Chapter 212

Unlike the laughter and joy of the British government due to the coronation ceremony, the atmosphere at the Tsarist government in Eastern Europe was quite serious at this time.

As the only Orthodox country among the Great Powers, the relationship between the Orthodox Church and Tsarist Russia was far closer than the relationships between other Great Powers and their Catholic or Protestant counterparts.

The Russian government had always advocated Pan-Slavism, maintaining the group of Orthodox believers and protecting their fellow Slavs.

Serbia, which was resisting the Ottoman Empire's rule on the Balkan Peninsula, happened to satisfy both conditions: they were both Slavic and Orthodox.

For Tsarist Russia, it was absolutely impossible to abandon its support for Serbia. This was not only to open a passage from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean but also to conform to its own Pan-Slavism and maintain the justification for Tsarist Russia's expansion.

Regarding this point, Britain and the Austro-Hungarian Empire had clearly underestimated Russia's determination. For Tsarist Russia, this was a matter that could not be conceded, and one worth staking everything on.

At a government meeting of Tsarist Russia, the officials were discussing with grave expressions.

Although they had Russian support, the resistance of Serbia and other countries against the Ottoman Empire had fallen into a disadvantage, with even the possibility of being completely suppressed by the Ottoman Empire.

This was completely unacceptable to Russia. If they let the Ottoman Empire eliminate the resistance forces like Serbia, it would not only damage Russia's expansion in the Balkans but also cause Tsarist Russia to lose face.

Regardless of the considerations, for Russia at this moment, perhaps a war was the most suitable choice.

"Let us all speak our minds; what should we do to help Serbia repel the Ottoman Empire?" Tsar Alexander II, his face ashen, turned his gaze toward the ministers he trusted.

Born in 1818, Alexander II was already 59 years old and looked quite aged. But his advanced age could not diminish Alexander II's ambition; during his reign, the territory of Tsarist Russia had expanded by over a million square kilometers, which to Alexander II was a feat worthy of praise.

Of course, if one were to mention Alexander II's most famous measure, it would certainly be his reform that abolished serfdom, for which he was affectionately called the Liberator by the people.

It was just a pity that Alexander II's reforms were not that firm, instead leading the Russian government toward new chaos.

The reformists thought that Alexander II, who supported liberalism more, was the dawn of reform, but Alexander II's limited reforms clearly disappointed them.

While carrying out non-firm, limited reforms in Russia, Alexander II cruelly suppressed Russia's revolutionary movements, placing himself in a rather awkward position, standing in opposition to both the conservatives and the reformists.

The conservatives' dissatisfaction with this Tsar would only be hidden away, waiting for an opportunity to be released. And the reformists' dissatisfaction would lead some more extreme individuals to take more extreme measures, such as assassinating Alexander II.

As early as a few years ago, revolutionaries had plotted to assassinate the Tsar. Although they did not succeed, the persistent assassination attempts indeed made Alexander II miserable.

For Alexander II himself, the war between Serbia and the Ottoman Empire was also an opportunity for him—an opportunity for Tsarist Russia to expand significantly.

As long as the territorial expansion was completed, Alexander II would have a chance to regain his status in the hearts of the people. In this way, he would still be the Tsar trusted and loved by the people, and the revolutionaries' assassinations would also be easily resolved.

Facing Alexander II's inquiry, the ministers naturally knew the Tsar's own attitude.

Post-reform Tsarist Russia remained an autocratic monarchy, and Alexander II, as Tsar, possessed unparalleled supreme status and authority.

Since Alexander II's own attitude was already clear, the next steps were easy: to follow his attitude and push for war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire.

"Your Majesty, I believe we should begin preparing for war with the Ottoman Empire. There is no other way, unless we are willing to see Serbia annexed by the Ottoman Empire once again." A minister recently promoted by Alexander II spoke first, expressing his support for the war.

Alexander II nodded with satisfaction; what he wanted was a voice in the government supporting the war: "Has the military considered this war?

