Muddying the Waters

To win international support, the Berlin Government naturally did not approach Austria alone. At almost the same time, governments across Europe received invitations from Berlin.

No one knew what they truly thought, but publicly, everyone was righteously condemning the "bandits."

If spittle could kill, the Russian Cossack cavalrymen would probably have been wiped out by now.

While diplomacy was in motion, the campaign among the people did not sit idle either. The Berlin Government bought space in numerous newspapers, publishing photographs of Russian atrocities along with the heart-wrenching accusations of survivors.

These efforts had not been in vain. The Berlin Government won the sympathy of the European public, and public opinion overwhelmingly condemned the Russians. Even pro-Russian media fell silent.

Many media outlets also accepted the Berlin Government's invitation and dispatched war correspondents to gather firsthand information on the ground.

Not only that, the Berlin Government had staged a play, Rampant Bandits, and sent the troupe touring throughout the European Continent.

The plot went roughly as follows: in a happy little village, a band of Russian bandits suddenly arrived. They burned, killed, looted, and committed every evil imaginable. The brave villagers rose up in resistance, but they were outnumbered. To cover the children's retreat, everyone...

There were too few forms of entertainment in this era. The Vienna Opera House had already performed it for a full week, yet it still drew huge crowds.

Tragedies always moved people easily. A performance onstage carried far more impact than words on paper, and after every show, the noble ladies in the audience wept their hearts out.

If they could organize a fundraiser, the Berlin Government would certainly reap a great harvest this time. Public sentiment had been stirred up, and the calls for intervention grew louder and louder, putting the Austrian Government under