each other, and apparently they had agreed on their opinions, and then Froskov first said: "Your Majesty, the war has just started, and our country has lost more than 200,000 people, strategic materials It also consumes a lot, I think we should not go to war with France for the time being, we need a period of time to prepare, otherwise our losses may be even greater."
"Yes, Your Majesty, the current situation is very unfavorable to us. Prussia and the Rhine Alliance have been destroyed one after another, Austria is now struggling to support it, and Britain is also forced to defend its homeland and cannot provide support to the European continent, so It is very unwise to confront France now. I agree with the Austrian Emperor. Our two countries will first conduct peace talks with France to achieve a truce, let France focus on Britain, and our two countries will use this time to recover Strength and strategic deployment, so that there will be greater guarantee of strength in future wars." Makovsky also expressed his views.
"I don't know what Marshal Kutuzov thinks?" Flosskov asked. This matter, without the participation of the military, would definitely not work.
"Marshal Kutuzov also agrees that we will hold peace talks with France temporarily. He needs enough time to deploy troops and build defense lines." Alexander replied.
"That's good. We have basically unified our opinions, and we can ask France for peace talks with Austria." Makovsky said with a smile.
While Austria and Russia are discussing a secret alliance and peace talks with Britain and France aside. The French 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th armies, which were confronting the Russian army, launched an attack on the Russian army again.
April 15th ~www.mtlnovel.com~ After a week of intensive transportation, the French army on the Polish front line finally prepared a batch of strategic materials for launching a new offensive.
On April 16, after being approved by the General Staff in Paris, the new attack plan submitted by Marshal Davout began to be implemented. The French 1st, 3rd, and 4th Army launched a fierce attack on Warsaw, while the French 2nd Army marched into northeast Poland, directly threatening the Russian mainland. After 3 days of fierce fighting, Kutuzov's troops were driven out of Warsaw. After 4 days, all Russian troops returned to the mainland. The French army did not continue to attack, and the two sides confronted each other across the border, because at this time, Russia and Austria's willingness to demand peace talks had spread to Paris.
"Talk about what Russia and Austria mean? Why do they ask for peace talks with us at the most critical moment in the war? Don't they know that if we stop the war with them, then we can deal with Britain with all our strength? In that case Britain is doomed. I believe that without the containment of Russia and Austria, it would be very easy for our army to destroy Britain." Xiao Jie asked with some puzzlement.
"I think this is exactly what Russia and Austria mean. They hope that we will focus on dealing with the United Kingdom so that they have time to recover. After all, the training of recruits in all countries has reached the most critical time. After a period of time, countries will increase tens of millions of troops." Eck thought for a while and said.