In the New Year of 1755, all of Europe, except for Prussia, was spent in gloom.

Because of Austria's lack of preparation, the Austrian army not only failed to successfully rescue Saxony, but also almost lost all of Bohemia, a strategic center in the north (later the Czech Republic), and is now left in a lonely city in Prague to support itself.

The French army was unable to enter the territory of West** and its ally British vassal state Hanover, but only walked around the country before the snow fell.

The other German states, large and small, were able to maintain the upper hand in the face of fighting on the eastern and western fronts because of the might of Frederick the Great of Prussia, and everyone could not help but worry about whether they would be able to hold their positions if the Holy Roman Empire changed hands.

In addition, Denmark and Sweden in northern Europe (Norway was now part of Denmark) and the Kingdom of Spain in southern Europe were worried about the loss of their maritime rights and interests in view of the alliance between Prussia and the maritime power of Great Britain.

As for Britain, it is quite ridiculous that, because its allies are too strong and fearing that they will be besieged by European countries, they deliberately delay the implementation of the agreement with Prussia, and the promised monetary aid is delayed.

Fortunately, Prussia intended a quick victory from the outset. Therefore, after the occupation of the Duchy of Saxony, the whole of Saxony was quickly looted, and Bohemia was the richest province in the north of Austria except for the former Silesian region, and a large number of weapons and equipment and materials were hoarded, which are now all owned by Frederick the Great. Therefore, even without the support of Britain, Prussia's combat effectiveness would not decline in the short term.

From the very beginning, Frederick the Great made a plan for fighting on three fronts, south, east and west. The first route was led by the Emperor himself, and he quickly occupied Saxony in the south, then invaded Bohemia, and then directly threatened the Austrian capital Vienna. The western route, on the other hand, united with Britain to stop the invasion of the French army, but was in no hurry to counterattack. The third route was to stand by in East Prussia in case of a Russian invasion from the east, and then crossed Poland into the Brandenburg area, where the capital Berlin was located.

Obviously, this plan was carried out perfectly in the early days, and now both France and Austria were forced to retreat back to their homeland, and Austria had to hold out until Russian reinforcements arrived after the spring thaw.

If the Russian army can enter Vienna before it arrives, it means that the war is over, and it will be difficult for the anti-Prussian alliance to move back to another game.

Because of the bad weather in the ice and snow, except for the 60,000 garrison troops stationed in the Courland region and mobilized from the vicinity, Russia did not continue to send additional reinforcements.

The Duchy of Courland was originally a small, remote Duchy in Germany. But as soon as Peter's aunt and Empress Elizabeth's sister Anna ascended the throne as Tsar, Anna, who came from the Duke of Courland's family, immediately included the Duchy of Courland within the territory of the Russian Empire.

It is said that there are currently less than 40,000 Prussian troops in East Prussia, but with the combat effectiveness of the Russian army, the ratio of 3:2 is still not enough. What's more, Prussia will only rely on the Königsberg fortress for defense, and will not take the initiative to provoke the Russian army at all, so the two sides have been in a stalemate for a whole winter.

"According to the present situation, it is very likely that Austria will surrender before our army captures East Prussia, and this is a situation that I will never allow to happen!"

At the end of January in the Russian calendar, it snowed heavily in St. Petersburg, the sky was gray, and everyone was hiding a haze in their hearts.

At a cabinet meeting, Empress Elizabeth poured out her anger on several important ministers in a stern tone.

"Your Majesty, now except for Ukraine, it is inconvenient for the army to walk in other regions, and it is impossible to gather troops to launch an attack before the spring thaws"

"I say, Count Bestuzhev, don't you have any other way?"

The Empress stared angrily at her prime minister.

"Your Majesty, if you say that there is a way to save the emergency, it is not nothing, but..."

"But what? Hurry up! ”

"Yes, Your Majesty... If we can draw troops from the Ottoman border and cross the Polish border into Austria, we may be able to catch up."

"Hmph, although our country has signed a ten-year non-aggression pact with the Ottomans, the Ottomans will not necessarily strictly abide by it!"

"That's... There's no other way."

Bestuzhev said helplessly.

"Your Majesty, I think it is possible to draw this part of the army, if we can demand through the French that the Ottomans strictly abide by the agreement"

Seeing this, Deputy Prime Minister Volyntsov hurriedly said with a smile.

"Huh? The French themselves are dying, can they still control the Ottomans? ”

The Empress asked with a sneer.

"It's not impossible, I think, the French must have a way to convince the Ottomans, otherwise, if France and Austria are defeated, then the Mediterranean Sea will be all British territory, and the Ottomans can't not care."

"Well, then summon the French and Austrian ministers and tell them to hurry up and negotiate with the Ottomans. If they want to keep their country, they have to pay a price, right? ”

"Hey, exactly"

Volyntsov glanced at Bestuzhev, who was looking up at the sky, and said with a smile to the empress's meaning.