"That's right. The old man wants me to build up Alaska's First Army. Alaska only has five thousand soldiers right now—that's nowhere near enough to threaten the British and Americans."
Clearly, Alexander had taken Nicholas I's words seriously and was preparing to make a grand display of his abilities.
Though such a decision was absurd, Franz supported it. Don't doubt your ears—Franz would never waste his effort on something useless.
Franz naturally had his own purpose in letting Russia keep Alaska.
Of course, Franz had no plans to strike at Britain and the United States from both sides on land, but he believed Alaska was the key to extending the Russo-Austrian Alliance, as well as its final insurance.
Shared interests and common enemies could both serve as the foundation of an alliance. Franz's line of thought was to create more enemies for Russia.
Alaska was an excellent bait. As a transmigrator from the future, Franz knew very well what lay buried beneath Alaska's soil.
Whether gold or oil, either was enough to make Britain, the United States, and other nations' eyes gleam at the sight of money. Russia, despite being a bitterly cold land, naturally would not give up such hard-won resources.
At that point, Russia would have no choice but to carefully consider its alliance with the Austrian Empire. Or rather, as long as Russia became entangled in a fight with Britain and the United States in North America, Austria would still have room to maneuver.
Whenever Franz felt the time was not right, he could toss out this icy bone and let them tear into one another, buying time for the Austrian Empire's development.
Still, there was no need to worry too much. Whether Russia could hold on to it was one matter; whether it could develop it