Chapter 852 The Fluctuation of the World

Under such a situation within Chenhan, not many people really looked to the West.

They didn't know that at the beginning of this year, the king and wife of the French Bourbon dynasty, Louis XVI and his queen Marie Antoinette, had been beheaded by revolutionaries on the guillotine in Paris.

They didn't know that France had officially declared war on the Netherlands, Britain, Austria, and Prussia. Of course, this was in chronological order, first Prussia and Austria, then Britain and the windmill. The latter two obstructed the "contact" between France and the outside colonies, and their unfriendly attitude towards France was clearly revealed.

And not long after Louis XVI and his wife were beheaded, a revolution broke out in Paris again. The ruling Girondists were overthrown by the Jacobins, who advocated radical politics, and the terrorist radicalism completely ruled France for the first time.

The former leaders of the Girondists were sent to the guillotine one by one. Among them was Madame Roland.

Perhaps many people don't know her, but her famous saying is well known to millions of people in the information age of later generations: Freedom, freedom, how many crimes in the world, ancient and modern, are committed in your name!

Just a few days before the Girondists were overthrown, the French revolutionary army had just defeated the 100,000 intervention forces composed of Prussia, Austria and many small principalities in the Battle of Valmy near Sedan.

It is a pity that this glorious victory cannot be attributed to the Girondists. On the contrary, it is still a shame for the Girondists, and it may be the fuse of their downfall.

When Verdun was occupied by the intervention forces, the door of France was opened, and at the critical moment of the crisis in Paris, the Girondists in power advocated moving the capital to the provinces. They were afraid and they wanted to retreat. The Jacobins insisted on fighting to the end. One of their leaders, Georges Jacques Danton, called on the parliament: "To defeat the enemy, we must be brave, brave, and brave again! Only in this way can France be saved." So the Jacobins recruited tens of thousands of troops to go to the front line, and thousands of patriots spontaneously organized to fight.

In the ten-day war of Valmy, most of the time, the two sides were bombarded with cannons and rockets, but at the critical moment, the high morale of the French soldiers played a decisive role in the final victory of the battle. It proved that in the new era of intensive firepower, the tenacious fighting spirit and high morale, combined with wise and correct command, can sometimes become the decisive factor in winning the war, which is even more important than daily training or weapons.

The day after Valmy, the First French Republic was officially established.

Its most important significance is that it gave all the French who were devoted to the revolution strong confidence, making them firmly believe that their revolutionary cause can win, and making them firmly believe that France under the leadership of the revolution is still strong and invincible.

After this battle, the French army changed its defensive situation and began to expand outward. For example, northern Italy!

The commander-in-chief of the intervention army, Massenbach, the staff of the famous Prussian general Brunswick, said: "You can see that the little cocks stood up so proudly. They have been baptized by fire. What we lost is not just a battle."

In the far east, when thousands of people were unaware, in the west of the "world", from this time and this place, a new era has begun!

...

"The First Anti-French Alliance!"

Emperor Chen in the Qianqing Palace sighed as he looked at the memorial in his hand. When he saw this letter, it was already the late autumn of the 19th year of Chengtian. On February 1, 1793, Britain, Prussia, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, Sardinia, Naples and other countries formed the First Anti-French Alliance.

In the summer of that year, under the instigation and support of foreign anti-French forces, the royalists in France planned and launched a series of anti-French rebellions in an attempt to overthrow the revolutionary regime headed by the Jacobins and restore the Bourbon dynasty. The rebellion spread like a plague in the 83 provinces of France at that time, and soon spread to more than 60 provinces.

Emperor Chen turned his brain and tried his best to squeeze out useful information from the old memory gap, and then combined with his early records, he thought of an event and a name.

—— The Battle of Toulon and Napoleon Bonaparte.

This incident should have happened in the second half of 1793.

The news sent back by the European Office did not mention Toulon, and it was obvious that the early events of the Battle of Toulon had not yet broken out.

Chen Ming remembered that it was a surrender planned by the royalists. In order to prevent the revolutionary army from entering Toulon, they not only handed over the Toulon Fortress to the British, but also dozens of warships of the French Mediterranean Fleet docked in Toulon Port.

The British really made a fortune.

Of course, it is unimaginable that Napoleon Bonaparte, who was completely unknown before, would become famous and stand out because of this sudden outbreak of war, and from then on he would step onto the stage of world affairs.

Emperor Chen still didn't know that Napoleon had lived under his command, and he couldn't possibly order the European Office to investigate an unknown person named Napoleon.

Even after the war with Russia ended, Chen Ming could only watch the changes in Europe and could only play a supporting role in India.

