Chapter 804: The Mahdi Uprising
Chapter 787 The Mahdi Uprising
Time rushed by, and in a flash, we entered the year 1885.
The shelved Near East Development Program was once again launched, and the world economy came out of the Great Depression and charged forward once again.
Everything was going well, and in accordance with the principle of “asking only about the big things,” Franz, the emperor, was also idle.
Perhaps because of his age, Franz’s hobbies also changed. I don’t know when he started to be addicted to calligraphy.
The quill pen was obviously not suitable for calligraphy, so there was an incongruous scene, a quill pen practicing calligraphy Shen Luo emperor was born.
Personal hobbies are just hobbies, European aristocrats have a lot of strange hobbies, put in a large group, Franz’s little hobby is really nothing.
There is no minister who is fed up, want to come to interfere in the emperor’s daily life, and not the imperial historian of the Ming Dynasty.
Do not say change a pen to write, even if it is to change a palace to live, there will be no one to come to blind comparison.
The emperor’s wallet and the treasury have always been separate, in this world where private property is sacrosanct, just how to toss outsiders can not say anything.
Franz let himself go, practicing calligraphy without fear, write whatever comes to mind.
A fellow traveler will find that a lot of quotes and poems from the later world, very suddenly appeared on the paper.
Fortunately, time has passed too long, many of Franz’s memories have been blurred, often written out only one or two sentences, otherwise the original author will be confused.
……
Colonial Minister Stephen: “Your Majesty, a rebellion has broken out in the French Sudanese region, the rebels have captured the Wadi Halfa region and are moving towards Egypt.”
It has been some days since a rebellion broke out in French Sudan. It’s just that this kind of colonial rebellion happens every now and then, and it’s not news until it’s a big deal.
“Our people aren’t involved, are they?”
Franz asked in a skeptical tone. There were too many colonial empires stabbing each other these days, even if everyone had signed a treaty promising not to get into trouble.
That was only limited to not messing things up on the surface, secretly it was anyone’s guess, as long as they weren’t caught in the act, it wasn’t a problem.
Colonial Minister Stephen replied after thinking about it, “The colonial government did not support the rebels, whether or not the civil forces were involved, it is impossible to determine for the time being.”
This was sort of the aftermath of colonial expansion. There were thousands of large and small colonial forces under Austria’s command, with dozens of forces in the French Sudan region.
The government’s management of these groups is limited to the cities and the areas that have been localized; everywhere else is still a free-for-all for everyone.
Foreign expansion is legal as long as it doesn’t jeopardize national interests. The prerequisite is that the colonization team can take the territory down themselves and hold on to it.
The African continent had already been carved up, and if this one wanted to build up again, the only way to do so was to aim their guns at other colonial empires.
People have been raring to go for years, but the central government won’t allow it. To challenge a colonial empire without the support of the state is not something that people are that hard-headed about.
Not directly, but covertly is a different story. Now, for example, if the French can’t put out the rebellion, there’s a chance for everyone.
The African continent is so big anyway, and parts of French Egypt + Sudan total upwards of two million square kilometers. Cutting a small chunk out of that would be enough to feed a colonization team.
Similar things happen all over the world from time to time. All the major colonial empires are trying to exercise as much restraint as possible, and there are still numerous incidents of colonial conflict, mostly caused by civilian colonial teams.
Franz said indifferently, ”Forget it, as long as the colonial government isn’t involved. If the civilian colonization teams want to go, let them go.
It’s just the right time to test the waters and see what kind of goods the French are. The French government is very busy these days, as long as they don’t catch any evidence.”
This “busy” naturally refers to the French invasion of Annam, the first foreign war initiated by Napoleon IV after his succession to the throne, the performance of the French army did not meet expectations.
Now the Mahdi Uprising, enough for the Paris government to drink a pot of water.
If the rebels could not be kept out of Egypt, the next loss for the French, would be much greater.
If the rebels can not think, destroyed the Egyptian region of the cotton plantations, France’s cotton textile industry will be hit hard again.