If we launch a war against the Ottoman Empire at this time, what are our chances of winning?"

What Alexander II was asking about was, of course, not just a war with the Ottoman Empire, but a scenario where the British were strongly supporting the Ottoman Empire and might even join the war for its sake.

Furthermore, it was not just the British Empire that was concerned about the situation on the Balkan Peninsula. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was also concerned, which was likewise a trouble for Tsarist Russia.

"Your Majesty, as long as the Germans do not support the Austro-Hungarian Empire, they will absolutely not join this war just to oppose us.

In this way, we only need to deal with the Ottoman Empire supported by Britain. In the event that Britain does not join the war, we should have a ten-out-of-ten chance of winning. The Ottoman Empire is absolutely no match for Russia, even with the support of the British Empire," the Minister of War replied to Alexander II with certainty.

Although Russia had this or that problem, Russia was still one of the five most powerful countries in Europe at this time.

The Ottoman Empire was absolutely no match for Russia, just as Serbia was absolutely no match for the Ottoman Empire.

There existed a clear gap between nations, and even with the support of other Great Powers, this gap in strength could not be erased.

Unless the British Empire was willing to join this war for the sake of the Ottoman Empire, but would the British really join the war? It was highly probable they would not.

Following the British "troublemaker" character, Britain would only strongly support the Ottoman Empire to counter Russia, at most instigating the Austro-Hungarian Empire to use force to support the Ottomans, but they themselves would likely not risk their own necks.

The British, relying on their troublemaking nature, kept Europe in a state of long-term chaos and mutual competition, but this was also an opportunity for Tsarist Russia.

As long as the British did not personally join the war, the Russians did not take the Ottoman Empire seriously.

Coupled with the support of the various Balkan peoples, this war might be won in a short time, and Russia would also obtain the Black Sea outlet it had been longing for, as well as the opportunity to control the various peoples of the Balkan Peninsula.

This was also a good omen for the Pan-Slavism that Russia had been promoting. If they could obtain the support of the South Slavs in the Balkans through this war, Tsarist Russia's Pan-Slavic plan would be initially completed.

Tsarist Russia, having controlled the Balkan Peninsula, would absolutely be qualified to stand at the pinnacle of the world again. By then, even the British Empire, with the world's number one navy, would not dare guarantee it could 100% defeat a Tsarist Russia that controlled the Balkan Peninsula head-on.

Hearing the Minister of War's report, Tsar Alexander II nodded with satisfaction and then issued his decision: "

From this moment on, Russia will enter a state of war preparation. The army is to be ready to move at any time; when Serbia can no longer resist the Ottoman Empire's offensive, that is when we shall send troops into the Ottoman Empire.

Orthodox believers will absolutely not allow the bullying of infidels, and Slavs will absolutely not allow the abuse of other races. The Balkan Peninsula is the land of the Slavs, and it should be decided by the Slavs themselves."

"As you command, Your Majesty!" The ministers nodded solemnly, not daring to show the slightest dissatisfaction with the Tsar's order.

Following Alexander II's order, the entire Russian Empire entered into tense war preparations.

For a behemoth like Russia, with a territory of over ten million square kilometers, war preparations required a very long time to complete.

Even just mobilizing a portion of the army often took several months.

Besides the reason that the territory was too vast, another major reason was that Tsarist Russia's political system was too decadent, and the information transmission between departments was too sluggish.

There was indeed the reason of relatively backward technology, but when other countries mobilized for war, the time required was not as long as it was for Russia.

Great Powers like Germany and France could mobilize over 200,000 troops to the border within a month and could mobilize all domestic troops in just three months.

But for Russia, one month was not enough to mobilize 100,000 troops; it would take at least three months to mobilize over 200,000.

This was still because the Balkan Peninsula was located in Europe. If the battlefield were in the Far East, giving Russia a year might not be enough to transport hundreds of thousands of troops to the Far Eastern front.

The reason Russia lost to Japan in the Russo-Japanese War historically was largely due to Russia's terrible logistics, making it difficult to transport troops and other supplies to the Far Eastern front.

