Empire Rise: Spain

Chapter 211: Russia's Entry Into The War

In April 1877, a piece of news from Tsarist Russia shocked the whole of Europe and immediately made the Balkan Peninsula the focus of worldwide attention.

Tsar Alexander II formally declared war on the Ottoman Empire, and the Russian Army swiftly crossed through Romania’s territory along the Danube River, launching an attack on the Ottoman Empire.

Due to insufficient preparation, when the Ottoman Empire’s army was attacked by the Russian Army, they appeared extremely panicked.

The Ottoman Empire’s army, which had always been fighting against rebels like Serbia, had never felt the pressure brought by the Tsarist Russian Army.

Although Russia had mobilized for these few months, the frontline army was only just over 200,000, but the combat effectiveness of these 200,000 troops was clearly different from the armies of ethnic groups like Serbia.

With several months of preparation time, Tsarist Russia’s attack on the Ottoman Empire was divided into two routes. The first route consisted of two armies totaling 100,000 men forming the Caucasus Army Group, commanded by Tsar Alexander II’s brother Mikhail Nikolaevich as the Army Group Commander-in-Chief, with militia troops from places like Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Ossetia also joining the Caucasus Army Group.

On the European battlefield, the Danube Army Group was expected to number up to 300,Although more than 200,000 soldiers were still on their way, the 100,000 troops already rushing to the frontline, plus the Bulgarian militias incorporated into the Danube Army Group, were completely sufficient in the short term to counter the Ottoman Empire.

Although the Danube Army Group was temporarily short on numbers, Russia equipped it with over a thousand cannons, more than the total number of cannons in the entire Ottoman Empire.

This immediately put the Ottoman Empire at a great disadvantage upon first contact, as their insufficient artillery firepower meant that in direct clashes with the Russian Army, their troops were suppressed by artillery fire and dared not show their heads.

The gap in firepower prevented the Ottoman Empire’s army from advancing an inch, which also affected their morale. With one side waning and the other waxing, the Russian Army advanced like a hot knife through butter, retreating the Ottoman Empire’s army that had originally threatened Romania to more than ten kilometers away in just one week.

The news of Tsarist Russia’s entry into the war shocked the entire world, including the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the British Empire, which were constantly paying attention to the Balkan Peninsula.

Neither country had expected that the Russians had such determination. Even with the possibility of Britain joining the war, the Russians resolutely chose to enter the battle.

From the paper military strength of both Tsarist Russia and the Ottoman Empire, these were two completely disproportionate countries.

Russia’s regular army had a total of 48 infantry divisions totaling 720,000 men, equipped with over 3,000 cannons.

The Ottoman Empire’s entire army added up to only 400,000 men, with just over 850 cannons.

Although the Ottoman Empire’s rifles were of higher quality than those of the Russian infantry—after all, these rifles were provided by Britain and the Austro-Hungarian Empire—Russia maintained an absolute lead in heavy firepower.

Of the Ottoman Empire’s 850 cannons, Britain and the Austro-Hungarian Empire provided over But there was no helping it; the Ottoman Empire’s original industrial foundation was far too weak, and being able to arm over 850 cannons in a short time was already the result of massive British support.

Although Russia’s industry was not strong among the five traditional great powers, compared to other non-great power countries, Russia’s industry was still quite substantial.

Arming 720,000 troops with over 3,000 cannons—this level was something not even the Ottoman Empire, or even militarily powerful Germany and France, could claim to surpass on paper.

More importantly, Russia’s military strength was absolutely more than what appeared on the surface. Under full mobilization, Russia could arm millions of troops, which was also why other European countries feared Russia.

The Ottoman Empire’s population was far less than Russia’s, and the core Turks were even fewer. This led the Ottoman Empire, upon learning of Russia’s entry into the war, to immediately shift its strategic goals from offense to defense without hesitation, and to seek help from Britain and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

When the news of Tsarist Russia’s declaration of war on the Ottoman Empire reached Spain, it was already the second day after the war had broken out.

Grand Duke Serrano, then Prime Minister of Spain, found Carlo with a surprised expression and brought this news that Carlo had long anticipated.

