The British had entered the fray to tip the scales, making the war shrouded in uncertainty once more. No one knew whether the Tsarist Government's coffers would be emptied first, or the Kingdom of Prussia would be unable to hold out on the battlefield first.
Having lost their maritime transport routes, the Russians' plan to concentrate their forces and swiftly defeat the Prussians had gone bankrupt.
Ever since the Russians lost the Polish region, grain prices in Saint Petersburg had continued to rise, already thirty percent higher than before the war.
That was only because Alexander II had taken timely measures to keep them under control. Otherwise, grain prices doubling would not have been impossible.
The Russians had many granaries; the only problem was transportation. Hauling grain from Ukraine and the Moscow Region to Saint Petersburg inevitably drove up prices.
At the military conference in the Winter Palace, Minister of War Khramed analyzed, "Given our current transport capacity, the forces we can commit to the front will not exceed four hundred thousand.
"With so few troops, winning this war is practically impossible. The original battle plan is no longer suited to the times, and the War Ministry has decided to alter it.
"We will conduct strategic defense in the Baltic Sea and Belarus regions, while committing our main forces to Ukraine and attacking the Polish region along the Russo-Austrian border.
"That way, our troops can obtain supplies directly from Austria, reducing the distance of logistical transport.
"First, we will recover the Polish region. Then, relying on the rivers within Poland, we can transport supplies from Austria and secure the army's logistical needs."
The battle plan looked quite good and solved the problem of logistical supplies. Yet Alexander II felt deeply uncomfortable, because it meant asking Austria for help.
There was