Chapter 1007: The Game

  Chapter 987 The Game

Since ancient times interests have been the best bridge for friendship, as long as the interests are in place, friendship will also arise. It wasn’t that Governor Chandler liked to play the game, it was really forced out by reality.

As the biggest victor of the Continental War, the seemingly bullish Holy Roman Empire is essentially in its weakest period.

The established state policy of the Vienna government was to hold the line, and expansion was simply not on the table. The Philippine Islands were certainly fertile, but this was still not enough to make the Vienna government change its national policy.

As a colonial governor, Chandler likewise could not ignore the interests of the colonial group while taking into account the national strategy. Against this background, operational skills were put to the test.

The original plan of picking peaches was based on Spain’s defeat and Japan’s weakness. Now the situation is very obvious, Spain is indeed difficult to win the war, but the Japanese strength is also unexpected.

Maybe they are not very good at fighting, but people are willing to fight for their lives! With just the Empire’s strength in the South Seas region, even if they could defeat the Japanese, they themselves would suffer heavy losses.

For the Holy Roman Empire, Japan has never been worth mentioning, hidden behind the scenes watching the British, is the real threat.

A bad operation, it becomes a proxy war in which the British send arms and the Japanese send troops.

How pitiful proxy wars are, think of the First Near East War, the two Russo-Prussian Wars, and the recent Anglo-Russian War in Afghanistan.

One by one, the competitors have been pitted to death, crippled and disabled, and those who survived are also badly wounded.

Britain and Russia did not engage in things when the Holy Roman Empire was at its weakest, not the two governments’ deep sense of justice, not to mention that there is no contradiction between the three countries, the most central reason is still that they are also out of shape.

An Afghan war, Britain and Russia each lost hundreds of thousands of troops, the harvest is a chicken feather, while also carrying a heavy financial pressure. In this context, even if they want to make things happen, they must exercise restraint.

In a sense, the Holy Roman Empire can be restored, the Vienna government secretly manipulated a proxy war also made an important contribution.

Perhaps when he had just crossed over, Franz might still be able to be neutralized once and take the opportunity to hang the Japanese to take out his anger, but now it was no longer possible. As a mature politician, any military action must be driven by profit.

These days the Japanese are so poor that even if they push through smoothly across the border, they can’t recoup their war funds; and if something goes wrong halfway through, it’s even more of a blood loss.

He did not want to personally fight, but also coveted the fertile Philippine Islands, the value of Spain is reflected.

Britain supports the Japanese, Vienna will support Spain, no matter who wins or loses is to earn, only the size of the problem of gain.

Standing in the position of the government of Vienna, the British government’s support for the Japanese the greater the better, only then will the British-Spanish conflict continue to escalate.

A Spain that is at the same time feuding with Britain and France and has a certain strength is undoubtedly the best ally of the Holy Roman Empire.

Spain is going downhill does not matter, as long as not fall too fast on the line. If Spain is on the rise, this little brother Franz is still afraid to take.

Compared to the strategic gains, the interests of the Philippine Islands became worthless again. Governor Chandler could not have done anything if the Spaniards had not come to his door.

“His Excellency the Commander is over-anxious, based on the friendship between us and your country, there is no shipyard that would dare to risk universal condemnation.

The only thing is that the South Seas is different from Europe, all the tools, equipment and spare parts of the repair shop are shipped from the mainland, especially the specifications of your warships are not the same as ours, and many parts have to be customized, so the cost is a little higher.

It’s not that we’re taking advantage of the fire. You know, stocking up on spare parts in advance is a big risk, and the capitalists are definitely doing it to make money, so the price is well ……”

Hearing this explanation, Admiral Valkenhayn was speechless. Proprietary spare parts, maintenance tools and equipment are ready, this is not to take advantage of the fire to have a ghost.

