Chapter 67, Ideal Strategy

As winter turned to summer, St. Petersburg had seen the end of its bone-chilling days, and comfortable sunshine blanketed every corner of the city, warming this land of ice and snow.

News of the Balkan battle had arrived, and as usual, bureaucrats preferred to report good news over bad, seeing it as a shortcut to advancing their careers, and the Tsarist Government was no exception.

In the first round of the Balkan battle, the Russians achieved a comprehensive victory. Even though the Russian Army had suffered heavy losses in the battle of Razgrad, adding a blemish to the campaign, it did not diminish the officials' joy in reporting the triumph.

In the reports Nicholas I received, there was, of course, no mention of any Russian setbacks. Frontline officers glossed over these, emphasizing the losses of the Ottoman Army instead, making the result appear a great victory.