Chapter 878: Pit Friend on the Line
Chapter 861 – Pit Bastard Teammate on the Line
Reduced to a backstabber at the same time, the Russian-Australian alliance could also be renamed the Backstabber Alliance. But there was a difference between a backstabber and a backstabber.
Austria was willingly jumping out to take the blame.
French foreign ministry: Austria spread rumors, smear France’s national image, claim economic losses.
Austrian foreign ministry: there is no such thing, we just stated the facts, so that the European people know the truth.
……
Not so with the Tsarist government, it’s a total case of the pot calling the kettle black.
The Vienna government takes the pot, that’s you and me getting what you want, the quarrel between France and Austria is more like a political game.
The British threw over this pot is not the same, sent troops to attack the British troops in Afghanistan, this and the declaration of war are not much difference.
Although not afraid of war with the British, but in the absence of any gain, for the enemy to take the blame, the Russians are naturally reluctant.
St. Petersburg.
Foreign Minister Oscar Jimenez: “Your Majesty, the matter has been clarified. After occupying the Afghan region, the British army met fierce resistance from the locals and suffered heavy troop losses.
The British government stigmatized us for sending troops to sneak up on the British troops in the Afghan region in order not to bear the responsibility for the heavy losses at the front line and to give an explanation to the people at home.”
What does it mean for Britain and Russia to go to war?
Open the map to know, in fact, it is not a big deal at all, in addition to the Central Asian region may break out in the war, other areas on both sides can not reach.
In theory, the Royal Navy could indeed blockade the coastline of the Russian Empire, in practice it simply couldn’t be done.
Russia’s shipbuilding industry is not developed, the domestic ocean shipping company is also a phoenix, overseas trade shipping business, mostly international shipping companies to undertake.
Including Britain’s shipping company, from which a piece of cake. Royal Navy to engage in embargo, can not even detain their own ships, right?
To put it mildly, the Russians are concentrated in the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, even if the Royal Navy blocked the door, we can still pretend to be and the Nordic Confederation, Austria to do trade.
These days there is no satellite monitoring, who knows the real starting point and end point of these ships. Randomly detaining ships is going to cause international disputes.
Hearing this answer, Minister of War Ivanov angrily said, ”Your Majesty, the British have constantly challenged the empire’s bottom line, and now we can’t tolerate it any longer.
We must use the strongest means to give them a strong retaliation. Let the whole world know that the great Russian Empire is not to be messed with!”
“Tough” is not without reason, in fact, after Field Marshal Ivanov as Minister of War, the Russian military is relatively conservative.
If not for the British government’s pot-shaking behavior, exposing the weakness of the British army’s low combat power, Marshal Ivanov would never have jumped out of the main war now.
Alexander III hesitated; a tsar who was afraid to fight was not a qualified tsar.
Peace-loving, that is only the interests need. Now that the British have exposed their weaknesses, it would be totally unreasonable not to take advantage of the opportunity to fall on the well!
But are the British really so weak?
Alexander III was deeply skeptical, he knew very well that the Indian Colonial Army, did not represent the true fighting strength of the British Army.
Most of the troops in this attack on Afghanistan are Indian colonial troops, and the main force transferred from the mainland is only less than one-fifth of the total number of troops.
Seeing Alexander III wavering, Ivanov continued to lobby: “Your Majesty, the British have long been externally strong.
After so many years, there has been no progress at all. I’m afraid that the fighting strength of the British army is still not as good as it was during the First Near Eastern War.
The Afghan War is a proof of this, and the South African War, which was a bit earlier, is also a proof of this.
At that time, the British were the main force, but the result was that even a group of militia temporarily assembled by Austria did not win, the combat power of the British army can be imagined.
Now is the best opportunity, the three Central Asian khanates have been crippled, it won’t be long before we are in Afghanistan.
Although the British preempted the occupation of the Afghan region, but their local roots are not stable, and there are guerrillas to mess up.
We can completely take advantage of the situation and seize the Afghan region, laying the foundation for going south to India.”
The weak and the strong are the essence of this era, and originally the initial goal of the Tsarist government was only to seize the Central Asian region.