The Russo-Japanese War was indeed the war that proved Japan's status as a Great Power, but Japan's enemy was only half of Russia, or even less than half.

This was also the reason why, although Japan was recognized as a Great Power after the war, it could only rank at the bottom.

Taking only a few decades to reform into a powerful Great Power was a miracle for Japan, a relatively backward East Asian country.

But it cannot be denied that Japan, recognized as a Great Power, still had many defects, especially in industry and economy.

Whether during World War I or World War II, Japan's industry was only in the lower-middle tier among the Great Powers. Coupled with the lack of mineral resources within Japan, it was difficult for this country to develop as rapidly as the emerging Great Powers like Germany and the United States.

Under Tsar Alexander II's order, Russia's war machine began to start up like an aging old man.

At the same time, the war between the Ottoman Empire and other ethnic groups on the Balkan Peninsula was also in full swing.

On the Balkan Peninsula, the Ottoman Empire mobilized over 280,000 troops, commanded by General Abdülkerim Nadir Pasha.

In the Asian part of the Ottoman Empire, they also possessed over 126,000 troops, commanded by General Mehmed Muhtar Pasha.

The European and Asian troops combined totaled over 400,000, possessing over 850 artillery pieces; such a scale of land force could be considered quite powerful.

Although it could not be compared to the Great Powers, it was perfectly fine to say that this land force was crushing when opposing the Balkan ethnic groups that had launched rebellions, such as Serbia.

It was precisely because the anger of ethnic groups like the Serbs toward the Ottoman Empire was too intense that this war had lasted for such a long time.

Added to this was the fact that the Ottoman Empire's army was not that strong in terms of discipline and overall combat effectiveness, turning what should have been a one-sided war into a protracted tug-of-war between the two sides.

Although Britain provided the Ottoman army with a batch of rifles and some relatively scarce strategic resources, this still could not effectively improve the actual combat effectiveness of the Ottoman army.

As for the armies of Serbia and other ethnic groups, the equipment provided by Russia was smaller in quantity and poorer in quality, yet they erupted with extremely formidable combat power relying on this equipment.

It was precisely because of the Ottoman army's poor performance in this war that Russia became determined to intervene, to resolve the Ottoman army with extreme speed, and to force the British government to accept the fact that Russia had already defeated the Ottoman Empire.

Although the Ottoman army on the battlefield performed poorly, both the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire behind it remained relatively optimistic about the war.

Under the Ottoman army's offensive, which disregarded casualties, the anti-Ottoman rebel forces like Serbia had been pushed into a corner.

Perhaps in less than a year, the Ottoman Empire could completely end this war and re-establish its ruling status over the ethnic groups and regions like Serbia.

This was also why the British felt at ease holding Queen Victoria's coronation ceremony and reduced their focus on the Balkan Peninsula.

The situation could be described as excellent, and the British government had even reduced its aid to the Ottoman Empire.

After all, the economic crisis was affecting the British Empire, and it was natural to reduce spending wherever possible.

It was just that Britain and the Ottoman Empire did not know that Russia was already preparing for war internally. Russia also informed the ethnic groups resisting the Ottoman Empire, such as Serbia, of the news of war preparations, which made these South Slavs rejoice.

Bolstered by the good news, the Balkan peoples' resistance to the Ottoman offensive became even more intense, even pushing back the Ottoman army by several kilometers.

Unfortunately, Tsarist Russia's equipment support for the Balkan peoples was also gradually decreasing; after all, these supplies had to be invested into their own army to fight this war.

Between weapon support and Russia's personal entry into the fray, the Balkan peoples naturally knew which choice was more favorable to them.

The Serbs, Bulgarians, and Montenegrins waited expectantly, completely disregarding the situation where their own side was retreating steadily on the front lines.

After much anticipation, with the situation on the Balkan Peninsula becoming increasingly dire, Russia finally made its decision: let the war begin!

(End of chapter)