Chapter 949: Britain’s Choice

  Chapter 930 – Britain’s Choice

While the Japanese government was hesitating, the British and French negotiations also entered a critical moment. The French, caught in a strategic passivity, had no bottom to negotiate terms and had to make substantial concessions to the British.

It should have been a gratifying thing that the negotiations were moving in the direction favorable to Britain, but Prime Minister Gladstone could not be happy now.

“Is it true that the African theater cannot be undone?”

“If you walk too much in the night, you will encounter ghosts. Britain’s policy of continental balance, which has lasted for many years, has now revealed a fatal flaw and is about to collapse.

There is no way, the bullish French performance on the battlefield, far from their usual clamor, so that the government in London to make a strategic miscalculation.

Whether willing to accept it or not, Gladstone had to admit it: the French army of the past, which was unbeatable, no longer existed, and France without Napoleon had lost the strength to hang on to the continent.

The war has been carried out to the present, the French army on the European continent is still slow to break through, and the African continent was Austria hanging, the situation is more and more unfavorable to France.

“From a military point of view, the fall of French Africa is only a matter of time, the Austrians have seized the strategic initiative.

If the situation is not irreparable, the proud French will not bow to us so easily.”

Minister of War Rosario mocked.

The relationship between Britain and France had always been inharmonious, and to the British Army in particular, France was their eternal pain.

If they hadn’t been driven out of Europe by the French, Britain wouldn’t have become a mere sea power, and they wouldn’t have been reduced to the point where they could only serve as a junior to the navy.

Looking at the gloating Minister of War, Gladstone frowned. Watching the French fall is certainly a thing to be happy about, but the price is that Austria is going to be a dominant power, and that’s not wonderful.

Open the map to know that once you let Egypt fall into the hands of Austria, the giant across Asia, Africa and Europe appeared.

In this era of weak and strong colonial empires, such a giant will certainly not be peaceful there lying down to sleep.

Originally, Austria in the African continent is a single family, Britain together with France, Portugal, Spain and other colonial empires combined, to be able to barely fight them.

If France had been driven out, British Africa would have been Austria’s next target. With the loss of British Africa, Britain’s path to India was blocked.

What would happen next, Prime Minister Gladstone did not even dare to continue to imagine. In short, it would be an absolute disaster for Britain to let Austria hold the hegemony of Europe and dominate Africa.

“Now the situation is very bad, damn Gallic fool, has lost the bravery of his ancestors, just left to bragging rights, worse yet we can’t watch this fool fail.

Once the Egyptian region falls into Austria’s hands, the anti-French alliance can utilize the absolute advantage in manpower and material resources to directly wear out the French, even if Napoleon is resurrected, he will not be able to salvage the situation.

It doesn’t matter if the French lose the war, the key is that we can’t watch Austria get an easy victory. If we don’t utilize this war to drastically deplete their strength, we won’t be able to have a good time in the future.”

In terms of personal feelings, Gladstone didn’t want to go out to support the French either, but there was no way around it, who let the French army in Egypt fail again?

Just two days ago, the French painstakingly Suez defense line collapsed, the fire of war has burned to the Egyptian hinterland, and then do not give the French help, French Egypt will change hands.

Britain could not afford the consequences of Austrian control of Egypt, and the British government had to step in and pull the French along.

Rosario shook his head, “Your Excellency the Prime Minister, the current situation is indeed terrible, but we also have to face reality.

Austria’s dominance in the African continent is too great, and unless the French are able to draw millions of their main forces into the African battlefield, there is no way to reverse the situation.

Of course, this is simply analyzing it militarily. The situation will be different if something else changes, for example: problems with the supply of the Austrian Afrika Korps, or if a revolution breaks out.”

Colonial Minister Primrose immediately vetoed, “Your Excellency, such a change of heart is almost impossible. According to the information gathered by the African colonial government, the Vienna government had sent a large amount of strategic supplies to Austrian Africa before the war.

How much the exact amount was cannot be determined for the time being, but they certainly won’t have logistical problems for a while. If the French had held firm a bit and held out in the Egyptian region for a year or two, there might have been a chance to see it through.

Expecting a revolution to break out in Austrian Africa would be even less plausible. Keep in mind that the mainstay of Austrian colonization of Africa was the aristocracy and farmers, not the same as the descendants of the gang of criminals in the New World.

Intelligence from Africa has it that at the order of the one in the Vienna Palace, these fellows went to war with gusto and without the slightest reluctance.”

This is true; if the independence of Austrian Africa had been instigated, the British would have done it long ago. No, rather, it had already been done, only it ended in failure.

There are prerequisites for independence, and unlike exiled criminals, most of the immigrants in Austrian belongings went there of their own accord and had a much stronger sense of belonging to the country.

Especially since Austria was also promoting the process of African indigenization, it gave the vested interests no reason to revolt. Trying to replicate the American independence movement in Africa simply doesn’t have a mass base.

After all, the thirteen North American states appeared to be British colonies, but most of the immigrants came from continental Europe and lacked a sense of belonging to Britain.

Pure English immigrants were few, less than one-tenth of the total population, and most of these guys are exiled criminals, do not hate England is considered good, expect them to take the initiative to defend the colonial rule of Britain, is simply dreaming.

In itself and Britain centrifugal separation, in the conflict of interest, the capitalists raise their arms, the people are naturally scrambling to respond.

