[center][b][u]The War Moves East[/u][/b][/center]

With the withdrawal of the British from the war, many thought this would be the end. However, others were determined to show that this was not so. The focus of the war moved east, to the Balkans and the Caucasus, and to the Far East.

The first action of the year was on Romania, as the hammer of the Austrian army fell on their old allies. Commanded by Archduke Albrecht, 280,000 Austrian troops marched around the south of the Carpathian Mountains and into Wallachia. They would not, however, find it an easy task. The full force of the Romanian army, as of yet untouched by the war, quickly moved west from their positions on the Russian border. Joining them was an Ottoman army, bringing the total strength of the defenders up to 230,000. Battle was joined early in the morning, with the Austrians getting the early advantage. However, as the attackers pushed forward, they came in reach of expert Romanian cannon, who did heavy damage to the Austrians. Attempts to dislodge the artillery positions were thwarted, as the cannons were dug into strong fortified positions, and the defenders continued to rain fire down on them. Eventually, the weight of the Austrian push was enough to force the defenders to fall back from the western part of Wallachia. The Austrian attack had fallen short of expectations, but it had had one important effect - the planned Romanian-Ottoman march into Russia had to be cancelled, as the Austrian attack was a far more pressing concern.
(-36,400 conscripts to Austria, -19,700 conscripts to Romania, -8,600 conscripts to the Ottoman Empire)

Austrian ships began a shelling campaign of Albanian ports, to try and cripple the Ottomans in the region. Damage was limited as the weaker Austrian navy was reluctant to engage the Turkish fleet, so the effect was limited. There was a small engagement between the two navies.
(-1 sail frigate to Austria, -1 sail frigate to the Ottoman Empire, small decrease in income to the Ottoman Empire)

Two huge armies collided in the Caucasus, as a 300,000 strong Russian army moved down to force the Ottomans out of the captured territory. Opposing them was an Ottoman force of 239,000, under the command of Iskender Pasha. The Russians were determined to force the Ottomans out, but the Ottomans would not budge. Muslim guerillas attacked supply lines, infrastructure, and other targets of opportunity, thus slowing down the Russian advance considerably. This gave the Ottomans time to prepare, and the Russian attack was quickly bogged down. After along and bloody fight, the Russians were forced to retreat, with the Ottomans giving chase. Iskender Pasha managed to reel in his troops, but not before they had pushed the Russians even further out of the Caucasus.
(-3,100 regulars to Russia, -52,600 conscripts to Russia, -3,900 regulars to the Ottoman Empire, -39,000 conscripts to the Ottoman Empire)

Lack of Russian naval presence in the Black Sea allowed the tiny Romanian fleet to bombard the city of Odessa. It did damage to the city, but there was a limit to the amount the ships could do. Land based artillery was mostly ineffective, however one barrage managed to score a hit on a Romanian frigate, forcing it back to Chilia for repairs.
(-1 sail frigate to Romania, +1 sail frigate to Romania in 1 turn, small decrease in income to Russia)

Although the British blockade had been lifted, the Russian fleet had been damaged enough that transporting any reasonable force east was out of the question. Resigned to a long walk, a considerably sized army marched along the poor roads connecting Siberia to western Russia. There was much hardship along the way, with harsh conditions and Muslim guerillas from the central Khanates causing the deaths of many, and the population living in the way of the army became angry and frustrated as the army stripped the land of resources to feed itself, as supply lines were struggling. Still, the Russians managed to reach the city of Omsk by the end of the year, ready to march the final distance to attack the Qing by the next year.
(-5,500 conscripts to Russia, -3% public support to Russia)

With the main Russian force still a distance away from the front lines, a combined Qing and Japanese force attacked from three different directions to encircle any defending Russians. Outer Manchuria was easily taken with only a few pockets of resistance. Qing troops also marched north to the lands east of Lake Baikal to set up defensive positions against the oncoming Russians, while the Japanese landed on Kamchatka and began marching north. Both armies released any political prisoners discovered, and used them to support a growing Siberian nationalism movement.
(-1,000 regulars to Russia, -3,400 conscripts to Qing, -900 conscripts to Japan, -4% public support to Russia)

As the year came to an end, it was clear the fighting hadn't. Many countries began drilling and preparing for the next year's campaigns.

The Netherlands finally completed it's conversion to an all-steam fleet, as the final sail frigates were stripped down and rebuild as screw frigates. To the surprise of the shipbuilders, and the delight of the navy, enough scrap metal was left lying around to build a new ironclad.
(-£2,000, -4 sail frigates to the Netherlands, +4 screw frigates to the Netherlands, +1 ironclad to the Netherlands)

The Prussian navy began extensive naval drilling, as well as studying Dutch training manuals, in order to improve the quality of the fleet.
(-£1,100, +1 naval sublevel, +1 naval sublevel in 1 turn)

The Austrian army began a modest conscription drive, to recruit some more troops for what was expected to be only a few more campaigns.
(+50,000 conscripts to Austria)

The Netherlands went the other direction, believing that the war was over for them, all conscripts were sent home. Many were offered the opportunity to sign up to the full time military, and a few took the chance.
(+3,300 regulars to the Netherlands, -236,700 conscripts to the Netherlands)

Qing troops began extensive drilling, in preparation for the arrival of the Russians.
(-£510, +1 army sublevel)