He didn't know whether Napoleon could rise like a comet as in history.

The storm caused by the flapping wings of this butterfly was too fierce.

Chen Ming had someone secretly transport the Minié rifle to Yili. As long as Napoleon could still appear in Toulon and continue to rise as in history, Chen Ming would dare to take a gamble and leak the Minié rifle. Of course, he also hoped that this thing could bring him a large number of disasters.

How long did it take to find some clues after the previous rocket leak? From the final summary, it was not that an enemy was doing bad things, nor was the secret leaked from one place.

So, there are bad bugs in this empire. But these little bugs are just like bacteria, and they cannot be seen without a "microscope".

The Minié rifle definitely has the strength to become a microscope. It is a weapon that can change the pulse of the times. With this kind of musket, the deterrent power of the rocket instantly disappears by half. This is really a heavyweight "invention" that can change the course of the world.

But the confidentiality of this weapon is not even as good as that of rockets. No matter how the rocket is exposed, as long as there is no rotten egg and it is taken by the enemy, the possibility of leakage is very small. But the Minié rifle is different.

The biggest change of this thing is the bullet, and if the bullet hits a person, even if it is deformed, you can still see a rough shape. It is easy to leak secrets.

Although this thing has the ability to change the world, it does not have foolproof confidentiality. Once it is used, it is difficult to keep it secret.

The only thing China can gain from the war is that it has made preparations one step earlier. The largest rifle units in European countries, including the British, are just a few rifle regiments in England. Compared with the overall number of troops, it is too small.

Although Chen Ming has long finalized the place for the release of the news-Xihai.

The latter has not been cleaned up at the beginning and end, and the Russians have always insisted on letting the Chinese leave. Although they dare not blatantly obstruct the construction of Xihai City, they still have some tricks and cheating.

So, until now, Xihai City has not been completely built.

That place is surrounded by Russian troops on both sides. The communication channel with the Baku Khanate is also subtly restricted. If the old Russians want to do something bad, it will really cause a lot of trouble.

Now on the border of Xihai City, the camps of the Chinese and Russian armies are almost close together. In this case, China's most advanced rifles were stolen by the Russians. This is very normal, isn't it?

The current governor in Astrakhan is Repnin, who was previously captured in the ravines of East Siberia. This guy is a smiling tiger and knows how to deal with things. Whether it is the reactions and impressions of the captured high-ranking officials of the remnant Qing Dynasty or the Wehrmacht officers stationed in Xihai, they all confirm this. If he was born in the 21st century, he would definitely be a good public relations expert.

If Chen Han's most advanced individual weapon, the Mini rifle, was stolen by the Russians, would Russia still have the face to entangle in the issue of Xihai?

It is reported that Russia now has a new target and is preparing to take military action against Poland for the second time.

You should know that as early as ten years ago, the small and medium-sized nobles and the representatives of the emerging bourgeoisie in Poland, which had been divided once, launched a patriotic reform movement. When the French Revolution broke out, Polish patriots were influenced by the revolution and wanted to regain lost territory and wash away the shame, so they carried out a series of reforms in the country and passed the "May 3rd Constitution" in 1791. These reform movements in Poland were hostile to neighboring countries, especially Russia.

Now that Russia has just ended the war with the Ottoman Empire and China, it is ready to vent the frustration of the war defeat on Poland.

In the war that just ended, Russia, in addition to the great defeat in the East, did not gain any advantage from the Ottoman Empire.

It is naturally impossible for the Crimean Peninsula to be taken back by the Ottoman Empire. Russia and the Ottoman Empire share this crucial geographical key point.

Perhaps many people do not understand what special strategic significance such a peninsula in a closed sea [Black Sea] can have?

But it is so crucial, especially for Russia.

When we unfold a world map, look at the location of Russia, and then superimpose the sea ice range, it is not difficult to find that this huge country dominating the core area of ​​the "World Island" is facing a serious "ocean dilemma." Its long open coastline facing the Arctic Ocean is surrounded by sea ice all year round, and only the Baltic Sea in the northwest has a few ports such as St. Petersburg that can be used; and later Russia has certain value in the direction of the Pacific Ocean and Vladivostok in the southeast, but now Russia's eagle head extending to the east has been cut off by Chen Ming.

The only port on Russian territory that directly faces the warm ocean is the Black Sea coast.

