Now that the Austrian Empire would attack the Ottoman Empire from Greece, the Greek army's odds of victory had been raised immeasurably.
Russia's upper ranks generally believed that even with the Austrian Empire's aid, Greece's advance could not possibly be faster than the Russian army's.
Russian military leaders generally estimated that the Austro-Greek allied forces would need at least half a year to break through the Strymon River defensive line.
Even the most pessimistic estimates held that the Nestos River was an insurmountable natural barrier they could never cross, no matter what.
Yet Nicholas I had never been able to set his mind at ease. After all, Franz had pulled off something astonishing in every war he had fought before.
Those military experts thought it was a coincidence, but he did not.
In Nicholas I's eyes, Franz, like himself, was one chosen by God and could not be regarded as an ordinary man.
Nicholas I once again proposed leading the expedition in person, only to have it collectively vetoed by Russia's upper ranks, as expected.
"Your Majesty, Her Highness the Princess has just suffered a misfortune. If something should happen to you as well, what will become of Russia?"
It would have been better left unmentioned. At the mention of Olga, Nicholas I's anger surged from his heart. Why was a Russia so vast incapable of protecting even his own daughter?
But when he thought of how the neighboring Austrian Empire had likewise been unable to protect its empress, his mood immediately improved considerably.
Though something about that felt rather strange.
"Are you all pigs? Are the ministers and soldiers of my Russian Empire all pigs? Can't you even protect your own Monarch?"
No one dared answer Nicholas I's question. After all, this was a question that could get one