"Ahem, since His Highness has already said so, then I have no opinion"

Bestuzhev suddenly realized that Peter was no longer an admirer of Frederick the Great as he knew him, but a judge who had lost sight of money and profit, or euphemistically called 'the interests of the Russian Empire', and that the basis of his old insistence on the idea that a German was unfit to sit on the Tsar's throne had completely disappeared. Although it seems to be a little more crazy now, but in a good direction, perhaps we should first try to see how far the young man in front of me can go, and whether he has the ability and skills to rule a large empire.

"Very well, then, let's go over the things that have been determined again"

Peter pouted and nodded.

"The first is to solve the problem of the anti-party, which is mainly dealt with by Count Shuvalov; secondly, there were financial issues, including negotiations with France and Austria on aid payments, which were to be handled by Duke Volyntsov; The third is to find out the true intentions of the British towards our country, and leave them to Count Bestuzhev and Count Shuvalov respectively. These three are the highest priority at the moment, and I ask you to make sure that you do everything you can to complete them."

"Understood, Your Highness"

"Please rest assured, Your Highness!"

"Yes, Your Highness"

"Well, as for the raid on Berlin ... I suddenly feared that Frederick the Great would be desperate to withdraw his troops from Vienna, and that the Austrians would not be willing to hold him back, and that we would not be able to offer a price that the Austrians would be willing to accept..."

Staring at the map of the European continent, Peter hesitated a little, unsure of his idea, and felt that there were no weighty hole cards in his hand that could dominate the audience.

"Your Highness, if we threaten to withdraw our troops, I think there is still a great deal of certainty that we will force the Austrians to agree."

Volyntsov agitated.

"It's fine to say that the army on the southern front is not in Austria, but if there is no Austrian to lead the way and support, it will be difficult for Saltykov to play... The bottom line is that I don't want Frederick the Great to withdraw his troops from Vienna now, do you understand what I mean? ”

Peter leaned forward, his left elbow resting on the table with his chin propped up in reflection.

"Oh... Your Highness actually wants to... A little more distraction from the Prussian army? ”

Volyntsov speculated.

"So far, the Prussian army has been divided on the east, west and south fronts, and even with the strongest army in Europe, it is difficult for the Prussian army to give full play to the advantages of fast movement and strong combat effectiveness, and almost every battle is an inferior force against an absolute superior force, and I don't want to change this status quo easily."

Peter pointed to the Prussian border on the map.

"So, His Royal Highness's real intention is actually to attack Berlin from the northern front, but he doesn't want the main force of the Prussian army on the southern front to come back, I don't know if this is understood?"

Bestuzhev asked.

"That's pretty much what it means, but I'm worried that I won't be able to attack Berlin before winter because of the lack of troops, so I said that I want Saltykov to attack from the south to the north, so that the two sides will be flanked... Hey, why don't you do that? Saltykov was in charge of fighting Saxony, so that the defenders of Brandenburg could be drawn to the south."

"Attacking Saxony is tantamount to threatening the supply lines of Bohemia and Moravia, and it is equivalent to threatening the supply lines of the main Prussian army in Vienna, and there is the possibility of flanking Silesia (Saxony is Silesia to the east), and King Frederick will still send troops to block it. If His Highness wants to prevent King Frederick from leading his army north, why not wait for Prague to fall and have Saltykov and Duke Daun lead his army south, so that the main Prussian force can be surrounded"

Bestuzhev analyzed.

"Hmm... How to say it... Well, please try to think of it this way, if Frederick the Great surrenders this year, then we will only get East Prussia, and Austria will be able to take back the richest of Silesia, and France will even be able to occupy all of Hanover, Hesse-Kassel, Westphalia, and Braunschweig, and the Swedes will take advantage of this opportunity to land and occupy Trans-Pomerania. Do you think it's reasonable that we're the only ones who have been winning, and the other countries are as useless as waste, but what we get is the least? Why do those wastes get more than we do? It's incredible, isn't it? ”

Peter said excitedly, patting the map on the table.

"Ahem, in short, I mean that Prussia cannot surrender this year, and that it will have to spend another winter in Vienna to return to Brandenburg for rearmament, which is the result that I can most accept. On this basis, whether it is a southern, northern or eastern front, whether it can get more benefits from Prussia depends on how it is played, whether it is to attack Berlin, Saxony, Silesia, or whatever, but the most basic goal cannot be changed, and the main forces of Prussia and Austria must be dragged in Vienna and cannot move! ”

"Well... I see."

Bestuzhev's left eyelid kept jumping, but he still smiled.

"Otherwise, Saltykov continued to stay in Bohemia, first taking possession of the whole of Bohemia, leaving the road from Brandenburg through Silesia and Moravia to Austria, and pushing the main Prussian forces eastward. In this way, Frederick the Great's army would still be supplied, certainly by a detour, and the defenders would be drawn to Silesia, but not by a complete lack of supplies and forced to retreat. If, after the capture of Prague, Field Marshal Dawn was ordered to return to Vienna, it would not be too late for Saltykov to go north to attack Saxony or even Brandenburg... Well, let's do it."

Peter rhythmically banged on the table.