Chapter 950: Each has his own plans
Chapter 931 Each has his own calculations
St. Petersburg, received the peace signal released by the British, Alexander III sighed helplessly.
This Afghan war can be described as a tiger’s head, for the Russian Empire, completely the opening king in the end but almost played a bronze war.
At first, there are Afghan guerrillas to cooperate, the Russian army is all the way to hang the British, but unfortunately, the Afghan region is not a straight road, as the front continues to move forward, the Russian army’s logistical pressure is also getting bigger and bigger.
Coupled with the constant arrival of British reinforcements, the Russian army lost its strength advantage, and the situation on the battlefield gradually changed.
By now, the war in Afghanistan has evolved into a war of attrition. In the face of the rich and powerful British, the poor tsarist government obviously could not cope.
It seems that the Russian army has the upper hand in the Afghan battlefield, in fact, the tsarist government is also suffering.
The war has been carried out until now, the Russian army has paid nearly half a million casualties, as well as up to billions of rubles of war funds, but the legendary India is still unattainable.
Personnel casualties are only a small problem, after all, recovered Central Asia, but also occupied three-quarters of Afghanistan, and even the exchange ratio between the two sides reached a staggering 1.1:3.7, which can be said to be the best war performance of the Russian army in the past fifty years.
Of course, this is the Central Asian Khanate and the Indian colonial army together with the addition of the war record, simply and the British army main pk, the Russian army still can not take much advantage.
There is water does not matter, it does not affect the tsarist government to take out for political propaganda, in short, the performance of the Russian army on the battlefield, on all sides are accountable for the past.
Alexander III headache is financial, since his succession to the throne since the tsar’s government accumulated all the family money not to mention, but also owed a huge debt, the more critical is not able to enter India.
If the Russian army had entered India, then Alexander III would have had to continue the war.
Unfortunately, there is no if in reality, the British have reacted. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of main troops sent out from the mainland, there were two million Indian colonial troops cannon fodder waiting in the wings.
According to the intelligence coming from the front line, the main force of the British army has rarely come out to duel, most of the time in the rear to supervise the battle, using colonial troops and the Russian army to tangle, the British generals even completely do not care about the casualties.
According to this rhythm continues, there is a big Indian people do not die all, the British will not admit defeat.
No matter how worthless the gray livestock is, it is still more expensive than the colonial natives. Sensei exchange ratio how, the Russian army is at a disadvantage, after all, the opposite side of the Indian is 300 million.
“Prepare to negotiate with the British!”
After making this decision, Alexander III’s entire body sank. The Russian Empire’s closest opportunity to India was just missed.
“Yes!”
“Your Majesty, should we inform the Austrians after all ……”
Without waiting for Foreign Minister Oscar Jimenez to finish his sentence, Alexander III interrupted, “You guys see to it! Anyway, now that the British don’t want to fight, we don’t have the ability to fight on.”
After saying that, Alexander III directly turned around and left.
There was no doubt that the Russian Empire was not incapable of continuing this war, after all, there was still the Austrian Nurse at the back to replenish the blood, and for a while it could still hold out.
The key is that in the case of not being able to seize India, continue this war to stall the British, will only be cheaper in the African continent, Austria, not in line with the interests of the Russian Empire.
Even the best allies can not resist the temptation of interest.
According to the prior agreement, the Vienna government to support the tsarist government into India, in exchange for Russia to support the Austrian hegemony of Africa, after the war, the two countries to share the hegemony of the European continent.
The Czarist government is now in a truce with the British, and is also in the pit of a teammate. But there was no way, the Czarist government had already determined that it could not get India, then it could not look at Austria’s sole hegemony over Africa.
Otherwise the strength of the two countries after the war will be further stretched, in this era of the weak and the strong, once there is an imbalance of power, the so-called sharing of continental hegemony, is a joke.
Alexander III’s political acumen is still very smart, knowing the importance of the Russian-Austrian alliance, in order to reduce the political impact, decisive choice to dump the pot.
