On the other side, almost a month had passed since Austria-Hungary and Prussia went to war.

Prussia invested nearly 1.2 million troops in the two Franco-Austrian wars, and it already felt a little weak in the follow-up.

Excluding Austria, the population of the entire German region at this time was just over 40 million.

According to the technology and system of this era, unless they were willing to send light infantry with only a helmet and a rifle to the battlefield, even the Germanic superman with abundant martial virtue would not be able to send more people.

After receiving help from Hungary, Austria-Hungary maintained a military superiority of more than 200,000 troops in the Austro-Prussian battlefield.

The Austro-Hungarian army of this era was not as corrupt as later generations, and perhaps it was inferior to Prussia, but it was still above the European average.

The gap in combat power and weapons between 200,000 people is enough to close out.

Moreover, France has not been idle, and in the past half a month, they have launched several counteroffensives against South Germany and Alsace through Strasbourg.

In the end, they were all repulsed, but it still involved a lot of Prussia's energy.

The combination of several factors gradually reversed the disadvantage of Austria-Hungary.

On 3 March, the Austro-Hungarian Empire invaded Munich and recovered all of Bohemia.

King Ludwig then returned to Bavaria to reorganize his power.

The original Nuremberg government was ousted, officials were dismissed, and all Bavarian soldiers who had served in the Prussian army were called back.

It has to be said that Ludwig's handwriting embarrassed Prussia very much.

After all, the homeland has changed hands or is about to change hands, how can the Bavarian soldiers still have peace of mind to help them fight.

Even if they didn't make trouble, Prussia wouldn't dare to use it again.

But it doesn't work to put it back directly, Ludwig and Prussia are enemies, isn't this an enemy?

After thinking about it, Bismarck had no choice but to set up a temporary camp and put these Bavarian soldiers in it.

Prussian officials repeatedly stressed that this was not a prisoner of war camp, and that the salaries, bonuses, and pensions of South German soldiers fighting would be paid as usual, and would only be checked after the war was over.

This statement obviously can't convince the public, and the comrades-in-arms who fought side by side with them yesterday were suddenly dragged and locked up for no reason today, who can feel better.

Not to mention the front-line soldiers, the German people were talking about it, thinking that Prussia was suspected of revenge and crossing the river and demolishing the bridge.

It was good that Prussia was a separate regiment when recruiting the Bavarians, otherwise the impact would have been greater.

In addition to the lack of grace and confidence, the detention of Bavarian soldiers had the serious consequence of further straining the forces at the front.

Throughout South Germany, there were nearly 100,000 people serving in the Prussian army, 80% of whom were Bavarians.

With so many fewer people at once, the gap in the number of troops on the Austro-Prussian front has widened to 300,000, which is about the same as 1:2.

In modern warfare, it is impossible to turn the tables on such a huge disparity in numbers.

Seeing this, Moltke again proposed the release of Bazin's legions.

Bismarck seriously considered the opinion of the chief of the General Staff this time, and felt that Nasin had performed well during this period, and even sold his head to support 50,000 troops in spite of the turmoil in Paris, which should be trustworthy.

So they agreed, and they were given Prussian equipment, packed and sent to Paris.

The reason why they were not sent directly to the Austro-Prussian battlefield was because although Nazan had gained the trust of Prussia, the identity of Bazin's legion was still to be determined.

You can only return them first, and see if Nasan can restrain these guys.

If it doesn't work, this legion will explode and Bonaparte will help them block it first, and it will not directly endanger Prussia.

And in return for sending 200,000 men to Nazin, Prussia had to take the remaining 100,000 troops from Paris.

These troops were all Bonaparte's hardcore troops, who had been co-opted by the previous layers of screening and promising heavy benefits, and their loyalty was worth reassuring.

It has to be said that Nasan was stupid when he heard Prussia's decision.

With these 100,000 loyal troops to suppress it, he thought that no matter how turbulent the situation was, he would not fall until Prussia fell.

But the other party suddenly gave him such a hand, and the prospect instantly became confusing.

He had a good personal relationship with Bazin, and the other party publicly supported his decision.

But who knows what the soldiers below think.

At that time, the whole of Paris will be full of people from Bazin's army, and whether they will rebel or not will not be in their thoughts!

Nasan was very panicked, very panicked.

However, there was no room for him to refuse, and the Prussian authorities had already decided!

In the letter sent by Bismarck, he even said that they had suffered a big loss by exchanging 200,000 yuan for 100,000 yuan, and asked them to take three disciplines for a while, and select 100,000 trustworthy ones from them and then send them back.

Scald!

Regardless of how broken Nasan was at the moment, the situation in Prussia was indeed in danger.

If it weren't for the fact that it couldn't stand it, who would sell allies like this? It's no different from fishing with all your might.

At this time, Austria-Hungary openly proposed a meeting in which Prussia would withdraw from the four southern German states and dissolve its alliance with Saxony, and the two countries would be at peace.

No land cuts, no compensation! South Germany was recently occupied, Saxony was only captured in 1866, and nothing was lost.

Austria-Hungary's condition is indeed not excessive......

But this was only Bismarck's idea as chancellor, a proposal that was opposed by the majority of the remaining Junckers.

The Junkers landlords were keen to expand their territory and to find markets for their products, and it was not what they wanted to see in abandoning South Germany.

And having lost South Germany, no one knows whether the North German Confederation will be able to continue to exist.

The importance of North Germany to Prussia is self-evident, and a simple Prussia has always been pressed by France.

Bismarck, himself one of the Junkers, could not go against the will of the collective, and then rejected Austria-Hungary's request for peace.

But Austria-Hungary was right about one thing, it was time to withdraw from South Germany.

Munich has been lost, Strasbourg has been lost, and Bohemia has not prevailed, and there may be a big encirclement at any time.

Moreover, the soldiers of Bavaria were all locked up, and it no longer made sense for this war to continue to force themselves in South Germany.

Of course, Bismarck still understood the truth of cutting one city today and ten cities tomorrow.

He turned around and went for Russian help.

On 26 March, Alexander again received the Prussian envoy.

This is the seventh batch in more than a month.

Unlike in the past, the Tsar's ministers all reversed course and supported the Russian army.

The reason, of course, was not that Prussia was receiving money, but that both Prussia and Austria-Hungary had been severely weakened, and Hungary had sent a considerable number of troops to support Austria.

Now that the Austro-Hungarian defense is empty, it is a good opportunity for Russia to take advantage of the weakness.

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