While the British Army was still struggling on the Afghan battlefield, victory and defeat had already been decided in Central Asia. The Russians had proven with their strength that they were still that arrogant, formidable European steamroller.
Of course, this victory was proclaimed by the Tsarist Government. As for the actual situation, the outside world still knew nothing.
The only certainty was that the Russian Army had indeed defeated the main forces of the three Central Asian states and seized the initiative on the battlefield. Whether they would sink into the vast ocean of people's war was something only the Russians themselves knew.
Although Franz was watching the situation in Central Asia, he had not sent anyone to gather intelligence on the ground. Most of the information in the Vienna Government's hands had been released by the United Kingdom and Russia themselves.
This moment was too sensitive. If Austria became too deeply involved, it would be easy for both the United Kingdom and Russia to mistake it for ambition toward Central Asia.
"How far have the Russians gotten with their war preparations? When will they be able to launch an offensive into Afghanistan?"
In fact, the Tsarist Government had begun preparing for war as early as a year ago. At the time, however, its objective had merely been to seize parts of Central Asia.
Afghanistan had not been within the Tsarist Government's plans at all. Its highest goal had only been to support a puppet regime and turn it into a buffer between the United Kingdom and Russia.
As the battlefield campaign proceeded smoothly and the British Army performed so poorly, Russian expectations continued to rise. Now, they wanted to swallow Afghanistan whole.
Against this backdrop, the original war preparations were naturally insufficient. Around three months ago, Alexander III had