Under the watchful eye of Prince Richard von Metternich, Charles triumphantly declared that the victory of France was a foregone conclusion, and that he was only waiting for the Russians to surrender on their knees, and although he did have enough reason to be complacent, this gesture of triumph was not just to vent the joy of his heart, but more importantly to show a gesture. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

He wanted to use the strength of the current coalition forces to convince the Austrians, so that these hesitant Austrians could quickly recognize the situation and side with the British and French against the Russians - and this would also lay a solid foundation for the future Franco-Austrian alliance.

It was evident that the international situation would become even more sinister after the break between Austria and Russia, and the Russians would hate them and would never help them again, while the Prussians would be strong in their flesh and blood, and would strike a powerful blow at their position as the German allies, and the British would be too far away to reach them, and they would have to tremble and rely on French help.

At that time, as long as France did not go so mad as to break with Austria completely in order to help the Italians, they could gain a friend who had to draw close to them.

Historically, His Majesty the Emperor Napoleon III made the crazy decision to aid the conspiracy of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which led to a war with Austria, which was eventually defeated at the Battle of Margenta and allowed the Kingdom of Sardinia to recover Lombardy. Later, he regretted it and wanted to prevent the unification of Italy, and forcibly ordered the Kingdom of Sardinia to stop attacking the Austrians.

Garibaldi's expeditionary force conquered southern Italy and handed over the newly conquered lands to the kingdom, eventually allowing the Kingdom of Sardinia to unify Italy.

Austria was thus left in a situation of isolation, and then was completely defeated by the Prussians, far from Germany, while France also became isolated, and was eventually defeated by the Prussians, achieving the prestige of the German Empire.

It has to be said that this situation of misconduct was caused by Emperor Napoleon III's short-sighted and overly opportunistic diplomatic strategy.

However, now the situation is different because of Charles's arrival, and Charles is confident that he can make His Majesty change his mind - if he can't do so, then force everything to change, he has no interest in tying his life and glory to His Majesty the Emperor Napoleon III, he must give himself a different result.

Richard, of course, understood that his friend was demonstrating to him, but now he had no other way, after all, Austria was in a weak position, and he had to choose between the already unreliable Russians and the increasingly aggressive French. And after the two empires, there was a gloomy Prussia to be wary of, and now that Austria was already in decline, they had to enlist foreign aid to defend their vested interests.

These days, he had been at the side of Chancellor Treville, witnessing first-hand the confrontation between the Anglo-French and Russian armies in the Crimea, and after witnessing what he saw, he had come to understand that Austria was running out of time to make a choice, and that it was now a matter of careful action to avoid becoming another target under the iron heel of France.

After receiving the news of the arrival of the Russian mission, Charles also hastily concluded his inspection and returned to the barracks, and then the French and Russian armies began to make intensive contact in preparation for the next peace talks.

In the end, the two sides reached a preliminary consensus and decided to start negotiations as soon as possible.

In order to allow the negotiations to proceed smoothly, the two armies designated a demilitarized zone in the middle of their respective lines of control as the meeting place of the two negotiating groups, and then, because it was still a truce, the armies on both sides restrained their actions, and the entire position was confined to silence, and even the original turmoil between each other ended, which also created a good opportunity for peace talks.

It was as if the heavens had felt the atmosphere, and on the day the peace talks began, the weather began to calm down, the cold winds that had been raging had begun to subside, and the snow that had been falling intermittently had recently stopped.

In the calm weather, Charles led the French legation, escorted by a troop of soldiers, to the predetermined place of negotiation, a humble chapel.

It is an Orthodox church, located in a small village, but because of the war, the village has been abandoned by the fleeing villagers, and the village and the church have been looted by passing French troops, and have become completely dilapidated, only after the truce was reached, in order to prepare for future peace negotiations, the French army high-ranking ordered the soldiers to temporarily renovate the church.

It was said to be repaired, but the main thing was to restore the damaged church structure a little, and by the way, a number of chairs were made of wood, and when Charles came to this church, he still smelled the smell of dust from hastily cleaning.

The hastily manicured beams, tables and chairs were a yellow glow of new wood, and the church was filled with an unpleasant smell, but Charles walked calmly to the center of the church and sat down on one side of the large negotiating table, which had been specially made.

There was no movement on the Russian's side, but he was not in a hurry, unhurriedly took out his pocket watch, calmly looked at the time, and then sat down in his chair. Given the situation the Russians are facing today, he is not worried that the Russians will play tricks on him, let alone that they will refuse to negotiate peace.

Sure enough, as he expected, soon, there was a commotion on the side of the area controlled by the Russian army, and it sounded like a large group of people had come together.

The chaotic sound of horses' hooves drew closer and closer, and finally stopped outside the church door.

Then, the doors of the church reopened, and a group of soldiers in military uniforms walked in, surrounded by several men in civilian clothes.

The men were tall and thin, but they were all dressed in black dresses and medals on their chests, and they looked like well-dressed diplomats, led by a middle-aged man with glasses and no beard, his face was resolute, and his steps were firm, and he walked towards Charles with his head held high.

Although the current situation was extremely unfavorable to Russia, these Russians behaved with great grace, lest they should be seen as fearful by the French, but this did not impress Charles, who, when he was in an advantageous position, must chase after his opponents and squeeze the last advantage he can squeeze.

Under Charles's gaze, the group walked across the table and sat down.

The leading Russian diplomat looked at Charles again, as if surprised by the other's youth

"I am Charles de Treville, by the grace of His Majesty Emperor Monapoleon III, who has been appointed Minister Plenipotentiary of the French Empire to negotiate peace with your country." But without saying anything polite, Charles stood up and nodded hello to the person opposite. "Hopefully, we will be able to achieve peace for our two great nations and nations as soon as possible."

