Chapter 121, International Politics and Diplomacy

At a critical moment, the bureaucrats of the Tsarist Government proved unusually efficient.

They were all intelligent individuals who understood the gravity of the situation; lacking such insight, they would have been eliminated in the internal struggles of the bureaucracy long ago.

The demand for weapons and ammunition was so great that they couldn't be made available immediately; orders had to be placed for production. Even if Franz was prepared, he couldn't possibly have stockpiled hundreds of heavy guns and tens of thousands of tons of shells to just sit there.

Who could he sell such armaments to if the Russians decided not to buy?

The Austrian Army had no use for these unwieldy heavyweights, and the Navy, being penniless, simply didn't have the funds to procure so many cannons; moreover, coastal defenses didn't require such an arsenal.