“How have the British reacted?” Carlo asked with a smile, not panicking or worrying about the outbreak of this war.

“The British Government has no reaction for the time being, but it cannot be ruled out that they might announce their joining of this war.” Grand Duke Serrano replied: “Your Majesty, if the British announce their participation in this war, what should we do?”

This was a good question, but if considered in light of history, this question shouldn’t even arise.

“The British are unlikely to join this war unless the Ottoman Empire collapses faster than imagined.” Carlo answered with a smile.

Don’t think that just because Britain is the current world hegemon, the British are equally unwilling to face a powerful Tsarist Russia.

Unless Russia occupies Constantinople or achieves a huge victory in the Balkan war, the British are unlikely to step forward.

The nickname of Europe’s shit-stirrer isn’t for nothing; this is also one of the annoying aspects of the British Empire in this era.

Grand Duke Serrano nodded, a trace of regret flashing in his eyes.

Carlo smiled and said nothing more. He naturally understood what Grand Duke Serrano was thinking: recovering a small piece of land in southern Spain, Gibraltar.

Ever since the British occupied Gibraltar during Spain’s time of crisis, Gibraltar had become a thorn in the heart of all Spanish generals, something they wanted to remove at all times.

But unfortunately, after Britain occupied Gibraltar, its national strength grew ever stronger. Meanwhile, Spain, since losing Gibraltar, gradually weakened from a powerful great power country and remained in a rather awkward position.

Say Spain is strong, and Europe can easily find countries stronger than Spain. Say Spain is weak, and compared to those truly small countries, Spain seems so powerful.

Insufficient compared to those above, but more than enough compared to those below—such an awkward status also made Spain have no sense of existence, whether in posterity’s European Union or on the world stage.

As King of Spain, Carlo naturally wanted to recover Gibraltar; this was a political achievement incomparable to ordinary territorial expansion.

Without exaggeration, if Carlo could recover Gibraltar, he would become one of the most influential monarchs in Spain, and no family would be able to threaten the House of Savoy’s ruling position in Spain.

But unfortunately, the British Empire’s strength was too great; Spain alone could not recover Gibraltar.

Offending the British at this time was clearly not a good decision, especially since the British were unlikely to join the war between the Ottoman Empire and Tsarist Russia.

As for the real opportunity to recover Gibraltar, aside from the Boer War where Britain invested heavily, it might only come during World War I or World War II, using interest exchange to recover Gibraltar while Britain was busy dealing with a world war.

After Tsarist Russia’s declaration of war on the Ottoman Empire, European countries were all watching the British Empire’s attitude.

If the British also joined, then this war in the Balkans would immediately turn into a contest between two great powers, with the war’s influence expanding across all of Europe.

But if the British did not participate, Tsarist Russia would defeat the Ottoman Empire in an extremely short time and extend its influence across the entire Balkan Peninsula.

Would the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which also coveted the Balkan Peninsula, allow Tsarist Russia to do this? If the British Empire did not participate, would the Austro-Hungarian Empire join in to stop Tsarist Russia’s expansion?

The Balkan Peninsula truly lived up to being Europe’s powder keg. Although it was still decades away from World War I, Europe’s powder keg already had considerable power at this time.

Several days passed in a row, and the British Government showed no clear stance on this, with an extremely ambiguous attitude.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire naturally could not jump into the fire pit alone, which also turned the Balkan Battlefield into a solo show for Tsarist Russia.

Although there was no clear stance, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was already urgently inquiring about the British Empire’s attitude while ensuring support from its allies, the German Empire and the Kingdom of Spain.

For Emperor Franz Joseph I, the Balkan Peninsula was a sphere of influence that the Austro-Hungarian Empire absolutely could not lose.

If Russia’s influence expanded into the Balkan Peninsula, the Austro-Hungarian Empire would be completely confined to its current territory, forever only a mid-to-lower great power.

They say Germany is in a land of four wars; in reality, the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s geographical position was not much better than Germany’s.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire had five neighbors in total: to the north and east were the fellow five traditional European great powers, the German Empire and Tsarist Russia.