If the maintenance cost was higher, Valkenhayn didn’t mind paying a little more. After all, time is life on the battlefield, and the more spare parts the shipyard had in stock, the faster the progress of warship repair would be, so it was only right to make more money.

Now it is obvious that it is not a question of money, just the high cost of repair is not enough to make Admiral Valkenhayn beg.

Seeing that Governor Chandler wouldn’t say it outright, Valkenhayn understood that it was for the sake of face. As the leader of the European Union, plotting against his little brother’s colonies, if word got out that the Vienna government had no way to behave.

The best way, undoubtedly, was to let them take the initiative to send it up. Then, the Vienna government to give a relatively “reasonable price”, everyone’s face will look good.

Forcibly holding back the dissatisfaction in his heart, Admiral Valkenhayn said with a clear conscience: “Your Excellency, for the sake of the friendship between our two countries, and in order to thank your government for its strong support, we are willing to open up the market of the Philippine Islands.

As Your Excellency knows, our financial situation has been very bad. We are willing to sell some of our islands if your country can help.”

“Your Excellency is mistaken, we do not have any prying eyes on your country’s colonies, and the Holy Roman Empire will not pry into the colonies of any of its allies.

If your country is truly in financial difficulties, we will be happy to help. For the sake of world peace and stability, the Empire is launching a globalization strategy, so if your country doesn’t mind you can lease us a few military ports.

Your Excellency can rest assured that our garrison is only to maintain peace and stability in the region and will not interfere with your country’s management of the colonies.”

The fat meat delivered to the door could not be eaten, Governor Chandler’s heart was dripping blood. But there was no way around it, the Holy Roman Empire had to watch what it ate, or else it would cause the European world to panic.

The Spaniards opened up the market, so they could be accountable to the colonial groups, and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to annex the Philippine Islands, which was impossible.

Even if the Spaniards gave it away for nothing, the Holy Roman Empire can’t take it now. Buying the islands is not to mention, even if you really want to buy it, you can’t buy it now.

Don’t forget that the Philippine Islands are still in the hands of the Japanese! Once the sovereignty of the islands is bought, the Holy Roman Empire will be dragged down by the Spaniards.

The fact that the Viceroyalty of the South Seas could not gain much does not mean that the Holy Roman Empire did not gain as well. No matter what, Spain is also an old-school colonial country, even though it has fallen, there are still many islands with strategic value in its hands.

Restricted by the strength, many islands in the hands of the Spaniards have been dispensable, but fell into the hands of the Holy Roman Empire has become valuable.

Since the end of the Continental War, the globalization strategy has been on the agenda. It has not yet been implemented, mainly due to financial constraints, and after a few years of digesting the spoils of war, the full-scale launch of the globalization strategy can be said to be imperative.

……

Osi is making deals, Britain and Japan have not been idle. Proved their strength of the Japanese, in the eyes of the British government, the status of the British government obviously pulled up a section.

Downing Street.

Foreign Secretary George: “With the strength the Japanese have shown in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, checking the Spanish they have done it.

Even the hegemony of the Holy Roman Empire in the South Seas region was shaken because of the strong insertion of the Japanese.

The Vienna government is not going to let this situation continue, and if we don’t intervene, it’s only a matter of time before the Japanese are forced out of the South Seas.

Once the South Seas strategy fails, the Japanese will only have one way left to go north, which will inevitably lead to a war with the Far East Empire, and then we will have to make a choice again.

For the sake of the empire, the best choice is to support the Far East Empire to hold the Russians in the east, and support the Japanese to hold Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire in the Southern Ocean.”

Without a doubt, this was the most optimistic situation. It was undoubtedly the ideal state of affairs to get Britain out of its present awkward situation by supporting its two little brothers.

However, a plan is always just a plan, and to put it into practice is not so simple.

Although Spain is declining, it is not without the power to fight. Even though people’s bureaucratic groups were corrupt, their comprehensive national strength was still above that of Japan.

