Austria will, of course, strengthen the defenses of Moldova, unless they really intend to hand it over to Russia.

The last time he went to Vienna, Zhou Chun made this suggestion to Princess Sissi in an informal setting, and Princess Sissi said that Bessarabia could be returned to Russia, but Russia wanted more, so it could only fight.

The political significance of ceding the entire principality and parts of the territory to the enemy is not the same. In particular, the Austrian Empire had just been divided, and Hungary had been divided into the Central Plains. The rest of the territories were still under the direct rule of the Crown, and the different ethnic realms were already dissatisfied, so why the Hungarians could be on an equal footing with the Empire, they could not. At this time, if an entire principality composed of a single nation is ceded out, the stimulation of the other peoples in the territory will be too great. will make them think that the Empire will not try to protect them from violation. Even ceding only part of the land would be a great political risk.

Moldovans, Wallachians and Transylvanians are the same people, living in three adjacent regions, and if Moldova is ceded and Transylvania is ruled by Hungary, it may not matter, but what about Wallachia, the Wallachians will definitely be very dissatisfied with the empire.

Therefore, even if you can't fight, you have to fight, and even if the territory is lost in the end, at least the empire has shed blood to defend the territory. It may even be due to the pressure of external enemies to bring everyone more together. For example, once Russia approached the Carpathians, Hungary could not help but be nervous.

Of course, since it was decided to fight, it must still be more eager to win, and to win, and knowing in advance about Russia's ambitions for the lower Danube, Austria naturally strengthened its border defense.

But this gave Russia an excuse, and Russia sent a question to Austria-Hungary about why they were sending more troops to the border area, and Austria-Hungary explained that it was an exercise, which Russia could not accept.

Austria-Hungary has something to say, obviously just to guard against Russia, but can you say it to your face. It is clear that Russia has revealed their ambitions for the lower Danube, but can it be said?

The request made by the Grand Duke of Zhou and Princess Sissi in an informal setting, and then Russia did not mention it in the official communication, and Austria-Hungary could not produce any evidence, if it openly hyped up the Russian threat, it would be easy to attract Russian protests, so it could only quietly increase its troops in its own border areas, but let Russia start to accuse, and in the end it could only be said that it was for exercises.

The Tsaress quickly convened a cabinet meeting to inform the minister of the military movements of Austria-Hungary, indicating that Austria-Hungary continued to increase troops on the border for an unknown purpose, but it was a great threat to Russia, especially since the Austrian border was a stone's throw away from Odessa, and the Austrian army only needed to make a charge to close Russia's window to the Black Sea.

The Tsaress's success in making the ministers angry with the Austro-Hungarian move, especially the army, was very unhappy with it, which they saw as a provocation by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The problem of military support, which had been difficult for the female tsar to solve, was solved.

The military, led by Grand Duke Constantine, believed that Russia should correspondingly increase its troops on the border and put pressure on Austria-Hungary to withdraw its troops.

So Russia sent 200,000 more troops to the border, and almost all the active troops that could be used were hoisted, and only the Tsar's Guards remained in Moscow.

At the same time, the female tsar began to propagate the public opinion of Austria-Hungary's provocation in the country, and only a few years after the end of the war between the two countries, the hatred among the people was very deep, and the land that was snatched away by Austria-Hungary was a recruit for every national-conscious citizen, and the more educated the elite, the stronger the national consciousness, and a voice of revenge began to appear.

Externally, Russia expressed its anger at the fact that Austria-Hungary had increased its forces on the border for no reason and threatened Russia's actions. The attitude towards Austria-Hungary became more and more tough, demanding that they withdraw their troops immediately.

At this time, Austria-Hungary did not dare to withdraw its troops, because the Russian army had increased its troops, and if they withdrew, what would happen in case of a Russian sneak attack, and Austria-Hungary also had a strong Russian threat sentiment, and at this time, it would cause resentment due to Russian pressure to withdraw its troops. The Austrian aristocracy, the intellectual elite, in particular, insisted that troops should not be withdrawn. They had just been beaten by Prussia, and the prestige of the government had been dealt a great blow, and if the social elite were to be dissatisfied at this time, the prestige of the state would really be bankrupt.

The outbreak of nationalism in the nineteenth century was a sharp knife that not only united countries, but also caused great disasters, pushing many countries into the abyss of no return, and all countries were kidnapped by nationalism.

On the one hand, Austria-Hungary explained to the countries that it was planning to conduct exercises by increasing its troops in the border areas. But no one believed this reason at all, and all the countries were baffled that Austria had just suffered a crushing defeat in the Austro-Prussian War, and they really couldn't understand why they were provoking Russia.

