Austro-Hungarian War Minister Condra. For the first time, Field Marshal Hezendorf watched the spectacular landing of the marines on a battleship.

The Ukrainians in Crimea declared "independence", established the "Rada" with the Ukrainian national regime, and invited Austria-Hungary and Germans to send troops to station. With the cooperation of the Ukrainians, the German-Austrian forces have already occupied the entire Crimean peninsula, with the exception of the Sevastopol naval base.

The Austro-Hungarian Black Sea Fleet under the command of Admiral Pachner and the German Mediterranean Fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Maouf had tightly blocked the Severnaya Bay, and the entire Russian Black Sea Fleet was blocked inside the port. The landing of the marines near the port of Sevastopol did not meet with particularly stubborn resistance. Condra finally saw the power of naval firepower, because the rate of fire of naval guns was much higher than that of army artillery, even a destroyer could have enough firepower against an army artillery regiment, while a battleship with great power could not compete with even several army artillery divisions.

On 26 July, the German-Austrian forces had completed the encirclement of the port of Sevastopol.

The Russian army defending Sevastopol was locked in a fierce internal strife, and in the end, the Ukrainians gained the upper hand. On July 28, the garrison of the Russian Army surrendered and obeyed the orders of the Crimean "Rada", and the city of Sevastopol fell, leaving only the naval base and port where the Russian Black Sea Fleet was stationed.

Admiral Nasimov's Black Sea Fleet refused to surrender, and His Majesty the Austro-Constitutional Emperor rushed over on the armored cruiser "Archduke Friedrich" to witness the destruction of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

Outside the harbor, light signals flashed constantly on Admiral Pachna's flagship "Empress Teresa" and Vice Admiral Maouf's flagship "Deutschland".

"What are they doing?" Condra asked.

"They are demanding the surrender of the Russian fleet in the harbor!" "But the Russians say 'I'd rather die than surrender,' and that's what they mean when you look at the signal flags they raise on their warships." ”

"Then why don't you attack yet?" Through the telescope, Kondra said, the Russian fleet was lining up in the harbor and slowly heading toward the channel.

"Marshal, the navy has its own pride, Admiral Pachner certainly does not want to take the initiative to attack such a weak fleet, he is waiting for the Russians to surrender, but the Russians do not seem to be ready for war, their crews are evacuating." "They seem to be preparing to wreck." ”

"Shipwrecks? Why not stop them. Condra said.

At this time, the emperor, who had been standing beside him and had not spoken, suddenly spoke: "The navy naturally has the pride of the navy, and this matter should be done according to their rules, we just have to watch." ”

The Russian naval officers and sailors who had evacuated the warships stood in a solemn formation on the pier, and the German-Austrian fleet outside the harbor was only 5,000 meters away from them, but these warships only silently monitored the movements of the Russians, and had no intention of stopping them. A Russian destroyer began to fire torpedoes at its own warships one by one, and huge explosions came from the harbor one after another, and the Russian warships that had been shot began to slowly sink into the water.

The officers and men of the German-Austrian fleet quietly witnessed the tragic scene in front of them on the warship, and did not interfere with the actions of the Russian troops. The Russian Black Sea Fleet disappeared beneath the icy waters.

"In the future, our main forces will be transferred to the sea, and the 3 million army needs to be cut by about half, but the navy and marines need to be strengthened." Lehedon turned to Kondra and Bolojevic.

Kondra and Boloyevich understood the emperor's intentions, Russia was basically finished, the German-Austrian forces had captured Kyiv, they were advancing almost unhindered in Ukraine, the Russian army had basically collapsed, and there was basically no resistance. The emperor did not seem interested in the territories of Ukraine and Poland and had no intention of incorporating them into the territory of the empire, but he was interested in how to dismember the vast Russian Empire.

"The Ottomans have presented us with their desire to restore their past rule over the Crimean Peninsula, the lowlands along the Dnieper, and the Caucasus, and the Germans seem intent on giving the Turks control of the Caucasus." Bolojevic said.

"This is impossible, they have the ability to take away the Caucasus from the Russians, but the Dnieper and the Crimean Peninsula are absolutely impossible!" "The Ottomans will always be our enemies, and I have no interest in helping them. ”

The fact that the Ottoman and Austrian empires had been mortal enemies for centuries did not change just because they were now allies, and although the Germans controlled the Ottoman Empire, it did not mean that the Austrians wanted to see a strong enemy.

"What do we need to do?" Bolojevic said.

"It's simple, do nothing. When the Turks are bleeding in the Caucasus, we will send troops to take control of that area. Lechelton said.

"What if the Turks occupy that area?" Condra said.

"No case, we now support the Russians to resist their aggression!" Helton Lee said.

The Emperor's mindset changed so quickly that even Condra was taken aback.

"I mean, we support the creation of a new state in the Transcaucasia." The Emperor continued to explain his point.

Now that the Mediterranean and the Black Sea were almost the inland seas of Austria-Hungary, even the Germans could not interfere with the freedom of action of Austria-Hungary, and although there were contradictions, on the whole it seemed that the interests of the Austrian Empire were tied to the Germans, unless the Austrians wanted to compete with the Prussians for dominance of the German regions. However, it now seems that the Austrians have long since abandoned this unrealistic idea.

But the Austro-Hungarian Empire also depended on the support of the Germans, who made up only 23 percent of the population in the empire, and without the support of Germany, it would not have been possible to become the dominant nation. Although the equality of the nations began to be advocated within the Reich, in fact the German nation was the dominant force throughout the Reich.

It was precisely because of the support of 56 million Germans that the 12 million Germans in the Reich were able to accept the equal rights of other peoples to themselves, without fear that the Slavs, who currently make up the majority of the population, would oppress them. This was the basis for the entire empire to gain stability.

"Your Majesty, what are we going to do next?" Rushing out of the Atlantic seemed tempting, Condra said, and the Germans, in order to induce Austria-Hungary to devote more energy to the Atlantic, even handed over the naval ports and shipyards of Saint-Nazaire and Brest to the Austrians, but the Emperor's intentions were clearly not there.

"The Indian Ocean and the Far East, of course." "Half of the world's population and a huge market are the main areas that will sustain our future development," exclaimed the Emperor, "and the days of the Atlantic are over, and there is no oil or water there, and we will get nothing but fish." This is the main reason why I have tried my best to help the Chinese, and if we control their army, we will control their government, and there will be a vast world for us to show our skills in the future! ”

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