Chapter 1204: Placing a Bet
Hotze knew he was referring to Switzerland's refusal to abandon its neutrality and its denial of passage for the Coalition forces.
Instead of being frustrated, he let a smile spread across his face. "You have fulfilled your mission. Leave the rest to me."
A few hours later, thirty thousand Prussian and Austrian troops launched a full-scale assault on Zurich.
Although Switzerland was famous for producing elite mercenaries, their domestic standing army numbered only two to three thousand men. Worse still, they were severely lacking in artillery.
The Swiss defenders managed to hold out until midday before they were forced to retreat.
Soon, a dense tide of Coalition soldiers flooded into the city.
To put things in perspective, the entire civilian population of Zurich at the time was barely twenty thousand people.
Hotze and Blücher allowed their troops a brief respite in the city. The following morning, they split their forces according to plan and set out in two different directions.
Hotze led twenty thousand Austrian troops toward Lausanne, intending to strike at the French heartland from there.
There, he would receive logistical support from the Kingdom of Sardinia before coordinating with Archduke Charles to launch a pincer attack on the Mantua Fortress.
Up to this point, the French had yet to make any visible response to the Coalition's movements in Switzerland.
...
Saint Petersburg.
The Winter Palace.
Alexander I leafed through the serfdom reform proposal drafted by Speransky, the Tsar's Chief Secretary. A satisfied smile remained fixed on his face throughout the reading.
Soon, he reached the final page. He looked up and praised Speransky, "Only someone with your vast knowledge and liberal soul could devise such a perfect plan."
The latter hurriedly bowed. "It is nothing, Your Majesty.
"If you find no issues with it, perhaps we could set an official date for its proclamation. This would allow Count Kochubey and me to begin planning the specific implementation..."
"Implementation?" The young Tsar handed the reform plan back to Speransky, his expression one of genuine bewilderment. "Why would we implement this?"
The Chief Secretary froze. "Your Majesty, you just said it was a 'perfect plan'."
"Indeed, it is perfect," Alexander I nodded. "But what about the interests of the nobility? This would be quite unfair to them."
Speransky felt a wave of despair wash over him, nearly bringing him to tears.
Just as he was about to make one last attempt at persuasion, the Tsar's adjutant entered and placed the daily military briefing on Alexander I's desk.
The Tsar casually flipped open the report, but his eyes suddenly widened. He bolted upright and barked at the adjutant, who hadn't even reached the door yet, "Bring Count Vorontsov to see me immediately!"
Because the European theater was so far from Russia, the document in his hands was a summary of the tactical situation on the continent from the past two weeks.
"The Netherlands has surrendered; British forces are preparing to move south into Flanders..."
"Archduke Charles has occupied Venice; the French Crown Prince has been forced to personally garrison the Mantua Fortress..."
"A combined Prussian-Austrian force of eighty thousand has occupied Switzerland, posing a constant threat to eastern France..."
"Picton's corps is harassing the eastern Rhineland; the French Army of Baden is pinned down at Karlsruhe..."
In other words, less than a month into the conflict, the Coalition had already established a crushing advantage.
If the Coalition achieved a breakthrough in any one of these theaters, the war would end swiftly.
Alexander I dismissed Speransky and began pacing the room irritably, his mind racing with regret.
'I have completely miscalculated this time!' He mused. 'During the last conflict, France achieved such startling results primarily because the British were unwilling to commit fully and because Prussia and Austria were too busy suspecting each other, leading to strategic blunders.'
'This time, Britain, Prussia, and Austria have committed their full strength. How can France possibly withstand them?'
His original plan had been to wait until the situation became clearer, pick the likely winner to ally with, and then send troops to harvest the greatest possible share of the spoils.
But he hadn't expected the situation to develop so rapidly. From all indications, France might not even last another two months.
If the Coalition secured victory before he even placed his bet, he would walk away with nothing!
The Russian Foreign Minister knocked and entered, bowing to Alexander I. "Your Majesty, you summoned me..."
The Tsar asked urgently, "Lord Hawkesbury hasn't left Saint Petersburg yet, has he?"
"No, Your Majesty," Vorontsov replied. "He plans to return to London next week."
"Excellent!" Alexander I commanded. "Meet with him immediately to discuss our nation's entry into the Anti-French Coalition.
"It would be best if all the conditions he previously offered remain unchanged. If that isn't possible, we can make minor concessions. However, the financial subsidies cannot be reduced, and our interests in the Balkan Peninsula must be maintained!"
Two days later.
In the Saint George's Hall of the Winter Palace, the Foreign Ministers of Britain and Russia each signed their names to the documents before them.
Vorontsov reviewed the terms once more with satisfaction:
Russia officially joined the Anti-French Coalition and committed to deploying at least sixty thousand soldiers within one month.
In return, Britain would provide Russia with a low-interest loan of seven hundred thousand pounds sterling, along with three hundred and fifty thousand pounds in direct military aid.
Britain would assist Russia with the production technology for the new percussion cap muskets and provide ten thousand finished rifles.
While the Russian army was campaigning in Europe, Austria would provide all logistical supplies for the troops.
Britain and Austria recognized Serbia and Bulgaria as within Russia's sphere of influence and supported Greek independence.
Britain agreed to allow the Russian Navy entry into the Mediterranean and promised future assistance for Russian offensives against the Ottoman Levant.
The text of the agreement was quickly delivered to Alexander I.
The Tsar immediately praised Vorontsov. These terms were an absolute windfall for Russia.
If the Russian army could secure a few victories near Italy, they might even extend their influence into the Italian Peninsula!
He gestured excitedly to his adjutant. "Send for Field Marshal Suvorov."
To seize as many spoils of war as possible, he was putting Russia's most capable "God of War" onto the table.
His only lingering regret was that the war was progressing so fast that he hadn't yet managed to secure the Island of Malta promised by the French.
However, the British had indicated that once the Coalition occupied Northern Italy, they would immediately attack the port of Toulon. Once the home port of the French Mediterranean Fleet was destroyed, the Coalition navies could reclaim the Mediterranean.
At that point, given Russia's contribution to the war, demanding a small island shouldn't be a problem.
Only half a month later, Suvorov led the Russian Minsk Army and a large number of elite Imperial Guards—including the Semyonovsky Regiment, the Tsar's personal favorites—totaling thirty-five thousand men toward Moravia in Austria.
From there, they would turn south and enter Venice.
Simultaneously, Korsakov commanded twenty thousand men, consisting of the Moldavian garrison and Cossack cavalry, moving toward Italy through the northern Balkans.
According to the plan, another forty thousand Russian troops would follow into the European theater later.
This was already the limit of Russia's expeditionary capability. While Russia could conscript three to four hundred thousand men domestically, sustaining such numbers for operations far beyond their borders was an impossible feat.
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