Chapter 316: Reconciliation

"Dear Charry, what do you think about the current situation? Can we still block the French attack?" Francis I said to Grand Duke Charry with a worried look on his face.

"Your Majesty, the situation is indeed very bad now, but we still have hundreds of thousands of troops, and there is no hope at all." Grand Duke Charlie replied. He knew that after the Russian army failed in Prussia, Francis I's confidence had begun to shake.

"Don't forget that we have to face the attack of nearly 500,000 French troops." Francis I looked a little unhappy. He knew that Grand Duke Charlie was deliberately pretending to be stupid with him.

"Yes, the French army is very powerful. But we are not weak either. On the front line, we still have nearly 400,000 troops. At most two months, we will add another 400,000 troops. Even if we do not defeat the French army, it is enough to defend Austria. Moreover, our defense line this time is all built on the Danube, Ens and Sava Rivers, and we can fully withstand the French attack." Grand Duke Chali said confidently.

"But the war has only been going on for a month, and we have suffered heavy losses. Do you think we can hold on for two months?" Francis I said angrily. He believed that Grand Duke Charlie was completely confronting France without considering his own strength. He might not pay much benefit when he had great strength in his hands. However, when he was defeated by France, he would have to ask for peace. Although he did not want to bow his head to France again, this was almost the best way now.

"Your Majesty, do you want to ask for peace from France at this time? In that case, wouldn't the soldiers who died in the previous battle die in vain? I don't think the soldiers will agree. Besides, if we take the initiative to ask for peace from France, they will definitely offer unacceptable conditions." Grand Duke Charlie said with a threatening tone. Now the national troops are in his control. If he refuses to stop the war, then Francis I will not be able to implement a ceasefire.

"Cari, I hope you can see clearly that although we sacrificed a lot of soldiers in the war, we have more soldiers and officers stayed in the French prisoner-of-war camp. If we do not engage in peace talks with France, then he will probably never be able to return home and be separated from their relatives forever. Although we actively demand that the French peace talks will lose a lot of benefits, if we do not do this, what awaits us will be the destruction of the country!" Frances I patiently persuaded.

"Your Majesty, we haven't lost yet, and we may not lose. The great Austria will not perish." Grand Duke Chali said excitedly.

"Is that true? Do you really think so? Do you really think the army you have now can fight against France?" Francis I refused to give in.

"But we still have two allies fighting, and they all have strong strength. As long as we all work hard, we will definitely defeat France again." Grand Duke Charlie said guiltily.

"Russia is very powerful, but wasn't it defeated in Prussia this time? More than 200,000 troops were lost. What about Britain? They claim to be the most powerful navy in the world has been eliminated by France. Even the local people are facing the crisis of being about to be landed. How can they still have the energy to get the alliance treaty signed at the time and be able to support us?" Francis I still persuaded with heartfelt words. He didn't want to have a quarrel with Charlie. Although Charlie is now the commander of the entire army, the powerful guards directly obeyed Frances I. And after all, Charlie is the brother of Frances I, which is also a very important reason.

Grand Duke Charlie was silent. He knew that what Francis I was telling the truth. If Austria wants to confront France, it would undoubtedly be a dream.

"Don't worry, Charry. I think even if we take the initiative to negotiate with France, the price that the snail has to pay will not be very high." Seeing that Charry was a little shaken, Frances I continued to persuade.

"Why?" Charlie looked at Francis I in surprise. Every time he was defeated by France, Austria would pay a huge price to get a chance to survive.

"As you said, it is not only Austria that is fighting with France now, but also two other countries. I think France is very happy to reach a peaceful consensus with us. In this way, they can draw a large number of troops to apply to other places." Francis I said with a smile, but his smile makes people feel a little sinister.

"Oh my God! Your Majesty. Are you planning to leave your allies aside and negotiate with France alone? In that case, after France kills the other two countries, our end will not be far away." Chari said with some sadness.

"Of course this is not the case. How could I do such a stupid thing?" Francis I gave Charlie a blank look and then continued: "As far as the current situation is concerned, it is certain that Andreci wants to eliminate Britain. As for us and Russia, my appetite for Andreci is not as big as this. As long as we unite Russia and propose peace talks with France, I believe Andreci will agree, so that he can focus all his energy on dealing with Britain. Even if Andreci is willing to deal with us again in the future, our strength will be much restored by then. It will not be so easy for France to defeat us again." Francis I said with hope.

"In that case, we must form an alliance with Russia, otherwise our two countries will face the crisis of being defeated by France one by one again." Chari thought for a while and added.

"Of course, I think Alexander will be very interested in our proposal." Francis I smiled.

After that, Vienna and Moscow quickly became connected. Of course, Alexander agreed after discussing with the ministers about Francis I's proposal. Although they shouted that they could defeat Andreci's army like they had defeated Napoleon, if the French army was allowed to occupy Moscow again, Russia would suffer huge losses again and its reputation would decline greatly.

"I don't know what you think of Francis I's proposal?" Alexander asked the Marquis of State Floskov and Foreign Minister Makovsky, who stood in front of him.

Floskov and Makovsky looked at each other, and obviously had unified their opinions. Then Floskov said first: "Your Majesty, the war has just begun, and our country has lost more than 200,000 people and has consumed a lot of strategic materials. I think we should not go to war with France for the time being. We need some time to prepare, otherwise our losses may be greater."

"Yes, Your Majesty, the current situation is very unfavorable to us. The Prussian and the Rhine Alliance have been destroyed one after another, Austria is now struggling to support, and Britain is forced to defend its homeland and cannot support the European continent, so it is very unwise to confront France in a comprehensive manner. I agree with the Austrian Emperor's opinion. Our two countries will first hold peace talks with France to achieve a truce, so that France will focus on Britain, and our two countries will use this period of time to restore their strength and make strategic deployments. In this way, there will be greater strength guarantees in future wars." Makovsky also expressed his point of view.

"I wonder what Marshal Kutuzov thinks?" Floskov asked. It would definitely not work without the participation of the military.

"Marson Kutuzov also agreed to us to hold peace talks with France for the time being, and he needs enough time to allocate troops and build defense lines." Alexander replied.

"That's good. We have basically unified our opinions and can make a request for peace talks with Austria to France." Makovsky said with a smile.

While Austria and Russia were discussing a secret alliance, leaving Britain and France in peace talks aside, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th French troops, which were confronting the Russian army, launched another attack on the Russian army.

On April 15, after a week of intense transportation, the French army on the Polish front finally prepared a batch of strategic materials for launching a new offensive.

On April 16, after approval by the General Staff of Paris, a new attack plan submitted by Marshal Dawu began to be implemented. The French 1, 3 and 4th legions launched a fierce attack on Warsaw, while the French 2nd legions marched into northeastern Poland, directly threatening the Russian mainland. After three days of fierce fighting, Kutuzov's troops were driven out of the Warsaw area. Four days later, all the Russian troops retreated back to the mainland. The French army did not continue the attack, and the two sides confronted each other across the border, because at this time, the willingness of Russia and Austria to make peace talks had been passed to Paris.

"Let's talk about what Russia and Austria mean? Why did they ask for peace talks with us when the war was at its most critical moment? Don't they know that if we truce up with them, then we can fight against Britain with all our might? In that case, Britain will be dead. I believe that it would be very easy for our army to destroy Britain without the restraint of Russia and Austria." Xiao Jie asked with some confusion.
Chapter completed!