……
Since deciding to support the French, the British Foreign Office took a series of actions, the Anglo-Russian truce being only one of the measures.
After all, the Russians were Austria’s allies, and it was unlikely that they would be lulled into falling in line by a few words. Other than that, the Anglo-Russian conflict alone is not something that can be unraveled in a short period of time.
Just fought a war, back to the alliance. These tawdry operations, which exists in theory, perhaps the Middle Ages can still be done.
But today, with the rise of nationalism, if anyone dares to play like this, a revolution will break out.
Tokyo, sent away the British Minister who was an uninvited guest, Ito Hirobumi’s whole body is not good.
It was not easy to coordinate the interests of all parties, barely suppressed the voice of the south, continue to implement the previous strategy of the north, and now the British so involved, the situation has changed again.
It is not necessary to think to know that the British even visited him, the leader of the opposition, and the dignitaries who originally supported the southward movement, not to mention that they must have been lobbied.
While Ito Hirobumi was thinking about countermeasures, the voice of the valet suddenly rang out.
“Prime Minister, the Royal Palace called, and wants the Imperial Council that you are to attend immediately.”
With a loud “bang”, the water cup in Ito Hirobumi’s hand fell to the ground with a loud thud. It had come too quickly, leaving no time for him to prepare.
Undoubtedly, there must be domestic political forces involved behind this, otherwise it would not have been possible for the British Minister to immediately convene a pre-imperial meeting just before he left.
Such a move was nothing more than a demonstration to him, asking him, the southern opposition, to know what to do.
There was no way out, the “three masters” of the Meiji Restoration had all passed away, and there was no longer any pin that could suppress all the political forces, and the means of political struggle became more and more out of the ordinary.
Now, for example, these people are contacting the British privately without his knowledge as prime minister, and have even reached an agreement.
Knowing this, Ito Hirobumi was essentially powerless to do anything about it. Don’t look at him in the latter part of the big name, he has never done a word.
That is, Japan has not yet made strategic adventures, and the military has not had time to become big in the war, the government can barely suppress them.
If the military had gotten bigger, anyone who dared to go against them would have had a mutiny and a new government in minutes.
……
Navy Minister Saigo Congdao was the first to speak, “The British have made their position clear that they want to support the French, and the international situation has fundamentally shifted.
The end of the Continental War has tended to become clearer, and the risk we originally feared no longer exists, and all the conditions are in place to implement the southward strategy.”
If possible, Saigo Fudo did not want to be the one to stand out. But there was no way around it, as the Minister of the Navy he couldn’t even make a stand if he didn’t want to.
The South China Sea region of the great powers gathered, the situation is complicated, Japan once the power to extend the past, will inevitably have to greatly expand the navy.
As the biggest beneficiary of the strategy of the south, the Navy has unified the views of the senior management, simply does not allow him to retreat as the Minister of the Navy.
Minister of Agriculture and Commerce Inoue Xin: “Saigo-kun, I’m afraid it’s still too early to say that the situation of the war in Europe and land is clear, as you call it.
As we all know, the strongest thing the British have is the Royal Navy, and comparatively speaking their land forces are very average.
Even if the French gained the support of the British, it would not mean much for a continental duel unless the Russians also supported them.
In fact, that was not going to happen. As we all know, the Russo-Austrian alliance was very solid, and the Russians simply couldn’t get away from Austria.
Unless the Tsarist government is out of its mind, it would betray its own allies and run to support its enemies.”
No problem, the Anglo-Russian negotiations had only just begun and were still in a state of secrecy, the Japanese government’s intelligence capabilities were limited and its tentacles had not yet reached the top of the British and Russian hierarchies.
According to the normal mode of thinking, Britain and Russia are at war, France and Austria are at war, the enemy of the enemy is a friend, and besides, Russia and Austria originally had an alliance, and now Britain and France are leaning together, Russia and Austria will naturally stand together.