Gradually, news came out that Russia had privately claimed territory from Austria-Hungary, but this was not very credible, and there were no official documents to prove it. If the Russian diplomat had made such a request only on an informal occasion, Austria would have refused outright, and would not have responded so strongly, as if it were a gesture of threat to Russia. It is impossible not to provoke a strong backlash from Russia.

Austria-Hungary also negotiated with Russia in the hope that both countries would withdraw their troops at the same time and withdraw the heavy troops stationed on the border. However, at this time, Russia resolutely did not accept it, believing that since the increase in troops was the first increase in Austria-Hungary, the withdrawal of troops should also be the first withdrawal of Austria-Hungary.

At this time, public opinion within the two countries was already full of anger, and they both thought that the other side had insulted them. Neither side dares to make a decision that clearly puts itself at a disadvantage, it is okay to withdraw troops, and it must be withdrawn at the same time, otherwise those who retreat first will be tantamount to giving in to the other side.

Russia constantly promoted Austro-Khalinarian provocations, believing them to be an insult to the Russian Empire, and when the tsaress met with dignitaries of all walks of life and foreign consuls, she offered the political methods unique to female politicians, crying, and each time expressing her humiliating attitude towards Austria-Hungary.

Even powerful female politicians are adept at using this weapon. During the first partition of Poland, King Frederick II of Prussia wrote to Empress Maria Theresia: "Catherine of Russia and I are absolute robbers. I just want to know how she will confess her sins to the priest? She cried when she took Poland; The more she cries, the more she achieves! ”

Empress Theresia was actually more adept at crying, and when Frederick took Silesia in the First War of the Austrian Succession, she wept to the consuls, saying that she had been bullied as a woman. The result is a barbarian figure of Frederick who disrespects women. The greatest result was that Tsar Elizabeth Petrovna of Russia, who was also queen, supported Austria. France, the old enemy, also sided with Austria, and in Europe, only Britain turned to Prussia, and on the continent, all of them were against Prussia, including the German Confederation. The Russian army even captured Berlin, but the Russian tsar died suddenly, and the successor Tsar Paul III was a brainless fan of Frederick, and he ordered the Russian army in Berlin to immediately obey Frederick's command, and the Russians turned against the Russian army that invaded Berlin and became Prussian reinforcements.

Tsaress Olga merely carried forward the tradition of European female politicians, and the more she cried, the stronger she became.

The Tsarina aroused the anger of the Russians, but in this era, crying could no longer impress the mature politicians, and the countries still expressed their desire for peace. Britain and Prussia, in particular, hoped that Russia and Austria would maintain peace.

Britain did not want to see the internal friction of the European powers, and Prussia was worried that Russia would become strong again, because Prussia knew that Austria was vulnerable, and that once Russia took back those territories from Austria, Russian power would increase.

The French, on the other hand, expressed their support, telling Russia that the Napoleonic Emperor and Chancellor considered Austria's actions inappropriate and understood the right of the Russians to preserve their honor in any way.

France doesn't care whether Russia will weaken Austria or not, even if Austria has been weakened by Prussia once, but Austria is still a big country, and it is better for France not to have a big power around it. France was also not worried about Russia becoming stronger, Prussia, which was closer than Russia, was now strong enough, and if Russia was strong, Prussia was under more pressure. Moreover, France had been seeking to form an alliance against Prussia, to support Russia, and to receive Russia's gratitude, which would help to achieve this end.

In this international situation, Russia's attitude became more and more intransigent, and finally issued a foreign communication letter to Austria, demanding that Austria immediately withdraw its border garrison.

Austria refused, still insisting on the plan of simultaneous withdrawal, and after refusing for 24 hours, the Russian army marched into Austria and into the principality of Moldova.

Another battle for territory began, and the Russians fought it not once or twice.

The two sides fought in the border area, and the female tsar did not send the Grand Duke Constantine to personally lead the troops, but let the Grand Duke sit in the rear and dispatch as the Minister of War, in fact, she was worried that the Grand Duke would be too prestigious. The Tsaress sent her esteemed general, Muravyov, in the hope that the general she promoted would grow up to be strong enough to counter the influence of veteran generals like Konstantin and Yermolov on the army.

The new Russian army was personally formed by Muravyov in recent years, and the training level and equipment level of the army are guaranteed, but the Austro-Hungarian army is not bad, especially the elite troops, and the two sides have launched a fierce competition in the principality of Moldova, each with 200,000 troops.

After it was difficult to distinguish the winner for a while, the tsaress ordered her guards to clear 200,000 and rush to the front to support.

Without mobilization, that's all she can muster.

The result she had hoped for was finally achieved, and the 400,000 Russian troops quickly developed a strength advantage over the Austrians, driving the Austro-Hungarian army out of the principality of Moldova.

But at this time, Austria-Hungary chose not to negotiate peace, but to mobilize for war.