"I am Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov, and I have come to negotiate with your country on the orders of His Majesty the Tsar." Gorchakov hurriedly stood up as well, and nodded calmly to the Shire side, "Your Majesty hopes that we can relieve the disaster that the two sides are facing now. ”

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Gorchakov, I've heard your name for a long time." After the initial introduction, Charles didn't want to say any more diplomatic clichés, and went straight to the point. "There have been negotiations between our two countries before, but it's a pity...... It is a pity that the negotiations were quickly terminated for reasons in your country, because countless lives have been lost in this time. But...... I think it's time for us to make amends for these regrets, and we can shed less blood for the youth of both countries. ”

After saying that, he waved his hand, let the others step forward, and handed over the papers.

"This is the condition for peace talks that our side is proposing now, and I would like to ask you to look at it."

His attitude was very calm and reserved, but with a cold arrogance, as if he had settled on the other side, which made Gorchakov feel very uncomfortable.

However, now the situation is stronger than people, so he didn't say anything, and directly took the document from the messenger's hand.

He carefully looked at the past one by one, and found that the conditions put forward by the French were basically the same as those put forward in the previous peace talks, and some of the conditions were even more excessive, such as the demarcation of a demilitarized zone on the Black Sea coast, prohibiting Russia from having fortresses and garrisons in this area.

"Monsieur de Treville, since I have come here, we must have proved that we cherish and pursue peace, at least no less than your country." He sneered, then looked up at the Charles, "However, we value peace, not because we are afraid of challenges, and it is not that we surrender to your country!" If your country still puts forward these conditions, we will not be able to accede to them, and let me say bluntly, there are some clauses that do not even need to be discussed, and His Majesty the Tsar will certainly not be able to accede to them. So, in light of this, I believe that we need to renegotiate a basis for peace. ”

"I think the conditions put forward by France are very reasonable, even magnanimous." "We don't need the Russians to pay reparations, we just need them to recognize the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the other country, isn't that reasonable?" In addition, with regard to the demilitarization of the Black Sea coast, there is a reason for this, after all, the cause of this war is that your country's boundless ambitions for expansion in this region have aroused the fear of its neighbors, so it is necessary for Russia to eliminate the fear of its neighbors for the sake of future peace. ”

"You mean, in order to prevent the crops of a farm from being stolen, you took away the scythe of the farmer next to it! Is this reasonable? But Mr. Gorchakov refused to budge, "Don't forget that the Russian scythe is also the most important thing to defend yourself!" If we demilitate on the Black Sea coast, then it means that the door is wide open, and you want to deprive us of the right to defend ourselves! ”

"I think Russia is safe enough that no one would want to attack Russia, so even if the Black Sea coast is demilitarized, Russia's security will not be compromised by a bit." Charles remained calm, "Of course, if your country has any doubts about this, France is willing to give you a security guarantee at the same time......"

Gorchakov's face turned red in an instant, this Trever was really harsh and bastard, and the more he spoke, the more ugly it became, and what he said to give Russia a security guarantee...... This is nothing short of humiliating. Even he himself must have known that Russia would not agree, and that it was just a mockery of himself.

After all, he had been engaged in diplomatic work for many years, so he did not let himself be angry, he looked at Charles coldly, "Thank you for your enthusiasm, but we don't need any security guarantees, we can defend ourselves, even the most powerful enemies in the world, we Russians are still not afraid." ”

"I admire your faith, but that doesn't seem to be the case right now." Charles calmly retorted, "Otherwise, you probably wouldn't be sitting in front of me." ”

Charles's words made Gorchakov feel depressed again.

Although he had only seen Treville for ten minutes, he could already see that this young man was really very difficult, and he was ruthless, and his words were very harsh, which made him feel overwhelmed.

Of course, the most important thing is that the situation in Russia is really too bad now, so that he has no confidence to speak, otherwise he will be the one who is now sneering at the French, and it will not be any different.

"Perhaps you have an overly optimistic estimate of where you are now, sir." After a moment of silence, he spoke again, "Yes, we are not in a good position, but in 1812 we were in an even worse situation, when we lost thousands of miles of land, and even lost Moscow, and what was the result?" In the end, we were victors, and the French Empire collapsed because of us. ”

"Indeed, the war of 1812 brought a tragic result......," Charles replied unhurriedly, "but Russia today is very different from 1812, sir." At that time, Russians would not have thought that they had another way to go but to be loyal to the Tsar, but today's Russians are very different. ”

"The Russian people remain completely loyal to Your Majesty!" Gorchakov raised his voice, "You have no right to doubt our loyalty to Your Majesty. ”

"Oh? So let's take it as it is. Charles sneered, "It seems that we can't achieve anything constructive for the time being...... In that case, please forgive me for temporarily suspending the negotiations. ”

"What?" Gorchakov didn't react for a while, he didn't expect that after the other party had worked hard to start negotiations, after only a few dozen minutes of talking, the young man suddenly announced that he was going to break off the negotiations.

"We both have our own opinions, so I think we need some opportunity to prove who is right and who is wrong, otherwise it's just empty arguments." Charles's eyes became sharper, "It just so happens that the truce is coming to an end, so let's see who is more right!" ”

After saying that, he stood up and turned to leave. "Goodbye."

Gorchakov looked at the departing Frenchmen in a daze, and was still speechless for a while.

"These bastards!" Until the end, he scolded indignantly.