Especially Spain belongs to the continental countries, there is a continental alliance behind, once the Spanish government to do through the diplomatic work of the countries, to obtain the support of the entire alliance, the Japanese plan to go south is doomed to bankruptcy.

It is important to know that the London government is still working hard to join the alliance, and has already achieved some results, it is impossible for the Japanese and the alliance directly against.

The plan in the south was full of uncertainty, and the plan in the north was even more tragic. The biggest characteristic of the Far Eastern Empire is “from the heart”, the Russians do not come to trouble the old Buddha is satisfied, to take the initiative to find the Russians bad luck, it is too difficult to people.

Watching Britain and Russia in India dog-eat-dog, people are still too happy, how can they take the initiative to get involved?

There are so many problems, still does not affect this “plan” to become the London government diplomatic strategy. Successful blood money, failure is not a loss, why not use such a plan?

Said to support, in fact, all the weapons and equipment are people with real money to buy, the British government really pay on the diplomatic verbal support.

Look at the stock market reaction to know, since the London government to implement this strategic plan, the domestic military industry stocks rose eighteen percent, along with machinery and equipment export industry stock prices also rose nine points.

Prime Minister Gladstone nodded: ”Agree to the Japanese request, since the Holy Roman Empire can help the Spaniards to repair their warships, then our shipyards in the Far East can also help the Japanese to repair their warships, but to grasp the limit, the Empire can not directly intervene in the war.

At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should speed up its layout in the Far East, and provoke a conflict between the Far East Empire and the Russians as much as possible, in order to reduce our pressure in India.

The Viceroy of India is ordered to increase his support for the guerrillas in the Central Asian countries to increase the cost of Russian rule.

If necessary, issue a certain amount of loans to the Japanese government, or issue war bonds on their behalf, the amount of which is tentatively set at up to 20 million pounds. It should not be too great a risk to let them take the tariffs as collateral.”

It was impossible not to be nervous; the Russians had already begun work on the Central Asian Railroad. The one responsible for the construction is still the Austrian Railway Company, and as long as there are no major changes, the opening of the railroad is only a matter of time.

Everyone knows that once the Central Asian Railroad is completed, it is time for the Russians to move south again. Although in Gladstone’s term of office railroad will not be completed, but if you do not do something, the future problems, they will have to bear the political stain.

The Gladstone Cabinet has been working harder than ever in recent times in order to make a name for itself. A seemingly perfect strategic plan is constantly being introduced.

As for whether or not it can succeed, for the time being, it is not in their scope of consideration, anyway, as long as it seems feasible, it will be. If it failed in the future, it would be because the succeeding government was ineffective, and it was none of their business.

Foreign Minister George: ”According to the intelligence gathered from various sources, the government in Vienna is busy with domestic affairs and has no plans to directly intervene in this war.

Now that the naval battle is at a stalemate, the next battle will immediately shift to land. The Japanese are willing to fight for their lives, and as long as Vienna doesn’t get into trouble, the Spaniards, who are laboring for a long time, will not be able to wear them out.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is looking for a suitable opportunity to mediate this war, so that the Japanese will see it through, in order to avoid the war expanding.”

Compared to Spain, Japan’s great advantage was its large population. Were it not for the facts before us, no one could imagine that Spain, whose population reached eight million in the 16th century, now has a total population of less than eighteen million.

Looking at the population, it is clear that Spain’s decline was not without reason. What happened in the middle is not to say, anyway, are all fancy death, so that once the total population is less than half of their Britain, now are almost twice theirs.

In contrast, Japan’s situation is much better, with a population of more than 40 million, which already meets the population needs of contemporary powers.

It can be said that the naval battle was not fully accomplished, and the Spanish had already lost half of this war. In the next battle, the Japanese government will certainly play to its advantage, luring the Spanish to land for a decisive battle.

After all, compared with the valuable navy, cheap land forces that is as much as you want, the Japanese government can afford to die.

……

(End of chapter)