These days the cotton textile industry is the most important industry in France, one-fifth of the domestic industrial workers, are dependent on this industry chain upstream and downstream life.
Once the problem, the entire French industrial system will be affected. Not only France, the textile industry in all industrialized countries occupy a small proportion.
In addition to the cotton production area, there is also a Suez Canal which is the lifeblood of France. In case the rebels are allowed to hit the river and hold it hostage by blowing it up, the Paris government is going to have a headache.
Perhaps the international interventionist forces would come in first without waiting for the rebels to blow up the river.
The British in order to interfere in the Suez Canal, I do not know how much effort, but did not succeed, the opportunity to send the door naturally impossible to miss.
Even the Austrian government, which seemed to be a good talker, did not mind monopolizing the Suez Canal.
The British were the ones who were worried about these problems in the original time and space. In order to keep the cotton production area and the Suez Canal, the British government also made a compromise with the local power factions in Egypt.
Without Egyptian support, the Mahdi Rebellion still held out on its own for seven years before being extinguished by the British. Even the British governor in Sudan was taken out by the rebels.
The same thing could not have happened on the French side.
The French government used direct administration for the colonies, and the native forces, led by the King of Egypt, had long since been suppressed.
Even the Egyptian royal family had been relocated to live in Paris, and had taken their box in the Paris Revolution not long before.
There was no doubt that the French could now only take the fight to suppress the rebellion themselves. It is also necessary to fight the prestige of the French army, and if there is another incident in the Central and Southern Peninsula, the French Empire is going to be unstable in its foundation.
The prestige of the French army is piled up by a victory, a failure can be an accident, continuous failure that is not an accident.
Without the world’s first army should be the strength, in the political and diplomatic, industrial and economic, resources and territory all backward situation, France how to fight against Austria?
Colonial Secretary Stephen: “I’m afraid that’s not enough. Unless we or the British do all we can to support the rebels, it won’t be enough with that rabble.”
Franz nodded, even though the French army’s training mode and mobilization mechanism were behind the times, it had to be admitted that they were still the world’s first-rate army.
The main reason why the Mahdi Uprising in the original time and space was able to move and hold out for so long was that the British control over the area was very weak, and the British army stationed in the Sudanese region was less than a regiment.
The French were a different story, and French Egypt alone could pull out 50,000 to 60,000 troops, including a major French division.
“There’s no need, no amount of support will make them a match for the French. Now is not the time to turn the other cheek, maybe we can get the British to try.”
……
Paris, receiving two pieces of bad news in quick succession, poured cold water on the ambitious Napoleon IV.
Annam was thousands of miles away, and even if it suffered a little loss, it was only a minor problem. But the Egyptian region was different, it was the most important French colony.
“Have you found out who is behind this?”
Rebels do not stay in the Sudan region to dominate, but the main force out all the way to the Egyptian region to fight, this behind the scenes if there is no international forces to manipulate, killed Napoleon IV also do not believe.
Minister of the Interior Aidison cautiously replied: “According to the information we have collected, we can determine that the weapons in the hands of the rebels are imported from the interior, respectively from the British and Austrian colonies.
Whether it was orchestrated by a civilian colonial team or a conspiracy by the two governments, we don’t have enough evidence to determine that for now.”
That’s not the answer, and again, it’s the standard answer. The only ones with the power to make things happen in the Sudanese region are Britain, France, and Austria, and the British and Austrians are suspects, except for themselves.
None of them needed evidence to directly target them, and there was absolutely no need to worry about wrongly accusing the good guys.
Determined the target is useless, there is not enough evidence, Britain and Austria is certainly not recognized. In addition to wasting time on diplomatic wrangling, it serves no purpose.
After suppressing the inner fire, Napoleon IV sighed and slowly said: ”Forget it, this account will be remembered first, and then liquidate with them later.
Order the Governor of Egypt to immediately send troops to suppress the rebellion, and absolutely not allow the rebels to enter the Egyptian hinterland.”
……
(End of chapter)