To the southwest was the newly risen great power, the Kingdom of Italy; to the south were Romania and the Ottoman Empire.

Among all neighbors, only the Ottoman Empire and Romania in the Balkan direction were relatively easy to bully.

Even tiny Italy was not that easy for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to bully.

Before Italy’s unification, the Austro-Hungarian Empire still occupied large swathes of Italian land. But after Italy unified, it became extremely difficult for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to expand further toward Italy.

Although Italy was only a lowest-tier great power, a lowest-tier great power was still a great power. Although Italy’s strength was far inferior to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, other countries clearly did not want the Austro-Hungarian Empire to annex the Kingdom of Italy.

Expansion toward Germany and Russia was even more impossible; neither of these countries’ overall strength was weaker than the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Faced with the only direction on this continent where it could expand, the Austro-Hungarian Empire absolutely would not allow itself to lose control of the Balkan Peninsula, even if the enemy was the even more powerful Tsarist Russia.

In fact, Emperor Franz Joseph I was already prepared to intervene in the war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire without British support.

If the British really did not participate, the Austro-Hungarian Empire would have to rise to the challenge, at least ensuring it gained sufficient interests in this war.

That’s right; the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s idea was not to help the Ottoman Empire defeat Russia, but to take advantage of the main forces of the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Army clashing, send troops to invade Serbia and Bosnia, and at least occupy these two places.

Of course, this would only be done if it was confirmed that the British completely did not interfere in this war.

With British support, perhaps the Austro-Hungarian Empire wouldn’t even need to launch a war to snatch a big piece of fat meat from the Russians’ mouths.

Spain, as an ally of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was naturally on the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s contact list.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire did not reveal its action plan, only requesting that Spain support the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Balkan Peninsula situation.

In return, the Austro-Hungarian Empire would convert all previous Spanish loans into interest-free loans and provide Spain with a new batch of industrial and financial aid.

This industrial and financial aid was still very useful to Spain, and Carlo naturally did not mind supporting the Austro-Hungarian Empire diplomatically.

Although the British were shit-stirrers, in the face of a major right-and-wrong issue like Constantinople, the British stance was still very firm.

No matter how the Balkan Peninsula situation developed, it was fundamentally impossible for Russia to monopolize the Balkan Peninsula. Supporting the Austro-Hungarian Empire would have no downsides for Spain, and the benefits provided by the Austro-Hungarian Empire were also things Spain currently lacked.

No matter how the Austro-Hungarian Empire prepared in secret, on the surface, both Britain and the Austro-Hungarian Empire showed no overly intense reactions.

This also caused the confidence of the Balkan ethnic groups in defeating the Ottoman Empire to swell further, with countries and regions like Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro announcing their joining of Russia’s side a few days after Russia’s declaration of war, to jointly confront the Ottoman Empire this enemy.

From the expectations of the Balkan ethnic groups for this war, it could be seen that the Ottoman Empire was indeed not welcome in the Balkans.

The main reason was that the Ottoman Empire’s policies in ruling the Balkan ethnic groups were too harsh; with the changes of the times, mere suppression no longer worked at all.

The long history of resisting the Ottoman Empire also gave the Balkan ethnic groups a bloodline of being brave and good at fighting. This also made the combat effectiveness of the Balkan ethnic groups very strong, and the Balkan countries that later became independent also had military strengths not to be underestimated.

After the Balkan ethnic groups joined Russia’s side, the Russian forces on the European battlefield had already rapidly exceeded 200,

In comparison, the Ottoman Empire’s concentrated forces in Europe were also just over 200,000, meaning the Ottoman Empire had already lost its numerical advantage.

On the Caucasus battlefield, the Ottoman Empire similarly lacked a numerical advantage. The Asian army commanded by Mehmed Muhtar Pasha had only 120,000 men, while the Russian Caucasus Army Group plus the militias of various ethnic groups united had a soldier count also exceeding 120,000; the two sides were on the same level in terms of soldier numbers.