Britain and France on land and Russia and Austria for pk, almost no chance of winning. Against this background, accepting the invitation of Britain and France to declare war on Austria is not plausible in any way.
Army General Oyama Iwa: “Inoue-kun, you are overthinking it. Not to mention whether or not the Russians are willing to send troops to help Austria, even if they win in Europe what can they do?
As long as the British are willing to support France, the Anti-French Alliance is at an absolute disadvantage in the fight for overseas colonies. If Austria wants to retaliate against us, they have to be able to cross the Royal Navy blockade.
As far as I know, we are not the only allies that Britain and France are pulling together, there are also several American countries that will be involved in order to seize Austria’s overseas colonies.
We awakened too late and missed the colonial era, and now the lands around the world have owners.
It’s a good thing that the European powers are also conflicted, and this continental war is our best chance. As long as we seize the Austrian South Seas, we will have all the coal, iron ore, rubber, grain …… we want.”
Looking at the self-absorbed Oyama Rock, Ito Hirobumi couldn’t help but interrupt, “The British are not prepared to ally with us, and inviting them to participate in the attack on the Austrian Southern Ocean is only because the situation requires it.
No matter how much they promise, after capturing the Austrian Southern Ocean, most of the benefits will be Britain and France’s, and what belongs to us is just some leftovers.
We have all studied European history and should be clear about their rules. Even if Austria is defeated in this war, they are still a great power.
For the sake of a little benefit, offending a European power is not worth the loss. The British won’t stand up for us when we are retaliated against in the future.”
The windowpaper was pierced and everyone was dumbfounded. The weak and the strong were the essence of this era, and the weak were not qualified to compete with the strong for the spoils of war.
The difference in strength was too great, and even if Britain and France had given more promises, the Japanese government would not have the ability to ask them to honor them after the war. In the face of profit, breach of contract is really more than normal.
If it was not possible to monopolize the Austrian South Seas and merely follow the British and French in picking up the missing soup, then waging this war became completely meaningless.
Although the Japanese military was a bit radical, they were not stupid. The middle-aged Showa staff has not yet come online, and all the people present are IQ online masters, naturally they will not go to jump into the pit.
Saigo Congdao smiled slightly and pointed to the map on the wall and said: ”Ito-kun, we have naturally taken this problem into consideration. The British have their calculations, and we also have our plans.
Our neighbors have an old saying, “Fake the way to conquer the State of Guo”. Everyone knows that Austria is not to be messed with, and their power in the Southern Ocean region alone is not something we can eat.
From the beginning to the end, the Austrian South Seas is not our goal. Our real goal is still here – the fertile Philippine Islands.
The choice to cooperate with Britain and France was only to use them as a cover to confuse the Spaniards and create an opportunity to seize the Philippine Islands.”
Hearing this explanation, Ito Hirobumi’s stony expression eased a little. Compared to attacking the Austrian South Seas, it was obvious that bullying the Spaniards was more acceptable, at least the risk was within control.
“The plan is good, but have you considered the consequences?
Britain and France are not good with the Lord, know that we are using them, the future will certainly retaliate.
One bad maneuver will put the empire in a situation of no return. After all, our power is still too weak to withstand a toss.”
Saigo nodded from the road, “This issue has long been discussed by our military. Without the Continental War, we wouldn’t have dared to do this anyway.
But it’s different now, the European powers are divided into two camps, Britain, France, Russia and Austria, the British’s Continental Balance strategy is shaky, and for a while these powers can’t care about us.
From the information collected, the total mobilized troops of both sides of the war are more than ten million, so the bloody fight goes on, it is difficult to have a real winner among the participants in the continental war, and the ultimate end is most likely to be a lose-lose situation.
As long as we are flexible, on the eve of the division of the continental war, join the victor in time, this game is even stable.
No matter who wins the war, they will be busy licking their wounds after the war, and will simply not make a big fuss over us, their ally, over such a trivial matter.
If we’re lucky, we’ll also be able to share some of the spoils of war along the way and improve our international status.”
……
(End of chapter)