As for the Afghan region, since it fell into the hands of the British, the military no longer had expectations and was prepared to wait for the next opportunity.
However, the plan did not change quickly, found that the British army occupying the Afghan region is weak chicken, even the Afghan guerrillas can not handle, Marshal Ivanov immediately changed his mind.
“Heaven giveth, but taketh not away.”
Missing an opportunity like this is nothing short of criminal. As the leader of the military, when such a soft persimmon delivered to the door is rejected, should we go looking for a hard bone to gnaw on?
Foreign Secretary Oscar Jiménez added, “We had a secret contact with the French not long ago, and the Paris government has no objection to our entering the Indian Ocean.
If we flip-flop with the British at this time, the French will not intervene with their troops, and Austria will also support us.
The diplomatic obstacles have all been cleared. The remaining problems are all military, and as long as the military is certain of victory, the southward strategy can be implemented.”
Hearing the news, Alexander III was shocked in his heart, “The French are selling out their teammates so quickly?”
Then he reacted, it seems that the French government does not want to sell its teammates and cannot help the British now.
For the issue of Central Europe, France and Austria are in a mess. At this time, to send troops to help the British fight, is not to provide an opportunity for Austria?
“Are there any problems with finances?”
As a rule, the Ministry of Finance routinely objected before the outbreak of almost every war.
It was not that the Minister of Finance did not have a big picture view, but mainly that the Tsarist government was poor and did not take precautions ahead of time, in case the war went halfway through with no money what to do?
No one wanted to take the blame, so the Russian finance minister was always the leader of the anti-war faction. As long as the financial difficulties were stated in advance, and the war ran out of money halfway through, it wasn’t a problem for the Ministry of Finance.
Every time the Ministry of Finance objected, it was hard to stumble upon one that didn’t, and no wonder Alexander III was surprised.
Minister of Finance Alisher Gurov replied with a smile, ”It is true that there are some financial difficulties, but thanks to the efforts of all of our colleagues, we have raised a war fund.
Just a month ago, we signed a loan contract with the Austrian National Bank for fifty million guilders; in addition, we also reached an agreement with the French consortium to issue two point seven billion francs in bonds using industrial raw materials as collateral.
As long as we commit a total force of less than half a million men, and the war lasts no more than a year, the finances will be able to support it.”
(1 pound = 2 shillings = 25 francs)
In fact, it was not only the military that wanted to go south and take India; the Treasury was no less eager to do so.
Because of the sale of the spoils of war after the Third Near Eastern War and the large amount of money obtained by helping Austria to settle immigrants, the Tsarist government offset nearly 30% of its debt.
Together with the debts that have been paid off in recent years, the Tsarist government’s total debt has fallen by nearly 40%.
In addition to the reduced pressure on the debt, the Russian economy, in recent years, has also made some progress. Although it is still at a snail’s pace, it is still moving forward.
Self-financing plus borrowing, hundreds of thousands of troops a year’s war expenses came out.
Alexander III was surprised, “The French are willing to issue bonds for us?”
No wonder he was not surprised, because of the credibility of the relationship, the Russian government issued bonds can only be sold in the home country, even to the allies of Austria side can not be sold.
The relationship is good, the interest rate is high, the financial institutions that have suffered losses, are not willing to come a second time.
In contrast, France’s financial control is much looser. Bonds are risky investments, the default of the buyer to bear their own responsibility, do not need to issue institutions are jointly and severally liable.
Capitalists, as long as the interest is high enough, there will naturally be people to do. What surprised Alexander III was that the French government did not intervene.
You have to know that Britain and France are allies, the French at this time for the Russians to issue bonds, it is completely to the allies again stabbed in the knife.
Minister of Finance Alisher Gurov nodded, ”Yes, the French government did not intervene!
However, the interest rate and fees are high, and the amount of the bonds cannot be too large, and they can only be done in the mode of fundraising by private enterprises.”
To the Tsarist government, the process was not important, the most important thing was the result. As long as they could get the money, there was no substantial difference between corporate bonds and government bonds.
……
(End of chapter)