The decision of the Hofburg Imperial Palace soon spread throughout Europe.

This time, the Habsburgs really swallowed up 80,000 square kilometers of land in one go, and it was all the anointed land of Italy.

The population jumped by 8.2 million, making it more than the entire North German Confederation combined.

Today's Austro-Hungarian Empire is second only to Russia in terms of population and territory.

In contrast, Austria-Hungary's industrial capacity is firmly above the European average.

Although it does not dare to touch the United Kingdom, there is also a faint tendency to become the second most powerful country in the world.

The significant change in power has brought about a reorganization of European geopolitics.

Fortunately, the Franco-Prussian population is in the thick of the battle, otherwise neither would have sat idly by.

But excluding the two countries, there are still countries that have the time to shoot.

To the east of Austria-Hungary, Tsar Alexander II had already learned about this, but he did so later, knowing only that Austria-Hungary had put Italy on the negotiating table, and not yet knowing how the Habsburgs were operating.

The delay in the news did not affect the Tsar's reaction.

In recent years, Russia's main expansion direction has been Central Asia and the Far East, but that is only because the Crimean War has hurt them, and in fact the tsar's eyes have never left Europe.

Inside the Hermitage in St. Petersburg,

"This is a good opportunity, Your Majesty." Prime Minister Gorchakov's words were full of excitement: "Prussia is already mired in war, and Austria-Hungary alone cannot stop the great Russia, not to mention that this time we still have the support of Britain." ”

On the very day of the Hofburg Conference, the excluded Britain sent a diplomatic meeting to Russia, hoping to jointly deal with this change.

Britain has no economic influence over Austria-Hungary, but that doesn't mean they have nothing to do with Austria-Hungary.

Russia, which has a wide conflict with Austria-Hungary over the Balkans, is their best thug.

"What do the British say?" Alexander II also had a smile on his face, and it was still nice for his old opponent to ask for it.

"They want us to increase the number of troops on the border and put pressure on Austria-Hungary." Gorchakov said this with contempt: "Britain wants to keep Italy. ”

"Oh, Russia will not be a thug of these Western countries again."

Alexander said lightly: "This time we will only act according to our own interests. ”

……

Soon, Gorchakov made a public speech in which he declared the ban on Russia after the Crimean War null and void.

The repeal of the ban regains Russia's ability to maintain a fleet in the Black Sea and build naval installations along the Black Sea coast.

Only 15 years had passed since the Crimean War.

In addition to this, Russia demanded that Romania return South Bessarabia, the land she ceded in the Crimean War.

In order to enhance the persuasiveness of his words, the Russian army was constantly marching to the Russian-Austrian border.

And Russia has also carried out a small mobilization in the Ukrainian region, and it is expected that the number of troops stationed on the border will increase to 400,000 in a week.

By the time the news reached Vienna, it was already the third day of the end of the meeting.

Emperor Franz was hunting with Alfonso in a hunting ground southeast of Vienna.

Although it is winter, there is still a considerable amount of prey because it is owned by the royal family.

"That's it for the Slavs." Emperor Franz scoffed, and continued to observe the surrounding woods intently.

It's snowing in Vienna, but it's not that big.

The snow not only does not show the footprints of the prey, but will make the mud more solid, in which case the search for prey needs to be more meticulous.

"Russia is about to return to the world stage." Alfonso cautioned: "This statement is likely to be recognized. ”

Franz nodded: "I know, British." But there was no effect on Austria-Hungary. ”

Alfonso was quite surprised when he heard this, although Franz's political sense has not been very good, but Russia is about to move the Balkans, how can it be said that it has no impact on Austria-Hungary.

At that moment, the hound seemed to smell something, and trotted into the woods to the east.

A few people hurriedly rode horses to follow, but fortunately the woods were relatively sparse here, otherwise they would have to dismount and run along.

This level of movement could not interfere with Alfonso's thinking at all, and while he was steering his horse, he couldn't help but ask: "Russia may enter Romania next, Habsburg doesn't care?" ”

"Haha." Franz laughed twice, and the wind and snow were combined, but he was quite a bit of a royal bearing.

"Romania is not mine, let others worry about it."

Alfonso was speechless for a while, who did not know the seriousness of the conflict between Russia and Austria over the Balkan issue.

If it weren't for the balance between the two powers, the weak Ottomans would not have been able to maintain their rule in the Balkans.

Even so, the Ottoman suzerainty over Romania and Serbia was shaky, and the two countries, with a high degree of autonomy, simply did not listen to him.

Still, Franz's words gave Alfonso an idea: "Is Austria-Hungary going to give up the Balkans?" ”

"It's supposed to be a gray wolf." Franz saw a few shadows jumping in the distance.

Instead of discussing politics with Alfonso, the Emperor drew his Wendell rifle from his horseback and raised his hands flat.

"Bang!"

With the smoke bursting from the muzzle of the gun, the wolves in the distance were frightened and began to speed up and run in the opposite direction.

Obviously, such a reckless shooting did not lead to any results, but instead scared away the hard-won prey.

"Bang!" "Bang!" ...... "Bang! ”

For a while, there was a lot of gunfire, and the nobles who accompanied them opened fire one after another, trying to save one or two.

It's a pity that the humans and wolves are more than 200 meters apart, and not a single gray wolf falls.

"Alas......" while the crowd sighed,

"Hiss" An arrow tore through the air, making a sharp sound of breaking through the air, and directly hit the largest of them, the gray wolf.

The speed of the arrow was so fast that the human eye could only catch a flash of silver for a moment.

By the time he reacted, the gray wolf had fallen to the ground motionless.

You know, because the lethality of bows and arrows is limited, long-distance shots can usually only be injured, and the prey has to run a few steps before dying.

"This ......" Emperor Franz was shocked inexplicably, such a second kill, he has lived for 40 years, and he has been hunting since he was 9 years old, and it is really the first time he has seen it.

Alfonso, who had made this move, was casually putting away his bow and arrows, and drove his horses forward to inspect his prey.

Everyone woke up from a dream and followed.

When he got closer, the scene was even more beyond imagination, and he saw the large gray wolf with a length of 1.5 meters lying quietly on the ground.

On its body, a large wound had taken away half of the muscle tissue in its neck, and blood was pouring out of it.

The arrow that caused all this was stuck diagonally in the ground not far away, and only 1/3 of the arrow was still exposed.

"God......" Emperor Franz muttered.

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