Success Is Never Luck

Chapter 667: Success Is Never Luck

At Vienna Palace, Franz was holding the year-end conference when a sudden telegram interrupted the proceedings.

On November 27, 1879, Russian reinforcements bound for Brest were ambushed by Prussian forces en route, marking a turning point on the southwestern front.

On the surface, the Vienna Government only needed to care about the final outcome of the Prusso-Russian War. Changes on a local battlefield should not have warranted such grave vigilance.

But the southwestern front was an exception. On one hand, the Tsarist Government had mortgaged the land west of the Dnieper River to Austria. If those territories fell into the hands of the Prusso-Polish Federation, the Vienna Government would face tremendous trouble collecting its debts in the future. (Limited to the Ukraine region.)

On the other hand, there was export trade. Ever since the war began, the Tsarist Government had been buying, buying, and buying from Austria.

Once the Dnieper River was cut off, Russian-Austrian trade would inevitably suffer heavily due to transportation constraints.

In order to profit from the war, the Vienna Government had also made ample preparations. Many state-owned enterprises had expanded their production lines. If Russian-Austrian trade declined, these companies would suffer disastrous losses.

With their own interests at stake, the government naturally had to take it seriously. As for the year-end conference, it was important when one said it was important, and not much of anything when one said it was not.

The year-end conference included a summary of developments in politics, economics, diplomacy, and military affairs over the current year, as well as the government's plans for the coming year.

Every department had long since done its homework. Reporting to Franz now was also preparation for fighting over next year's fiscal budget.

Most of these plans revolved around national