Something like this would not work in Austrian Africa. Commodity dumping does exist, but unfortunately the capitalists in Austrian Africa do not have any say in the matter.

The aristocrats and farmers who hold power are mainly engaged in mining and plantations, and they simply don’t care about industrial dumping, or people simply don’t think that they are being dumped.

It’s not like industrial products are created out of thin air, the same way industrial raw materials need to be purchased, and it just so happens that everyone is a producer of industrial raw materials.

On the one hand, industrial raw materials are sent to the country, and on the other hand, cheap industrial and commercial products produced in the country are enjoyed, so everyone’s small life is not more comfortable.

If they really become independent and engage in anti-dumping, they are the biggest victims. Not only do they have to pay for industrialization, even the income from the cash crops they grow will be drastically reduced.

See, for example, the farmers in the Confederate States of America. In order to resist the trade protection policies of the North, they could all jump out and become independent.

Capitalists dare to make trouble, do not need the Vienna government intervention, as vested interests of the aristocracy, farm owners, they will be the first to suppress them.

Foreign Minister George agreed: “This I can prove, the Foreign Ministry has also instigated the Austrian African independence movement, and even supported a few independent organizations, but these guys are not a climate.

The mining and plantation economy that Austria has developed in Africa directly ties vested interests to the homeland. It was simply unrealistic to dismantle Austrian Africa from within.

As things stand, unless the French win the Continental War, it’s only a matter of time before Egypt is lost.

Of course, we might be able to hamper Austria by intervening directly, but the stakes are too high.”

Sending troops to intervene would have been a joke. Britain’s pocket-sized army was still fighting the Russians in Afghanistan, and the colonial troops in British Africa were only good for a fight.

After a moment’s hesitation, Prime Minister Gladstone slowly said: “The international situation is about to get out of control, we must end the war with the Russians as soon as possible, in order to cope with the next changes.

The war in Afghanistan has reached this point, and there is no point in continuing it. The Russians are also riding a tiger at this time, and by releasing a peace signal to them, I’m sure that the Czarist government will not choose to carry on with their dead weight.

After all, the emergence of a giant across Asia, Africa and Europe threatens not only our interests, but also theirs.”

It is true that in the early stages of the Anglo-Russian war in Afghanistan, the war was fought with that intensity because of interests. Unfortunately, the cruel reality tells them that this is a war of attrition that can not see the end, really if the blood fight to the end will only lose both.

Along with the international situation of the wind and clouds change, playing tired of the British and Russian countries coincidentally reduced the intensity of the war, incarnation of the eating masses to watch the French and Austrians lively.

Perhaps in order to let the French and Austrian countries to rest assured bold pk, the original should stop the British and Russian countries, very tacit choice to continue the war game.

Although the game, the same is also to die. Whether it is the British army, or the Russian army, have not given up to get each other to die intend to, but wherever a bit of a break will be pursued by the enemy.

In a sense, such a war of attrition is also favorable to Britain, the British government has enough financial resources to drag down the Russians. Besides, British India would be safe only if the Tsarist government was made to suffer real physical pain.

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as the best of both worlds. In order to contain the growing Austria, Gladstone had to give up the “Woolly Bear Bloodletting Program”.

Foreign Secretary George reminded: “His Excellency the Prime Minister, it is not difficult to make a truce with the Russians, but it is very difficult to make a truce in accordance with our previous expectations.

At present, the Russian army still controls three-quarters of the territory of Afghanistan, with the greed of the tsarist government, we did not get the land on the battlefield, want to get it back at the negotiation table, there is almost no hope.

The conflict between us and the Russians is too deep, and with the Austrians acting as a shit-stirrer, I am afraid that this armistice negotiation will not go smoothly.

Judging from the current situation, French Egypt won’t last long. If the French army fails to make a breakthrough on the European continent, the established fact of Austrian occupation of Egypt is created.

The Russians do not want to see Austria bigger, but after all, Russia and Austria are traditional allies, the Tsarist government is not likely to turn the tables on Austria for no reason, in the Egyptian issue they will most likely choose neutrality.

The only people who can be relied upon to force the Austrians to give in and spit out the areas of Egypt they ate next are the French and ourselves.

We have to make use of the French, but we also have to limit the French, not to let the French take advantage of the opportunity to become bigger, which requires a very troublesome work.

To do this, we need more allies. It would be best if we could unite the countries of Europe to intervene and solve the problem by diplomatic means.”

Restricted by the continental balance policy, the British government’s diplomacy in this continental war has always been fearful, afraid of a mishandling and tossing out a continental hegemon.

There is no way, the international situation is changing too quickly. Britain’s enemies have been changing, first the Russians jumped out of their own, followed by the ambitious French, not yet reacted to the Austrian emerged again.

It had to be suppressed, but not too hard, and the fragile balance had to be maintained to keep the government in London exhausted.

In a sense, from the outbreak of the Continental War, Britain’s policy of continental balance was in trouble, and could no longer keep up with the changing international situation.

The problem was known to everyone, but unfortunately Britain was an island nation, which congenitally dictated that they had no better choice. Only by maintaining the continental balance could they retain their hegemony.

Gladstone nodded and looked out the window, ”It is indeed very troublesome, but even if it is troublesome, we must do it, it is our responsibility.

And, while maintaining the continental balance, we have to find a way to weaken the strength of France and Austria, we can’t let them continue to grow stronger.”

……

(End of chapter)