The refugee crisis in the Balkan Peninsula drew no outside attention. Though quite a few newspapers reported on it, they did so only in passing.
What had nothing to do with oneself was hung high and ignored—this held true in any world. In this era, the Ottomans had a poor image in the minds of Europeans.
They were practically synonymous with barbarism. Add the label of heathens, and they became the sort who supposedly had no human rights.
Besides, no one had the attention to spare. Their own people still could not fill their stomachs—who had the mood to care whether the Ottomans lived or died?
The outside world's indifference suited Franz just fine. Those future white leftists who talked big without feeling the pain were still at a rudimentary stage and had no voice to speak of.
Everyone's attention was focused on Constantinople and the Crimean Peninsula. The Near East War had reached this point, and both sides had begun racing against time.
If the Russians captured Constantinople first, they would gain the strategic advantage and could cut off the Bosphorus Strait. Other than compromising, the United Kingdom and France would have no choice but to fight Russia to the bitter end in the Balkan Peninsula.
Conversely, if the United Kingdom and France captured the Crimean Peninsula first, they would hold the strategic advantage. They could then destroy Russia's shipbuilding industry in the Black Sea, and there would be no need to continue the Battle of Constantinople.
Just because the Black Sea Fleet had been wiped out did not mean the Russians had made no preparations for a counterattack. In this era, sailing warships were not especially difficult to build, and Russia's shipyards on the Sea of Azov had not stopped working.
After suffering that loss, the Russians had