The Black Sea is a closed sea area with a narrow Turkish Strait as its outlet. The Crimean Peninsula is located in the center of the north of the Black Sea. It is only 1,000 kilometers away from Moscow, the core of Russia, and less than 500 kilometers away from Sochi, where the 22nd Winter Olympics was held in later generations. Crimea is to the Black Sea as Hainan Island is to the South China Sea - it is even more important than Hainan Island, because the South China Sea is not a closed sea area like the Black Sea. Perhaps we can imagine a Hainan Island appearing in the position of Zhongye Island, then whoever controls this island will own the South China Sea.

If you look further, it is not even difficult to find the value of the Black Sea. From here, Russia can enter the Mediterranean, and then the open waters of the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.

With this concept, the importance of Crimea to Russia is no longer difficult to understand. This is Russia's "window" to the ocean.

Looking back at Russian history, since the Grand Duchy of Moscow, which was born in the extreme cold of the north and had no coastline, this country has been pursuing the sea without hesitation.

Peter the Great's famous saying says it all: "What Russia needs is water."

For this simple sentence, his empire was mobilized, and Petersburg, a small outlet at the eastern end of the Baltic Sea, fought bloody battles with its northern rival Sweden for years. And Peter the Great's father Alexi took half of Ukraine from Poland before him. After Catherine stepped onto the stage of history, her eyes continued to look south and saw Crimea. Compared with the cold Petersburg, the warm water of Sevastopol was obviously more attractive. [The peninsula has a Mediterranean climate]

Chen Ming's sons and generals have questioned the importance of Crimea.

But Chen Ming knows the importance of Crimea to Russia.

After Russia acquired Ukraine and Crimea, the invaders from the West were constantly consumed by bloody battles on the Ukrainian and Belarusian grasslands on their way to Moscow. Sevastopol in southern Ukraine prevented the invaders from going all the way to the Caucasus along the Black Sea coast.

The most effective manifestation of this strategic layout was the Napoleonic Wars, where the god of war Napoleon broke his sword and halberd. The once glorious Napoleonic Empire died.

In the original time and space history, Russia further tried to expand its territory to the south, and the declining Ottoman Empire could no longer prevent Russia from going further south to seize the last key to the Black Sea - the Turkish Straits. Russia seemed to be about to achieve its long-cherished wish for a hundred years - to sail freely in the Mediterranean.

So a war aimed at containing Russia began.

Britain and France, the century-old enemies, finally joined forces to go to war with Russia. - This is the Crimean War.

In the Crimean War, Britain and France fought against Tsarist Russia. After paying the price of hundreds of thousands of casualties and the death of the commander-in-chief, the British and French coalition forces finally captured Sevastopol, but this war still failed to take Crimea from Russia.

Although the Ottoman Empire has set foot in Crimea again, and the local Tatars have warmly welcomed it, Sevastopol at the southern end of the peninsula is still controlled by Russia.

The Russians did not cede the flat southern part to the Ottoman Empire, but divided the Crimean Peninsula into two halves from south to north, with the Dnieper River as the dividing line. The west belongs to Russia and the east belongs to the Ottoman Empire.

Although this is a fuse, neither Russia nor the Ottoman Empire will be satisfied with the current situation, and the seventh Russo-Turkish War will break out sooner or later, but at this stage, both countries are stable.

The Ottoman Empire is discussing further reforms, not only in the military, but also in politics. But now Abdul Hamid I has a lesion in his body, and he is almost seventy years old.

Fortunately, Selim bin Mustafa bin Ahmed, who succeeded him, was also a staunch supporter of the reformists. This young prince was the nephew of Abdul Hamid I, who was freed from prison at the age of 43. He now had only two young sons, so the position of Sultan must be passed on to his nephew, the son of the previous Sultan Mustafa III.

…

"Does my second uncle know the news from Europe?"

On a cruise ship in Xuanwu Lake, Chen Ming sat opposite Chen Cong, who had gray hair but good complexion. Drinking tea, looking at the scenery, and listening to people singing songs.

Chen Cong is also in his sixties, and Chen Hui is about to be seventy.

But except for his gray hair, Chen Cong looks like he is fifty years old, while Chen Hui is really old and decrepit.

"Why should I look at Europe? It's too far away." Chen Cong, who has left the political arena, would not bother with Europe. In recent years, there have been endless incidents about the royal family in China.

"Yes, it's too far away. But no matter how far away it is, we have to look at it. If we don't look at Europe, we don't know when Spain will be involved in the war, and how the next war in America will proceed..."

Spain is about to declare war on France. I remember that Spain intervened in the Battle of Toulon. Their land in America is fertile.

A revolution also took place in Haiti in the Caribbean. The island of Hispaniola is occupied by France and Spain, and the British are also eyeing it covetously because this island is the second largest island in the Caribbean.

America has also experienced new fluctuations due to the revolution in Europe.